Boy on a Dolphin

source: Boy on a Dolphin

Trailer—Boy on a Dolphin

Sophia Loren's dancing partner was Dimitris Pantermarakis ( Dimitris Maras) who is also a Greek actor. The scene was taken in the island of Hydra. The choreography was from Yannis Flery along with the Dora Stratou's folklore ballet. At the time Dimitris was a reserve officer serving the Greek army. The film company requested Dimitris to go back to America with them, unfortunately that was not possible due to his army service. So he lost the opportunity an artist hopes for in a lifetime. The film was top notch. After the army Dimitris Maras Pantermarakis went on a very successful tour all over Europe working in many theaters, TV and motion pictures. Photos are available.

Wow! What a wonderful film! This is the kind of adventure that takes you to another world, with all the best the film industry has to offer in every aspect. Aside from the great acting, directing, editing, and locations, the photography is most certainly one of the stars of this captivating realm. The magical music score of Hugo Friedhofer is haunting and lingers in the mind long after the film. In fact, I bought the film soundtrack years ago and still love it today! I found a source on the Internet to order a DVD of this classic adventure and urge film lovers take a ride. Enjoy!

Miscast, misfired adventure has Sophia Loren playing a Greek skin-diver (!) who comes across the title-named sunken treasure just off the Greek Islands. Soon, two Americans--an archaeologist and a wealthy art collector--are vying for the prize, and Loren finds herself playing both sides: one man for the money, the other man for love. Rarely have I seen a picture so full of pretty ambiance and yet so dead at its core. The music and locations--as well as Sophia's figure--are all gorgeous, but this story is lost at sea. Alan Ladd, looking bloated with gimlet eyes, never connects with mercurial Sophia, who initially is in a constant rage (she snaps at everybody, even the doctor taking a nail out of her leg). It's a shame this film doesn't work, the beauty of the Aegean Sea is worth beholding. The dim script, from David Divine's novel, needed more bite, and the lazy direction needed more zest. Perhaps Sophia should have directed? ** from ****

Enjoyed this 1957 film dealing with a sunken treasure and all kinds of people trying to locate the item and hid it at the same time from everyone else involved. This film was a big hit with Sophia Loren,"Firepower",'79, who was very young and attractive and gave an outstanding performance. Alan Ladd, (Dr. James Calder),"Two Years Before The Mast",'46, was playing the game of trying to find the treasure also, however, he became romantically involved with Sphia Loren who was very much younger than he was. Clifton Web, "Satan Never Sleeps",'62, gave a great supporting role as a rich painter and yacht owner. Enjoyable film to view, especially when two great film stars were starring together.

This film was one of 1957's top grossers mainly due to the fact that in those years the public wanted exotic European location shooting and the film certainly does a good job of showing Greece and Sophia Loren who is ravishing.The story is a thriller.Alan Ladd plays a archaeologist ,Sophia a poor sponge diver and Clifton Webb an unscrupulous collector of art.The plot is not really that important.What counts is the scenery and Sophia.Alan Ladd whom I have always considered as a very good actor, but underrated by critics does a good job,like always(he always tried his best), all the more so that his partner was really very much taller than him and he suffered from that.I don't understand why everybody made so much fuss about Alan Ladd's size.He was just as short or tall as Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney or even George Raft.The film is very enjoyable.

Clifton Webb and Alan Ladd are two competitive archaeologists in Greece, and when a girl from the islands present them with an opportunity, they get stuck on Sophia Loren more than on her findings. They are British and American, one with money, the other without, but Sophia is all Greek, and this film is all Greece in all its glory, Sophia matching it perfectly, as the best illustration and promotion Greece could ever get at the time. The colours are glorious, especially the underwater scenes are miraculous in their exploration, reminding of Jacques-Yves Costeau's and Louis Malle's "The Silent World" the year before, and the story is likeable enough, with the boy (Sophia's brother) acting as a deus ex machina, and the dyspeptic doctor (Laurence Naismith), who actually is the best actor of them all. I saw this film as a child and always wanted to see it again, but I had to wait for 60 years... but what a rewarding fulfillment!

Ah, yes! Who can forget that image of Sophia, climbing aboard a small fishing vessel, her peasant blouse opulently revealing why she first became a movie star? 20th-Century Fox wisely featured a snippet of that scene in "Previews of Coming Attractions" for this film when it was first being distributed. The production itself benefits hugely from the gorgeous locations of its story and the Hollywood professionalism of everyone assigned to it. All that, plus Julie London lending her breathy vocalizing to the lovely title song. One of the things I recall about it was Sophia's retort when asked how much would be sufficient compensation for the ancient treasure she'd found under the Aegean. "For me, plenty of money is enough!" How convincingly she delivered that line and how lucky we've been ever since that her stardom led to many better displays of her talents. Where, oh! where is the DVD (CinemaScope ratio preserved, s'il vous plait!) of this sunken treasure?

I saw this film on network TV sometime in the late 1960s. It seems to NEVER be shown. I found it very involving and suspenseful (even with many commercial interruptions). Sophia Loren never looked better, Alan Ladd makes a good foil for Clifton Webb's dry wit. Beautiful location photography. Worth waiting for; a highly watchable film.