tomsview "Boy on a Dolphin" looks fabulous. It was shot for the most part in the Greek Isles and if ever there was a film that did justice to Cinemascope it's this one. It has one of the most beautiful music scores for a film ever. It also has Clifton Webb, who like George Sanders could lift any movie he was in. And then it has 22-year-old Sophia Loren, also doing justice to the Cinemascope process in a wet, figure-clinging dress - diving into the sea, swimming under the sea and climbing out of the sea - the Production Code people back in Hollywood must have been on holidays when that footage came up for review. It stars Alan Ladd. This was toward the end of his career, but we saw a lot of him in the 1950's. He has an easy assurance here although it's sad watching him knowing that he was gone a few years later aged only 50. Sophia Loren plays Phaedra who dives for sponges off her loser boyfriend's boat. When she discovers an ancient statue she tries to change their fortunes by selling it to a ruthless collector of antiquities, Victor Parmelee (Clifton Webb). However an honest American archaeologist Dr. James Calder (Alan Ladd) steps between Phaedra and Parmelee and also between Phaedra and her boyfriend.This was Sophia's first movie in English and she plays the whole thing in a fairly shrill manner, she is much better when she is diving into, swimming under or climbing out of the sea etc. However, it's hard to take your eyes off her. I first saw this film back in 1957 at age 10, an era when the thought of sex education made everyone feel uncomfortable, but I'm sure Sophia in this film helped set my gender preferences for the future. The music was by Hugo Friedhofer, and orchestral colour was his forte (he had orchestrated for Steiner and Korngold). He was brilliant at incorporating folk music and instruments into his symphonic scores. Here he infused his score with Greek music and gave the whole thing an ethereal quality - just listen to the music that accompanies Parmelee on the road to the Metoria Monastery.Watching "Boy on a Dolphin" is always a happy experience for me, nostalgia plays a part of course, but then again, what's not to like?

lastliberal Hugo Friedhofer's musical score, the enchanting beauty of Greek islands, and the incredibly luscious Sophia Loren combine to make this film memorable despite the thin story.Alan Ladd steps out of the saddle to play an archaeologist that is determined to preserve Greek treasures for Greece. Too bad he wasn't around to save the Elgin marbles. He teams with Sophia Loren to retrieve "The Boy on a Dolphin" and kept the evil Clifton Webb (three Oscar nominations) from spiriting it out of the country.Sophia Loren was only 23 when this film, which is almost as old as I am, was made. Those who have never seen her in her prime would do well to see what you fathers lusted after when your mother wasn't looking. If all you've seen is Grumpier Old Men, you may wonder what all the fuss was about.As a bit of trivia, she was required to walk in a trench in this film in order to give audiences the impression that her diminutive co-star, Alan Ladd, was taller than she.Not to dismiss Loren, the beauty of the Greek islands where this was film equals her allure to me. A film made in Greece is always worth watching, especially one that shows it before it was ruined by tourism.

Gilbert BURBACH 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.

moonspinner55 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 ****