4 January 1959 - New year starts all fine with José Carlos Burle's 'Quem roubou meu samba?' with Ankito based on a 1954 revue written by Silveira Sampaio. Maria Vidal plays a record company boss and Pituca the samba-writer whose song has been 'snatched' from him (he suffered a blow to his head and went into an amnesia state).
Read the review on the right written by a 'Correio da Manhã' columnist and see the utterly different approach to Brazilian musical-comedy Rio local inteligentsia had towards the film industry compared to that of Sao Paulo's 'gliterrati' who only distilled venom against it.
4 January 1959 - a 1957 documentary about Louis Armstrong, 'Satchmo, the great' (O embaixador do jazz) is not advertised as a documentary which it really is. People were literally fooled by the ad, unfortunatelly.
4 January 1959 - Italian comedy shot in 1957, 'Casei-me com uma doutora' (Toto, Vittorio e la dottoressa) is obviously a vehicle for Toto and Vittorio De Sica and USA's Abbe Lane... Teddy Reno, who had toured Brazil and was a bit of a heart-throb only sings a few numbers but people were fooled to believe he was a 'main attraction'.
4 January 1959 - Robert Siodmak's 'Criss cross' (Baixesa) shot in 1948 is back again after 11 years... with Yvonne De Carlo, Burt Lancaster & Dan Duryea. Don't be fooled by Tony Curtis' name on the bill... he only has a walk-on part... actually a dance-on part.
Yvonne De Carlo & Anthony Curtis dance in 'Criss cross', 1948.
Ismael Band plays while Yvonne De Carlo & Tony Curtis dance...
4 January 1959 - German cinema completely recovered from the destruction of WWII of 14 years ago: 'Morfina' aka 'Das letzte Rezept' with W.O. Fisher.
4 January 1959 - Cajado Filho's 'E o espetáculo continua!' starring Cyll Farney & Eliana in its 2nd week.
18 January 1959 - Victor Lima's 'Pé na tábua' with Ankito & Grande Otelo plus Renata Fronzi, Nelly Martins, Bill Farr, Carlos Imperial.
22 January 1959 - First Zé Trindade movie for 1959: 'Mulheres à vista' with Grande Otelo, Consuelo Leandro & Carlos Imperial.
25 January 1959 - Jose Carlos Burle's 'Quem roubou meu samba?' starring Ankito - real name Anchizes Pinto, born in Bras, S.Paulo in 1924 into a circus family; old timer Maria Vidal plays a record producer; Pituca plays the samba-writer whose tune was 'stolen' when he got thumped on the head...
15 February 1959 - 'Parada de sucessos' (Schlagerparade) a 1953 German production with Germaine Damar & Walter Guiller is dishonestly advertised as a Maurice Chevalier vehicle when in fact he only sings one number in the whole film. Nadja Tiller is advertised as the 'star' when she's only in a supporting role; in other words: this is a rip-off.
1953 German musical with unknown performers like Germaine Damar & Walter Guiller claimed Maurice Chevalier as a trump.
22 February 1959 - Portuguese films were not many in the 1950s but they had a sure market in Brazilian cities like Sao Paulo. 'O homem do Ribatejo' had its premiere at Cine Piratininga on Avenida Rangel Pestana, 1554. Portuguese films didn't make it to downtown-Sao Paulo but reached Bras and Mooca - suburbs not too far away. Note 'Canção de Lisboa' as part of the double-featured programme with popular comedienne Beatriz Costa.
22 February 1959 - here is a partial list of cinemas on the suburbs of Sao Paulo. See Cine Eldorado on Rua Vital Brasil, 454 just off Rio Pinheiros bridge at Butantã; Cine Estoril in Osasco.
