- Billed as the largest ever Carmen Miranda exhibition in the world, Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Modern Art is presenting “Carmen Miranda Forever,” showcasing the musical star’s costumes and assorted memorabilia.
Rio’s Museum of Modern Art exhibition showcases an array of Carmen Miranda costumes and memorabilia
“We want to restore the image of Carmen, who has had an incredible impact on Brazil,” says Fabiano Canosa, curator of “Carmen Miranda Forever,” a Carmen Miranda costume and memorabilia exhibition being held in December at Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Modern Art.
Marking (a little belatedly) the fiftieth anniversary of Miranda’s death in August 1955, “Carmen Miranda Forever” is being billed as the largest ever exhibition centered on the “Mamãe Eu Quero” and “The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat” performer. Included are more than 700 items, from costumes and jewelry to records, magazines, and photographs.
International Hollywood star
Portuguese-born, Brazilian-raised Carmen Miranda became an international screen star following several singing, dancing, and “r”-rolling appearances as South of the Border Chitas, Rositas, and Queridas in Technicolor romantic musical comedies made at 20th Century Fox in the first half of the 1940s.*
On the downside, amusingly inconsequential releases like Week-End in Havana, Springtime in the Rockies, and Something for the Boys usually failed to make expert use of Miranda’s warm, exuberant personality and first-rate comic timing.
Besides, the romantic leads in these titles were all-American Fox blondes Alice Faye, Betty Grable, and (strawberry blonde) Vivian Blaine. For better or for worse, they were the ones who ended up with leading men Don Ameche, John Payne, and Michael O’Shea.
A notable exception: Busby Berkeley’s The Gang’s All Here. The scene in which Miranda uses her blood-red lips to brand Edward Everett Horton is one of the movie’s humorous highlights, while her “The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat” number is its showstopper.
* Carmen Miranda became a Hollywood star after appearing as herself singing “Mamãe Eu Quero” and “South American Way” in Fox’s 1940 color musical Down Argentine Way, directed by Irving Cummings, and starring Betty Grable and Don Ameche.
Dead at 45
Carmen Miranda’s last film appearance was what amounted to a cameo in the 1953 Dean Martin–Jerry Lewis comedy Scared Stiff.
She died of a heart attack on Aug. 5, 1955, in Beverly Hills – a day after suffering a minor attack during a taping of The Jimmy Durante Show. She was buried in Rio, where her hearse was accompanied by a crowd of 500,000.
Dec. 30 update: Carmen Miranda’s younger sister, Aurora Miranda, whose handful of film credits include Robert Siodmak’s noir drama Phantom Lady and Walt Disney’s animated/live-action musical The Three Caballeros (in which she wears a more discreet Carmen Miranda costume in the Bahiana style), died at age 90 on Dec. 22.
“Carmen Miranda Costume & Memorabilia Exhibition” notes
Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Modern Art website.
Carmen Miranda costume image: 1940s publicity shot.
The rare Carmen Miranda musical Alô Alô Carnaval! was screened at MoMA’s 2005 Brazilian cinema series.
“Carmen Miranda Costume & Memorabilia Exhibition” last modified in July 2025.