The Cinematheque

“Shot in Greece’s Aegean Sea and environs, with the interiors filmed in Rome’s Cinecitta Studios, Boy on a Dolphin [from the novel by David Divine] develops into a ​‘chase’ that is a pleasant blend of archaeological research, quasi-cloak and dagger stuff, and earthy primitive acquisitiveness.”

Abel Green, Variety

A 23-year-old Sophia Loren, in her English-language debut, plays Phaedra, an island-dwelling sponge diver who finds an ancient Greek statue on the bottom of the Aegean Sea. As two lovers vie for her affection—an honest archaeologist (Alan Ladd) and her village boyfriend (Jorge Mistral)—an unsavoury treasure seeker (scene-stealing Clifton Webb) plots to make off with the priceless artifact. The first Hollywood film to be shot on location in Greece, specifically the island of Hydra, this adventure romance is pure kitsch pleasure from first to last frame. With an Oscar-nominated score by Hugo Friedhofer, masterful and sumptuous CinemaScope photography by Milton Krasner, and direction by veteran Jean Negulesco, an early master of widescreen composition and staging. Greek dancing by Dora Stratou, famed folkloric scholar and enthusiast.

The opening-night screening of Boy on a Dolphin on March 13 will be introduced by curator Harry Killas and preceded by a 7:00 pm reception, sponsored by Omega Travel.