You say he's only a statue

Sophia Loren posing with co-star Alan Ladd in front of the Erechteum in the 1957 film "Boy on a Dophin".

The film's plot revolves around the attempts by two competing individuals - an archaeologist and a wealthy art collector - to retrieve an ancient Greek statue of a boy riding a dolphin from the bottom of the Aegean Sea. Alan Ladd portrays the honest academic archaeologist, Dr. James Calder, whose aim is to see to it that the statue is handed over to the rightful Greek authorities. Clifton Webb on the other hand, plays a rich and unscrupulous grave-robber, Victor Parmalee, who wants to find the statue and keep it in his own private collection. Sophia Loren plays a Greek sponge diver, Phaedra, who accidentally found the statue and is trying to make money by assisting Webb's character, but gets romantically involved with Ladd's character.

The film score cover (more on the film music HERE)

The statue of the Boy on a Dolphin in the film supposedly granted wishes and the english lyrics of song of the film refer to this special quality (the Greek version of the song is a completely different story).

There's a tale that they tell of a dolphin
And a boy made of gold.
With the shells and the pearls in the deep,
He has lain many years fast asleep;
What they tell of the Boy on A Dolphin,
Who can say if it's true.
Should he rise from the depths of the ocean,
Any wish that you wish will come true.

You say he's only a statue,
And what can a statue achieve.
And yet while I'm gazing at you,
My heart tells my head to believe.
If the boy whom the Gods have enchanted,
Should arise from the sea,
And the wish of my heart could be granted,
I would wish that you loved only me.

The film was shot at Cinecittà, Rome, and on the Greek island of Hydra, but a scene was also shot on the Acropolis, probably to establish a suitable internationally recognisable archaeological background.

Sophia Loren and director Jean Negulesco on the Acropolis, during the film

[More on the film HERE]

Two screen shots of the statue starring in the film.

In my humble opinion, it's not the same statue in both cases. Among other differences, note that on the underwater shot the boy recalls the Artemision jockey posture, and on the ship the dolphin seems to have a much more arched back.

On the Acropolis scene, Phaedra (S. Loren) and archaeologist Jim Calder (A. Ladd) ponder on a sketch of the bronze complex - quite different from the actual find, showing two dolphins.

(film plot source: wikipedia)