1 9 6 2 - Caterina Valente - Sarita Montiel

Marisol's 2nd film 'Um anjo desceu dos céus' (Ha llegado un ángel) she interacts with Mexican child actor Cesáreo Quezadas aka Pulgarcito.

18 March 1962 - Cine Regina suddenly goes German with 'Ewiger Walzer' (Valsa eterna) a 1954 production dramatizing the life of Johann Strauss II; next attraction would be a 5-year-old Caterina Valente's vehicle 'Und abends in die Scala' (A corista e a grã-fina) a musical with Gerhard Riedmann & Silvio Francesco made in 1957; at Cine Monaco there was always a Mexican production, this time 'Pistolas invencibles' (A lei das pistolas) with Elvira Quintana & Armando Silvestre; at Cine Marco Polo were Sophia Loren & Totó with 'Miseria e nobreza' (Miseria e nobiltà).

Caterina Valente's '...und abends in die Scala' (A corista e a grã-fina) was made in 1957 but only shown in Brazil 5 years later.

18 March 1962 - European cinema was very competitive Pietro Germi's 'Un maledetto imbroglio' (Aquele caso maldito) with Claudia Cardinale; next attraction at Cine Olido would be 1960's 'Im weissen Roessl' (A Taberna do Cavalo Branco) starring singer-actor Peter Alexander & Waltraut Haas - a musical based on the operetta of same name; at Cine Bandeirantes 1959's 'La valse du Gorille' (Ninho de espiões) a French spy-tale with Roger Hanin playing an agent called Le Gorille.

18 March 1962 - Otto Preminger's 'Exodus' with Paul Newman & Eva Marie Saint played at Cine Normandie; Cine Republica had a pench to show muscle-men movies imported from Italy; 'Ursus' with Ed Fury was it; Elvis Presley in 'Wild in the country' (Coração rebelde) with Tuesday Weld, Hope Lange and Millie Perkins at Cine Marrocos; Spanish child star Marisol had her 2nd movie hit with 'Ha llegado un ángel' (Um anjo desceu do ceu) where she interacts with Cesáreo Quezadas, Mexico's own Pulgarcito; Brazil's Ankito in 'Sai dessa recruta' with Consuelo Leandro and probably Maria Vidal's last appearance at the screen at Cine Marabá.

25 March 1962 -

22 April 1962 - Those movie-theatres around Boca do Lixo - Cine Lider, Rua Conselheiro Nebias, 197 and Cine Apolo, same street # 211, catered for a male audience looking for cheap thrills provided by pre-pornographic movie industry coming from obscure places like Scandinavia. Most of the time the cinemas didn't provide the original names of films like 'Iluminando o caminho' or 'Refugio de Evas' with the addendum 'Nudismo não é pecado' (Nudity is not a sin); 'Doctor in love' (Os apuros de um médico) was a British comedy. Yes, sometimes Brazilians were treated with some of them silly comedies coming from the UK.

22 April 1962 – Susan Hayward, John Gavin & Vera Miles in ‘Back street’ (Esquina do pecado) adapted from a Fannie Hurst novel written in 1931 but set in New York in the turn of the century at Cine Ipiranga; Hollywood’s expensive view of Mexican comedian Cantinflas with ‘Pepe’, an extravaganza more like a waste of talent and time; ‘Vendedor de linguiça’ (Sausage peddler) was Mazzaroppi’s latest comedy interspersed with the latest hit parade sensations like Elza Soares, Miltinho & Pery Ribeiro; at Cine Coral 1959's ‘Il marito bello’ (O belo marido) with Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio de Sica & pop-singer Teddy Reno; ‘Pecado de amor’ was Sara Montiel’s next eagerly expected movie. Sarita had been a sure-fire hit ever since 1959 when she inflamed the silver screen with ‘La violetera’.

Michelangelo Antonioni's 1955's ‘Le amiche’ (As amigas) with Eleonora Rossi Drago was the next attraction at Cine Olido; Cine Aurea at Rua Aurora – a place known as Boca do Lixo (Trash  mouth) tried very hard to become a respectable venue for first-rate movies but to no avail. Once you’re in the wrong side of tracks you might as well stay there. 

If you look close to the TV programmes you’ll notice that TV Excelsior, Channel 9 would always show a full-length movie after 10:00 PM. This Sunday they showed 1941's ‘Os noivos’(I promessi sposi) with Gino Cervi. 

