1 9 5 5 - 'Carnaval em Marte' - 'Carnaval em L'A Maior'

6 February 1955 - Watson Macedo's eagerly-awaited 'Carnaval em Marte' (Carnival in Mars) with heart-throb Anselmo Duarte, his then-wife Ilka Soares, sensationally zany Violeta Ferraz, dead-pan Catalano plus a millionaire line-up of singers like Angela Maria, Emilinha Borba, Linda Baptista, Jorge Veiga, Jorge Goulart, Cauby Peixoto, Carmen Costa, Aracy Costa & Radio Nacional MC Cesar de Alencar.

6 February 1955 - Rio de Janeiro's 'Correio da Manhã' ad for Eurides Ramos' 'Angú de caroço' with Ankito, Heloísa Helena, Costinha, Adriano Reis, Consuelo Leandro etc. 

6 February 1955 - at Teatro Maria Della Costa, 'Com a pulga atras da orelha' directed by Gianni Ratto; at Cine Marabá & 12 other cinemas Ankito in 'Angú de caroço' with wonderful Heloisa Helena plus Consuelo Leandro.

20 February 1955 - Carlos Manga's 'Guerra ao Samba' with Oscarito, Eliana & Cyll Farney, Renato Restier, Renata Fronzi, Margot Louro & a bevy of singers & combos with featuring Ivaná, a Portuguese transvestite who passed off as a French woman. 

15 March 1955 - 'Correio da Manhã's reviews of Ronaldo Lupo's production of 'Trabalhou bem, Genival' (the lesser of 3 evils), Gianni Pons' 'Os 3 garimpeiros' and Eurides Ramos' 'Angú de caroço'. The Brazilian media did not have the least respect for the national cinema industry. It treated it as a 'joke'... actually directors, producers and performers were treated no better than petty criminals. How could that be? It's simple: people who paid to see Brazilian movies did not buy those newspapers who were intended for the middle class. Even so, it was no good for business in general... Here are some gems of this three-in-one review:

'Trabalhou bem... Genival!':  parece ser o menos ruim dos abacaxis nacionais da semana.
'Os 3 garimpeiros': teve a direção de um italiano, Gianni Pons, um dos 26 assistentes de Roberto Rosselini que desembarcaram no Brasil. Naturalmente o milanês (todos são milanêses) foi ter em São Paulo, onde, mesmo falida, a produtora Vera Cruz, do signor Zampari arranjou trabalho...

As one can see, the journalist was not only disrespectful to the film industry but racist and chauvinist.

'Angú de caroço': ... é estropolia dos irmãos Ramos - Alípio que finge de produtor, e Eurides, que finge de diretor...

15 March 1955 -  Luiz de Barros' 'Trabalhou bem... Gernival!' is essentially a Ronaldo Lupo film... where Zé Trindade is still in a supporting role... 

15 March 1955 - As 'Correio da Manhã's columnist said: an Italian director - Gianni Pons - working for a bankrupt studio (Vera Cruz) doing their best to emulate 1953's 'O cangaceiro'...

16 February 1955 - Ademar Gonzaga's 'Carnaval em l'a maior' a pun on Radio Record whose moniker was 'Record, a maior'. Film produced by Cinematográfica Maristela in its studios in Mariporã-SP. All the acts were signed by Radio & TV Record.

17 February 1955 - great comedian Oscarito is back with 'Guerra ao samba' with Eliana & Cyll Farney plus bad man Renato Restier & Oscarito's real-life wife Margot Louro; A great parade of singers like Black Out, Nora Ney, Virginia Lane, Isaurinha Garcia, Portuguese transformist Ivaná aka Yvaná, Dalva de Andrade, Vocalistas Tropicais, Jorge Goulart and pianist Bené Nunes. 

17 February 1955 - circus clowns were popular in the 1950s; Fuzarca & Torresmo star in 'Ai vem o general' where they do their antics between musical numbers performed by Black Out, Emilinha Borba, Cauby Peixoto, Odette Amaral etc.

3rd August 1955 - At Cine Metro in Rio, Rafael Mancini's 1953's 'Almas em conflito' with Sylvio Vieira, Rosangela Maldonado, Paulo Mauricio, D'Andréa Netto, Margot Morel and Jacy de Oliveira. 

13 February 1955 - Competitions among show-girls to see who could 'sell more votes' and be elected Queen of Radio or Queen of Carnival were really popular in the 40s & early 50s, In 1955, the competition for Queen of Carnival was really hot being covered by mainstream newspapers like 'Correio da Manhã'. On the left you see Queen of Carnival 1954, Rosangela Maldonado and the new-elected 1955 Queen, Ivana Rodrigues. The photo on the right you see Margot Morel who was the runner-up for 'Rainha do Carnaval 1955' but actually got more roles in the movies than the 'real' queen. 

