The Gypsy and the Gentleman

Joseph Losey’s 1958 film tells the engaging and twisty story of a golddigging Belle (Melina Mecouri) who meets her match in the cunning Sir. Paul Deverill (Keith Michell).

Before his collaborations with famed writer Harold Pinter, filmmaker Joseph Losey helmed this deliriously entertaining romantic drama. Belle (Melina Mecouri) is a beguiling and tempestuous young gold-digger who seeks out rich men, takes their fortune, then moves onto other lovers. Her next victim is Sir. Paul Deverill (Keith Michell) – but Deverill has surprises in store for her. Losey crafts a believable relationship between the two leads despite the outrageous nature of their courtship in this vintage British melodrama.

Greek actress Mecouri makes her English-language debut in The Gypsy and the Gentlemen, and it’s a dynamic and seductive star turn. She gives Losey’s film its signature edge and allure with her performance, two years before she was nominated for an Academy Award for Jules Dassin’s Never on Sunday (1960).