Never on Sunday (1960)
"Pote tin Kyriaki" (original title)

An American scholar in Greece sets about improving a prostitute he's infatuated with.

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writer:

Jules Dassin

Stars:

Melina Mercouri, Jules Dassin, Giorgos Foundas

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Melina Mercouri	...	Ilya
Jules Dassin	...	Homer Thrace
Giorgos Foundas	...	Tonio
Titos Vandis	...	Jorgo
Mitsos Ligizos	...	The Captain (as Mitsos Lygizos)
Despo Diamantidou	...	Despo
Dimos Starenios	...	Poubelle
Dimitris Papamichael	...	A Sailor (as Dimitri Papamichael)
Alexis Solomos	...	Noface
Thanasis Vengos	...	(as Thanassis Veggos)
Faidon Georgitsis	...	Sailor
Nikos Fermas	...	Waiter
Artemis Matsas
Koula Agagiotou
Panos Karavousanos

Storyline

Illia is Piraeus's most popular person: an energetic prostitute, full of life and good humor. Every day, she swims at the pier, entertaining the dock hands. Sundays she has an open house with food, drink and song. Homer Thrace, an amateur philosopher from Middletown, Conn., arrives in town to find out why Greece has fallen from ancient greatness. He decides Illia is a symbol of that fall, so he sets out to study and to save her. Unknown to Illia, he gets the money for the books and all else he gives her from Mr. No Face, the local vice boss who wants Illia retired because her independence gives other whores ideas. Whose spirit is stronger: Homer's classical ideal or Illia's?

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Plot Keywords:

prostitute | greece | jealousy | party | henchman | 

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Taglines:

The Happy Street-Walker of Piraeus...

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

Greece USA

Language:

English Greek Russian

Release Date:

1 October 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Never on Sunday

Filming Locations:

Piraeus, Greece

Box Office

Budget:

$151,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lopert Pictures Corporation, Melinafilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Features first song ("Never On Sunday") from a foreign-made movie to win an Oscar.

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Quotes

Homer: She killed them. Medea herself, does she not say, "I killed my children"?
Illya: And you believe her? You don't understand the women. Medea loves her husband, yes?
Homer: Yes.
Illya: Her husband is interested in another woman? Yes?
Homer: Yes.
Illya: So she said to her husband that she has killed her children to frighten him, to get him back.
Homer: No!
Illya: Yes. She gets him back, and everybody go away and everybody is happy and they go to the seashore. And that's all!
Homer: If I show you that everything that was ever written about Medea talks ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Mousiki vradya: Tragoudia apo ton Elliniko kinimatografo (1976)

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Soundtracks

"Ta paidia tou Peiraia"
Music and Lyrics by Manos Hatzidakis
Sung by Melina Mercouri

User Reviews

"The Last Greek Goddess"

Melina Mercouri, "The Last Greek Goddess", stars in the comedy "Never on Sunday"(1960) directed/written by Jules Dassin. She plays Illia, the most sensuous and radiant "lady of the night" in the seaport Pyres where every man adores her and she is the one who chooses her partners. Mercouri was 40 years old when she played Illia but she did not hide a single day of her age and she was gorgeous, full of the inner fire and absolutely irresistible. When the new Pygmalion, the intellectual American named Homer (of course) sails into the town and meets Illia, he decides that his search for meaning of life would end in Pyres if he would reform Illia and make her change her way of life. With all his intellect and education he couldn't understand a very simple truth about Illia - only true love might change her. Homer played by director/writer Jules Dassin is the weakest part of this mostly charming comedy. I agree with one of the IMDb commenters who said that "Jules Dassin has directed a great movie but he should have hired an actor to play Homer, and not played it himself... A better actor might have found a way around the rough spots but Dassin magnifies them." I guess that in real life Dassin was much more charming that in the film because he and Mercouri were married in 1966 and stayed married until her death in 1994.

7.5/10