Pandora And the Flying Dutchman (1951) A Surreal Brit Color Fantasy Woman's Noir

This was a real surprise.

I'd never heard of it, and didn't know what to expect. I was attracted to it just by some stills I saw of its cinematography. The pallet colors used were Edward Hopper-esque, a good sign. It has been referred to as being shot in "inflamed Technicolor," and the compositions were in both Dali and Giorgio de Chirico's surreal wheelhouse. 

This is going to be one of those films that will probably sit On The Cusp Of Noir. If you're visually perceptive you will pick up on the phototropic psychoactive visuals. If not, you are maybe scratching your heads. It's a Mystery, a Drama, a Fantasy, a Romance with a Dark Story, a Femme Fatale and flashbacks within flashbacks. It tips Noir.

Written and Directed by Albert Lewin (The Picture of Dorian Gray). It's origin they tell us, was based on some of the writings of  George Barrington, suggested by the Legend of The Flying Dutchman and also by a quotation by Omar Khayyam.

The excellent cinematography by Jack Cardiff (Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, The African Queen), and Music was by Alan Rawsthorne. 

The film stars James Mason (I Met A Murderer (considered the first Brit Noir), Odd Man Out, Caught, The Man Between) as Hendrik van der Zee, Ava Gardner (Whistle Stop, The Killers,The Bribe, The Night Of The Iguana) as Pandora Reynolds, Nigel Patrick (The Silk Noose, Wicked Wife, Sapphire) as Stephen Cameron, Sheila Sim as Janet, Harold Warrender as Geoffrey Fielding, Mario Cabré as Juan Montalvo, Marius Goring as Reggie Demarest, John Laurie as Angus, Pamela Mason (credited as Pamela Kellino) as Jenny, Patricia Raine as Peggy, and Margarita D'Alvarez as Señora Montalvo.

Story

We see an ocher beach stretch from a rocky headland. 

Waves rush up, break, and shoot white foam fans across rocks and the sloping sand. Superimposed over this we read: 

According to the legend,

The Flying Dutchman 

was condemned to wander the

seas eternally unless he 

Could find a woman who

Loved him enough to die

for him...

Esperanza (Hope), Spain. 1930. It's an imaginary, ancient world nexus of various civilizations for generations. 

Spanish fisherman pulling in their net also pull in the entwined bodies of Pandora Reynolds an American expatriate, and Hendrik van der Zee a Dutchman.

The boat beaching on a high tide with the grim catch becomes an attraction to the locals who flock to see the tragedy. A church bell peals for the dead. We get a shot through the bell tower, with the oscillating bell hiding and revealing the scene unfolding upon the beach. Up on a hillside Janet, the resident archeologist Geoffrey Fielding's niece peering through a spyglass, focuses on the commotion and alerts her uncle who is in his workroom fitting shards of pottery back together. 

He's been responsible for the recovery of the many ancient artifacts that dot Esperanza, the beach, and the hillsides of the area. Geoffrey looks down at the beach.  

They get into their Ford Model T car and drive down to investigate.

At the beach Geoffrey goes over to look at the dead, Janet however looks for the approach of Stephen. Janet has a crush on Stephen we deduce. She tries to prevent him from going to view the bodies.

Sheila Sim as Janet

He bypasses her. Laying aside the corpses is a copy of The Rubaiyat opened at the verse - "The Moving finger writes: And having writ moves on: nor all thy piety or wit shall lure it back or cancel half a line nor all thy tears wash out a word of it."

Geoffrey picks up the volume. We see next him bring it into his workplace/study up on hill. Here he puts it down and breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly towards the camera. He begins to tell us the story of what happened starting last March and we go into a flashback. 

Harold Warrender as Geoffrey Fielding,

We are transported to the Las Dos Tortugas cantina.  

The towns gitanos are performing for the locals and the members of a expatriate British enclave who live in the town and its surroundings. Upon a stage are seated together are the cantantes (singers), the guitarrista, and the bailarine and the bailarina. they are hand clapping and making their jaleos. Soon both the dancers are up and performing the baile. 

bailarine 

bailarina

the baile

Here is where we get introduced to most of our cast of characters.

Sitting among the Brits and watching the flamenco dancers is the gorgeous Pandora Reynolds an expatriate American nightclub singer from Indianapolis and points East. She is the social center of all male attention.

