8 January 1956 - Watson Macedo's lavish production of 'Sinfonia Carioca' did wonderful business at the box office. We're sad to say not a single copy of this film survived the ravages of the tropical climate. Eliana Macedo, the director's niece stars with Anselmo Duarte who went to bigger things becoming a fine director in 'Absolutamente certo' and then winning the Palm d'Or in Cannes in 1962 for 'O pagador de promessas'. The eternal ugly-duckling Zezé Macedo (no relation) completes the trio.
8 January 1956 - Cine Sao Bento still showed old Republican Pictures' serials like 1954's 'A vingança de El Latego' (Man with the steel whip) with Richard Simmons & Barbara Bestar; actually S.Bento projected two chapters per session. In the double-feature session see Italian 'Aguia negra' (Aquila Nera) made in 1946 and Stan Laurel & Ollie Hard's 'Os filhos do deserto' (Sons of the desert) released in 1933.
8 January 1956 - Richard Brooks' 1955 'Blackboard jungle' (Sementes da violência) with Glenn Ford & Sidney Portier is a social commentary about teachers in an inter-racial inner-city school. It was the pioneer in the use of rock'n'roll in its sound-track.
29 January 1956 - Atlantida presents 'Chico Viola não morreu' (Chico Viola has not died) a bio-pic of singer Francisco Alves who actually died in a car crash on the Sao Paulo-Rio highway on 27 September 1952. Mr. Alves aka Chico Viola had been incredibly popular throughout the 30s and 40s and the nation was in shock when he perished inside his burning Buick near Pindamonhangaba-SP on his way back to Rio de Janeiro which was the capital. Cyll Farney plays Chico Viola and lip-syncs all his greatest hits like 'Adeus' (Goodbye), 'A voz do violão', 'Aquarela do Brasil', 'A mulher que ficou na taça' (The woman who remained in the cup) etc. Watch for a very young Eva Wilma and eternally posh Heloisa Helena. Old timer Vicente Celestino's wife Gilda de Abreu wrote the screenplay.
12 February 1956 - Carlos Manga's 'Vamos com calma' starring Oscarito with Eliana & Cyll Farney as the romantic pair.
12 February 1956 - Note that old Cine Sao Bento still showed old Hollywood serials like Republic's 1946 'Phantom Rider' (Cavaleiro Fantasma) when most of downtown cinemas had already discontinued such a practice. See that they showed 2 chapters each time.
26 February 1956 - Nelson Pereira dos Santos' 'Rio 40 graus' with 5 different stories about life in Rio de Janeiro was something utterly different from everything that had been filmed in Brazil up to that point. Nelson Pereira dos Santos introduced what would be known as Cinema Novo in the next few years.
11 March 1956 - Flama Filmes presents 'Tira a mão dai' (Take your hands off!) a Poverty Row production to cash in on Carnaval time. Zezé Macedo & Consuelo Leandro were popular comediennes. Marion, a singer turned into acting.
11 March 1956 - Republic Picture 1947 serial 'O Filho do Zorro' (Son of Zorro) with George Turner & Peggy Stewart; double-feature with 'Ataque de bandoleiros' (?) with Jim Davis & Donald Curtis plus 'Ao rugir da metralhadora' (Flight nurse) a 1953 World War II flick with Joan Leslie & Forrest Tucker.
8 April 1956 - Victor Lima's 'O grande pintor' an Ankito vehicle featuring wonderful Violeta Ferraz.
29 April 1956 - at Cine S.Bento a brand-new Republic serial starts today: 'A mulher pantera' (Panther Girl of the Kongo) released originally in 1955, only a year ago. It must have been of the last serials by the company. In double feature: 'Aventuras de Robinson Crusoe', a 1954 Mexican film by director Luis Buñuel with Dan O'Herlihy plus 1955's 'Cavaleiro misterioso' (Stranger on horseback) with Joel MacCrea & Miroslava.
29 April 1956 - religious oriented films were common in the 1950s, especially in Brazil. As we have seen with 1955's scenes of popular hysteria towards a Catholic priest in Tambaú-SP who performed miracles and drew huge crowds to that small town. Now it is a full-length docoumentary showing miracles performed by Our Lady of Aparecida, narrated by 1940s popular actor Celso Guimarães.
