This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Film and Fado in Portugal from the 1930s to the 1950s De Melo, Anthony Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. 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Film and Fado in Portugal from the 1930s to the 1950s Anthony DeMelo Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Film Studies King’s College London School of Arts & Humanities Department of Film Studies 2013 2 Abstract A popular urban song, fado has been the subject of highly contested debates in Portuguese politics and culture. This dissertation examines the representation of fado in the Portuguese cinema of the 1930s and 1940s, concentrating primarily on the popular comedies, dramas and rural-folkloric films. These decades witnessed the establishment of the Estado Novo (New State) (1932-1974) government of António Salazar, the promotion of fado as the national song, and the song’s prominence in the theatre, radio, and in film. It is generally accepted that this period in Portuguese cinema was complicit with the ideological values of the dictatorship. Critics of Portuguese cinema have identified fado as a prominent feature in the films, noting that the song’s position as the national song is reason enough for its presence, yet there has been no critical discussion examining fado's representation in these films. In this dissertation, I concentrate on Portuguese cinema’s negotiation with fado’s history and traditions, and the mise-en- scène of performance, place, and iconography. As this dissertation will show, in the 1930s and 1940s, fado and film were negotiating a position between the popular and the political, and that while the films have conservative elements, they nonetheless offer up contradictory representations that do not warrant the generally unfavourable critical view of a cinema in step with a dictatorship. This is due largely to the enduring legacy of fado’s transgressive history leading up to 1930. 3 Contents Abstract......................................................................................................... 2 Contents........................................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgements...................................................................................... 4 List of Figures.............................................................................................. 5 Introduction.................................................................................................. 11 Chapter One – Fado and Film: Contexts................................................... 26 Chapter Two – Fado Interludes................................................................. 71 Chapter Three – Fado Dramas................................................................... 131 Chapter Four – Fado in the comédia à portuguesa.................................. 198 Conclusion.................................................................................................... 244 Filmography................................................................................................. 269 Bibliography................................................................................................. 270 4 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Richard Dyer, for his intellectual guidance and for his personal support during the writing of this dissertation. I would like to acknowledge the support of the University of London’s Central Research Fund. I am grateful to the staff at the Cinemateca Portuguesa, Arquivo Nacional das Imagens em Movimento, and the Museu do Fado for their help during a research trip to Lisbon. At King’s College London I am thankful for the advice and support I received from Ginette Vincendeau, Mark Betz, Sarah Cooper, Michele Pierson, Mark Shiel, and Belén Vidal. I wish to especially thank Stephanie Green for all her help. I am also grateful to Lisa Shaw and Rob Stone. This dissertation would not have been undertaken if not for the love and support of family and friends. To my parents, Guillherme and Merçes, I will always be proud to be your son. To John, Ana, Lucy, Rita, Paul, J.C., Liz, Michael, Marc, Stephanie, William, Kimberly, Sara, Tia Anna, John, Karen, Erin, Cole, Lorne, Hiroko, and Lili – thank you all for listening, inspiring and diverting. To my grandparents and Tio John – I miss you very much. This dissertation would never have been started, let alone finished, without Lisa – everything is for you. And to the two girls who came into my life during the final stages of this work – Mabel and Nora – this is dedicated to you. 5 List of Figures 1. O Fado, 1910. José Malhoa, Oil on canvas, 151 x 186cm. 2. Reproducing the Malhoa painting. (O Fado, 1923). 3. A fadista in Lisbon, 1946. Photograph by Toni Frissell. 4. Nina’s song ignored (Gado Bravo, 1934). 5. Nina attracted to Manuel (Gado Bravo, 1934). 6. Pascoal singing fado (Gado Bravo, 1934). 7. 'O rapaz e o cego', 1859. By E.J. Maia (taken from Nery 2004, 95). 8. Mendiga, 1906. Photograph by Jorge Almeida Lima (taken from Nery 2004, 89). 9. Pascoal singing fado for Manuel and Nina (Gado Bravo, 1934). 10. Campinos listening to Pascoal sing fado (Gado Bravo, 1934). 11. Estavão Amarante singing fado (Maria Papoila, 1937). 12. Soldiers gathering to hear fado (Maria Papoila, 1937). 13. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder (Maria Papoila, 1937). 14. Fado inspiring the youth (Maria Papoila, 1937). 15. Longing for home (João Ratão, 1940). 16. Turning to fado (João Ratão, 1940). 17. João sings fado (João Ratão, 1940). 18. The men listen and think of home (João Ratão, 1940). 6 19. Intimate setting in the fado house (Aldeia da roupa branca, 1939). 20. Active listening (Aldeia da roupa branca, 1939). 21. Passing a note (Aldeia da roupa branca, 1939). 22. Agreeing on a price? (Aldeia da roupa branca, 1939). 23. Agreeing on a price? (Aldeia da roupa branca, 1939). 24. Maria da Luz singing fado at a picnic (Aldeia da roupa branca, 1939). 25. Family picnic and fado (Aldeia da roupa branca, 1939). 26. Enjoying the wedding festivities (Um Homem do Ribatejo, 1946) 27. A Cigana (Um Homem do Ribatejo, 1946). 28. Dressed for a wedding (Um Homem do Ribatejo, 1946). 29. Dressed for the campsite (Ribatejo, 1949). 30. The dress of the saloio (Ribatejo, 1949). 31. Gypsy campsite (Ribatejo, 1949). 32. Performing ‘Fado da Cigana’ (Ribatejo, 1949). 33. Encouraging audience participation (Sol e touros, 1949). 34. Gesture and emotion (Sol e touros, 1949). 35. Reaching beyond the frame (Sol e touros, 1949). 36. Fado in Spain (Sol e touros, 1949). 37. Dancing the flamenco (Sol e touros, 1949). 38. ‘Why cry, sing’ (A Severa, 1931). 39. A fadista sings fado (A Severa, 1931). 7 40. Severa enjoying performing fado (A Severa, 1931). 41. Affected by fado (A Severa, 1931). 42. Affected by fado (A Severa, 1931). 43. Not accepted (A Severa, 1931). 44. Seductive dancing in a village square (A Severa, 1931). 45. Severa being tattooed (A Severa, 1931). 46.