22 April 1962 – Cine Scala was a new movie-house on Rua Aurora a street with 2 different sections: the one north of Avenida São João was disreputable and it was known as Trash Mouth (Boca do Lixo); the southern stretch (nearer Praça da Republica) Rua Aurora was ‘respectable’ but not that much if you go by the title of the flick that opened the new house: Luigi Vanzi's 'Il mondo di notte' (O mundo de noite); blond heart-throb Troy Donahue tries his best in drama 'Parrish' (No vale das grandes batalhas) with Claudette Colbert playing Troy's mohter in her last role in the silver screen.

13 June 1962 -  One could watch a different foreign film every single day of the week and 4 at the week-end. Not only North-american but Latin American and European not to mention movies from the Middle East Arabic countries and Japanese of course due to their immigrating to Brazil as of 1912. 'El Cid' was the epic of the hour since we'd been having a few a year but now it had to compete with the greatness of MGM's 'King of Kings' and 'Al Alamo'.

The remake of Rudolph Valentino's 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' introduced Swedish actress Ingrid Thulin to the US and world viewers. Carroll Baker of 'Babydoll' fame was back with 'Something wild' (Quando a vida é cruel') at Cine Regina and in 'Bridge to the sun' (Ponte para o sol) with James Shigeta at Cine Metro. MGM was still rulling in the early 1960s. Brand-new Cine Pigalle in Largo do Arouche played 'A lenda dos 7 mares' with the child-actor David Ladd, Alan's son who started in 'Shane'. Cine Regina showed not only grandiose spectacles like 'Ben-Hur' but light Italian sexual comedies like 'Apartamento indiscreto' with brothers Mario and Memmo Caratenuto and Yoguslavian beauty Sylva Koscina.

1959's 'Morgen wirst du um mich weinen' (Amanhã chorarás por mim) with Sabine Bethmann & Joachim Hansen was at Cine Normandie.

There were a certain kind of movie houses that followed some similar programming paths like showing European movies like Cine Coral (the poshiest) and Cine Normandie. Cine Marco Polo played re-runs of old films like 'Wuthering Heights' and Cine Atlas on Avenida Rio Branco next to Cine Monaco played anything goes.

13 June 1962 - 'Come September' (Quando setembro vier) at Astor & Ipiranga in its 2nd week spawned two hits: Bobby Darin's own instrumental composition 'Come September' with Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra plus Bobby Darin's rocker 'Multiplication'. It had been released in the USA in 9 August 1961, almost a year before its Brazilian release, but that was common in the 50s & 60s. 'Come September' also started a fever of 'travelogue' movies set in Italy. Rock Hudson had finally found his niche in the movies playing with Doris Day and other 'light-headed' blondes. This time gorgeous Rock was paired off with Italian bombshell Gina Lollobrigida and it clicked marvelously.

'Back street' (Esquina do pecado) with Susan Hayward, John Gavin & Vera Miles was still doing good business in the suburbs; 'Let no man write my epitaph' (Algemas partidas) with Burl Ives, Shelly Winter, James Darren, Jean Seberg, Ricardo Montalban & Ella Fitzgerald at Cine Bandeirantes; Tony Curtis starred in 2 films: 'Rat race' (A taberna das ilusões perdidas) with Debbie Reynolds and 'The outsider' (O sexto homem) where he played a native American soldier; while 'Os cafajestes' with Norma Benguel & Jece Valadão played at Cine Aurea and 'Assassinato em Copacabana' played at Cine Art Palacio.

13 July 1962 - American teen-idol Neil Sedaka was back in town - his first tour had been a breakthrough in his embryonic career in November 1959. Cine Fiammetta on Rua Fradique Coutinho, 361 (next door to MGM's Cine Jardim) in Pinheiros is inaugurated with Carlos Hugo Christensen's 'Esse Rio que eu amo' featuring Odete Lara; at Cine Olido, 'Cupido não tem bandeira' (One, two, three) Billy Wilder's latest comedy set in Berlin at the height of the Cold War it was filmed just prior to the building of the infamous Berlin Wall with James Cagney, German heart-throb Horst Buchholz and Pamela Tiffin.

13 July 1962 - 'Guns of Navarone' (Os canhões de Navarone) was one of my favourite movies of the time. I must have watched 3 times. Gregory Peck was the man! World War II movies were still very popular even 17 years after its end. 'Guns of Navarone' is probably the best film about WWII. The scene in which Peck is about to execute the traitor played by Gia Scala is really dramatic and unforgettable... at least if you were a teenager like I was when I saw it. and Walt Disney's 'A guerra dos dálmatas' (101 Dalmatians) was as cute as ever. 

