Impartial films had been not an invention of Sundance, they existed in the golden age Hollywood as well, and one of the most uncommon, and the most gorgeous, was 1951’s “Pandora and the Traveling Dutchman.” It was directed by Albert Lewin and starred James Mason and, wanting primarily wonderful, Ava Gardner in a pleasantly surreal supernatural tale of a cursed sea captain and a heedless younger lady who life only for satisfaction. Or so she thinks.
Gardner seemed as photogenic as she did since “Pandora’s” cinematographer was the fantastic Jack Cardiff, popular for works like “Black Narcissus,” and since the