The comedy Never on Sunday, produced, written, and directed by Jules Dassin, who also starred in it with his wife-actress Melina Mercouri, would not have been nominated in major categories (Director, Best Actress) had it not been a commercial hit.
Grade: B (*** out of *****)
Never on Sunday | |
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A kind of contemporary Pygmalion, the movie is a culture-collision comedy, defined by all the cliches of the genre, except in this case the heroine is a prostitute.
The tale focuses on the tempestuous relationship between Homer, a “serious,” straight and humorless American writer (Jules Dassin) and Ilya (Mercouri), a joyous Greek prostitute with a heart of gold, who makes her own interpretation of Greek tragedies like “Oedipus.”
Melina Mercouri dominates every frame she is in with her charismatic presence. She also delivers her songs, including the titular one, with such an abandon that they become contagious joy, making you want to visit Athens and the Greek Islands.
Never on Sunday won one Oscar, Best Song (written by Manos Hadjidakis), thus becoming the first song in a foreign-language picture to win an Oscar since the Academy began to recognize achievements in this category in 1934.
The movie and its melodic score are credited with stimulating American and Western tourism trade to Greece.
“Never on Sunday” also put its star, Melina Mercouri, on the international map, and she subsequently would appear in such commercial films as the heist thriller Topkapi and others.
Made modestly, on a low-budget of $150,000, the movie became an international hit, grossing over $10 million at the box-office.
Actor Alert
A prominent Greek stage and screen actress, Melina Mercouri won the Acting Award at the Cannes Film Festival before receiving a Best Actress Oscar nomination (see below).
She was married to director Jules Dassin, who had been blacklisted and living in Europe in exile, and would appear in a number of his films, including “Phaedra.”
Next to “Never on Sunday,” her most popular film was the 1964 Oscar winning heist comedy, Topkapi, which boasted a high-profile international cast.
Politics Alert
Jules Dassin was blacklisted in 1950, during the McCarthy political witch-hunting, after he was cited as a communist in a testimony given by his colleague, Edward Dmytryk. Prior to that, he enjoyed an extremely promising career with such noir crime films as “Brute Force” and “The Naked City.”
Merocuri herself was also politically exiled in 1967, when the military took over the government. In 1974, she quit acting, when she ran successfully for the Greek Parliament; she died in 1994.
Oscar Alert
Oscar Nominations: 5
Director: Jules Dassin
Story and Screenplay (Original): Jules Dassin
Actress: Melina Mercouri
Song: Never on Sunday, music and lyrics by Manos Hadjidakis
Costume Design (b/w): Deni Vachlioti
Oscar Award: 1
Song: Never on Sunday, music and lyrics by Manos Hadjidakis.
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
Credits:
Directed, written by Jules Dassin
Cinematography Jacques Natteau
Edited by Roger Dwyre
Music by Manos Hatzidakis
Distributed by Lopert Pictures Corporation (United States)
Release date: October 1, 1960
Running time: 91 minutes
Budget $150,000
Box office $4 million (rentals)