Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 20, 2021

Albert Lewin isn’t an especially well remembered name in the annals of Hollywood history, despite the fact that he was closely associated with the legendary Irving G. Thalberg, and was an associate producer on a number of high profile films, including two iconic Academy Award winners, the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty and 1937’s The Good Earth. Lewin matriculated into both writing and directing, though not without a few bumps in the road, as he was evidently removed as director from another multiple Academy Award nominee, 1943’s Madame Curie, before it was completed. However, bookending that perceived failure were two more notable successes which Lewin both wrote and directed, 1942’s The Moon and Sixpence (Academy Award nominated for Dmitri Tiomkin’s lush score) and 1945’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (three Academy Award nominations, including one for Angela Lansbury as Best Supporting Actress, with cinematographer Harry Stradling actually winning the Oscar statuette). The co-star of several of these aforementioned films, George Sanders, reteamed with Lewin and Lansbury for 1947’s The Private Affairs of Bel Ami, which was not met with much success in either the critical or box office realms, which may explain at least in part the lapse between that film and Lewin’s next at bat, the patently odd 1951 melodrama Pandora and the Flying Dutchman. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman did at least relatively well, due in part to the then sensational appeal of Ava Gardner, but Lewin never really regained much momentum, helming only two more feature films, 1953’s Saadia and 1957’s The Living Idol. Kino Lorber released Pandora and the Flying Dutchman a few years ago in an edition that touted a new restoration, but Cohen has gone back at least somewhat to the drawing board to offer a new version, coupling the film with Lewin’s last directorial effort.

For reviews of the two films in this release, please click on the following links:

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman Blu-ray review

The Living Idol Blu-ray review

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

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

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

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

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

Supplemental features on each disc are detailed in the above linked reviews. Additionally, this is the relatively rare Cohen Film Collection release which offers an insert booklet with actual writing, in this case a very detailed accounting of the restoration by Anthony L'Abbate, Preservation Manager of the Moving Image Department at the George Eastman Museum.

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

This is a rather interesting double feature, though real cultists may actually be more interested in the hard to find The Living Idol than the previously released Pandora and the Flying Dutchman. The marquee film in this release does have manifestly different color timing than on the old Kino Lorber release, so those interested are encouraged to compare screenshots accompanying the reviews of the two versions. Recommended.