1 9 6 0 - January to April - 'Anders als du und ich' (O 3o. sexo)

Here are some cinema ads I took from the pages of daily 'O Estado de S.Paulo' from 1960; you may also find some material from Rio de Janeiro's 'Correio da Manhã':

10 January 1960 - The year starts with 2 successful Brazilian movies; at Cine Art Palácio plus 20 other suburb theatres 1952's 'Tudo azul' a vehicle for singer Marlene who was at the top of her popularity in 1952; at Cine Coral, 'O cupim' (The termite) with Oscarito, still the most popular comedian in the country.

10 January 1960 - As of this Sunday, 10 January 1960, daily 'O Estado de S. Paulo' gathers all reviews of movie-releases under a single space titled 'Indicações da Semana'. This was the best service done by any newspaper in Brazil relating to the release of new or not-so-new movies. It was a favourite of mine when I started buying the paper on Sundays as of 1962.  

10 January 1960 - it looked like the best movies were reprises. 1945's 'The bells of Saint Mary' (Os sinos de Santa Maria) was 15 years old and still drawing crowds to see angelic Ingrid Bergman wear the traps of a Catholic nun... and Bing Crosby being just as wooden as ever.

10 January 1960 - Ingmar Bergman's 1955's 'Sommarnattens leende' (Sorrisos de uma noite de verão) at Cine Jussara; 'Sissi - Schicksalsjahre einer Kaiserin' (Sissi e seu destino) kept drawing big crowds after 7 successful weeks at Cine Normandie and others at the suburbs.

17 January 1960 - Rolf Hansen's 'Resurrezione' (Resurrection) based on Tolstoi's book; an Italo-French-German production with Horst Buchholz. I remember I used to attend a Sunday-afternoon movie session at cinema attached to Igreja do Calvario (Calvary Church) in Pinheiros, Sao Paulo in the early 1960s. The priests would show light-hearted flicks like Hardy & Laurel (Gordo & Magro), Jerry Lewis idiotic comedies, musicals with Spanish singers and sometimes they also projected religious movies. All the kids who went to church in the afternoon to be taught the Catechism actually were there because they would watch a movie later for free. On that particular sunny Sunday we went into the cinema to watch this 'Resurrection' that the priests thought was about Jesus's own resurrection. Little did they know what was in store: fifteen minutes after the film started and scandalous scenes of kissing, necking and light fucking were shown... the screen went blank. Some priest must have come to the conclusion that this 'Resurrection' was a different cup of tea and decided it was too hot for kids younger than 14 years old.

24 January 1960 - Japanese cinema was stronger than ever with actor Teiji Takahashi starring in 'Hanayome no onoroke' (Noiva sonhadora) at Cine Nippon. Takahashi died tragically in a car crash. He was only 33 years old.  

Teiji Takahashi * 20 Oct 1926, Tokyo + 3 Nov 1959, Yokohama, Kanagawa (car crash).

Teiji Takahashi.

24 January 1960 - comedian turned producer Amacio Mazzaropi reaches the pinnacle of popularity with 'Jeca Tatú' loosely based on a Monteiro Lobato book; see rock'n'roll sensacional brother & sister Tony & Celly Campello rocking around the swimming pool...see gorgeous Marlene França playing the engenue... 

4 February 1960 - Ronald MacDougall's 'The world, the flesh and the devil' (O diabo, a carne e o mundo) is a freightening tale of three people being left alone in New York City after some terrible accident in which everyone else disappeared. Harry Belafonte is the main character.

12 February 1960 - J.B. Tanko's 'Entrei de gaiato' with Zé Trindade at the top of his career and Dercy Gonçalves vying to be as funny... it's one of the best musical comedies ever produced in Brazil... 

18 February 1960 - Cine Metro presents Violeta Ferraz in 'Minha sogra é da polícia' (My mother-in-law is a police woman) in which rock'n'roll plays a major part in the sound-track like Lana Bittencourt singing 'Alone', Carlos Imperial with 'That's rock', El Cubanito with 'Ai, cosita linda', Paulo Molin with 'Sereno', Cauby Peixoto, Mario Mascarenhas & others. 

18 February 1960 - Bing Crosby is back playing the same (now) old boring priest of 'Going my way' and 'Bells of St. Mary'. This time, 'Prece para um pecador' (Say one for me) he lives in a parrish near Broadway and gets involved with old time boozers and rock'n'rollers (Robert Wagner). 

31 January 1960 - French movies, like those from Sweden, were considered 'risqué'; 'Les possédées' (As possuídas) made in 1958 with Ralf Vallone, Madeleine Robinson & Magali Noel boasted of 'gritos da carne' (flesh's cry) plus 1958's 'La fille de feu' which was tartly translated as 'Sedução da carne' (Seduction of the flesh) with Claudine Dupuis.