Anthony Quinn, Stanly Baker and James Darren stands by while Gregory Peck is forced to execute Gia Scala who has just been found out as a traitor to the group that was on a mission to destroy the big guns at Navarone. That's the movie's highlight. 

29 July 1962 - flick based on Scott Fitzgerald's 'Tender in the night' (Suave é a noite) with Jenniffer Jones, Jason Robards, Jr., Joan Fontaine etc. The music composed by was superb and the main-theme was adapted superbly by Copacabana Discos's A& R man Nazareno de Brito into 'Suave é a noite' that made talented Moacyr Franco a star overnight. 

lovely Jane Wyatt (popular for her role as the Mother in Robert Young's 'Father knows best') and Brenda Lee in her first movie appearance in 'The 2 little bears' (Os 2 ursinhos).

23 August 1962 - Every Brazilian teen-ager knew that Brenda Lee had finally made a film in Hollywood and it was eagearly awaited to be seen. However, 'The two little bears' (Os dois ursinhos) in which Brenda actually comes third in the credits after old-timers Eddie Albert and lovely Jane Wyatt (the mother in 'Father knows best') was released with not much advertising and shown only in the suburbs - not one downtown movie house showed it. Most Brenda fans didn't even know the movie was showing  which was unfortunately my case. It's a tragedy when one thinks that 'The 2 little bears' was shown at near-by Cine Fiammetta for a week and I didn't even know. 

Brenda Lee's first appearance in the silver screen was overlooked by the Brazilian adults who could not fathom the power of kid's money. The review says: 'A modest flick by Fox... at Cine Picolino and a circuit in the suburbs...'. 

23 August 1962 - MGM trying to get the teens to go to the movies in a series of light comedies that I used to enjoy. I think 'The honymoon machine' (A maquina do amor) was one of the best of this series. Tall Paula Prentiss was in most of them and I loved her... it's a pity I found out much later she was such a pretty damned conservative politically... what a waste of brain! Well, anyway, Steve McQueen was in this one and it made it better. Steve went on to much better things soon after this. Nice Jim Hutton kept on repeating himself indefinetely.

9 September 1962 - Samuel Bronston's 'El Cid' was running for 15 weeks at Cine Windsor while Maria Felix starred in 'Estrela vazia' (La estrella vacía) at Cine Rivoli.

9 September 1962 - Sunday on TV: ‘Father knows best’ (Papai sabe-tudo) on  Channel 4, TV Tupi at 8:25; ‘Route 66’ at 9:00 PM; complete theatre plays like ‘Tragica inocencia’ were shown at ‘TV de Vanguarda’ at 10:15; Sunday was kid’s day at TV Record which showed ‘Fury’ at 11:00 AM and ‘Zorro’ at 11:30; ‘Circo do Arrelia & Pimentinha’ at 2:05; ‘Grande Ginkana Kibon’ at 6:00 PM; ‘Lassie’ dubbed in Portuguese at 7:00; and ‘Chico Anisio Show’ at 9:05.

1959's 'Morte di un amico' at Cine Coral; Brazilian film 'Assalto ao trem pagador' was breaking box-office records with Elezier Gomes, Reginaldo Farias, Ruth de Souza, Helena Ignez, Atila Iório, Luiza Maranhão & the best possibel Brazilian cast; at Cine Bandeirantes, another Brazilian flick: 'Herdeiro de Satanas' with Alberto Lupo; 'Bachelor paradise' (Solteiro no paraiso) was one of dozens of light comedies produced by MGM before it went broke. Most of the time it had an older couple (Bob Hope & Lana Turner) inter-acting with a younger generation like Jim Hutton & Paula Prentiss.

9 September 1962 - Academy Award's best 1961 movie 'West Side Story' won 10 Oscars, only one short of the 11 statuettes 'Ben-Hur' got in 1959. Both films played at Cine Regina. Frank Capra's comeback film 'Dama por um dia' (A pocketful of miracles) playing at Cine Olido had a mature Bette Davis playing Apple Annie who sold apples in Depression-time New York. At huge Cine Republica, 'Teen age millionaire' (Na onda do twist) a 1961 production with Jimmy Clanto, Rocky Graziano, ZaSu Pitts, Chubby Checker, Dion, Jackie Wilson; at Cine Coral 1959's 'Ragazzi del juke-box' (Rock, twist e doce vida) had a constellation of Italian rock stars as Adriano Celentano, Tony Dallara & Betty Curtis; at Cine Monaco always a good Mexican film: 1958's 'El boxeador' (O pugilista) with Joaquin Cordero.

