Which 1951 fantasy film stars Ava Gardner as Pandora Reynolds, a woman connected to the legend of the Flying Dutchman?

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is the 1951 fantasy film starring Ava Gardner as Pandora Reynolds.

The film combines the Pandora name with the much older legend of the Flying Dutchman, a doomed ghost ship condemned to sail forever. Gardner plays Pandora Reynolds, an American woman living on the Spanish coast who becomes involved with Hendrik van der Zee, played by James Mason.

Albert Lewin directed the film, which uses romantic fantasy, mythic symbolism, and elaborate color cinematography. Its story is not a direct retelling of Hesiod’s Greek account. Pandora Reynolds is a modern fictional character, and the film’s central supernatural legend concerns the Flying Dutchman rather than the opening of a jar.

That distinction prevents a common mix-up: the film title borrows Pandora’s name and its associations with fate and mystery, but it is not the same work as the 2008 Turkish drama Pandora’s Box or the 1929 German film Pandora’s Box.