21 February 1960 - Argentine bombshell Isabel Sarli (Miss Argentina 1955) in 'El trueno entre las hojas' (A thunder among the leaves) which was 'translated' as 'Um rio se mancha de sangue' (A river turned to blood). It was Miss Sarli first film made in 1958 in Argentina, crossing Rio da Prata only 2 years later.

Argentina had Isabel Sarli, the United Kingdom had Diana Dors with 'Tread sofly stranger' which was translated as 'A tentação e a mulher' (Women and temptation). 

at Cine Jussara they played the best European 'adult movies'. Germany's Sabina Sesselmman in 'Liebe kann wie Gift sein' (O amor pode ser veneno) was amazingly translated correctly. 

20 February 1960 - Brazilian flicks with popular performers like Zé Trindade & Dercy Gonçalves were advertised 3 or 4 weeks in advance to build up expectation among the crowd. 'Entrei de gaiato' was a winner. It had all the elements to be a top box-office seller. It had top-comedian Zé Trindade with his double-entendres, it had Dercy Gonçalves the most popular Brazilian comedienne by far; and a lot of Carnaval hits like 'Me dá um dinheiro aí' (Gimme some money now).

21 February 1960 - even though the OESP columnist thinks 'Pé na tábua' is a new film it was actually released in January 1959 by Herbert Richers its producer. However dismissive of 'Carioca musicals' he is, he still see some good in comedians Ankito, Renata Fronzi, Grande Otelo and ingenue Nelly Martins.

28 February 1960 - It was common practice to re-release a one or two-year old Brazilian comedy when Carnaval came and the company didn't have a new product. 'Massagista de madame' was made in 1958 for the 1959 Carnaval time... These comedies always filled up the theatres and made a lot of money to everyone. Zé Trindade & Renata Fronzi would do it again later in 1960 with 'Marido de mulher boa'. 

29 February 1960 - Herbert Richers' 'Entrei de gaiato' pairs off Zé Trindade with Dercy Gonçalves, at their peak of popularity.

28 February 1960 - Romy Schneider was box-office certainty. 

6 March 1960 - a lovely Art-Deco building on Avenida São João, Cine Broadway had its last day on Sunday 6 March 1960. It would be transfered to Serviço Nacional do Teatro, part of Ministry of Education to be transformed into an official theatre. Nothing of the sort actually happened. Cine Broadway remained closed indefinitely. There was a coup d'etat in April 1964, and the old Broadway ended up being handed over to some military establishment who built a hideous building for housing military men and their families. 

'Cabeça satanica' (Satanic head) was a good title for the last picture show at Cine Broadway that ended up in a double-feature. The other movie was called 'Sangue por sangue' (Blood for blood) all apt titles for a dying giant of beauty.

28 February 1960 - after 33 weeks at Cine Ipiranga 'The Ten Commandments' (Os Dez Mandamentos) is finally ready to switch to Cine Boulevard where it would play for a long time too...

6 March 1960 - a new cinema is inaugurated on Avenida Paulista on Wednesday, 9 March: Cine Astor, one of the best houses in the city.

13 March 1960 - Japanese sci-fi 'The Mysterians' (Os bárbaros invadem a terra) premieres in Rio de Janeiro. I was only 10 years old then and used to live in Marilia-SP; I had the fright of my life when I went to see this movie in the 7:00 session. I believed every frame I saw and as I was by myself and had to go through a patch of dark streets before I got home I started running for my life... I never had so much fear as that particular night.

20 March 1960 - When 'La violetera' got to its 25th week of continuous sucess at the box office, Condor Filmes did something usual: it allowed people to watch the movie for free on Friday 25 March 1960. Those wanting to watch it for free would have to go to Cine Comodoro's box office on the Thursday from 2:00 to 4:00 and get the tickets. I wonder whether they had full houses on the 5 sessions: 10:00 am, Noon, 2:00 pm, 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. 

20 March 1960 - 'Maria 28' was released in S.Paulo after a big advertising campaign showed a 'Maria 38 wanted' ad in which this perilous criminal was wanted by the police.

OESP's columnist condescends towards 'Maria 38' as being not wholly bad even though its origins in Rio de Janeiro. He goes on to say that Eliana is a friendly 'star' (God only knows what he meant by that) and a meritorious actress who was excellent under the direction of Josip Bogoslaw Tanko in 'A outra face do homem' (1954) plus 'Sinfonia Carioca' (1955) and 'Depois eu conto' (1956).

27 March 1960 - re-release of J.B.Tanko's 1954's 'A outra face do homem'. OESP's cinema columnist praises the film which is utterly unusual. Maybe it's because the flick was the very first to be the recepient of the trophy Saci - a yearly award that daily 'O Estado de S.Paulo' (here referred as OESP) granted to the best cinema people - a sort of a Brazilian Academy Award. Maybe that's one of the reasons why OESP spurned musical comedies... because their list of possible award nominees would be shorter. They wanted to be 'serious people' granting awards to 'serious film makers'. That was a really difficult task in a country with two-thirds of its population illiterate or half-illiterate. 

