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Directed by Albert Lewin
UK 1951
Pandora and The Flying Dutchman is writer, producer and director Albert Lewin's lushly romantic Technicolor visualisation of the often-told legend of the sea. A glamorous Ava Gardner is Pandora, who falls hard for the charismatic James Mason as Hendrik, a 17th-century seaman eternally condemned to sail the oceans. Ava Gardner stars as Pandora Reynolds, a predatory creature who destroys the lives of all men who've been unfortunate enough to fall in love with her. Enter Hendrick van der Zee (James Mason), a mystical figure who proves to be Pandora's match. It turns out that van der Zee is the legendary 17th Flying Dutchman, whose spirit is doomed to wander the earth until he is able to find a woman willing to love him with all her heart -- and thereby sacrifice her own life. *** The story is centered on two mythical archetypes--Pandora (Gardner), an American chanteuse in a small colony of expatriates in Esperanza, a village on Spain’s Costa Brava circa 1930, who lures men to their doom, and the Flying Dutchman (Mason), a mysterious and taciturn sea captain who arrives one day. Condemned many centuries ago for the murder of his innocent bride and for blasphemy, he’s obliged to sail alone in his ship for all eternity unless he finds a woman willing to die for him. (This film is almost precisely contemporary with Orson Welles’ Othello From Jonathan Rosenbaum's article for DVDBeaver located HERE Posters Theatrical Release: February 21st, 1951 ReviewsMore ReviewsDVD Reviews Comparison: Kino - Region FREE - Blu-rayvs. Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Bonus Captures: Coming to Blu-ray in the UK by Screenbound in April 2022: Pandora: 2:03:57.250 The Living Idol: 1:41:02.473 1. Disc Size: Feature: Video Bitrate: 29.953 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Pandora: 1. Disc Size: Feature: 30,992,357,376 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.00 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video The Living Idol: Disc Size: Feature: Video Bitrate: 26.00 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. Pandora: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1622 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1622 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) The Living Idol: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1557 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1557 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) 1. Disc Size: Feature: Video Bitrate: 29.953 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Vintage (1947) documentary El Torero de Cordoba (17:26 in HD!) Chapters 16 Pandora: 1. Disc Size: Feature: 30,992,357,376 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.00 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video The Living Idol: Disc Size: Feature: Video Bitrate: 26.00 Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Alternate Opening Credits (2:28) •The Living Idol trailer (1:44) Chapters 12 / 10 NOTE:The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The Kino 'full resolution' captures are lost. ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2020): Cohen Media have transferred Albert Lewin's magical 1951 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman to their own Blu-ray. Plus they have added a second disc of the director's 1957 rarely-seen The Living Idol on it's own single-layered Blu-ray (see captures at the bottom of this review.) We always had some suspicions about Kino's 10-year old Blu-ray of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman and the claims that it was "... extensively improved 35mm Technicolor restoration (presented by The Film Foundation, George Eastman House & Douris UK Ltd.)" David told us in email about the Kino Blu-ray: "The whole image to me looks "wrong" in the new transfer. Jonathan Rosenbaum ahs also commented questioning the lightiness of the image compared to his memories of it in 35mm. Overall I get the impression this is a restoration which seems to have been done on the cheap, or with far from ideal elements (I.e. no three strip negs or even YCM seps) from which to rebuild a new internegative. Things like the ugly green of sea shots and the weird shade of nursery pea green on the walls of the villa which are contrasted with various reds and lilacs simply don't like like the sorts of things Cardiff would shoot, unless he were going for a sense of menace in the sequences, but the primary color values in this transfer feel "dirty" to me and the entire image throughout seems to have an undercoat of bleaching. I have to say I believe the Park Circus (which IS fixed Region B) is identical to the Kino. " (Thanks David!) The Cohen Blu-ray also states "Restored by George Eastman House in cooperation with The Douris Corporation. But they also add: "The color grading of this 2019 PANDORA & THE FLYING DUTCHMAN restoration is significantly different from previous home video releases. Technicolor historians at the George Eastman Museum used a vintage 1951 dye-transfer Technicolor print from Martin Scorsese's personal collection and a period 16MM IB Technicolor print for color reference in order to more closely replicate the true look of an original release print. No digital sharpening was utilized. So what we see is that the beginning 10+ minutes of the Cohen 1080P HD presentation is bathed in yellow-golden hues (which I cannot account for there accuracy), but the rest of the presentation is highly notable for its bolder colors and richer contrast. Interiors may have a shade of blue-green leaning but overall it looks magnificent - a huge step-forward from the 2010 KinoBlu-ray with brighter and more vibrant colors. It does appears to be slightly cropped on the right and bottom edges showing a sliver more on the left side. In side by side comparison the Kino looks vertically stretched (thinner faces) with the Cohen offering a slightly different appearance. I lean to the Cohen being more