Ivana Rodrigues won the competition but Margot Morel was the real winner. 

Paulo Mauricio & Rosangela Maldonado in 1953's 'Almas em conflito'; down & out Rosangela Maldonado. 

28 August 1955 - Mario Brasini's 'O primo do cangaceiro' premieres in Rio, still trying to cash in on the great box-office succcess of Lima Barreto's 'O cangaceiro' (1953) sending it up in a most hilarious way... 'Correio da Manhã' columnist was not amused though. 

1 9 5 6 - 'Sinfonia Carioca' / 'Rio, 40 graus' / 'Rio Fantasia'

6 January 1956 - Atlantida shot Jose Wanderley & Mario Lago's play 'O golpe' entirely at Teatro Gloria where it had its run... with the same cast. Narciso (Oscarito) é um compositor sem reconhecimento, mora com a mulher Alice (Margot Louro) e a sogra Adelaide (Violeta Ferraz). Não tem dinheiro suficiente para manter a filha Marina (Mirian Thereza) no colégio. Ernesto (Renato Restier) colega de Mariana se envolve no atropelamento de Clarice ( ) e para livrar-se da prisão convence Narciso a participar de um golpe: utilizar a tragédia para alavancar a carreira de Narciso.  Filmagem integral de peça teatral homônima, de Mario Lago e José Wanderley, feita no próprio Teatro Glória. 

8 January 1956 - Watson Macedo's lavish production of 'Sinfonia Carioca' did wonderful business at the box office. We're sad to say not a single copy of this film survived the ravages of the tropical climate. Eliana Macedo, the director's niece stars with Anselmo Duarte who went to bigger things becoming a fine director in 'Absolutamente certo' and then winning the Palm d'Or in Cannes in 1962 for 'O pagador de promessas'. The eternal ugly-duckling Zezé Macedo (no relation) completes the trio.

22nd January 1956 - 

29 January 1956 - Atlantida presents 'Chico Viola não morreu' (Chico Viola has not died) a bio-pic of singer Francisco Alves who actually died in a car crash on the Sao Paulo-Rio highway on 27 September 1952. Mr. Alves aka Chico Viola had been incredibly popular throughout the 30s and 40s and the nation was in shock when he perished inside his burning Buick near Pindamonhangaba-SP, on his way back to his home in Rio de Janeiro. Cyll Farney plays Chico Viola and lip-syncs all his greatest hits like 'Adeus' (Goodbye), 'A voz do violão', 'Aquarela do Brasil', 'A mulher que ficou na taça' (The woman who remained in the cup) etc. Watch for a very young Eva Wilma and eternally posh Heloisa Helena. Old timer Vicente Celestino's wife Gilda de Abreu wrote the screenplay. 

12 February 1956 - Carlos Manga's 'Vamos com calma' starring Oscarito with Eliana & Cyll Farney as the romantic duo.

18 March 1956 - Mario Brasini's 'O primo do cangaceiro' (The bandit's cousin), a comedy still trying - after 3 years - to cash in on the huge success that was 'O cangaceiro' (The bandit) at Cannes in 1953. See Zé Trindade becoming more and more popular among the masses with every film he appears. 

26 February 1956 - Nelson Pereira dos Santos' 'Rio 40 graus' with 5 different stories about life in Rio de Janeiro was something utterly different from everything that had been filmed in Brazil up to that point. Nelson Pereira dos Santos introduced a new way of looking at Brazilian life that would be known as Cinema Novo in the next few years. 

11 March 1956 - Flama Filmes presents 'Tira a mão daí' (Keep your hands off), a Poverty Row production to cash in on Carnaval season. Zezé Macedo & show-girl turned comedienne Consuelo Leandro are the best-known names there. Marion, a seasoned singer also acts in this comedy.

8 April 1956 - 

30 April 1956 - 

6 May 1956 - OESP article gives a glimpse of the vitality of  the Brazilian film industry in mid-1956.

16 May 1956 - 

20 May 1956 - 

27 May 1956 - Vera Cruz & Emissoras Associadas' super-production 'O sobrado' based on Erico Verissimo's novel 'O tempo e o vento' , directed by Walter George Dürst and Cassiano Gabus Mendes, just like 'Gone with the wind', with a cast of hundreds... 

10 June 1956 - 

9 August 1956 - Another Anselmo Duarte-Eliana huge hit... Watson Macedo's 'Depois eu conto...' was directed by José Carlos Burle and helped by Anselmo himself who would direct his own movie in 1957. 

