Gabriel Arruda
In 1964, movie theaters looked different from today's. Huge curtains separated the screen from the audience, there were intermissions, and so-called newsreels were shown at the opening of the screenings. Besides, screenings for more than a thousand people were common! That was the case with the Cine Teatro Carlos Gomes, the Cine Teatro Rex, the Cine Pathé, and the famous Cine Odeon, immortalized in Ernesto Nazareth's choro. Among the newsreels, or the "on-screen" news programs, "Atualidades Atlântida" and the one produced by the "Agência Nacional" brought the events in Brazil and around the world from the past few weeks and kept the audience informed before the films were shown.
At the beginning of that year, there were three guaranteed box-office hits with packed theaters: "The Trial," an adaptation by Orson Welles of the classic by Franz Kafka, starring Anthony Perkins and Jeanne Moreau; "The Revenge of Monte Cristo," a French adaptation of the novel by Alexandre Dumas, directed by Claude Autant-Lara; and "Cinderella," an animated film from the Walt Disney studios. Lines also formed for "Dr. No," one of the most famous films in the James Bond franchise, the first to feature Sean Connery as the iconic agent 007.
Among the Brazilian productions, "O beijo," the first feature film by Flávio Tambellini, was showing in a good number of theaters. The adaptation of the play "O Beijo no Asfalto," by Nelson Rodrigues, was accompanied by a soundtrack by maestro Moacir Santos.
Cinema Novo showed the best of its first phase with "Vidas Secas" (Barren Lives). Directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos and based on the book by Graciliano Ramos, the film is considered one of the masterpieces of Brazilian cinema.
Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a crowded auditorium. People are seated in rows, with some individuals closer to the camera and others farther away. Most are wearing formal clothing, such as suits and skirts. The seats are simple and appear to be made of wood. The lighting is even, suggesting the photo was taken inside an enclosed venue.Interior dos cinemas: exibição de filmes no Museu de Arte Moderna.
12 de janeiro de 1956. Autor desconhecido. Arquivo Nacional / Fundo Correio da Manhã