Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 14, 2010

Albert Lewin's "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" (1951) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Park Circus. The supplemental features on the disc include the vintage short film "Death of Manolete" (1947); alternate opening title sequence; trailers; and photo galleries. In English, without optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Ava Gardner as Pandora Reynolds

I’ll take Albert Lewin’s Pandora and the Flying Dutchman over just about everything else the wizards at Hollywood create these days. This film may not be as flashy and packed with CGI effects like most recent blockbusters are, but visually it is absolutely stunning.

The story of Lewin’s film should be a familiar one: The cursed Dutchman (James Mason, A Star is Born, Heaven Can Wait) is told that he must find a woman who would love him so much that she would be willing to die for him if he is to finally find peace. After years of traveling the seven seas, the Dutchman arrives in Esperanza, a small Spanish town, where he encounters the beautiful nightclub singer Pandora Reynolds (Ava Gardner, The Night of the Iguana). But other men are already in love with Pandora - Reggie (Marius Goring, Little Girl in Blue Velvet), a disillusioned alcoholic; Stephen Cameron (Nigel Patrick, Breaking the Sound Barrier), a wealthy and ambitious racecar driver; and Juan Montalvo (Mario Cabré, Marta), Spain’s most famous bullfighter - and are convinced that no one can love her like they can. As the Dutchman and Pandora begin seeing each other, archeologist Geoffrey Fielding (Harold Warrender, Ivory Hunter), one of Pandora’s closest aristocratic friends, tells her about an unusual manuscript he has discovered.

Lewin’s Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is a visual feast that should appeal to a wide range of viewers. It essentially tells three different stories, each with more than a few surprisingly good twists, in which romance, drama, and adventure are mixed to perfection.

Gardner looks stunning as Pandora. At times her relationship with the Dutchman seems strange but it remains free of the sugary sentimentality these types of films often suffer from. Some of the best scenes in the film are the ones where she struggles to read his mind. Pandora is typically in control with the men who have declared their love for her, but not the Dutchman.

Mason’s Dutchman looks mysterious, a man with many secrets and stories to tell. Though flashbacks from his past reveal early who he truly is, there is a lot about him that remains veiled in secrecy. When Pandora falls in love with him, he also begins to rediscover his past.

What makes Pandora and the Flying Dutchman a fascinating film, however, are not its characters and their stories. Rather, it is the unusual atmosphere it sustains – fantasy and reality are never truly too far apart from each other, effectively granting the film a fresh contemporary (for the 50s) look with distinctive classic qualities.

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman was lensed by cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who achieved legendary status for his work on such classics as Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, King Vidor’s War and Peace, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s The Barefoot Contessa, and Richard Fleischer’s The Vkings. And indeed, Cardiff’s elegant close-ups of the stunningly beautiful Gardner as well as the dreamy panoramic vistas from the Mediterranean are amongst the key reasons why one would want to see Pandora and the Flying Dutchman.

In 1951, director Lewin was nominated for DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures by the Directors Guild of America.

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Albert Lewin's Pandora and the Flying Dutchman arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Park Circus.

The high-definition transfer used for the UK Blu-ray release of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman appears to have been sourced from the same element used by Kino Video for the U.S. Blu-ray release of the film. There are, however, some minor differences between the two releases. For example, the UK release is a tiny bit darker, and with marginally weaker contrast levels. The U.S. release is brighter, and at times even somewhat sharper (mostly during the daylight scenes). There are some very small discrepancies in the color-schemes of the two releases as well; reds, for example, look more natural on the U.S. release, while on the UK release they appear to have been slightly boosted; blues are a lot more prominent on the UK release. Furthermore, both releases have color-pulsations, but I felt that they were slightly stronger on the UK release. The discrepancies between the two releases are fairly obvious if one uses a digital projector to test them. Lastly, both releases contain an equally big amount of small scratches and debris. All in all, I personally prefer the look of the U.S. Blu-ray release of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, but realize that the small discrepancies noted above most likely won't be as important to other people as they were to me. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0 (with portions of Spanish). For the record, Park Circus have not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The English LPCM is pleasing. It possesses a decent range of dynamics, and the dialog is always stable and easy to follow. Occasionally, some mild background noise is easy to hear, but its presence is never distracting. I also noticed some minor fluctuations with the high-frequencies, but again, they appear to have been inherited and do not affect seriously the integrity of the presentation. This said, the lack of optional English subtitles is indeed very disappointing.

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Alternate opening title sequence - this opening title contains a quote from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam instead of the prologue about the Flying Dutchman. (2 min, 1080p).

Death of Manolete (1947) - a vintage short film about legendary Spanish bullfighter Manuel Rodriguez Manolete. B&W. In Spanish, with embedded white English subtitles. (18 min, 1080p).

Trailers - three trailers: original Gedda Hopper trailer (3 min, 1080p); original black and white trailer (2 min, 1080p); and 2010 theatrical re-release trailer (2 min, 1080p).

Photo galleries - gallery of original production documents and a gallery of images.

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had the opportunity to compare this Blu-ray release of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman with the U.S. release, courtesy of Kino Video, and even though the two appear to have been sourced from the same element, the Kino Video release certainly looks a lot better. Though not perfect, the film is beautiful and very emotional. I really cannot imagine a better Pandora than Ava Gardner. RECOMMENDED.