accurate. Texture seems less-prominent - related to background and looking a shade clunky, but I see no evidence of digitization. Pandora and the Flying Dutchman does have the cinematography of the great Jack Cardiff. NOTE: We have added 86 more high resolution (1920 X 1080)Blu-raycaptures of Pandora and The Flying Dutchman and 42 high resolutionBlu-raycaptures of The Living Idol (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver PatronsHERE On their Blu-ray, Cohen, strangely, offer only a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit) in the original English language. The film had mono and that should have, at least been an option. The faux surround is not a distraction and there is some depth in the car scenes on the beach. It is another advancement in the film's audio and score by Alan Rawsthorne (The Captive Heart, The Man Who Never Was) plus the beautiful How Am I to Know? sung by Ava Gardner at the piano is marvelous. Some may recognize the Sailor's Song based on "Canticas de Santa Maria" and Chopin'sEtude #1 In A Flat, Op. 25/1, CT 26. All sounding quite rich and consistent. Where the Kino offered no subtitles there are optional English (SDH) subtitles on the Cohen Region 'A' Blu-ray. The Cohen Blu-ray has some of the same supplements as the Kino; the 17-minute Death of Manolete documentary - recounting the career of Manuel Rodriguez Manolete, the celebrated Spanish Bullfighter who was the inspiration for the ill-fates character Montalvo in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman. Cohen also offer the alternate opening credits sequence, and original, 'Hedda Hopper' and restoration trailers plus a restoration comparison but, sadly, no commentary. I can image that many would love to dive into the unspoken meanings while simultaneously interpreting the mythologies present in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman. There is the second Blu-ray of The Living Idol. It is also restored but has light scratches and speckles in most frames (see the very bottom of this review for more flagrant - but frame-specific damage.) Other than that The Living Idol - a mystery / horror - is a very odd-but-cool film and looks pretty decent in 1080P. I had never seen it before. Plenty of depth and great colors in the 2.35:1 widescreen. There is a trailer as an extra and it also offers optional English subtitles. The Cohen package offers a 12-page leaflet with color photos, chapter stops and notes on the restoration. Albert Lewin's magical and mysterious Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is a timeless film. It has Ava Gardner at her most beautiful - captured angelically by Jack Cardiff's camera. The film offers one of the more unique stories of its (or any) era. It stands as a mythological-romance -fantasy of which there are few to compare. The new Cohen restoration Blu-ray Gary Tooze Kino - Region FREE - Blu-ray Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION NOTE: Sadly, the Kino 'full resolution' captures are lost. Subtitle Sample - Cohen Media - Region 'A' -Blu-ray 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) 1) More full resolution(1920 X 1080)Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaverPatreon Supporters HERE Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray2 (The Living Idol) Directed by Albert Lewin Supernatural romantic drama about a girl of Indian blood who is troubled by racial memories of sacrifice to the jaguar-spirit of evil. *** Filmmaker Albert Lewin's fascination with erotic exotica reaches a pinnacle in The Living Idol. James Robertson Justice plays Dr. Alfred Stones, an archeologist working in Mexico. It is Dr. Stones' contention that Indian maiden Juanita (Lilliane Montevecchi) is the reincarnation of an Aztec princess, sacrificed centuries earlier to appease the "jaguar gods". To prove his thesis, the good doctor lets loose a jaguar to see what happens when it sinks its claws into poor Juanita. Posters More full resolution(1920 X 1080)Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaverPatreon Supporters HERE Damage Marks (CLICK to ENLARGE) Bonus Captures: Coming to Blu-ray in the UK by Screenbound in April 2022: Search DVDBeaver
Box Cover Distribution Kino - Region FREE - Blu-ray Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Runtime 2:03:34.073 Video Bitrate Kino Pandora Blu-ray: Bitrate Cohen Pandora Blu-ray: Bitrate The Living Idol Blu-ray: Audio LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Subtitles None English (SDH), None Features Release Information:
Studio: Kino
• Alternate opening titles (2:26 - unrestored in HD!)
• Restoration Comparison (5:49 in HD!)
• Stills Gallery (Film and Production)
• Trailers (U.S., U.S. abridged, UK restoration re-release 2010 in HD!)
Blu-ray Release Date:
Standard Blu-ray Case Release Information:
Studio: Kino
• Hedda Hopper Trailer (3:00)
• Original Trailer (2:02)
• Restoration Trailer (0:55)
• Restoration Comparison (4:51)
• Death of Manolete (17:27)
Blu-ray Release Date:
Transparent Blu-ray Case inside cardboard sleeve
Comments:
Restoration funded by The Film Foundation, the Rome Film Festival, and the Franco-American Cultural Fund (a partnership of the Directors Guild of America, Societe des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Writers Guild of America, West). "
2019 restoration completed by Cohen Film Collection, with the support of OCS.
Additional color correction and digital clean-up performed by The Eastman Museum. Special thanks to Prasad Corp. and Audio Mechanics for their assistance with this restoration."
2) Kino - Region 1 NTSC - NTSC SECOND
3) Kino - Region FREE - Blu-rayTHIRD
4) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Kino - Region 1 NTSC - NTSC SECOND
3) Kino - Region FREE - Blu-rayTHIRD
4) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
2) Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
Mexico / USA 1957
Box Cover Distribution Kino - Region FREE - Blu-ray Cohen Media - Region 'A' - Blu-ray S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r