27 March 1960 - at adults-only Cine Aureare the release of 1952's 'O preço de um desejo' (The price of desire). 

27 March 1960 - a Brazilian person who was born in the 1980s or 1990s and is an adult in the 2010s cannot underestand how Brazilian films could be so popular in the 1950s and 1960s. The were hugely popular. Especially because there was no TV and two-thirds of the country's population were illiterate and only went to the movies when they did not have to read subtitles in foreign-language movies. Musical comedies were constantly being re-released even after only a few months of their premiere. They were a sure-fire way of getting good box-office receipts. José Carlos Burle's 'Barnabé, tu és meu' (1951); J.C.Burle's 'Tres vagabundos' (1952); Jorge Ileli's 'Amei um bicheiro' (1952); J.C. Burle's 'Carnaval Atlântida' (1952); Carlos Manga's 'Nem Sansão, nem Dalila' (1954); Carlos Manga's 'Matar ou correr' (1954) and Eurípedes Ramos's 'Três recrutas' (1953).

27 March 1960 - at Cine Mônaco 'O terceiro sexo' (The third sex) was announced with blaring letters. No photos were shown to make it even more mysterious. One didn't even know where this sort of film came from. The columnist at OESP didn't know much either. Well, at least he knew the original title: 'Anders als du und ich' (§ 175) - the funny symbol and number were more mysterious still. Thank God for Wikipedia and the Intenet to throw some light on that.

'Anders als du und ich' (§ 175) 'Different from you and me' is a 1957 feature film on the subject of homosexuality (there, I've said it, finally) directed by Veit Harlan. The film was subjected to censorship in Germany and several scenes had to be altered before it could be released. The Austrian version is much closer to the original.

At the time the film was made, § 175 paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code criminalized homosexual acts between men. It was the aim of Hans Giese, a homosexual emancipation activist who served as scientific advisor to the film, to shift public opinion toward reforming and liberalizing the law.

It was Veit Harlan, of all people, the protégé of Joseph Goebbels and director of the classic anti-Semitic propaganda film 'Jud Süss' (1940), who in 1957 sought to rehabilitate his reputation by taking on a particularly touchy topic: the case of a mother who successfully and even heroically 'saves' her son from homosexuality only to be prosecuted for procuring.

'Anders als du and ich' (O terceiro sexo) was not just a remarkably frank film about homosexuality, a topic which was still highly taboo in 1957, but also a moral challenge to the outmoded German law against procuring. As a result of its handling of these issues, the film was initially banned and had to be revised.

OESP cinema columnist didn't know any of these things and he didn't make an effort either. Maybe he only read Hollywood gossip magazines. Hollywood was decades behind Germany and Europe on this subject. He naively says:

'Menos um estudo sobre perversão sexual do que uma história que não foge à rotina do melodrama e na qual (segundo a crítica do Rio) o problema parece ter sido tratado apenas para aproveitamento do seu lado sensacional. Provável apagada reaparição da veterana Paula Wessely'.

Jee, whiz! In such a small text the columnist confesses that he doesn't know much of nothing and then he confesses he reads the newspapers's reviews printed in Rio de Janeiro, the very place he is supposed to abhor. And then adding salt to the injury he supposes veteran actress Paula Wessely - probably the only name he recognizes in the film credits - was much good at her 'come back'. That is what is called 'sem noção' (without notion) in Portuguese.

Klaus (Christian Wolff) & Manfred (Günther Theil) share an interest in art. 

antique dealer Boris Winkler (Friedrich Joloff) has an interest in young men and is introduced to Klaus.

Boris hosts decadent all-male get-togethers at his home featuring free-style wrestlin by scantily-clad young men.

Klaus' mum & dad suspect something wrong; Mum Christa gets Gerda, her housemaid, and devises a plan to seduce Klaus and turn him from his homosexual ways.

Klaus is duly seduced by Gerda (Ingrid Stenn), but Mother (Paula Wessely) is prosecuted for procuring.

director Veit Harlan; Christian Wolff plays Klaus.

10 April 1960 - 'Anders als du und ich' kept doing excellent business on its 3rd week at Cine Mônaco.

3rd April 1960 - Eurides Ramos' 'Titio não é sopa' starring old-timer Procopio Ferreira, Eliana Macedo, Ronaldo Lupo and Herval Rossano.

3rd April 1960 - a 1958 black-and-white production released by Paramount in 1958 as a double-feature with 'The blob'.

8 April 1960 - In Rio de Janeiro's Cine Eskye, a 'Festival Kim Novak'... with 1957's 'Jeanne Eagles' (Lagrimas de triunfo); 1955's 'Pic nic' (Ferias de amor); 1956's 'Eddie Duchin story' (Melodia imortal); 1958's 'Bell, book and candle' (Sortilegio de amor) and 1957's 'Pal Joey' (Meus dois carinhos).

15 April 1960 - Good Friday -  Yvonne De Carlo in 'La spada e la croce' (A espada e a cruz) shot in 1957.