Alberto Cavalcanti

Directing

Alberto Cavalcanti

Born — Died

1897-02-06 — 1982-08-23

Place of birth

Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Known for

Directing

Credits

49 titles

Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti was a Brazilian-born film director and producer. He was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of a prominent mathematician. He was a precociously intelligent child, and by the age of 15 was studying law at university. Following an argument with a professor he was expelled. His father sent him to Geneva, Switzerland on condition that he did not study law or politics. Cavalcanti chose to study architecture instead. At 18 he moved to Paris to work for an architect, later switching to working on interior design. After a visit back to Brazil he took up a position at the Brazilian consulate in Liverpool, England. Cavalcanti corresponded with Marcel L'Herbier, a leading lig…

Known for

Film credits

1970s · 4 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Dead of Night poster
7.2

An architect, visiting an English country house, realizes the other guests are familiar from his recurring nightmare. When they share their tales of the supernatural, he is filled with a growing dread.

Dead of Night

1945

Caiçara poster
7.4

Marina, a beautiful young woman with leprous parents, marries a shipyard owner to escape an institution. She moves to a coastal village, faces gossip, and is assaulted by her husband’s partner. After her husband dies in a boat accident, a handsome sailor arrives, and Marina is blackmailed about her family’s health issues.

Caiçara

1950

Caiçara poster
7.4

Marina, a beautiful young woman with leprous parents, marries a shipyard owner to escape an institution. She moves to a coastal village, faces gossip, and is assaulted by her husband’s partner. After her husband dies in a boat accident, a handsome sailor arrives, and Marina is blackmailed about her family’s health issues.

Caiçara

1950

Volta Redonda poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Volta Redonda

1952

La visite de la vieille dame poster
NR

Adaptation for TV of the play by Friedrich Durrenmatt. A very rich old lady arrives in her nearly bankrupt native village. She is ready to come to the rescue but only if her old lover who had once abandoned her pregnant is killed.

La visite de la vieille dame

2026

Went the Day Well? poster
7.1

The quiet village of Bramley End is taken over by German troops posing as Royal Engineers. Their task is to disrupt England's radar network in preparation for a full scale German invasion. Once the villagers discover the true identity of the troops, they do whatever they can to thwart the Nazis plans.

Went the Day Well?

1942

For Them That Trespass poster
5.3

In this drama, a frustrated upper-class writer decides that he will find real inspiration by examining his subjects first-hand. This leads him to begin wandering about the seamiest side of town where he witnesses a murder. When an innocent man is arrested, the writer refuses to assist him as the knowledge that he has been "slumming" could destroy his career. The young man is sentenced to 15 years in prison.

For Them That Trespass

1949

They Made Me a Fugitive poster
6.6

After being framed for a policeman's murder, a criminal escapes prison and sets out for revenge.

They Made Me a Fugitive

1947

No artwork available
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Plaisirs défendus

1933

The First Gentleman poster
6.5

The story of a romance between the daughter of the Prince Regent and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg.

The First Gentleman

1948

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby poster
6.7

A fatherless boy tries to make his fortune despite interference from his rich uncle.

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

1947

Painel poster
10.0

Documentary on the fresco paintings of Candido Portinari, who contributed to the development of a more realistic and modernist style in the art of Brazil.

Painel

1951

The Wind Rose poster
6.0

An international anthology about the struggles of female workers around the world.

The Wind Rose

1957

The Wind Rose poster
6.0

An international anthology about the struggles of female workers around the world.

The Wind Rose

1957

Santuário poster
8.0

Old Zé Cristino, riding his donkey, goes to Congonhas do Campo to fulfill a promise to São Bom Jesus do Matozinho. In front of the church, he admires the Sanctuary with its 12 prophets, a monumental work by Antonio Francisco Lisboa, known as Aleijadinho. Each prophet is shown in detail with the biblical text accompanying the images.

Santuário

1951

Terra é Sempre Terra poster
7.0

The administrator of an abandoned coffee farm and inveterate gambler saves money to buy the property, even knowing of the loving connections between his wife and the boss.

Terra é Sempre Terra

1951

Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti poster
7.0

This first film adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s play about class distinctions was made in 1955 in the Vienna Rosenhügel studios, but it was only premiered five years later. Curt Bois plays the rich capitalist Puntila who only becomes somewhat agreeable when he is drunk (which he is most of the time in this film). In his inebriated state, Puntila not only gets amorously involved with three different ladies but also suggests that his daughter Eva marries his chauffeur Matti. The chauffeur, however, doesn’t really agree…

Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti

1960

Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti poster
7.0

This first film adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s play about class distinctions was made in 1955 in the Vienna Rosenhügel studios, but it was only premiered five years later. Curt Bois plays the rich capitalist Puntila who only becomes somewhat agreeable when he is drunk (which he is most of the time in this film). In his inebriated state, Puntila not only gets amorously involved with three different ladies but also suggests that his daughter Eva marries his chauffeur Matti. The chauffeur, however, doesn’t really agree…

Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti

1960

The Monster of Highgate Ponds poster
6.7

The story of three children who find themselves with a friendly monster that grows at an alarming rate.

The Monster of Highgate Ponds

1961

Song of the Sea poster
6.2

In the drought areas of Northeastern of Brazil, groups of migrants move trying to find better place to live, at least with water. Some of them go to Recife, to get a vessel to Santos expecting to have a better life in the Southern. In the poor area of Recife, an old washerwoman launders clothes to survive and support her family. Her husband Zé Luis, a former sailor, is crazy due to a hit of the boom of a mast on his head. Her older son Raimundo works in a grocery and selling mangoes on the street, trying to save money to move to the Southeastern with his girl-friend Aurora. Her daughter wants to be a prostitute to have a better quality of life. Her younger son is seriously sick.