Ava Gardner as Pandora Reynolds

Marius Goring as Reggie Demarest

Nigel Patrick as Stephen Cameron with Janet

Reggie Demarest in a constant state of marination, and is drinking himself to oblivion, because Pandora, the object of his desire, wants nothing to do with him. Stephan Cameron is a world famous driver trying to breaks the land speed record. Janet, Geoffrey's niece who adores Stephen, along with two other ex-pats Jenny and Peggy. They are soon joined by Geoffrey.

When the flamenco performance finishes, Pandora goes to the upright piano and begins to play and sing. Reggie soon follows almost in a trance, a glass of wine in hand and his eyes riveted upon Pandora in puppy dog like devotion. 

While she is performing we see Reggie pull out something from his jacket pocket and drop it into his glass.

Reggie spiking his wine

When Pandora ends her piece Reggie asks her to marry him. 

Reggie: You sang that as if you meant it. 

Pandora: I do

Reggie: But not for me. 

Pandora: No Reggie not for you

Reggie: Stephen perhaps?

Pandora: No not for Stephen.

Reggie: For whom then?

Pandora: I don't know.

Reggie spiking his wine

Reggie: You haven't met him yet. [pause] Will you marry me?

Pandora: No Reggie. 

Reggie: I thought not. [He salutes her with his glass and guzzle's the rest of his wine down].

Pandora: Please don't drink anymore tonight.

Reggie: Not tonight or any other night. [turns away from Pandora and the piano and addresses the table of Brits on wobbly legs as he approaches] I know death has ten thousand doors from which men can make their exits, and they move on such strange geometrical hinges that they move both ways. Anyway I am out of your misery. [Corkscrews out of sight onto the floor]

Reggie's blurred drop to floor

This sequence has some nice camera work as we get Reggie's dying point of view.

The table all think that Reggie has passed out again, however when Geoffrey and Stephan go and check him out, they discover that he is quite dead. Pandora our femme fatale has claimed her first victim. 

She gets up and exits Las Dos Tortugas. Stephan follows. He stops Pandora on the long breakwater and asks her if she thinks Reggie did what he did because he found out about him and Pandora. She replies no, what happened "was between Reggie and me." 

This is an impressive shot that gives off one of the first surrealistic vibes in the film.

As they are conversing, Geoffrey passes, muttering that it will look better if they get a doctor. He walks down to the beach and drives off in his model T. 

Several days later Geoffrey, Janet and Stephan go to visit Pandora believing she has been mourning Reggie. 

They are surprised to find her roasting marshmallows. Janet chastises her, exclaiming that everyone knew about you a Reggie when you came down from London together. But Pandora replies she's basically relieved at his death and was getting bored of his depressions. 

Pandora Reynolds: Reggie was always talking about suicide. I coaxed him out of it night after night. I finally get fed up with alcoholic self-pity and threats of self-destruction. I was bored with it. It's over now and I'm not sorry. Anyhow, life is not important. 

Janet: Not when it's somebody else's life.

Here, Pandora replies by asking Janet is she can honestly say that Reggie death meant anything to her?

Janet doesn't answer and Pandora tells her that she is not honest because now that Reggie is out of the way she is worried that she will turn her sights on Stephen. 

She then turns and asks Stephen if he'll give her a ride oi that big car of his. Stephen agrees and they head off. 

Stephan's race car is a supped up Napier-Railton. They take it for a night drive on the beach and then climb along a sinuous cliff hugging road above the sea. 

They end up at an overlook, where Pandora spots a sailing ship riding at anchor. 

Pandora: There's a strange yacht in the bay.

Stephen : It doesn't take much to set you reeling. I suppose you imagine your destiny's on board that boat - along with Nelson or the Flying Dutchman.

Pandora: Who is the Flying Dutchman, Stephen?

Stephen: I haven't the vaguest idea.

This is our first view of The Flying Dutchman.

Stephan asks Pandora to marry him. Pandora tells Stephan only if he gives up something he values the most. She asks if he'd push his car off the cliff and into the sea for her? 

Stephan releases the handbrake and pushes the Napier-Railton off the bluff. Pandora watches as it drops straight down splashing into the water. into the water. 

Pandora agrees to marry him. They begin their walk back to Esperanza. 

Soon Geoffrey comes driving up explaining that watched their drive through his telescope, and he saw Stephan push the Napier-Railton drop into the sea. He figured they'd need a ride back. On they way back Geoffrey informs them that that overlook has a stone menhir showing that Celts had made it also to Esperanza. When they get back to Geoffrey's place, he's anxious to show Stephan more artifacts he's pulled up from the sea. 

