This long-lost classic is the latest to receive the digital remastering treatment, and it has scrubbed up very nicely indeed. After a theatrical re-release in May, it now comes out on dual-format DVD and Blu-Ray, and the cinematographer, the late Jack Cardiff, would be delighted with the results. The Technicolor photography looks simply stunning, every frame is a work of art and it almost distracts you from the fact the story is, well, mad.
Its not surprising that the film is heavy with sexual atmosphere, as it was the first Technicolor film for Ava Gardener. She is Pandora, a woman driving all of the men she comes near mad with desire. First of all poor Reggie (Goring) commits suicide when she rebuffs him, then playboy Stephen (Patrick) happily pushes the car he and Laurie have built to break the land speed record over the edge of a cliff, and a young matador is wounded by a bull trying to show off to her. Pandora is clearly revelling in her sexual hold over these men, but all that changes when a mysterious yacht appears in the ocean next to the Spanish village they all inhabit. The owner of that will be bald, old and fat, you wouldnt be interested, says Stephen boy is he wrong.
Pandora swims out to the yacht wearing nothing and discovers Hendrik Van der Zee (Mason) onboard. Not only does he seem to be expecting her, he has just painted a picture of her face. Baffled, she seeks the help of mythology expert Geoffrey, who tells the story of the flying Dutchman, a man cursed to roam the seas, only coming ashore once every seven years to look for a woman who will give her life for him.
The film then takes an even stranger turn, as Hendrik begins to translate Geoffreys ancient text, and appears as himself in the 17th century fable. It all gets very literary and odd, until we end up back in the present with the men still fighting over Pandora, while she apparently only has eyes for Hendrik.
Director and writer Albert Lewin was a literary man, big friends with Somerset Maugham, and his script gets way too bogged down in details and historical facts. However the real reason to see this is the visuals, restored to their splendour thanks to another marvellous revamping. The late great Jack Cardiff, who had a documentary about his work released recently on DVD (read our review of that here), is at his Technicolor best here, and in his element too he liked working with beautiful women, and Ava Gardener was certainly that. Several shots are works of shimmering beauty, and one, of Avas head lying at the top of a cliff with Masons yacht lit by the moon in the background, is literally breathtaking. Cardiff was also an amateur painter, and the painting Mason produces owes a huge debt to Magritte.
Cardiff was most famous for his work with Powell and Pressburger, and this can be seen as a companion piece to Black Narcissus, with which it shares a heady sexual tension and gorgeous visuals. Strangely the film also stars two P&P regulars, Goring, who commits suicide, and Sheila Sim, who gets to slap Gardener around the face through sheer frustration.
Overall verdict: As a story its a bonkers mess, as a visual treat its unequalled. A fascinating piece in the jigsaw of 1950s cinema.
Special Features:
Original Hedda Hopper trailer
Original black and white trailer
2010 re-release trailer
Vintage short film Death of Manolete (1946)
Alternative opening titles
Photo Gallery
Gallery of production documents
Reviewer: Mike Martin