15 March 1959 - in times of Spanish child-actors like Pablito Calvo (Marcelino pan y vino) and Joselito ('Saeta') breaking all box-office records, Brazilian cinema thought it might also strike gold with a child actor: Jose de Jesus directed by Alberto Pieralisi in 'Pega ladrão'. It probably didn't reach its intended goal because I've never heard of it... even though my favourite comedienne, Violeta Ferraz plays a featuring role in it.
15 March 1959 - directed by Rubem Biafora, 'Ravina' was supposed to be a 'serious' Brazilian movie with Elaine Page, the queen of Vera Cruz studios while it lasted; see Ruth de Souza, Helio Ansaldo and Celso Faria at supporting roles. Elza Laranjeira sings a tune. Avant-première at Cine Ipiranga on Tuesday 17 March 1959 at 10:00 PM.
21st March 1959 - The very first in the series of Hammer Horror films starring Christopher Lee as Count Dracula and Peter Cushing as Doctor Van Helsing, 'O vampiro da noite' ad advised: do not dare watching it by yourself! In the USA the original British title 'Dracula' was renamed 'Horror of Dracula' by Universal Intenational to avoid confusion with the ir earlier production of 'Dracula' (1931) starring Bela Lugosi. As Count Dracula, Lee fixed the image of the fanged vampire in popular culture.
22nd March 1959 - To celebrate Easter, United Artists presents Minoru Shibuya's 'Cristo de bronze' (Seido no Kirisuto) shown at 1955 Cannes Festival as 'Le Christ en bronze' titled in English as 'The great betrayal' which shows the tortures early Japanese Christian suffered in the hands of their national brothers. The film was rated G for General Audience but I think it was wrong; I was only 10 years old and was shocked by the scenes of violence shown in the film. I actually saw it as Sunday afternoon's double feature with hundreds of other children. Most of the children didn't know what was happening in the large screen. I followed the story somehow but was disgusted with the violence portrayed. I have never forgot those scenes.
14 November 1959 - Correio da Manhã's review of 'O Cristo de bronze'. At least we know a little about the plot: it all happens circa 1659 when the Portuguese introduce Christianity in Nagazaki, Japan and is obviously repressed by the authorities.
22 April 1959 - Paramount releases 'St. Louis Blues' (Lamento Negro) while its star Nat King Cole was visiting Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro; so one could see Nathaniel Cole in person at Teatro Paramount and go see him on the silver screen at Cine Ipiranga; columnist Mary Wynne tells all about Nat King Cole's press conference at the Blue Room which was the event of the year.
22 April 1959 - celebrated cinema auteur Walter Hugo Khouri directs one of his first feature film: 'Fronteiras do inferno' (Hell's frontir) with Helio Souto who was by then a serious actor, Aurora Duarte and Italian actor Luigi Pichi... see also Lola Brah, Ruth de Souza and Lyris Castellani.
26 April 1959 - Carlos Hugo Christensen's 'Meus amores no Rio' in its 4th week (plus 12 weeks in Sao Paulo).
Pituca, a short man dances with Renata Fronzi, a big woman in all senses...
3rd May 1959 - the ad says: Burt Lancaster is dynamite exploding in 'Brute force' (Brutalidade). Jules Dassin's 1947 film is back with a vengeance... and if Burt is dynamite, Yvonne De Carlo is sizzling hot.
10 May 1959 - Mexican bombshell Maria Felix plays Galician dancer Agustina Otero Iglesias in 'La bella Otero', an Italian-French co-production shot in 1954... I don't know why it took 5 years to be released here.
17 May 1959 - as of 1st July 1959, Fada Santoro & Cyl Farney in 'Pecado de Nina' with Renato Restier probably as the bad-man.
14 June 1959 - Spanish child-star Joselito was at Cine Rivoli in person at 6:30 PM and 9:30 PM. At the times Joselito would sing for the audience the prices were higher. 'Saeta' did wonderful business at the box-office.
Joselito held the masses spellbound through his singing...
14 June 1959 - this simple ad proves comedian Zé Trindade had star-power by 1959... one of the most popular in the land.
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