2nd September 1956 - Armando Couto's 'O amanhã será melhor' with Ilka Soares, Miro Cerni, Luigi Picchi, Waldemar Seyssel (Arrelia) and Jayme Barcellos. 

17 October 1956 - Eurides Ramos' 'O Boca de Ouro' at Cines São Luiz, Rex, Riam, Leblon, Carioca etc. 

23rd September 1956 - Hungarian director Ferenc Fekete's 'A pensão da Dona Stela' starring Jayme Costa & Maria Vidal, with Liana Duval, Randal Juliano, Adoniran Barbosa, Lola Brah and Marcia Vasconcellos. 

30 September 1956 - Based on a Abilio Pereira de Almeida's story, 'O gato de madame' was just a confirmation of Mazzaropi's status as a superstar. Odete Lara is the main female lead.

17 October 1956 - 'Adeus, problemas' (Adiós, problemas) is actually an Argentine production directed by Kurt Land in 1955, in which Brazilian Marlene is featured in Betinho's 'Dinguilin baião', and 'Lamento negro' (Humberto Porto-Constantino Silva). 

21st October 1956 - Carlos Manga's 'Colegio de brotos' dabbles with the advent of the teenager 'question' having Oscarito as a teacher and Cyll Farney as the heart-throb. 

11 November 1956 - Herbert Richers first Carequinha & Fred movie, 'Com água na boca'. See Adalgiza Colombo that would be Miss Brazil 1958.

11 November 1956 - Atlântida releases 'Papai fanfarrão' with Oscarito and Cyll Farney.

2nd December 1956 - Great comedienne Violeta Ferraz stars in 'Quem sabe, sabe' with Humberto Catalano, Ariston, Margot Morel and Francisco Dantas. 

Gertrudes (Violeta Ferraz) é uma cartomante famosa que atende grande e rica clientela, inclusive um senador. O segredo de seu sucesso é o irmão Adonis (Catalano), um mulherengo que consegue informações sobre os clientes assediando as empregadas deles.

O farmacêutico Figueiredo (Francisco Dantas), sério e sisudo, atende clientes que buscam ervas indicadas por Gertrudes para seus despachos, e detestando-a, denuncia a todos que a mulher é uma charlatã. Ele fica mais furioso ainda quando seu filho Alberto (Ariston) pede ajuda a Gertrudes para continuar seu namoro com Célia (Margot Morel), corista de um night-club. 

Adonis, após recolher dinheiro de aluguéis de casas da sua irmã, vai à um night-club e se engraça com Joana, uma dama casada, escrevendo um bilhete sedutor a ela, justamente num cartão da farmácia. No dia seguinte, um marido enraivecido chega à farmácia exigindo explicações sobre o bilhete. Gertrudes reconhece a letra do irmão no bilhete, mas antes de explicar tudo, exige que Figueiredo aceite o casamento de Célia e Alberto. No final todos ficam felizes.  

'Porque voltei' (Haroldo Eiras-Victor Bechara) with 

'Não se avexe, não' (Chico Anysio-Haydée Paula) with Dolores Duran 

'Barão português' (Murilo Caldas-Maria Fleury) 

'Toada do beijo' (Nestor Campos-Galvão Vianna)

'Chiquita Rubia' (Alvaro Paiva)

'Cabana de caboclo' (Tancredo-Silva-José Alcides)

'General de umbanda' (Nelson de Oliveira)

Violeta Ferraz (Gertrudes)

Humberto Catalano (Adonis)

Ariston (Alberto)

Margot Morel (Celia)

Francisco Dantas (Figueiredo)

Iris Delmar (Cora)

Barbosa Junior (velhote)

Oswaldo Elias 

Wilson Grey (Magro)

Nena Napoli - Geraldo Gambôa

Suely Rios - Bento Rodrigues 

João Celestino - Alzira Rodrigues

Pachequinho - Vera Lucia

Ivan de Alencar - Zizinha 

Nelson Oscar - Grinjó Sobrinho 

Trigêmeos Vocalistas 

Carminha Mascarenhas 

2nd December 1956 - Carlos Hugo Christensen's 'Leonora dos 7 mares' with Susana Freyre, Arturo de Cordova, Rodolfo Mayer, Heloisa Helena, Jardel Filho and Henriette Morineau. 

12 December 1956 - J.B. Tanko's 'Sai de baixo' is the first film for Herbert Richers of  Carequinha & Fred, a couple of circus clowns very popular around the Distrito Federal area (Rio de Janeiro). 

31st December 1956 -