Jules Dassin wrote, directed, and co-stars in this Greek-infused play on "Pygmalion", wherein an American scholar vacationing in Greece becomes obsessed with reforming the most popular prostitute in the village: a fiery local who picks and chooses her men--and celebrates alongside all her paramours with an 'open house' on Sunday. Melina Mercouri gives a star-making performance as the passionate Ilya, though Dassin, who also co-produced the film uncredited, may have taken on more than he could handle. The character of the professor (who's actually lusting in secret for Ilya) doesn't make a lot of sense, and Dassin's actorly turn in this role gives us little to go on (he's a blank). We understand that educating Mercouri's Ilya, in effect, replaces her sexual desires with a quest for knowledge, but one isn't sure how the professor personally hopes to benefit romantically from this denouement--nor how his plan relates to the greedy landlord who keeps raising the rent on all the prostitutes in town. The music and the film's celebration of life (and sex without need for attachments, which Dassin tells us can be cured by true love) put the movie over at the US box-office, but only Mercouri's delicious performance remains memorable today. **1/2 from ****
Review of Never on Sunday
