Filopoimin Finos

Filopoimin Finos was one of the biggest producers of the Greek cinema during the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s. His father was a farmer, but Finos loved cinema from his childhood, so when he came of age he sold everything that he owned in order to make reality out of his dreams. His last movie was produced in the 70s, and it starred Dionysis Papagiannopoulosin Giannis Dalianidis's film O kyr' Giorgis ekpaidevetai (1977). It was a big flop, and the company that he had created back in the 40s named Finos Film was bankrupted. During the previous 3 decades he produced the biggest successes of the Greek cinema, but he was always under criticism because of the lack of quality in some of them. On the other hand some of his films like Lily of the Harbor (1952), Alice in the Navy (1961), Madalena (1960), Oi kyries tis avlis (1966) , Stefania (1966), Barrel Piano, Poverty and Carnations (1957), The Auntie from Chicago (1957) and many many others, are considered as classic and perfect portrait of mid-class Greece of the 50s and 60s. He produced many films, and he created major stars out of them, like Aliki Vougiouklaki, Rena Vlahopoulou, Alekos Alexandrakis, Martha Karagianni, Jenny Karezi Dimitris Papamichael, Dinos Iliopoulos, Georgia Vasileiadou and many many more. He even pushed the career of the great Irene Papas, but he never thought of Melina Mercouri as a movie star because of her big mouth, so he missed the opportunity to expand and become an international company, when he refused to co-produce Never on Sunday (1960). His only attempt to make an international film, was with Aliki Vougiouklaki in 1962 and Rudolph Maté. The film was Aliki My Love (1963) and it was a miserable flop, that cost many million drachmas to Finos. During the last years of his life he failed to gain the respect of the critics and the love and popularity of the Greeks. He died never working on the TV, which he never liked and accepted. But F. Finos has gained immortality...his films are constantly shown in the Greek TV channels, with great rating. The Greek Cinema, although now creating films of quality and high ideals, never regained the popularity that had when he was producing films.