Melina Mercouri

Blowing into the Windy City by train with a noble but naïve plan to "seek his destiny," small-town youth Ben Harvey (Beau Bridges) finds himself apprenticing under a curmudgeonly reporter (Brian Keith) at one of Chicago's largest newspapers and befriending a madame (Melina Mercouri). Norman Jewison directs this period comedy based on Ben Hecht's autobiographical novel that earned Oscar nods for sound, art direction and costume design.

Restless married couple Maria (Melina Mercouri) and Paul (Peter Finch) take a road trip through Spain with their friend Claire (Romy Schneider). While Paul and Claire carry on a clandestine affair, Maria becomes obsessed with a recent murder in a small town along the way. What begins as a vacation ends as a meditation on tragedy and infidelity in screenwriter Marguerite Duras's adaptation of her novella, directed by Jules Dassin.

Jet-setting jewel thief Elizabeth Lipp (Melina Mercouri) drafts master tactician Walter Harper (Maximilian Schell) and some ragtag locals, including grifter Arthur Simpson (Peter Ustinov), to help pinch a gem-encrusted dagger from an Istanbul museum. Unwittingly tapped as a patsy to smuggle guns over the border, Simpson soon ends up straddling both sides of the law. Ustinov scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his first-rate performance.

This contemporary remake of Euripides's &NFi;Hippolytus&NFi_; stars Melina Mercouri as Phaedra, whose husband, Greek tycoon Thanos (Raf Vallone), wants her to persuade his adult son, Alexis (Anthony Perkins), to enter the family business. Trouble arises when Phaedra and Alexis fall in love. After Thanos welcomes Alexis home, he arranges an engagement between his son and the daughter of another shipper, but Phaedra's jealousy leads to violent confrontations.

When Homer (Jules Dassin) -- a would-be philosopher from the States -- takes a trip to Greece, he meets free-spirited prostitute Ilya (Melina Mercouri) and arrogantly decides to become her Svengali in this internationally celebrated classic. But Homer may wind up learning a few lessons from his protégé. Dassin also wrote and directed the romantic comedy, which garnered several Oscar nominations, snagging a win for Best Song.