Melina Mercouri

(On Cable TV, October 2022) My preoccupation with movie list-checking is going to get me in trouble, or at least into a comatose state of boredom. Now that I’ve seen the big guns of the film canon, I’m down to lesser-known pockets of cinema and I don’t always like where this takes me. Never on Sunday takes us to Greece during the Cold War, in black-and-white cinematography highlighting the simplicity of the plot. Famed expatriate writer-director Jules Dassin also has a rare leading role here as an American tourist who meets a prostitute—with much of the film describing how they change each other. It’s a romantic comedy, but hold off on the “comedy” here: it’s more joie-de-vivre stuff than outright gags. The film remains notable for being incredibly sympathetic to the female lead played by Melina Mercouri and depicting her not necessarily as a fallen angel, but someone living life on her own terms. There’s some charming stuff here and there, but the age of the film shows, and, unfortunately, it never quite clicked for me. Never on Sunday takes on an added dimension if you’re roughly aware of Dassin’s career at the time—self-exiled from the United States due to the anti-Communist witch-hunts, establishing himself in Europe, where he’d spend the rest of his life. But as for the film itself—I recognize its qualities, but it’s best appreciated by others.