Vintage Portuguese postcard. Adelina Abranches in the Portuguese late silent film Maria do Mar (José Leitão de Barros, 1930).
The recent Bonn Silent Film Festival - which just finished, but some films can still be watched online - announced this rare Portuguese film as follows: " Documentary-like footage and avant-garde techniques are combined here in a striking manner to tell the fictional tale of the inhabitants of a Portuguese fishing village (the majority of whom are played by local amateur actors). For good reason, MARIA DO MAR is considered one of the best Portuguese silent films and seems to anticipate later trends such as Italian neorealism. In 2021, the Cinemateca Portuguesa digitally restored the film as part of an EEA-funded project to digitise films about the sea."
Indeed, the plot of Maria do Mar has elements of Italian films like La terra trema by Luchino Visconti and Due soldi di speranza by Renato Castellani, but also echoes Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. During a storm, leading fisherman Falacha (Alves da Cunha) calls up all his fishermen to save his nets laying in the sea, and all but Falacha perish. The families of the perished men, led by Aunt Aurelia (Adelina Abranches), Falacha's neighbour, drive Falacha to suicide, creating an insurmountable feud between the two widows: Aurelia and Falacha's wife (Perpetua dos Santos). Yet, when Aurelia's son Manuel (Oliveira Martins) saves Falacha's daughter Maria do Mar (Rosa Maria) from drowning, love gradually blossoms, despite the hatred of the two mothers. The young couple marry but are kicked out by the two mothers and establish their own house. When their toddler presumably is bitten by a rabid dog and the two old ladies, who first rejected any help, think the child has died, their conscience speaks at last. They all gather around the crib of the child, who hasn't been bitten after all.
Source: www.internationale-stummfilmtage.de/filmsammlung/maria-do..., IMDb.
Adelina Abranches (15 August 1866 – 21 November 1945) was a Portuguese stage actress, born in Lisbon and already performing roles on stage at the age of four. She was very successful in Rio de Janeiro, playing, in spite of her small stature, drag roles, soubrettes, and ladies of the night and getting acclaim for such plays as The Lady of the Camelias. In Portugal she worked under Amélia Rey Colaço alongside actors such as Eunice Muñoz and Estêvão Amarante. In 1930 she played Aunt Aurélia in the Portuguese silent film, Maria do Mar, directed by José Leitão de Barros. It was her only film role.
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Vintage Spanish postcard. Series Estrellas del cinema, no. 152. Late 1920s/ early 1930s.
Tony D'Algy (born Antonio Eduardo Lozano Guedes; 1897 – 29 April 1977) was a Portuguese film actor. He was born in Luanda, Angola, and died in Lisbon, Portugal. He appeared in 57 films between 1924 and 1949, including The Boob (1926), a silent comedy where Joan Crawford makes one of her first appearances.
In the 1920s, Lozano left for New York and Broadway, and using the first letters of his name ALGI), he changed his name to Antonio D'Algy. He also asked his sister Antonia to come over, who changed her name to Helena, and they worked together on Broadway. Here Natache Rambova discovered them and invited them over to Los Angeles to start a career in cinema. D'Algy thus acted in various Hollywood silent films. With Helena D'Algy he e.g. co-acted in A Sainted Devil (Joseph Henabery, 1924), starring Rudolph Valentino, after a minor part in Valentino's previous film Monsieur Beaucaire (1924). D'Algy also directed two films in 1927, The Reckless Mollycoddle, scripted by future director Tay Garnett, and the Spanish film Raza de hidalgos, with his sister and himself in the leads.
In the late 1920s D'Algy acted in France in various late silents, including Figaro (Tony Lekain, Gaston Ravel, 1929). In the early 1930s he acted in Spanish sound versions of American films directed by Adelqui Migliar at the Paris Paramount studios, while he simultaneously also acted in French and Belgian early sound films. In the mid-1930s he started to act in Spain but then moved to Argentina for several films, returning to Spain in 1940 for more films, alternating leads with supporting parts. D'Algy continued in Spanish cinema until 1949. He also acted in the Portuguese sound film, Fado, História de uma Cantadeira (1947). (Sources: English Wikipedia, IMDb)
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Portugese advertisement. 19 March, Coliseu, Lisboa: Simone de Oliveira.
