Boy on a Dolphin (1957)
Phaedra is a poor sponge diver on the lovely Greek isle of Hydra. While diving, she discovers an ancient brass and gold statue of a boy riding a dolphin, which is said to have the magical power to grant wishes. Her shiftless boyfriend wants to sell it to an unscrupulous art collector, but Phaedra wants to give it to anthropologist Jim Calder, who would return it to the Greek government.
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Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
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The Age of Commercialism
It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Sophia Loren is the key to this whole film and whatever you experience with it. Her natural acting gifts, screen presence, beauty and overall pulchritude are remarkable. View it to experience the phenomenon of Sophia. Everything else I am about to write is secondary, but here you are:The location is attractive as is the lovely theme song. Clifton Webb is notable of course. The story is sort of "An American sojourns in Greece" with nice scenery and water and a cute kid. Its inoffensive and OK 1950's fare.As for Ladd, he is giving his competent leading man performance that he did on a sort of standard basis, always in his quiet underplayed manner. He's adequate.Ladd was taller than Robinson, Cagney and numerous others. Paul Newman was often unfairly called "short". Ingrid Bergman was an inch taller than Bogart yet who taunts Bogart about "Casablanca"? Here are the 2 real issues :(1)- Sophia is a tall woman, taller than her own husband Carlo Ponti, and she towers over many male actors in most of her movies. She is a half inch taller than was Humphrey Bogart (she never made a movie with him so we don't know if he would have stood on a box). (2)- Sophia was half Ladd's age! The problem in this film is mostly the tremendous age difference between an older, declining leading man and a vigorous, very young beginner actress. "Taunts" of Ladd's height then and now are missing the point: I believe that the veteran and savvy Ladd probably was rather disinterested as he realized something was awkward here but not height. He was wondering "what am I doing here in these scenes with this young chick half my age?" The following year Ladd made a film with 41-year old leading lady Olivia DeHavilland and it worked.So these are my theories but please keep them in perspective. "Boy on a Dolphin" is all about Sophia and all this other stuff is really only minor details.
Ladd and Webb compete in salvaging from undersea an ancient Greek statue of a boy on a dolphin. The movie is best seen as a travelogue of the Greek Isles that includes some stunning Technicolor sunsets. And for guys given to the Hollywood religion of mammary worship, there's goddess Sophia Loren in a wet T-shirt before there were wet T-shirts. Happily, these are natural sights to glory in, including the many colorful glimpses of local Greek customs. At the same time, forget the story, which is left to drift around rather aimlessly. I never could figure it out, probably because the thread is too often left to dangle. But I don't blame director Negulesco for preferring the natural attractions to a limp narrative.The usual knock on the movie is miscasting the diminutive Alan Ladd opposite the Amazonian Loren. But I doubt that even a towering masculine presence would have salvaged the badly strung out screenplay. Still, it's sort of fun in a perverse way to see how the camera finesses the height disparity, usually by having one or both sit during their conversations together. Whatever, he lacked in height, however, Ladd could project a strong presence when necessary, which unfortunately doesn't appear the case here.All in all, it's an over-long two hours strictly for fans of the Greek Isles and the early Loren.
Sophia Loren vibrates and pouts through this film in a manner I'm sure was intended to be sexy, but isn't. She tries to convey earthy sensuality but can't carry it off. It's an embarrassing and tacky performance with a lot of shouting, odd body postures, and ridiculous extremes of emotional response. Alan Ladd, on the other hand, could use a little of Loren's extremism. He is even more wooden than usual, and that's saying a lot. He also appears bloated and heavily made up, especially around the eyes. Clifton Webb gives the only good performance in Boy On a Dolphin, but unfortunately Webb doesn't have enough screen time to save the film. The copy I saw was not of sufficient quality for me to really appreciate the much-vaunted scenery and color photography, so I can't comment on them. Clifton Webb always is worth watching, but otherwise Boy on a Dolphin is a pretty weak effort.
The best excuse to watch again this long forgotten film of the late 50s is the exquisite and gorgeous Sophia Loren. What a beautiful woman; a sight for sore eyes indeed!The Jean Negulesco film shows its age. This film has a little bit of adventure, love story, suspense with the backdrop of Hydra, one of the most enchanting Aegean islands. The film might look a bit outdated to today's audiences, but it's fun to watch Alan Ladd and Clifton Webb doing their best out of roles that don't require much acting. Sophia Loren is perfect as the sponge fisher who discovers a hidden treasure.I saw this movie recently on cable. It was a trip to another, more innocent era.