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Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Most of the reviews, if not all, have gone through the surface of the movie, looking at the comedy or the simple story aspect. However the movie has much more than this, and if one looks deep, probably it doesn't have any comedy left out. There are only a few movies like this I have seen (another that comes to mind is Ajantrik - of Ritwik Ghatak). For understanding both, we have to just look at the respective directors. Dassin was one of those who had been victimized by the "Red" paranoia of USA and was black-listed under McCarthy code, forcing him to move to Europe. Interestingly even Ritwik was red, in fact compared to him Mr & Mrs Dassin were pale pink. To go inside the skin, the movie there are two very important dialogues. Obviously one at the beginning when Homer(Dassin) indicates his quest, he wants to understand why the civilization is in this shape, captivating but decadent. The second was in the end, "Only way Ilya could be saved is by love" On allegorical level, the the two indicate something entirely different. Illya is the nature whereas Homer - I don't think anywhere he has been indicated to be an author or even philosopher - he is, as was told in the end "American Boy Scout", the up keeper of the moral-values of others, as he feels to be proper. We judge the morality of others through our tinted glass and thereby spoil the fine balance of the nature. This had been done through ages, at national level (Libya, Iraq, Vietnam, Korea, Ukraine, Poland, Czech,...) or at society level (various religious missionaries to educate and bring to light the barbaric natives.Naturally, we don't blame ourselves for the catastrophe, Homer too didn't. Fortunately in this case the nature didn't allow herself to be spoiled by the boy-scout. It is interesting to see that the movie got so many nomination for Academy, despite the director being black-listed till recently (a la Charlie Chaplin), he even got a nomination for best director, and that is doubly strange, considering the allegories (and also that during this time Vietnam war at its peak).

One of the greatest comedies of all time, Never on Sunday is an excellent examination of cultural imperialism and the clash between two very different outlooks.The character of Homer has the limitation of being unwilling to see the world through any other eyes but his own: his narrow-mindedness means he cannot see the very thing he is seeking on his quest. The Greeks have moved beyond a search for the truth, being content in their carefree lifestyle. The imperialist ambitions of ancient Athens are no longer a concern for them but, for the Americans, just setting out on their empire building, they are a priority.Homer's attempts to force the Greek population to fit his image of what they should be is an attempt at this very imperialism. Once the cradle of civilisation, he feels they should now conform to his world-view. Informed by the puritans and ancient philosophies long-rejected by the Greeks themselves, he forces himself onto a society onto which he cannot be grafted.He has the arrogance of an academic and does not understand human beings. His attempts at bettering Melina's character are attempts to force her to see his world-view. His belief he is truly bettering her is self-delusion.However, it is not solely the American character who imposes his view on others. Throughout the course of the film, the Greek port is visited in turn by the US, British and Russian naval fleets. Greece is clearly subjugated to each of these military empires now yet, somehow, it remains a happy place for they depart soon after, leaving the locals largely unaffected by their impositions.Melina's character's zest for life famously extends to the Greek tragedies. With the film's play within a play, she famously reinterprets the tragedy to conform to her world-view. Homer reacts angrily to this even though he is trying to force actual people to conform to his. (One has to wonder if Roland Barthes' "Death of the Author", published just seven years later was in anyway inspired by the ideas in this film of the audience constructing, albeit humorously, their own meaning and interpretation of the text.) The film's pace is fast and light-hearted and the many outdoor scenes reflect Melina's character's sunny mood. The soundtrack again is sprightly and energetic, encapsulating a zest for life and the film was exceptionally well-cast and acted.In the end, Homer of course achieves the aim of his quest by learning, when in Greece, do as the Greeks do. The simple lesson that it is love that will reform the girl is almost banal but here it works. She must be cared for and nurtured not forced to submit to the will of a foreigner.Ultimately, it is the comedy and the light-hearted way in which the moral of the story is expressed that makes this film delightful. Perfectly filmed and still humorous and highly relevant over fifty years after its release, this is one of the great comedies and one that this reviewer highly recommends.

An American scholar (Jules Dassin) in Greece meets earthy, happy prostitute Ilya (Melina Mercouri). He attempts to "reform" her and make her better.The plot is old, clichéd and entirely predictable but this works. It shows what Greece (supposedly) was like in 1960 and you get caught up in the spirit of it. Everybody is happy, sex is seen as a great thing, everybody gets drunk and there's no problem with it and all the Greek men know how to dance and sing. It's actually refreshing to see a film that doesn't condemn all these things! Also Mercouri is just fantastic is Ilya. She's full of energy and fire and is drop dead gorgeous. It's hard to believe she was 40 when she did this! Also Tonio, her boyfriend (sort of), is played by the extremely handsome Giorgos Foundas. Him and Mercouri work well together and their scenes really sparkle. They also almost show Mercouri topless a few times and almost show Foundas nude also. These scenes are tame today but they must have been shocking in 1960. Mercouri also sings the title song in Greek.The bad things--there's some badly overdubbed dialogue in the beginning (watch the fighting scene), Dassins' character is extremely annoying and unlikable and this was so predictable I started to get bored. Still it's pleasant and enjoyable. Slightly recommended.

I haven't seen "Never on Sunday" in ages but I remember it as a really wonderful comedy. This was the very first time I saw Melina Mercuri -- and it's she and the Greek musical sound track that made it so pleasurable. The story doesn't matter really: It's enough to know that Mercuri plays a prostitute with a gift for joy and denial of harsh realities. If I remember correctly, she has a way of rewriting Greek tragedies in her head so that, at the end, "everyone goes to the seashore." I imagine that the film isn't as vivid as it was in its day because while the scenery was beautiful the photography was not special. You might not like Jules Dassin as Mercuri's foil -- he acted in as well as wrote and directed the film -- but see it for Mercuri. She played roles of greater significance in films that were perhaps more artful. But she is luminous and funny and sweet and gorgeous in this picture.