Alberto Cavalcanti
Alberto Cavalcanti
Biography
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 light in France's avant-garde film movement. This led to a job offer from L'Herbier for Cavalcanti to work as a set designer. So, in 1920 he left his job at the Consulate and moved back to France to work for L'Herbier; he was to be involved in the making of numerous films, the most notable being L'Inhumaine. He was soon making his own films, in 1926 directing his first, Rien Que les Heures (Nothing But Time) — a day in the life of Paris and its citizens. In 1927 he collaborated with Walter Ruttmann on a similar project set in Berlin, called Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt (Berlin: Symphony of a Big City). Cavalcanti took a job with Paramount's French studios after the talkies came in, but he found himself making more commercial films which could not hold his interest and left Paramount in 1933. In the same year he returned to England to work for John Grierson's GPO Film Unit. He was involved in many capacities, from production to sound engineer. He was to spend seven years at the GPO Film Unit, working on many projects. Much of his work at the GPO was uncredited, he acted as a mentor to many new film makers, but in 1937 he was appointed acting head of the GPO Film Unit when Grierson left for Canada. When told that the only way the position could become permanent was to become a naturalized British citizen, he decided to leave the unit. In 1940 Cavalcanti joined Ealing Studios, under the leadership of producer Michael Balcon. He worked as an art editor, producer and director. His most notable works of this period (many of them propaganda films) were Yellow Caesar (1941), Went the Day Well? (1942), Three Songs of Resistance (1943), Champagne Charlie (1944), Dead of Night (as co-director) (1945) and Nicholas Nickleby (1947). In 1946 Cavalcanti left Ealing over a dispute about money. He went on to direct three more films in the UK, before returning to Brazil in 1950. In Brazil he worked as a producer for Companhia Cinematográfica Vera Cruz; the company eventually became insolvent. After being blacklisted as a communist in Brazil, he decided to move back to Europe in 1954. He eventually settled in France, where he continued his work in television. He died in Paris in 1982 at the age of 85.
Known For
Personal Info
Known For
Directing
Known Credits
107
Gender
Male
Birthday
1897-02-06 (128 years old)
Place of Birth
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Acting

1978

Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma as Self (archive footage)

1976

Um Homem e o Cinema as Self

1970

Alberto Cavalcanti as Self

1969

Lettres de Stalingrad as Astronomer

1934

Pett and Pott: A Fairy Story of the Suburbs as J. Leviticus (uncredited)

1929

Paris Cinéma as Self
Crew

1976

Um Homem e o Cinema Director

1959

Venetian Honeymoon Director

1957

The Wind Rose Director

1957

The Wind Rose Screenplay

1955

A Real Woman Director

1955

A Real Woman Idea

1953

Song of the Sea Director

1953

Song of the Sea Producer

1953

Song of the Sea Writer

1952

Simão, o Caolho Director

1952

Simão, o Caolho Writer

1951

Angela Writer

1951

Terra é Sempre Terra Producer

1950

Caiçara Producer

1950

Caiçara Story

1948

The First Gentleman Director

1945

Dead of Night Director

1944

Champagne Charlie Director

1943

Greek Testament Producer

1943

The Sky’s the Limit Director

1942

Went the Day Well? Director

1942

Alice in Switzerland Director

1942

Find, Fix and Strike Producer

1942

Film and Reality Director

1942

The Foreman Went to France Associate Producer

1941

Yellow Caesar Director

1940

Sea Fort Producer

1940

Mastery of the Sea Director

1940

Young Veteran Director

1940

Young Veteran Producer

1940

Salvage with a Smile Associate Producer

1940

French Communique Director

1940

La Cause Commune Director

1939

Men of the Alps Director

1939

The Chiltern Country Director

1939

The First Days Producer

1939

Spare Time Producer

1938

North Sea Producer

1938

Mony a Pickle Director

1938

N or NW Producer

1937

We Live in Two Worlds Director

1937

Daily Round Producer

1936

Message from Genova Director

1936

Rainbow Dance Producer

1935

Coal Face Director

1935

Coal Face Writer

1935

The King's Stamp Producer

1934

Granton Trawler Sound Designer

1934

New Rates Director

1934

Montmartre qui tourne Director

1934

Coralie and Company Director

1934

The Song of Ceylon Sound Supervisor

1933

Plaisirs défendus Director

1933

Le mari garçon Director

1932

Tour of Song Director

1932

The Brazilian thing Director

1931

Halfway Up the Sky Director

1931

In a lost island Director

1931

The Devil's Holiday Director

1930

Little Red Riding Hood Adaptation

1930

A Canção do Berço Director

1930

Toute sa vie Director

1929

Captain Fracasse Director

1929

Train Without Eyes Director

1927

La P’tite Lili Director

1927

The Little People Production Design

1927

Sea Fever Director

1927

Yvette Director

1927

Sea Fever Writer

1927

Yvette Writer

1926

Nothing but Time Director

1925

The Late Mathias Pascal Art Direction

1924

The Gallery of Monsters Assistant Director

1924

L'Inhumaine Art Direction

1923

Résurrection Production Design

1921

El Dorado Costume Design