Although Truus, Bob and Jan Too! are fans of every film star in the world, some people have a special place in our hearts. Simone de Oliveira is one of them. Why? Read about how we discovered and met this legendary diva from Portugal at EFSP on 19 March 2022.
Simone de Oliveira (1938), also known as Simone, is one of the great divas of Portugal. The accomplished singer represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, in 1965 and 1969. The lyrics of her evergreen 'Desfolhada' touched Portuguese hearts deep, in an era ruled by dictatorial regimen. Simone also has decades of acting experience in films, theatre, and soap operas.
Simone de Macedo de Oliveira was born in 1938 in Lisbon, Portugal. Her father was Guy de Macedo de Oliveira, and her mother Maria do Carmo Lopes da Silva. She is a descendant of the female line of an African King of São Tomé e Príncipe in the nineteenth-century Portuguese territory. She started singing in high school. When she was 19, she had a depression. Her doctor told her that she needed to find something to do. Simone decided to go to the Centro de Preparação de Artistas da Emissora Naional (Artists Preparation Center of National Emission). The first time Simone sang in public was at the Festival da Canção Portuguesa (Portuguese Song Festival) in 1958. She placed 3rd with the song 'Olhos nos Olhos' (Eyes in Eyes). In the following decade she performed several times at the popular festival). In 1965 she won the festival again with the song 'Sol de Inverno' (Winter's Sun) and represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965. Simone also became an important stage actress in Portugal. In 1962 she had made her theater debut, and she appeared in plays like: 'O Contracto' (The Contract), 'A menina Alice e o Inspector' (Miss Alice and the Inspector), 'A Tragédia da Rua das Flores' (The Tragedy of Flowers Street), and' Conheci Miguel Torga' (I meet Miguel Torga). A great popular success in Portugal was 'Passa por mim no Rossio'. Another success was the homage to the singer Madalena Iglésias (who represented Portugal at the ESC 1966) in the musical play 'What happened to Madalena Iglésias?' in which Simone played the leading role.
Simone reached the breaking point of her singing career in 1969 with the song 'Desfolhada Portugese, with lyrics by José Carlos Ary dos Santos and music by Nuno Nazareth Fernandes. This song was a great success in Portugal, with innovative lyrics in Portugal at the time of the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar. The song represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 in Madrid. Despite its popularity in Portugal, this song was not successful at the Eurovision Song Contest, getting only 4 votes. After singing 'Desfolhada Portuguesa', she lost her voice for years. During these years she worked in journalism, radio, and hosted TV shows. She returned to the stages in 1973, with a deeper, still potent, voice, and in 1979 she won the Festival da Nova Canção de Lisboa (New Song Lisbon Festival) with the song 'Sempre que tu vens é Primavera' (Every time you come it's Spring). She starred on stage and also appeared in four films: Canção da saudade (Henrique Campos, 1964), the action thriller Operação diamante (Pedro Martins, 1967), Cântico final (Manuel Guimarães, 1976) and the drama A estrangeira (João Mário Grilo, 1983) with Fernando Rey. She is a strong personality. In 1987 she successfully fought breast cancer, and in 1997 she celebrated her 40 years career. Simone still appears regularly on television, where she hosted many shows and acted in soap operas like Tu e Eu (2006) and Vila Faia (2008-2009), and many other series. In 2009 Simone returned in the spotlights, with a new album, 'Perfil', including 36 of her most memorable hits. At the Festival da Canção de 2010 (the 2010 Portuguese Song Contest), she once again performed Desfolhada, wearing the same dress she had worn 40 years before when she won the Festival in 1969. In 2011, at the XVI edition of the Golden Globes (Portugal), she received the Golden Globe of Merit and Excellence from Dr. Pinto Balsemão. Simone de Oliveira was married twice: first to António José Coimbra Mano and later to actor Varela Silva. With her first husband, she had two children: Maria Eduarda and António Pedro. She has two ex-stepdaughters from Varela Silva’s first marriage (to Celeste Rodrigues): Maria Rita and Maria José, and has two grandsons. n March 2021, she announced that she had decided to put an end to her career and would give one last performance. Finally, that's possible and on 29 March 2022, Simone will perform and bid farewell.
