Abstract

Between 1925 and 1926, film exhibitor Francisco Serrador built four new movie-theaters in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Large and luxurious, they took as their model New York’s movie palaces. Also inspired by successful North American film exhibition practices, Serrador introduced to audiences the novelty of movie prologues. These were stage presentations based on the theme, characters, dialogue or scenes from the film that was about to be screened. This article investigates how movie prologues established a close relationship with Brazilian culture, especially by adopting much of the structure, types and attractions from teatro de revista (a Brazilian variant of the vaudeville). It also analyzes the female types portrayed in such attractions: the maid, the modern woman, and the mulata.