Greece
Before Its Time


If you can take your eyes off Sophia Loren's physique long enough while watching this movie, you'll see a Greek island before its time. Its "time" being the era of tourism, when Hydra changed forever.
"Boy on a Dolphin" was Loren's 1957 U.S. film debut. Based on a novel by the same name published in 1955, "Boy on a Dolphin" was shot in Black & White, on the mostly unknown island of Hydra. It starred a young Loren as Phaedra, a lovely Greek sponge diver. She has a conniving boyfriend. But she passes him over when an altruistic American archaeologist, played by Alan Ladd, comes on the scene.
Today the movie comes across as an outdated drama. And very unsophisticated. Which makes it funny, though it's not meant to be. Scene one: Boyfriend soaking up rays on fishing boat. Girlfriend holding breath under water, working frantically to gather sponges to bring aboard. Scene two: Girlfriend & boyfriend have heated quarrel on boat deck (Loren is an impassioned fighter) over how hard she works compared to him. "You go girl," is all we have to say!
The movie introduces us to the island as it was in the 1950's . A time before tourism became its chief industry. When fishing and sponging were the mainstay of its economic stability. (Although we hardly believe a woman would have had a sponge-diving job in the Greek, male-oriented society back then).
What you see is footage of the beautiful countryside & the harbor. A look at the humble dwellings people lived in. And the even humbler people (not all were actors) who lived a simple life back then, unexposed to the outer world beyond their shores. My how things have changed!
"Boy on a Dolphin" was very successful at the box office. Loren's popularity was the reason. And no doubt, when audiences saw the hinterland of Hydra, the film's location, it must have sparked a wanderlust. The movie definitely contributed to the newfound interest we had in discovering the Greek islands in general. The beginnings of tourism. Putting little Hydra & other Greek islands "on the map" for the world to see.
Before we went to Hydra, part of our research was to see the movie (it's in English). It's not easy to locate, but a good source is through www.moviehunter.tv We love old movies anyway. But "Boy on a Dolphin" is also a historic record, of sorts, of the old Hydra. It gave us some perspective of what it was like there before tourism. And an idea of what not to expect anymore.
Little did those movie-goers realize back in l957, that what they were looking at on the big screen would be a vacationer's haven one day. Or that the likes of Richard Branson, who owns a huge parcel of land there, is still trying to get permits to build his Hydra dream-resort. Fortunately, we've heard he's about ready to give up!