Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1960
Never on Sunday
Buy Never on Sunday now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Never on Sunday' (, ) is a 1960 Greek romantic comedy film starring, written by and directed by Jules Dassin.
The film tells the story of Ilya, a Greek prostitute (Melina Mercouri), and Homer (Dassin), an American classicist. Homer attempts to steer her toward morality while Ilya attempts to make Homer more relaxed. It constitutes a variation of the Pygmalion plus "hooker with a heart of gold" story.Christopher Bonano, 'Gods, Heroes, And Philosophers', [https://books.google.com/books?id=IXN1AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 p. 53]
The film's bouzouki theme became a hit and the film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song (Manos Hadjidakis for "Never on Sunday"). It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Mercouri), Best Costume Design, Black-and-White, Best Director and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay as Written Directly for the Screen (both Dassin). Mercouri won the award for Best Actress at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
Ilya, a self-employed, free-spirited prostitute who lives in the port of Piraeus in Greece, meets Homer, an American tourist and classical scholar who is enamored of all things Greek. Homer feels that Ilya's lifestyle typifies the degradation of Greek classical culture and attempts to steer her onto the path of morality while Ilya attempts to relax him.
Cast
* Melina Mercouri as Ilya
* Jules Dassin as Homer Thrace
* Giorgos Fountas as Tonio
* Titos Vandis as Jorgo
* Mitsos Ligizos as The Captain (as Mitsos Lygizos)
* Despo Diamantidou as Despo
* Dimos Starenios as Poubelle
* Dimitris Papamichael as Sailor (as Dimitri Papamichael)
* Alexis Solomos as Noface
* Thanassis Veggos
* Phaedon Georgitsis as Sailor
* Nikos Fermas as Waiter
Reception
When the film was first released in Italy in 1960, the Committee for the Theatrical Review of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities rated it as VM16, not suitable for children under 16. The committee also demanded dialogue modifications and the excision of explicit scenes.[http://www.italiataglia.it/ Italia Taglia] Database of the documents produced by the Committee for the Theatrical Review of The Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, from 1944 to 2000.
Home media
MGM released 'Never on Sunday' on VHS in 2000 as part of its Vintage Classic lineup.
References
Buy Never on Sunday now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1960