THE ROVING PECKER PRESENTS: "The Errant Goddess And Her First Taste of Freedom (Part One)" By SpiceDong!
Greetings, Manor Hors! Periodically, "The Roving Pecker" presents urgent missives from
In 1950, Tossa de Mar, a then sleepy fishermen village in The Costa Brava of Spain, was put on the map when an A-list Hollywood production landed on its shores. This spectacular stretch of Mediterranean coast a few miles north of Barcelona was to be the backdrop for “Pandora & The Flying Dutchman," the film by Albert Lewin starring British actor James Mason and Hollywood’s rising femme fatale, Ava Gardner.
The cost of filming in Spain at the time was very low, and it was also a way for MGM, Ava’s home studio, to put some distance between her and the still-married Frank Sinatra, as they were hoping the scandal of their budding romance would die down in the press. Little did they know that the drama off-screen would soon rival the movie's plot. It was Miss Gardner’s first trip abroad. She flew from New York, and after a few days in London and Paris, the North Carolina native arrived in Spain. From the moment she landed she was hooked.
The first in the line up was bullfighter Mario Cabré. A costar in the film and first-class clinger, Mario became so entranced by Ava that he even wrote and published a book of poems about her (some included here). Since Ava was in love with Frank - who was still trying to divorce his wife - she thought of Mario as a welcome distraction. However, Mario, pictured below in a publicity still with Ava, had other ideas and would not stop talking to the Spanish press about his love for her.
More importantly, this experience gave way to one of the more interesting parts of her peripatetic life that rarely gets talked about, one where she broke convention, asserted her independence from men, the press and the tyrannical studio system, learned a new language and immersed herself in a culture that she loved. A few years after shooting "Pandora," Ava would shockingly leave Hollywood and move to Spain. To be continued...
Photo credits: MGM, Getty Images, Cohen Media Group
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