O Costa do Castelo
Encyclopedia
O Costa do Castelo is a Portuguese
film
comedy
from 1943, directed by Arthur Duarte
, and starring António Silva
, Maria Matos
, Curado Ribeiro, Milu
, Hermínia Silva,the famous Fado
singer, and Teresa Casal. It was produced at Tobis Portuguesa
.
It stands as one the most famous Portuguese comedies of all time.
Luisinha lives at a small pension house with Rita (Maria Olguim) and Januário (João Silva), who are as parents to her, and with mr. Simplício Costa (António Silva), better known as Costa do Castelo, a lazy but highly talented guitar player who together with (Hermínia Silva) reaches success.
In order to see Luisinha every day, André decides to move into the same pension, offering an assumed name and pretending to be a chauffeur. When all seems to be going according to plan, enter Ms. Mafalda da Silveira (Maria Matos), André's aunt, who unmasks her nephew and ends the farse.
André gets injured in a car accident, and takes advantage of his ailment to persuade his aunt with the help of his uncle Simão (Manuel Santos Carvalho), to allow Luisinha to live at her mansion, to attend him. Luisinha ends up moving in and, thanks to her, the mansion knows joy and light again.
One day, Simplício Costa comes to the mansion at the request of Simão and, unexpectedly, he finds the lost love of his youth, gone for over 30 years: Mafalda. All seems perfect, but one person stands before in André and Luisinha's happiness, Isabel de Castelar (Teresa Casal), an ambitious woman coveting Daniel's fortune. With considerable effort, Ms. Mafalda and the "Costa do Castelo" manage to join together not only Daniel and Luisinha but also themselves.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
from 1943, directed by Arthur Duarte
Arthur Duarte
Arthur Duarte was a Portuguese film director.-Selected filmography:*1938 - Os Fidalgos da Casa Mourisca*1943 - O Costa do Castelo*1944 - A Menina da Rádio*1947 - O Leão da Estrela*1954 - A Garça e a Serpente...
, and starring António Silva
António Silva
António Maria da Silva was a Portuguese actor. He accumulated over 40 credits over his more than 50 years in acting.-Early life:...
, Maria Matos
Maria Matos
Maria de Conceição de Matos Ferreira da Silva was a Portuguese actress and theatre personality.-Career:...
, Curado Ribeiro, Milu
Milu
-People:*Milú , Portuguese actress and singer*miLù German singer who has worked with Schiller -Other uses:*The Chinese name for Père David's Deer*Milü, an approximation for pi by Zu Chongzhi...
, Hermínia Silva,the famous Fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
singer, and Teresa Casal. It was produced at Tobis Portuguesa
Tobis Portuguesa
Tobis Portuguesa was created on June 3rd 1932, in order to support and foster the development of Portuguese cinema, goal that kept during its 75 years of activity.-History:Tobis originally focused its activity on film production and lab processing...
.
It stands as one the most famous Portuguese comedies of all time.
Plot
André (Curado Ribeiro), is a son of a wealthy family who meets a girl called Luisinha (Milu).Luisinha lives at a small pension house with Rita (Maria Olguim) and Januário (João Silva), who are as parents to her, and with mr. Simplício Costa (António Silva), better known as Costa do Castelo, a lazy but highly talented guitar player who together with (Hermínia Silva) reaches success.
In order to see Luisinha every day, André decides to move into the same pension, offering an assumed name and pretending to be a chauffeur. When all seems to be going according to plan, enter Ms. Mafalda da Silveira (Maria Matos), André's aunt, who unmasks her nephew and ends the farse.
André gets injured in a car accident, and takes advantage of his ailment to persuade his aunt with the help of his uncle Simão (Manuel Santos Carvalho), to allow Luisinha to live at her mansion, to attend him. Luisinha ends up moving in and, thanks to her, the mansion knows joy and light again.
One day, Simplício Costa comes to the mansion at the request of Simão and, unexpectedly, he finds the lost love of his youth, gone for over 30 years: Mafalda. All seems perfect, but one person stands before in André and Luisinha's happiness, Isabel de Castelar (Teresa Casal), an ambitious woman coveting Daniel's fortune. With considerable effort, Ms. Mafalda and the "Costa do Castelo" manage to join together not only Daniel and Luisinha but also themselves.
DVD version
The DVD version was is based upon a restoration effort conducted by Cinemateca Portuguesa and Museu do Cinema.Trivia
- "Costa do Castelo" is also the name of a reputed Portuguese advertising, feature film and television producer company, named after the film.
- "Costa do Castelo" is the name of a street in LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
.