Sources: Nelson Costa (Oikotimes.com), Wikipedia (Portuguese and English), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
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Portuguese postcard by the Museu Nacional do Teatro. Photo: Silva Nogueira, Lisbon (1946).
Amália Rodrigues (1920-1999) was the ‘Rainha do Fado’, the Queen of the Fado. She was the most famous singer of Portugal and also made several popular films.
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Simone de Oliveira. Portuguese card by Decca.
Simone de Oliveira (1938), also known as Simone, is one of the great divas of Portugal. The accomplished singer represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest twice, in 1965 and 1969. The lyrics of her evergreen Desfolhada touched Portuguese hearts deep, in an era ruled by dictatorial regimen. Simone also has decades of acting experience in films, theatre and soap operas.
Simone de Macedo de Oliveira was born in 1938 in Lisbon, Portugal. Her father was Guy de Macedo de Oliveira, and her mother Maria do Carmo Lopes da Silva. She is a descendant in female line of an African King of São Tomé e Príncipe (in the nineteenth century Portuguese territory). She started singing in high school. When she was 19 she had a depression. Her doctor told her that she needed to find something to do. Simone decided to go to the Centro de Preparação de Artistas da Emissora Naional (Artists Preparation Center of National Emission). The first time Simone sang in public was at the Festival da Canção Portuguesa (Portuguese Song Festival) in 1958. She placed 3rd with the song Olhos nos Olhos (Eyes in Eyes). In the following decade she performed several times at the popular festival). In 1965 she won the festival again with the song Sol de Inverno (Winter's Sun) and represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965. Simone also bevcame an important stage actress in Portugal. In 1962 she had made her theater debut, and she appeared in plays like: O Contracto (The Contract), A menina Alice e o Inspector (Miss Alice and the Inspector), A Tragédia da Rua das Flores (The Tragedy of Flowers Street), and Conheci Miguel Torga (I meet Miguel Torga). A great popular success in Portugal was Passa por mim no Rossio. Another success was the homage to the singer Madalena Iglésias (who represented Portugal at the ESC 1966) in the musical play What happened to Madalena Iglésias? in which Simone played the leading role.
Simone reached the breaking-point of her singing career in 1969 with the song Desfolhada portuguesa, with lyrics by José Carlos Ary dos Santos and music by Nuno Nazareth Fernandes. This song was a great success in Portugal, with innovative lyrics in Portugal at the time of the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar. The song represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 in Madrid. Despite the popularity in Portugal, this song was not successful at the Eurovision Song Contest, getting only 4 votes. After singing Desfolhada Portuguesa she lost her voice for years. During these years she worked in journalism, in radio and hosted tv shows. She returned to the stages in 1973, with a deeper, still potent, voice, and in 1979 she won the Festival da Nova Canção de Lisboa (New Song Lisbon Festival) with the song Sempre que tu vens é Primavera (Every time you come it's Spring). She starred on stage and also appeared in four films: Canção da saudade (1964, Henrique Campos), the action thriller Operação diamante (1967, Pedro Martins), Cântico final (1976, Manuel Guimarães) and the drama A estrangeira (1983, João Mário Grilo) with Fernando Rey. She is a strong personality. In 1987 she successfully fought breast cancer, and in 1997 she celebrated her 40 years career. Simone still appears regularly on television, where she hosted many shows and acted in soap operas like Tu e Eu (2006) and Vila Faia (2008-2009) and many other series. Simone de Oliveira was married twice: first to António José Coimbra Mano and later to actor Varela Silva. With her first husband she had two children: Maria Eduarda and António Pedro. She has two ex-stepdaughters from Varela Silva’s first marriage (to Celeste Rodrigues): Maria Rita and Maria José, and has two grandsons. This year Simone returned in the spotlights, with a new album, Perfil, including 36 of her most memorable hits. We bought it, it’s great!
Sources: Nelson Costa (Oikotimes.com), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
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