late 1964 - 'Marisol no Rio'

10 October 1964 - United Artists' 2nd James Bond movie opens at Cine Windsor; unlike its predecessor 'Dr No', which was barely noticed by the press (and public) 'From Russia with love' or 'Moscou contra 007' as it was known in Brazil; on the right: EMI-Odeon's single 'From Russia with love' sung magnificently by Matt Monro which went up the Brazilian charts.

17 October 1964 - 'O Estado de S.Paulo' movie columnist writes a thorough review about 'From Russia with love' (Moscou conta 007) which opened at Cine Windsor a week before. 

17 October 1964 -  Dino Risi's 'Il sorpasso' ('A ultrapassagem' would be the right translation but 'Aquele que sabe viver' was the title chosen by the Brazilian distributor) which opened in Italy on 6 December 1962 and in the USA one year later 22nd December 1963, opens in São Paulo almost two years too late. 

18 October 1964 - Reviews of 'Il sorpasso' (1962) and 'From Russia with love' (Moscou contra 007) at OESP. 

20 December 1964 - Condor Filmes presents 'Marisol no Rio' (Rumbo a Rio) in which the Spanish child-star just turned 15 years-old plays a double role (twin sisters Marisol and Mariluz separated early in life) obviously reminiscent of Hayley Mills who had done the same trick in Walt Disney's 'Parent trap' only 2 years earlier (1961).

any similarity between 1961's 'Parent trap!' and 1963's 'Marisol rumbo a Rio' is not coincidence. 

The highlight of 'Marisol no Rio' is when sisters Marisol and Mariluz fall off the cliff of Corcovado mountain. Copito looks on helplessly.

Joëlle Rivero, who was born in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea and Marisol.

18 December 1964 - While 'Marisol no Rio' opens at cinemas in Sao Paulo, Brigitte Bardot arrives in Rio and is welcomed by Vera Lucia Couto, Miss Brazil 1964.

20 December 1964 - Brazilian movie industry was not bad at all at the end of 1964: major productions like Oswaldo Massaini's 'Lampião, rei do cangaço', Walter Hugo Kohuri's 'Noite vazia' and independent producer José Mojica Marins's 'A meia-noite levarei sua alma' competed with Hollywood productions like Samuel Bronston's 'The fall of the Roman Empire' and Michael Anderson's 'Flight from Aghiya' (Sacrificio sem gloria).

19 December 1964 - Actress-impresario-theatre-owner Ruth Escobar presents Brecht's 'Opera dos 3 vinténs' ('Die Dreigroschenoper' or 'The 3 penny opera') with power-house singer Leny Eversong supported by Ruth Escobar herself, Luely Figueiró and Nilda Maria.

19 December 1964 - Look at the line up at Teatro Maria Della Costa Bossa Nova show: Vinicius, Agostinho, Raul Cortez, Manfred Fest Trio, Taiguara, Toquinho etc.; Sergio Cardoso does a Shakespeare recital at Teatro de Arte Israelita Brasileiro for subscribers of Instituto Cultural Israelita Brasileiro; English singer Dusty Springfield is expelled from South Africa by racist-government.

19 December 1964 - Mary Wynne pokes fun at Egas Muniz (a columnist from another rag) for having posted a photo of a '3rd-page-voloptuous-woman' she desapproved. Mary was friendly with a lot of people, including Mauricio Kus who worked as Braniff's public-relations-officer. 

Enquanto a cidade inteira está tentando resolver o problema de escolher entre os reveillons deste ano, Mauricio Kus achou uma solução bem feliz. Até foi bem fácil para ele, o 'globe-trotter public-relations' da Braniff, ter a bela ideia de dar um pulinho a jato para passar o fim de ano em (sic) Panamá. Na foto de hoje, Maurico com seu companheiro de viagem. sr. Sylvio Paula Ramos, que é também 'public relations' da H.Stern, durante aquele maravilhoso voo de 12 minutos entre Congonhas e Viracopos na semana passada.

27 December 1964 - It is amazing to note that Spanish-speaking films were still very popular in Brazil as late as 1964. Sarita Montiel was a definite movie-queen and her flicks were desperately sought after by eager fans who would stand on queues for hours. 'La Bella Lola' was shot in 1962, a period Sarita was still very much on demand; Cantinflas' 'El señor fotografo' (O grande fotografo) was first released in 1953 so it was 11 years old already but still successful; Samuel Bronston's 'The fall of the Roman Empire' (A queda do Império Romano) with an stellar cast headed by Sophia Loren and Stephen Boyd was in its 5th week at Cine Rio Branco.

