Il ragazzo sul delfino

One of those movies from childhood you remember as an adult, if for nothing else then for the brilliant colors and underwater scenes. Although this may not be available on DVD as yet, it's a good candidate because of the Technocolor beauty of it all.

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.

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?

Certainly script writers Ivan Moffat and Dwight Taylor have done the best they could to arrange a fairly equal balance of nature and Sophia...

The Greek Isle of Hydra is one of the most cosmopolitan points in the Mediterranean, a dream world with a unique beauty... It appears like a huge dry rock rising out the sea with its tiled houses and buildings scaling the precipitous terrain, one on top of the other, starting from the quay and reaching up to the tops of the hill, while the victorious color scheme is Aegean (white green and bright blue), and the weather is Adriatic... The pretty port looks extremely picturesque, dramatically beautiful...

Director Jean Negulesco has thrown all the grandeur and loveliness of these features upon the eye-filling CinemaScope screen... But Alan Ladd's and the audience's attention is directed to Sophia who explodes beautifully into warmth, glamor, beauty and sex, through frequent and liberal posing of her in full and significant views... Her statuesque beauty reminds us what the Mediterranean can offer in grace and richness...

Diving in the Aegean Sea for sponges off Hydra, peasant girl Phaedra (Sophia Loren) discovers a golden statue of a boy riding a bronze dolphin, chained to the body framework of a wrecked ship... Together with Rhif (Jorge Mistral) her lazy fisherman lover, Niko (Piero Giagnoni) her little brother and an English doctor Hawkins (Laurence Naismith), she tries to look for a rich American sponsor for the raising of the sunken statue...

She had two alternatives: Dr. Jim Calder (Alan Ladd), a U.S archaeologist, devoted to return lost artifacts of great value to their home countries, and Victor Parmalee (Clifton Webb), an ambitious art collector, prepared to pay highly price to cool his insatiable desire for ancient treasures...

With striking photography of the Greek island, the sparkling sea, and the Parthenon, this entertaining film, with nice music by Takes Morakes, is another example of cinema ingenuity...

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.