A beautiful 1951 fantasy. James Mason plays the Flying Dutchman-Hendrik van der Zee--who is doomed to sail the seas until he finds a woman who will die for him. He meets gorgeous Pandora Reynolds (Ava Gardner) who happens to look just like his dead wife...but he won't tell her he's a ghost. Naturally she falls for him.
The plot is predictable and silly (even for a fantasy) and the dialogue is terrible--people make speeches and verbalize ALL their feelings. The pace is also way too slow and they throw in a silly subplot about bullfighter Juan Motalvo (badly played by Mario Cabre). But the film is absolutely beautiful to watch. The colors are deep and rich and every frame is like a beautiful picture. Gardner and Mason were young and look impossibly beautiful. Some of their shots took my breath away! It was shot in Spain and the settings were gorgeous. Also it's beautifully directed and has a wonderful score. Gardner and Mason are as good as anyone can be in this and everybody else--save for Cabre--are very good. So it's beautiful to watch but the silly dialogue (no one talks like the people here) and slow pace made this hard to sit through.
The plot is predictable and silly (even for a fantasy) and the dialogue is terrible--people make speeches and verbalize ALL their feelings. The pace is also way too slow and they throw in a silly subplot about bullfighter Juan Motalvo (badly played by Mario Cabre). But the film is absolutely beautiful to watch. The colors are deep and rich and every frame is like a beautiful picture. Gardner and Mason were young and look impossibly beautiful. Some of their shots took my breath away! It was shot in Spain and the settings were gorgeous. Also it's beautifully directed and has a wonderful score. Gardner and Mason are as good as anyone can be in this and everybody else--save for Cabre--are very good. So it's beautiful to watch but the silly dialogue (no one talks like the people here) and slow pace made this hard to sit through.