1 9 6 5 - '55 days at Peking' / 'The Pink Panther'

17 January 1965 - Trumpeted as 'O filme do seculo' (the film of the century) '55 days at Peking' was almost 2 years late. Samuel Bronston's production was released on 29 May 1963 in the USA but it took almost 2 years to reach these shores. Even Bronston's next epic 'The fall of the Roman Empire' (premiered in the USA on 26 March 1964) had already been released in Brazil. According to Wikipedia the flick was a commercial failure and that may explain why it took so long for it to be released in 3rd World-country markets.

17 January 1965 - These were some of the more recent productions '55 days at Peking' was competing with: Jerry Lewis' 'The nutty professor' (Professor aloprado) was really popular with the populace while Blake Edwards' 'The pink panther' was a real delight to everyone else (note that David Niven were on both '55 days at Peking' and 'A pantera cor-de-rosa').

17 January 1965 - This is what Rio de Janeiro's 'Correio da Manhã' columnist wrote about '55 days at Peking': Uma das fitas mais reacionárias, mais cretinas, mais sensaboronas de todos os tempos. Pobre Ava Gardner! ... '55 days at Peking' is one of the most reactionary, most abnoxious, most tasteless films of all time. Poor Ava Gardner!...'

17 January 1965 - Livio Bruni network of cinemas (Cine Jussara was one of their houses) decided it was time to rerun Ava Gardner's vehicle 'Lone star' (Estrêla do destino)... obviously prodded by the premiere of '55 days at Peking'.

17 January 1965 - North-American columnist Mary Wynne in her daily report at OESP tells about night-life entrepreuner Paulo Cotrim the owner of Juão Sebastião Bar plus singer Djalma Dias, who was 'discovered' by US pianist Freddy Feld; see singer Marcia at the Cambridge Bar accompanied by the Manfred Fest Trio.

17 January 1965 -  Sao Paulo had 5 TV channels: Channel 2 (TV Cultura) and  Channel 4 (TV Tupi) belonged to media-baron Assis Chateaubriand; Channel 5 (TV Paulista) was part of Victor Costa Organization; Channel 7 (TV Record) belonged to radio-station-owner Paulo Machado de Carvalho and Channel 9 (TV Excelsior) was the newest station and the most dynamic of all. Channel 9 had the highest ratings followed closely by Channel 7.

7 February 1965 - Maria Della Costa performed at packed houses the tragedy of Marilyn Monroe in her former husband Arthur Miller's ouvre 'After the fall' (Depois da queda); Rumanian actress Jacqueline Myrna who had been Brazilian TV's darling for a couple of years acts in 'Uma cama para três' (A bed for three) with Fulvio Stefanini...; Otelo Zeloni was the life of the party in 'Os ossos do barão' at Teatro Brasileiro de Comedia.

7 February 1965 - Festival of Operetas was back in early 1965; the musical movies were beamed only on Wednesdays so the Festival lasted until 24 March 1965.

7 February 1965 - 'La cumparsita' didn't even need translation into Portuguese because everyone and his dog knew it to be the title of a famous tango... OESP columnist wasn't much help to enlighten the readers about this Spanish-Argentine production. Actually he should have said (if he only knew it) there was an Argentine 1947 production called 'La cumparsita' having Hudo del Carril as its star. Wikipedia says: 'Canción de arrabal' was directed by Enrique Carreras that premiered on 26 October 1961. It has been known also under the title of 'La cumparsita'. Like 'La violetera' the story is set in 1900 and it was shot in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Madrid and Sevilla. Marujita Diaz plays a girl who migrated to Buenos Aires as a kid and grew up in La Boca. She travels to Europe and wins a competition, becomes famous and marries an Argentine man.

7 February 1965 - If it weren't for Wikipedia we wouldn't know 'El derecho de nacer' (O direito de nascer) was a Mexican film released in 1951, based on a Cuban radio-novela (radio-play) of the same name by Felix B. Caignet. Well, the OESP columnist was good enough to say it premiered in Sao Paulo by the 2nd trimester of 1953 (what a queer way to divide the year!) at Cines Opera and Broadway. The columnist actually tries to be funny comparing Desi Arnaz with Fidel Castro.

Jose Parisi, Amilton Fernandes, Guy Lupe & Nathalia Timberg.

'O direito de nascer' had been the most successful radio-novela in the history of Brazilian radio-drama. Then, TV Tupi televised the drama in 1964-1965 and it was madness all over again. This time Albertinho Limonta (the boy who had been on the verge of being aborted) was played by Amilton Fernandes, Maria Elena, his mother-turned-into-a-nun was Nathalia Timberg and Albertinho's Black-step-mother was played by Isaura Bruno. Before I forget the great villain is Don Rafael, Maria Elena's father who insisted on her having an abortion but settled for a 'hidden pregnancy' and immediate rejection of the 'product-of-conception' after its due delivery.