'Teenage millionaire' becomes 'Na onda do twist' in Brazil. 

9 September 1962 - Anselmo Duarte's adaptation of Dias Gomes's 'O pagador de promessas' won the 1962 Cannes Film Festival and got big at the box-office making a star out of Leonardo Vilar and Norma Bengell who stayed in Europe and made films in Italy. 

Anselmo Duarte holds his Palm d'Or he won in Cannes for 'O pagador de promessas' voted best movie of 1962.

29 September 1962 - Helio Souto tries his best in 'Dioguinho' a tentative Brazilian 'western' but to no avail; Leslie Caron and Horst Buchholtz are the romantic pair in 'Fanny' a Cine Ipiranga; Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta & Miyoshi Umeki in Rodgers & Hammerstein's 'Flower drum song' (Flor de Lotus) at Cine Barão and Cine Astor while Chubby Checker says 'Don't knock the twist' at Cine Bandeirantes and Cine Trianon. 

1960's 'Private property' (Propriedade privada) at Cine Normandie directed by Leslie Stevens is a romantic triangle adultery sex melodrama ('The boldest story of a planned seduction ever to scald the screen!'; '...and the man who owned her didn't even know she was a 'twitch'!) starring Corey Allen & Warren Oates. Sometimes they say that a movie 'ahead of its time', but this forgotten movie was absolutely just that! It has a neglected wife and a petty thug who wants to seduce her, and he has a sidekick who is apparently gay, and there are all kinds of suggestions of things that would not be seen in mainstream movies until the late 1960s! 

'Horizontal lieutenant' (O tenente boa vida) has got Jim Hutton & Paula Prentiss together again... plus Miyoshi Umeki. 

14 October 1962 - 1961 Spanish production with Cuban actor René Muñoz portraying San Martin de Porres, a Black fray who lived a saintly life in Lima, Peru, 'Fray Escoba' (Frei Escova) had a big box-office success but not as much as 1955's 'Marcelino pan y vino'; at Cine Bijou a 1956 Czech by Václav Krska 'Legenda o lásce' (A lenda do amor) with Apostol Karamitev & Vlasta Fialova; at Cine Olido a Vittorio de Sica's extravaganza called 'Il giudizio universale' (O juízo final) with Silvana Mangano, Jack Palance, Alberto Sordi, Ernest Borgnine, Vittorio Gassmann, Melina Mercouri & Fernandel. Just like 1957's 'Zwei blaue augen' it is a black-white movie that becomes coloured at the last 15 minutes. It becomes coloured when God speaks to the crowd at ball in a Naples's theatre; at Cine Atlas, 1952's 'Manina, la fille sans voiles' a film Brigitte Bardot did when she was only 17; at Cine Marrocos & Cine Metro, Atlântida's 'As 7 Evas' with Cyll Farney, Odete Lara, Marcia de Windsor, Paulo Autran, Adriano Reys & Celia Biar. 

Cuban actor Ramon Muñoz as Fray Escoba.

18 November 1962 - 

30 November 1962 - I remember going to Cine Republica to watch 'Bird man of Alcatraz' (O homem de Alcatraz) with Burt Lancaster who could do no wrong...

30 November 1962 - a 1961 Portuguese production with Brazilian actor-director Anselmo Duarte & Brazilian actress Marisa Prado., based on a Julio Diniz novel 'As pupilas do Senhor Reitor'. This had been first filmed in 1924 as a silent movie and again in 1935 as a 'talkie'.

4 December 1962 - Nelson Pereira dos Santos latest film, 'Mandacaru vermelho' was part of what was known as Cinema Novo...  a new approach to film making with a more artistic and political bent.

23rd December 1962 - at Cine Bijou a 1959 German production 'Ein Sommer den man nie vergisst' (Um verão que jamais se esquece) with Claus Biederstaedt & Antjie Geerk; Jerry Lewis was at his artistic peak in 'Cinderfela' (Cinderelo sem sapato); Fabian may not have been a good singer but Hollywood was doing its best to make him a big screen star (with no avail). This time Fabian fluffs his lines in 'Mr Hobbs takes a vacation' (As ferias de papai) with James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara and John Saxon.

23 December 1962 - Elvis Presley's 'Blue Hawaii' (Feitiço havaiano) at Cine Barão; at Cine Ipiranga 'Walk on the wild side' (Pelos bairros do vicio) with Laurence Harvey, Capucine, Jane Fonda, Anne Baxter & Barbara Stanwyck.