Boy on a Dolphin (TCF 1957, Alan Ladd, Sophia Loren)

Statuesque Italian screen goddess Sophia Loren made her American movie debut in glossy romantic adventure Boy on a Dolphin, playing a Greek sponge diver who discovers a potentially valuable statue during one of her dives. Everyone on the island of Hydra (where much of the film was shot) wants a piece of the artifact, including Loren’s unscrupulous boyfriend (Jorge Mistral), a wealthy American art dealer (Clifton Webb) and a principled American archaeologist (Alan Ladd), with whom Loren begins a romance. Gorgeous cinematography by Milton Krasner and a lyrical score by Hugo Friedhofer are added highlights.

Planning Boy On a Dolphin’s love scenes between statuesque Sophia Loren and five-foot-five Alan Ladd required some ingenuity; in several such scenes, Loren had to stand in a trench to make Ladd seem taller.

production details
USA | Twentieth Century Fox | 111 minutes | 1957

Director: Jean Negulesco
Producer:Samuel G. Engel
Cinematography: Milton Krasner
Editor: William Mace
Music: Hugo Friedhoefer
Script: Ivan Moffat, Dwight Taylor

cast
Alan Ladd as Dr. James ‘Jim’ Calder
Laurence Naismith as Dr. Hawkins
Sophia Loren as Phaedra
Clifton Webb as Victor Parmalee
Alex Minotis as Milidias Nadapoulos
Jorge Mistral as Rhif
Piero Giagnoni as Niko
Gertrude Flynn as Miss Dill