1 9 6 6 - 'Help', Rocio Durcal, Jerry Adriani, Peppino Di Capri...

2nd January 1966 - 'Law of the lawless' translated as 'O juiz enforcador' (The hanging judge) maybe because the original title had been 'Invitation to a hanging'. It was made by Paramount as a double-feature but ended up doing well at the box-office. Yvonne de Carlo was no spring-chicken when she played Ellie Irish 'the most luscious frame-up girl in the West'. Miss De Carlo was 39. Old timer William Bendix was 57 and that's his last appearence at the silver screen. His daughter Lorraine Bendix is also in the cast and so is Lon Chaney Jr. 

2nd January 1966 - Francisco Eydio at Club de Paris; at Club Ichiban Matsuko Kasuko, dubbed the greatest singer in Japan will sing on 9 January. I wonder if the dancing bands who play on regular days at Club Ichiban is the same Benito di Paula who went to the top of the charts circa 1974-1975.

13 February 1966 - Brazilian movie distributors were so out-of-step with what was going on in the world they claimed Spanish young-star Rocío Dúrcal was Latin-American. 'Canção da juventude' (Canción de juventud) Miss Dúrcal 1st flick was shot in 1961, so it was 5 years late. 

13 February 1966 - 'O Estado de S.Paulo's night-life columnist Mary Wynne shows her age when she tells the similarities between the popularities of Roberto Carlos and Frank Sinatra... or even Bing Crosby, going further back in the past.

Quase ia dizer que nunca vi uma onda tão grande como está esse caso sério de Roberto Carlos. Mas, enfim, uma velhinha como eu ainda posso lembrar do negócio das moças desmaiando por causa de Frank Sinatra no Paramount Theatre de New York... e ainda mais, quando eu era broto, o Bing Crosby... que foi o primeiro cantor do gênero 'crooner'. Será quantas pessoas que ainda recordam de 'Sweetheart of Sigma Chi', 'Lazy River', 'When the moon comes over the mountains' (canção-tema de Kate Smith) e tantas outras 'oldies'? Bem, o Roberto Carlos é o Crosby ou o Sinatra brasileiro da atualidade, ou melhor ainda, nas palavras dele mesmo: 'É uma brasa'. Roberto Carlos, como em todos os domingos, é o cantor-'host' do jantar de amigos hoje no San Fernando na Rua Diogo de Faria, 1379 esquina da Ascendino Reis.

13 February 1966 - Roberto Carlos and his troupe would dine at San Fernando;every Sunday night after they performed at they performed at high-ratings TV show 'Jovem Guarda' that was beamed from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM:  Giane & Demonios da Garoa performed at Fasano; at Os Vikings on Rua Nestor Pestana, Renato Mendes and his combo accompanied Flora, who soon would leave for the USA and make herself a winning international jazz career alongside her percusionist husband Airto Moreira. 

Corrientes 348 which is part of the lyrics of 'Media luz', a famous tango was located at Rua Dona Antonia de Queiroz, Consolação, and it was obviously an Argentine place. The ad was written in plain Spanish.

3 April 1966 - The Beatles's second movie 'Help!' (Socorro) premieres in Sao Paulo after having won Rio de Janeiro's Film Festival in 1965. Read the review written by OESP's columnist.

17 July 1966 - Sunday - at Cine Republica the rarest possible showing of Marx Brothers in 'A night at the opera'. You see, the Marx Brothers were not popular in Latin America owing to their kind of humour which depended on the knowledge of the English language on the part of the audience. Grouch relied on English to convey his jokes. That's why Marx Brothers movies were not popular in a Spanish and Portuguese speaking market. I would have been delighted to have had the chance to see 'A night at the opera' when I was 17 years old but I missed it. I probably didn't buy the Sunday newspaper that particular week. I only came in contact with the Marx Brothers flicks 20 years later in the 1980s.

25 September 1966 - voloptuous Argentine sireen Isabel Sarli is back at Cine Boulevard with 'Favela' where she is shown stark naked during her Yemanjá bath. 

28 November 1966 - rock'n'roller heartthrob Jerry Adriani teams up with French actress Annik Malvil and Brazilian baladeer Pery Ribeiro in 'Essa gatinha é minha' (This pussycat is mine).

24 November 1966 - 'Viagem ao mundo dos prazeres' (Canzoni nel mondo), a 1963 documentary directed by Vittorio De Sica was only 3 years too late... Peppino di Capri, Mina, Gilbert Becaud etc.