Aurora Miranda

Entertainer Aurora Miranda, Carmen Miranda’s sister, died of natural causes on Wed., Dec. 21, in Rio de Janeiro. She was 90.
Born in Rio on April 20, 1915, Aurora started her show business career in the late 1920s, singing on radio and pairing up with sister Carmen at Rio’s then prestigious Cassino da Urca.
Aurora Miranda’s biggest hit came out in 1934: André Filho’s "Cidade Maravilhosa" (Wonderful City), which became Rio’s official anthem in 1960.
Her film debut took place in 1935, singing "Cidade Maravilhosa" in Alô, Alô, Brasil, a series of musical sketches (which also featured Carmen) directed by Wallace Downey, João de Barro, and Alberto Ribeiro. She also appeared with Carmen in several other Brazilian [...]

Carmen Miranda Exhibit in Rio

"We want to restore the image of Carmen, who has had an incredible impact on Brazil," says Fabiano Canosa, the curator of a Carmen Miranda exhibit being held at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro. "Carmen Miranda Forever" marks (a little belatedly) the fiftieth anniversary of Miranda’s death, and is being billed as the largest Carmen Miranda exhibit ever. Included are more than 700 items, including clothing and jewelry, old records, magazines, and photographs.
Born in Portugal on February 9, 1909, but raised in Brazil, Miranda appeared in Brazilian films and onstage before heading to Broadway and then Hollywood, where she became a Fox contract player. Her first film was Down Argentine Way (1940), and [...]

Best Films – 1944

John Hodiak, Tallulah Bankhead in Lifeboat

FILM
I Bambini ci guardano / The Children Are Watching Us
d: Vittorio De Sica; scr: Cesare Zavattini, Vittorio De Sica, Cesare Giulio Viola, Adolfo Franci, Margherita Maglione, Gherardo Gherardi
Crime by Night
d: William Clemens; scr: Joel Malone, Richard Weil
Dragon Seed
d: Harold S. Bucquet, Jack Conway; scr: Jane Murfin, Marguerite Roberts
Laura
d: Otto Preminger; scr: Jay Dratter, Samuel Hoffenstein, Betty Reinhardt
Lifeboat
d: Alfred Hitchcock; scr: Jo Swerling
Mr. Skeffington
d: Vincent Sherman; scr: Julius J. Epstein, Phillip G. Epstein
This Happy Breed
d: David Lean; scr: Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Ronald Neame
The Uninvited
d: Lewis Allen; scr: Dodie Smith
 

Jennifer Jones, Robert Walker, Joseph Cotten in Since You Went Away
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Arsenic and Old Lace
d: Frank Capra; scr: Julius J. Epstein, Phillip G. Epstein
Home in [...]

Best Films – 1943

Set in a 17th-century Danish village, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s masterful Vredens dag / Day of Wrath is a stark, but deeply felt indictment against religious fanaticism and intolerance. Moving performances by ingénue Lisbeth Modin and accused witch Anna Svierkier add a touch of humanity to the horrors shown on screen. It is not a coincidence that Vredens Dag was made in 1943, a time when Denmark was under Nazi occupation. The parallels — and the interconnectedness — between political and religious control are made quite clear in this harrowing masterwork.
 
FILM
Northern Pursuit
d: Raoul Walsh; scr: Frank Gruber, Alvah Bessie
This Land Is Mine
d: Jean Renoir; scr: Dudley Nichols
Vredens dag / Day of Wrath
d: Carl Theodor Dreyer; scr: Carl Dreyer, [...]