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In
1930, in the Spanish coastal town of Esperanza, fishermen discover the
bodies of a drowned man and woman. As townspeople gather on the beach,
Englishman Geoffrey Fielding recalls events from the past six months.
In early March, Geoff finds an old Dutch
manuscript on the legend of the Flying Dutchman. That same night,
Geoff joins an international group of friends in a local tavern where Reggie
Demarest is celebrating the first anniversary of his meeting singer Pandora
Reynolds. American ex-patriot Pandora is fond of the brooding Reggie,
but he is obsessed with her and poisons himself in the restaurant.
English race car driver Stephen Cameron, with whom Pandora has been having
an affair, expresses guilt when Reggie collapses, but Pandora coolly walks
away, assuring Stephen that only she is to blame. Some of Reggie’s
friends think that Pandora is heartless, but Geoff knows she is not.
Several days later, he encourages Stephen to
take Pandora for a drive in his racing car, to the irritation of Geoff’s
niece, Janet, who is in love with Stephen. When the couple stops to
admire the view, they see a schooner offshore and Stephen jokingly says it
reminds him of the Flying Dutchman. Pandora tells Stephen to marry
Janet but, when he insists that he loves her, she promises to marry him if
he will push his car, his most precious possession, off the cliff.
Stephen does so, and Pandora says that she will marry him in six months.
Later, upon hearing what happened, Geoff
philosophically says that love is only worth what one is willing to give up
for it and answers Pandora’s questions about the Flying Dutchman. He
explains that, in the legend, the Dutchman was condemned to sail the earth
eternally. While Geoff and Stephen are talking, Pandora wanders away,
removes her clothes and swims nude to the schooner. Once onboard,
Pandora wraps herself in a canvas sail and approaches the salon, where a man
is painting. The man, who is Dutch, introduces himself as Hendrick van
der Zee and is amused when Pandora reveals her name, as he is painting a
portrait of the mythical Pandora. Pandora is startled that the woman
in the painting looks like her and, feeling inadequate, tries to ruin it.
Just then, Stephen and Geoff call out from a motorboat and Pandora leaves
with them, after making Hendrick promise to dine with them the following
night. Soon, Hendrick moves into a villa on shore and becomes part of
Pandora's circle.
_NRFPT_01_small.jpg) One evening, in late August, Hendrick stops by
to see Geoff’s manuscript, which he has promised to help translate.
Geoff is stunned when Hendrick seems to stop reading the manuscript and
recites it, as if from memory: in the 17th century, a wealthy captain
returns home from a voyage, eager to see his beautiful, young wife.
Gazing upon his sleeping wife, the captain is certain that she has been
unfaithful and kills her with his knife. When he is convicted of
murder, the captain lashes out and tells the judge that he could sail for
eternity and never find a faithful woman. The night before his
execution, the captain awakens and finds the door of his cell open. He
easily escapes and goes to his ship, which the crew is preparing to sail.
Falling asleep in his quarters, the captain has a dream in which a voice
tells him that his wife was never unfaithful. When he awakens, the
crew is gone and the captain realizes that in the courtroom he pronounced
his own sentence, to sail for eternity, landing every seven years for six
months to see if he can find a woman who will sacrifice her own life for
his. By the end of the story, Geoff knows that Hendrick is the
Dutchman of the legend and that his friend Pandora is the woman. Just
then, Pandora stops by and says that she will be married on the 3rd of
September. Hendrick replies that he must set sail on that day and
cannot attend.
A short time later, Juan Montalvo, Spain’s
greatest matador, returns to Esperanza, where he was born. Juan had
once been Pandora’s lover and tries to impress her and Hendrick with his
prowess at a private, midnight bullfight. Juan then takes Pandora to
the house of his mother, a gypsy who warns Juan to stop seeing Pandora and
his foreign friends.
The
next day, Stephen breaks the land speed record in a daring race, and the
town celebrates. At dinner, Janet drunkenly accuses Stephen of being a
fool and slaps Pandora. When Janet runs off, crying, Pandora tells
Stephen to go after her. The partygoers then go to the beach and
Pandora and Hendrick wander off alone and kiss. They are observed by
Juan, who becomes enraged when he hears Pandora speak of the deep love she
now feels for Hendrick. The tender moment is shattered when Hendrick
claims he is disgusted by her flirtation and leaves.
As her wedding day approaches, Pandora confides
in Geoff, who knows the sacrifice Hendrick is making, but says nothing.
A week before the wedding, Juan goes to Pandora to propose, but is so
aggressive that Pandora warns him not to solve his problems with violence.
Stung, Juan tells her that she will never marry Stephen because she loves
"the other one," who does not love her.
That night, when Hendrick returns to his villa,
Juan is hiding and throws a knife into his back, apparently killing him,
then kills the little dog that Pandora had given Hendrick. As soon as
Juan leaves, Hendrick awakens and bitterly prays to die so that Pandora can
live. Just then, she arrives, worried for his safety after dreaming
that he would be killed.
The next day, at a bullfight, when Juan goes in
for the kill, he sees Hendrick sitting next to Pandora and is so stunned
that he is repeatedly gored. Pandora goes to the dying Juan, who
confesses that he killed Hendrick and believes that God has punished him.
On the night of Stephen’s bachelor dinner,
Pandora visits Geoff, who she suspects knows the truth about Hendrick.
Geoff, who has been looking through his telescope at the schooner, has seen
the ship making itself ready to sail. Pandora tells Geoff about Juan’s
confession and she says that she will die if she does not see Hendrick
again. Thinking that it is now too late for her to stop Hendrick from
sailing, Geoff gives her a translation of the manuscript and leaves her
alone. After reading the tale, Pandora immediately swims out to the
schooner, where she and Hendrick reveal their love. As a violent storm
erupts, Pandora assures Hendrick that she is not frightened. Back on
shore, Geoff still ponders all that has happened as Janet comforts Stephen. |
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