Never on Sunday
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Despo Diamantidou, George Foras, Giannis Fermis, Koula Agagiotou, Nikos FermasBrand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Primary Contributor: George Foundas
Primary Contributor: Mercouri, Melina
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Greek (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Never on Sunday
Movie Review: "But never ever on a Sunday a Sunday a Sunday, cause that's my day of rest"
Summary: 5 Stars
Melina Mercouri stars as Ilya, a Greek prostitute who charms everyone she meets. Ilya is the fabled "hooker with a heart of gold" who enjoys her work and has throngs of customers who respect and adore her. Yes, it sounds like a (twisted) fairy tale, but Melina is so good in this role that it succeeds surprisingly well. The plot is thrown into action when she meets Homer, a dense American tourist played by the film's director (and later Mercouri's live-in love), Jules Dassin. Homer is smitten with Ilya but believes that she can be so much more; plus, he kind of wants Ilya for himself. So he embarks on a plan to make her into a lady. Yes, the movie cribs shamelessly from "Pygmalion," but it adds enough sauciness to make us forget that movie quickly. Ilya's transformation is rapid and not too drastic, helping keep the film breezy and brief. Will Ilya end up a cultured bride for Homer or continue her ways as a free-spirited prostitute?
The film score was wildly popular at the time, with the familiar instrumental title song winning the Oscar for composer Manos Hatzidakis. The song makes use of the unique sounding bouzouki, which is similar to a mandolin. Mecouri also sings a version of the song in the movie, and it later was remade by numerous 60s stars, including Connie Francis and Petula Clark. You'll be humming the song for days after watching "Never on Sunday."
However, the true star is the leading lady. Mercouri was nominated for an Oscar for her role; she lost to Elizabeth Taylor (who also played a hooker in the atrocious "Butterfield 8") but became an international star in the process. She made movies and starred in plays for the next two decades before ending up in politics; she was eventually voted into the Hellenic Parliament and became Greece's Minister for Culture. Although she made relatively few movies during her career, her work in "Never on Sunday" is memorable enough to cement her place in cinema history.
Summary of Never on Sunday
Nominated* for five Academy Awards?(r), including Best Actress, Director and Original Screenplay, and featuring the Oscar?(r)-winning* song "Never on Sunday," this "racy, arty comedy"(The Hollywood Reporter) is as intoxicating as fine Greek wine...and a "rambunctious" (Time) delight! Glasses are smashing, fingers are snapping and everyone's dancing to the sultry music of the bouzoukies! It's just another glorious moment in the carefree world of Illia (Melina Mercouri), Greece's most radiant lady of the night. Sensuous Illia adores her life, and every man in her seaport paradise adores her. But when Homer (Jules Dassin), a stuffy American intellectual, sails into town and tries to reform her, Illia shows him that she's one free spirit who's happy with her wild life and not about to be tamed. *1960: Original Song (won), Costume DesignThirty-two years before My Big Fat Greek Wedding brought Greek-American culture to a mainstream audience, Never on Sunday took mainstream culture to Greece, with similarly popular results. Expatriate director Jules Dassin wrote, directed, and costars in this vibrant and (in retrospect) rather simple-minded celebration of good living, as embodied by the vivacious Melina Mercouri in the Cannes award-winning role of her career. She's Ilya, a fiercely independent prostitute who hand-picks her clientele, and Dassin plays Homer, an American intellectual enamored of all things Greek, and determined to steer Ilya onto the straight and moral path. He's out of his depth, of course; it's not long before his efforts are exposed as naively self-serving, and half the fun of Never on Sunday comes from watching Mercouri amiably deflect any attempt to dampen her indomitable spirit. Innocently good-natured by latter-day standards, Dassin's delightful film still retains its popular charm, and its familiar bouzouki theme is an irresistible invitation to join in the fun. --Jeff Shannon
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