6 May 1956 - at Cine Paratodos 'Assim é Portugal' is pure show-business with Cidalia Meirelles, Meireles Sisters, Esther de Abreu, Artur Agostinho & many other singers and combos.
9 May 1956 - actor producer Ronaldo Lupo is back with 'Genival é de morte' supported by comedian Zé Trindade who would soon becom the most popular funny man in the land. Tereza Raquel is the love interest and Adelaide Chiozzo the cutie who plays the accordion.
9 May 1956 - H.G.Clouzot's 'Les diaboliques' (As diabólicas) kept doing excellent business at Cine Normandie at its 5th week.
Henri-Georges Clouzot & his Brazilian wife Vera Clouzot in 1953.
16 May 1956 - Maristela production of 'Quem matou Anabela?' with Ana Esmeralda, Procopio Ferreira, Jayme Costa and the best cast possible from Sao Paulo's theatres like Nydia Licia, Ruth de Souza, Carlos Zara etc.
3 June 1956 - Portuguese production 'O grande Elias' is back at Cine Paratodos directed by Arthur Duarte.
3 June 1956 - Delbert Mank's 'Marty' won 1955's Academy Award for best film and best actor for Ernest Borgnine.
1st August 1956 - French production shot in location in Portugal 'Os amantes do Tejo' (Les amants du Taje) with Françoise Arnoul, Daniel Gelin and Trevor Howard as Inspector Lewis; Amalia Rodrigues plays herself and sings 'Barco negro' and 'Solidão'.
Nyoka as played with-gusto by Kay Aldridge.
5 August 1956 - double-feature at Cine S.Bento: 'Criminoso oculto' with Clifford Evans & 'Malfeitores da fronteira' with Jim Davis; in the same programme 5th & 6th chapters of 1942's 'Os perigos de Nyoka' (Perils of Nyoka) with Kay Aldridge.
2 September 1956 - Armando Couto's 'O amanhã será melhor' with Ilka Soares desperately trying to be a real star but with no avail. Ilka was awfully nice and real beautiful but somehow she could never reach real stardom no matter how hard she tried. Miro Cerni almost did on his own but he gave up before he reached the top.
2 September 1956 - Catalan director Ignacio Farrés Iquino's 'O Judas' (El Judes) a 1952 Luso-Spanish production. That was the first film spoken in Catalan since the Franco was in power. See also the documentary 'Quem ama Lisboa' where Amalia Rodrigues sings 'A ronda dos bairros'.
2 December 1956 - Argentine director Carlos Hugo Christensen's 'Leonora dos 7 Mares' starring Susana Freire, Arturo de Cordova, Rodolfo Mayer, Heloisa Helena, Jardel Filho & Henriette Morineau. Screenplay by Pedro Bloch; music by Enrico Simonetti.
2 December 1956 - just like Cine Sao Bento, Cine Joia had a double-feature programme followed by 2 serial chapters. 1954's 'Três horas para matar' (3 hours to kill) with Dana Andrews & Donna Reed plus 1953's 'Dragão verde' (Target Hong Kong) with Richard Denning. A Columbia serial to top it off: 1947's 'O terror dos mares' (The sea hound) with Buster Grabble.
19 December 1956 - the eagerly awaited 'Ao balanço das horas' was finally released at Cine Ipiranga on this Wednesday. 'Rock around the clock' had premiered on 21st March 1956 in the USA, only 9 months before.
27 December 1956 - film trying to cash in on singer Angela Maria's huge popularity and drawing power. 'O negócio foi assim' premieres on Saturday, 29 December. Appearances by 'bad man' Renato Restier and comedian Zé Trindade on his way up to stardom. Musical numbers by Nelson Gonçalves, Raul de Barros & his orchestra plus his wife Gilda de Barros.
31st December 1956 - in the last day of 1956 'Rio Fantasia' premieres at Cine Art Palacio, Cine Opera, Cine Paratodos etc. Eliana was still the Queen of Brazilian Movies and any of her flicks were sure fire hits.
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