Song of the Sea

1953

Song of the Sea poster
6.2

In the drought areas of Northeastern of Brazil, groups of migrants move trying to find better place to live, at least with water. Some of them go to Recife, to get a vessel to Santos expecting to have a better life in the Southern. In the poor area of Recife, an old washerwoman launders clothes to survive and support her family. Her husband Zé Luis, a former sailor, is crazy due to a hit of the boom of a mast on his head. Her older son Raimundo works in a grocery and selling mangoes on the street, trying to save money to move to the Southeastern with his girl-friend Aurora. Her daughter wants to be a prostitute to have a better quality of life. Her younger son is seriously sick.

Song of the Sea

1953

Song of the Sea poster
6.2

In the drought areas of Northeastern of Brazil, groups of migrants move trying to find better place to live, at least with water. Some of them go to Recife, to get a vessel to Santos expecting to have a better life in the Southern. In the poor area of Recife, an old washerwoman launders clothes to survive and support her family. Her husband Zé Luis, a former sailor, is crazy due to a hit of the boom of a mast on his head. Her older son Raimundo works in a grocery and selling mangoes on the street, trying to save money to move to the Southeastern with his girl-friend Aurora. Her daughter wants to be a prostitute to have a better quality of life. Her younger son is seriously sick.

Song of the Sea

1953

Captain Fracasse poster
6.5

A nobleman decides to join a traveling group of actors to be with a girl he admires, but ultimately must rescue her from bandits

Captain Fracasse

1929

Venetian Honeymoon poster
6.5

There is a lot of excitement in the high society of Venice: An Arab prince, who always travels incognito, is said to be in the city. By chance, the elegant Isabella gets to know the handsome heir to the throne - and it does not take long for her to fall madly in love with him. Isabella has no idea that her dream man is really the impostor Gérard, who looks remarkably like the prince and was hounded by the sleazy crook Alfredo on Isabella to steal their precious jewelry.

Venetian Honeymoon

1959

A Real Woman poster
6.0

A nurse falls in love with her patient and secretly marries him. When treating another patient, he falls in love with her and, pretending to be in agony, asks for one last wish: to marry him, and she accepts.

A Real Woman

1955

No artwork available
NR

The picture shows the industrialization of England, and the measures taken to clean up afterwards: a lyrical counterpart of Men In Danger, and a contradiction.

Health of a Nation

1939

No artwork available
NR

The picture shows the industrialization of England, and the measures taken to clean up afterwards: a lyrical counterpart of Men In Danger, and a contradiction.

Health of a Nation

1939

Halfway Up the Sky poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Halfway Up the Sky

1931

Angela poster
7.0

A woman marries a gambler, thinking she could straighten him up, but he loses all their assets, even their own house, and tries to commit suicide. But one of the winners falls for his stepdaughter, and this could change the situation.

Angela

1951

A Canção do Berço poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

A Canção do Berço

1930

Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs poster
5.8

The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have children; the Potts are unconventional and unhappy, without children.

Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs

1934

Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs poster
5.8

The film, made to advertise domestic telephone sets, is based around two very different families. The Petts are conventional, happy and have children; the Potts are unconventional and unhappy, without children.

Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs

1934

Simon the One-Eyed poster
6.0

A one-eyed businessman wants to become rich and retrieve his lost eye at any cost. He tries many schemes, and eventually regains his eye with a vengeance: the power of invisibility. He becomes multi millionaire in the meat market and after entering politics he is elected president of Brazil.

Simon the One-Eyed

1952

Simon the One-Eyed poster
6.0

A one-eyed businessman wants to become rich and retrieve his lost eye at any cost. He tries many schemes, and eventually regains his eye with a vengeance: the power of invisibility. He becomes multi millionaire in the meat market and after entering politics he is elected president of Brazil.

Simon the One-Eyed

1952

Brasília, segundo roteiro de Alberto Cavalcanti poster
NR

It starts in the Indian tabas, goes through colonial architecture and arrives in the Brazilian capital. The film follows a script left by Alberto Cavalcanti, after a trip to Brasilia in 1978.

Brasília, segundo roteiro de Alberto Cavalcanti

1982

The Brazilian Thing poster
9.0

A young man who loves his wife wants rid of his troublesome mistress. He dresses up as a wealthy Brazilian and seduces her in a jiffy. He hopes to reach a settlement, that she must sign. In this settlement she will promise to break with her lover. He can then show that he is a faithful husband.

The Brazilian Thing

1932

The Brazilian Thing poster
9.0

A young man who loves his wife wants rid of his troublesome mistress. He dresses up as a wealthy Brazilian and seduces her in a jiffy. He hopes to reach a settlement, that she must sign. In this settlement she will promise to break with her lover. He can then show that he is a faithful husband.

The Brazilian Thing

1932

No artwork available
NR

Short GPO documentary, about mail that is sent out of the country to Switzerland.

Who Writes to Switzerland?

1937

Little Red Riding Hood poster
7.0

This is 1929: the little red riding hood is still with us and her life is more complicated than ever. She still has to go through the forest and she once again comes up against a wolf. This time around the big bad wolf has become a lecherous tramp who keeps stalking the girl trying to wolf her down ... in his own way of course.

Little Red Riding Hood

1930

No artwork available
NR

Part of BFI collection "If War Should Come."

French Communique

1940