As Geoffrey, Stephan, and Pandora walk up the path to the shed where Geoffrey houses some of the more precious finds, Pandora pauses and looks back at the sea and there she sees that the sail boat she spotted atop the cliff seems to be following her.

When Geoffrey and Stephan enter the shack, Pandora impulsively, turns and quickly heads down the trail past various relics pulled from the sea, to the beach. It's another surrealistic feeling shot. Out of sight below the bluff she strips naked, and when she finally comes back into view she is running towards the breakers. 

We cut to her in the water swimming out to the sailboat. We follow and when she nears the hull she treads water and calls out to anyone onboard. 

Pandora: Hello, there. Ahoy, there on deck. - - Hello, there! - - Hello. Sailor on watch, where are you? Is there nobody there?

Getting no reply she boards the vessel. On the deck she again calls "ahoy" but again gets no answer. She spots a piece of canvas that is covering a butterfly skylight. She gabs it to cover herself and removing it reveals Hendrik van der Zee in the cabin below painting on a canvas. Pandora enters the boat descending the companionway to the deck below. 

She calls out "hello." Hendrik looks around. They are riveted to each other. He finally replies that the dressing room is to her right, and she'll find a towel and a robe in the cupboard. 

Pandora reappears in a yellow robe and tell Hendrick that she is Pandora Reynolds, when Hendrick does finally reply Pandora is amused that he is a Dutch. She tells him that that's quite a coincidence.

When she approaches Hendrick and see's the painting that he is working on, she is startled to see that it is her face on her namesake ancient Pandora, darling of the Gods, the first human woman, holding the box which she was forbidden to open. When she did it ended earthly paradise in Greek Mythology, by letting loose all the evils that plague the world today. 

She exclaims that it's quite another coincidence. Hendrik replies it's even more of a coincidence that he painted her as mythological Pandora.

Pandora [looking at Hendrik's painting of her]:It's not me as I am at all. But it's what I'd like to be. [looking at Hendrik] Why am I not like that?

Hendrik: Perhaps because you're unfulfilled. Perhaps you've not found what you want. Perhaps you do not even know what you want, perhaps you're discontented. Discontent appeases itself by fury and destruction.

Pandora [suddenly angry]: Fury and destruction! Is that your opinion? Well perhaps I can find something here to destroy.

Hendrik: I have no doubt you will.

Pandora: Your painting of me, for example. Would you like me to destroy your painting?

Hendrik [calmly]: If it would help to quiet your soul.

Pandora:  How long have you worked at it?

Hendrik [still perfectly calm]: Does it matter?

Pandora: Is there any reason why I shouldn't remove my face from your painting, if I wish to?

Hendrik: None at all.

Pandora [picks up a palette knife]:Shall I do it then?

Hendrik: By all means.

Pandora uses the knife to scrape off the paint defacing the painting. Hendrik watches, and then calmly y comes over to look at the damage.

Pandora [stunned by his calmness]: Aren't you angry?

Hendrik: I was angry once long ago. I can never be angry again.

Pandora: You've made me feel quite ashamed. It's a new sensation, I'm not sure I like. 

Pandora turns away from the easel, and sits in a chair.

Hendrik: Pandora Reynolds - the secret goddess whom all men in their hearts desire.

We hear a motor boat and Stephan and Geoffrey calling Pandora's name. On the upper deck, Pandora introduces Geoffrey and Stephan to Hendrick. Mentioning that she and Stephan are engaged. As they leave in the boat Pandora invites Hendrick to dinner with them at the Hotel Isabella at 8:00 tomorrow night. 

Geoffrey in V.O, relates that the weeks that pasted he and Hendrick became friends and associates studying the relics recovered and translating ancient manuscripts. Stephan dredged the Napier-Railton out of the water and was rebuilding it for his next land speed record attempt. 

The later arrival of another of Pandora's old flames the matador Juan Montalvo sets up a three-way rivalry between Hendrick, Stephan, and Montalvo for Pandora.

Noirsville 

Albert Lewin and Jack Cardiff tell a surreal and enchantingly mysterious, tale that combines Dutch nautical legend and ancient mythology transported to a small village on the 1930s Spanish coast. The acting is excellent the cinematography, color pallet, compositions and  soundtrack transport you easily into Noirsville. I don't think Ava ever looked better. 9/10.