1 9 6 8 - Belle de Jour - 2001 - Bonnie & Clyde

7 January 1968 - Look at some of the movies playing on the first week in 1968: 'How to succeed in business without really trying' (Como vencer na vida sem fazer esforço), 'The happening' (Acontece cada coisa!') with Anthony Quinn; 'The night of the generals' (A noite dos generais) with Peter O'Toole & Omar Shariff; the latest Giuliano Gemma spaghetti-western and even a 1966 Cantinflas flick called 'Su excelencia'.

8 January 1968 - the sequel to 'Rita o mosquito' , 'Non stuzzicate la zanzara' (Não brinque com o mosquito) is released in Sao Paulo barely 6 months after the original drew a great public to it. But this time there was no proper advertising and being released during summer vacations didn't bode well for it. It looked like the film distributor didn't even tell RCA Victor they were releasing it so RCA didn't bother to release its sound-track album either. A total PR disaster compounded with the Italian pop-music vanishing act. 

The musical numbers staged by Lina Wertmüller were first-rate. Even the newspaper ad claimed: 'A resposta italiana aos shows de Hollywood' (Italians answer to Hollywood's musicals). Conservative newspaper Estadao was lenient with both Pavone's movies but even so 'Não brinque com o mosquito' (Do not tease the mosquito) had the shortest run possible soon disappearing at suburbs's theatres differently from Gigliola Cinquetti's 'Dio come ti amo' that played at suburbs's packed houses for 5 straight years... a real breakthrough.

17 March 1968 - Leila Diniz & Paulo Jose try to repeat their hit 'Todas as mulheres do mundo' in Domingos Oliveira's 'Edu, coração de ouro'.

22 March 1968 - pop-rock sensation Wanderlea finally appears on the silver screen directed by Anselmo Duarte in 'Juventude e ternura'. 

17 March 1968 - three Brazilian productions: Hugo Walter Khouri's 'Noite vazia' (1964) is back at Cine Atlas; 'Ferias no sul' with David Cardoso & Elizabeth Hartann at Cine Bruni and 'Bebel, a garota propaganda' at Cine Paisandu & Belas Artes. 

5 April 1968 - Brazilian rock-sensation Roberto Carlos appears as himself at Roberto Farias' 'Roberto Carlos em ritmo de aventura' which clearly imitated The Beatles 'Help'.  

12 May 1968 - Roberto Carlos still drawing crowds at his 6th week; Catherine Deveuve plays her most successfull role in 'Belle de Jour' at Cine Astor at its 6th week; The Beatles are back with 'Help' in a double-feature at Cine Boulevard. 

9 June 1968 - 'Valley of the dolls' (O vale das bonecas) based on the 1966 best-seller novel by Jacqueline Susann. 'Dolls' was a slang term for downers (bolinhas), originally short of dolophine, which quickly came to refer to any bartiturates such as pentobarbital, used as sleep aids. Sharon Tate would be murdered on 9 August 1969 aged 26;  French-Italian-German singer Caterina Valente is back in Sao Paulo for 2 appearances at Theatro Paramount on 20 and 21st June.

... and when everyone thought there was enough of Rita Pavone at the movies... Fama Filmes announces 'Rita no West'... soon at Cine Olido...

15 July 1968 - but actually 'Rita no West' was shown at Cine Maraba instead... also at Cine Regencia on Rua Augusta and Cine Goiás in Pinheiros... Rita Pavone was competing with 'Bonnie & Clyde' and '2001 a space odyssey'... and dozens of Italian so-called spaghetti-westerns...

14 July 1968 - Stanley Kubrik's fascinating '2001' on its 2nd week exclusively at Cine Majestic on Rua Augusta; Warren Beatty's 'Bonnie & Clyde' at Cine Astor and Cine Scala on Rua Aurora.

11 August 1968 - TV soap-opera heart-throb Francisco Cuoco stars in 'Anuska' (Manequim e mulher). Note that Mr Cuoco would be present at Cine Olidoi every night signing autographs for the fans. 

11 August 1968 - daily O Estado de Sao Paulo's Suplemento Feminino announces French rock-singer Sylvie Vartan would be at FENIT (a fashion industry yearly fair held at Park Ibirapuera) on 20 August 1968 to show her clothes collection from her own Parisian boutique.

15 September 1968 - 'The miracle worker' or 'O milagre de Annie Sullivan' had been playing at Teatro Taib since July 1967. Note journalist Ezequiel Neves in the cast plus Elizabeth Hartmann and Ruth de Souza.

15 September 1968 - Argentine director Carlos Hugo Christensen 1965 ode to Rio de Janeiro: 'Crônica da cidade amada' is back at Cine Republica.  

15 September 1968 - less than 3 months before the Military Dictatoship imposed heavy censorship to all kinds of theatre play and music (AI-5 imposed on 13 December 1968) the theatre scene in Sao Paulo was really impressive.

6 October 1968 - singer Maria Bethania stars in 'Comigo me desavim' a singing recital directed by Fauzi Arpa at Teatro Ruth Escobar (Galpão) for 20 days; TV comedian Chico Anisio does his stand-up comedy act called 'Chico Anisio só' at Teatro Brasileiro de Comedia.

6 October 1968 - Sidney Portier in 'To Sir with love' (Ao mestre com carinho) was in its 2nd week at Cine Windsor and many others; Italian tenor Gianni Morandi with tear-jerker 'Não mereço você' (I'm not worthy of you) or 'Non son degno di te' in the Italian original.