Review of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) by Erik G — 13 Nov 2010

When the film gives in to the roiling emotions that in some sense must guide a story centered on doomed love and self-sacrifice, one is immersed in the experience. But too often the film takes itself to the remove of a clinical narration that almost always is simply explaining the images already on the screen.

The problem, then, is a lack of trust in the power of the core material. Mason's and Gardner's scenes together and Mason's scenes alone showcase best what the movie could have been.