Saturday, August 15, 2009

#36. melina mercouri in never on sunday

another 'hooker with a heart of gold' cliche, mercouri's performance as ilya, the prostitute that seems almost beyond redemption, is one of the greatest in all of greek cinema. when we first lay eyes on her, ilya is charming, carefree and utterly independent; by the time she meets homer (writer, director jules dassin), who is smitten, awestruck and in love with her, so are we. mercouri won the 1960 best actress award at the cannes film festival for her role.

*nominated for 1960 best actress oscar;
lost to elizabeth taylor in butterfield 8

greatest moment: see below

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