KOSTAS KARAGIANNIS

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  B.5. 

Greece, 1967.  Karagiannis-Karatzopoulos.  Screenplay by Lakis Mihailidis.  Cinematography by Dimos Sakelariou.  Music by Giannis Markopoulos.  Production Design by Petros Kapouralis.  Film Editing by Andreas Andreadakis.

Silly fluff that follows a tired comedy formula, focusing as many Greek comedies do on moral judgments of the country’s class divide. Delightful Aliki Vougiouklaki sells fish at the market and impresses everyone with her constant singing, the only person irritated by her a snobby music student (Dimitris Papamichael) who thinks popular music is beneath him. When the opportunity comes to become the star attraction at a nightclub (where, by the way, she got drunk and smashed the place up), Vougiouklaki begins on the road to stardom that crosses paths with Papamichael when he is hired to be her rehearsal coach. The heat builds between them, complicated by the fact that he is engaged to a rich man’s daughter and that she is putting her career above all other earthly concerns. Everything is painfully contrived, made harder to watch by the fact that both these terrific actors are getting a bit too old to behave like lovestruck teenagers and seem to be embarrassed to be appearing in such subpar material. Some of the songs are fun, and the sunny photography is at least appealing to look at.