The mystical romance between a society girl (AVA GARDNER) and a man condemned to roam the seas and only hit port every seven years (JAMES MASON) is brought to the screen with handsome production values and gorgeous Technicolor. But the story itself, while it has many original touches, never really brings the characters or their motivations to life. The explanations are there, but they ring hollow for the sort of outrageous behavior committed by the principals, including peripheral characters such as the swaggering bullfighter and a racing car driver who's impulsive enough to crash his car into the ocean to prove his devotion to Pandora. NIGEL PATRICK is excellent in the pivotal role of the man who loves Pandora unwisely.

Albert Lewin, the director, seems drawn to these kind of other world stories, having done some of his best work in the fantasy genre, as for example with THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. Aspects of that tale are present here, with Mason as an artist who at the film's start is painting a portrait of Pandora, a woman he's not yet met but is fated to encounter very shortly.

The mystical elements aren't drawn together too convincingly but seem more like pieces of a puzzle that are missing and will never be found.

Ava Gardner was at the peak of her beauty and is well cast as Pandora in a role that might have easily been played by another star of that era, Rita Hayworth. Mason manages to look grimly determined on cue and gives an effortless performance as the Flying Dutchman, but this is a film that is not likely to have wide appeal outside of patrons who can appreciate its artistic leanings.

Nevertheless, it's a "must see" for fans of either Ava Gardner or James Mason even though their characters are not as strongly realized by the scriptwriter as one could wish. Fortunately, the chemistry between them does click.

This film is a reworking of the legend of the Flying Dutchman. A wild and slightly crazy lady (Ava Gardner) is flighty and, well, rather nuts. When a sailboat nears her home in Spain, she impulsively swam naked out to the boat and meets a man (James Mason) after she wraps herself up in a bit of canvas. He seems VERY preoccupied and moody--and is working on a painting that looks a bit like Gardner (though I didn't think it looked nearly as close as the film said). She is clearly intrigued by this new man and wants to spend much time with him.

A bit later, Gardner's friend (Nigel Patrick) shows the moody dude something written in 17th century Dutch--and Mason seems to be able to read it with ease. That's because it is, in fact, his own personal memoirs! It seems he's the famous Flying Dutchman and the paper explains how he came to be cursed to wander the seas alone for eternity--unless, and this is weird, he can get a lady to agree to die for him. You also learn that Gardner is some sort of reincarnated version of the lady Mason murdered--hence, cursing him to his fate.

"Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" is a lovely film, as the color stock used is quite nice and makes the leading lady (Gardner) look her best. However, it's far from a perfect film and it wasn't exactly my type of film--even though I love older films. The film has two problems for me. First, it's an odd choice having the British actor James Mason play a person who is Dutch. It just didn't seem convincing--much as I love Mason in films. Second, the film took brooding to new heights--with LOTS of pained looks. And, third, the film seemed a bit talky--and I would have preferred a bit more action and romance. Worth seeing but far from a must-see.

By the way, wasn't the murder a bit reminiscent of "Othello"? Just thinking...

Many a man might give up just about anything for a tumble with Ava Gardner. But what would Ava give up, would she give it all up for a man she truly loved?

That questioned is answered if not to everyone's complete satisfaction in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman. Ava's character of Pandora Reynolds, cabaret singer and jet-setter is a trial run for her later role of Lady Brett Ashley in The Sun Also Rises.

She's a cool one Ava, one guy commits suicide over her, Nigel Patrick trashes a perfectly good car to prove something to her, even Harrold Warrender who has a sort of Van Helsing like role is not immune to her beauty and charm.

But the guy who's really taken with her is James Mason, the legendary Flying Dutchman. He's been cursed for about 300 years to sail the seas in search of a woman who would lay her life down for him. He gets to port once every seven years to search and he's put in on the northern coast of Spain this time.

The color photography by Jack Cardiff is nice, the scenery is almost as beautiful as Ava. But I think for this film to work, a more innocent type rather than the worldly Ms. Gardner would have to have been written into the story.