In Brazil Miranda was introduced to Josué de Barros, a composer and musician from Bahia, while she was working at her family's inn. With help from de Barros and
Brunswick Records, she recorded her first single (the samba "Não vá Simbora") in 1929. Miranda's second single, "Prá Você Gostar de Mim" (also known as "Taí", and released in 1930), was a collaboration with Brazilian composer Joubert de Carvalho and sold a record 35,000 copies that year. She signed a two-year contract with
RCA Victor in 1930, giving them exclusive rights to her image. In 1933, Miranda signed a two-year contract with
Rádio Mayrink Veiga, the most popular Brazilian station of the 1930s, and was the first contract singer in Brazilian radio history; for a year, in 1937, she moved to
Rádio Tupi. She later signed a contract with
Odeon Records, making her the highest-paid radio singer in Brazil at the time. Miranda's rise to stardom in Brazil was linked to the growth of a native style of music: the
samba. The samba and Miranda's emerging career enhanced the revival of Brazilian nationalism during the government of President
Getúlio Vargas. Her gracefulness and vitality in her recordings and live performances gave her the nickname "Cantora do It". The singer was later known as "Ditadora Risonha do Samba", and in 1933 radio announcer Cesar Ladeira christened her "A Pequena Notável". Her Brazilian film career was linked to a genre of musical films that drew on the nation's carnival traditions and the annual celebration and musical style of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's capital at the time. Miranda performed a musical number in
O Carnaval Cantado no Rio (1932, the first sound documentary on the subject) and three songs in
A Voz do Carnaval (1933), which combined footage of street celebrations in Rio with a fictitious plot providing a pretext for musical numbers. Miranda's next screen performance was in the musical
Hello, Hello Brazil! (1935), in which she performed its closing number: the
marcha "Primavera no Rio", which she had recorded for Victor in August 1934. Several months after the film's release, according to
Cinearte magazine, "Carmen Miranda is currently the most popular figure in Brazilian cinema, judging by the sizeable correspondence that she receives". In her next film,
Estudantes (1935), she had a speaking part for the first time. Miranda played Mimi, a young radio singer (who performs two numbers in the film) who falls in love with a university student (played by singer
Mário Reis). She starred in the next co-production from the Waldow and Cinédia studios, the musical
Hello, Hello, Carnival! (1936), which contained a roll call of popular music and radio performers (including Miranda's sister,
Aurora). A standard backstage plot permitted 23 musical numbers and, by contemporary Brazilian standards, the film was a major production. Its set reproduced the interior of Rio's plush Atlântico casino (where some scenes were filmed) and was a backdrop for some of its musical numbers. Miranda's stardom is evident in a film poster with a full-length photograph of her and her name topping the cast list. Although she became synonymous with colorful fruit hats during her later career, she began wearing them only in 1939, and contrary to popular belief, they were never made from real fruit. Miranda appeared in the film
Banana da Terra that year in a glamorous version of the traditional dress of a poor black girl in
Bahia: a flowing dress and a fruit-hat turban. She sang "
O Que É Que A Baiana Tem?"; which intended to empower a social class that was usually disparaged. Producer
Lee Shubert offered Miranda an eight-week contract to perform in
The Streets of Paris on Broadway after seeing her perform in 1939 at Rio's Cassino da Urca. Although she was interested in performing in New York, she refused to accept the deal unless Shubert agreed to also hire her band, the Bando da Lua. He refused, saying that there were many capable musicians in New York who could back her. Miranda remained steadfast, feeling that North American musicians would not be able to authenticate the sounds of Brazil. Shubert compromised, agreeing to hire the six band members but not paying for their transport to New York. President
Getúlio Vargas, recognizing the value to Brazil of Miranda's tour, announced that the Brazilian government would pay for the band's transportation on the
Moore-McCormack Lines between Rio and New York. Vargas believed that Miranda would foster ties between the northern and southern hemispheres and act as a
goodwill ambassador in the United States, increasing Brazil's share of the American coffee market. Miranda took the official sanction of her trip and her duty to represent Brazil to the outside world seriously. She left for New York on the
SS Uruguay on 4 May 1939, a few months before
World War II.
In the U.S. (left) and
Lou Costello with Miranda Miranda arrived in New York on 18 May 1939. She and the band had their first Broadway performance on 19 June 1939 in
The Streets of Paris. Although Miranda's part was small (she spoke only four words), she received good reviews and became a media sensation. According to
New York Times theater critic
Brooks Atkinson, most of the musical numbers "ap[e] the tawdry dullness" of genuine Paris revues and "the chorus girls, skin-deep in atmosphere, strike what Broadway thinks a Paris pose ought to be". Atkinson added, however, that "South American contributes the [revue's] most magnetic personality" (Miranda). Singing "rapid-rhythmed songs to the accompaniment of a Brazilian band, she radiates heat that will tax the Broadhurst [theater] air-conditioning plant this Summer". Although Atkinson gave the revue a lukewarm review, he wrote that Miranda made the show. Syndicated columnist
Walter Winchell wrote for the
New York Daily Mirror that a star had been born who would save Broadway from the slump in ticket sales caused by the
1939 New York World's Fair. Winchell's praise of Carmen and her Bando da Lua was repeated on his
Blue Network radio show, which reached 55 million listeners daily. The press called Miranda "the girl who saved Broadway from the World's Fair". According to a
Life magazine reviewer: Partly because their unusual melody and heavy accented rhythms are unlike anything ever heard in a
Manhattan revue before, partly because there is not a clue to their meaning except the gay rolling of Carmen Miranda's insinuating eyes, these songs, and Miranda herself, are the outstanding hit of the show. '' in 1941 When news of Broadway's latest star (known as the Brazilian Bombshell) reached
Hollywood,
Twentieth Century-Fox began to develop a film featuring Miranda. Its working title was
The South American Way (the title of a song she had performed in New York), and the film was later entitled
Down Argentine Way (1940). Although its production and cast were based in Los Angeles, Miranda's scenes were filmed in New York because of her club obligations. Fox could combine the footage from both cities because the singer had no dialogue with the other cast members.
Down Argentine Way was successful, grossing $2 million that year at the US box office. The
Shuberts brought Miranda back to
Broadway, teaming her with
Olsen and Johnson,
Ella Logan, and the Blackburn Twins in the musical revue ''
Sons o' Fun on 1 December 1941. The show was a hodgepodge of slapstick, songs, and skits; according to New York Herald Tribune'' theater critic Richard Watts Jr., "In her eccentric and highly personalized fashion, Miss Miranda is by way of being an artist and her numbers give the show its one touch of distinction." On 1 June 1942, she left the production when her Shubert contract expired; meanwhile, she recorded for
Decca Records. Miranda was encouraged by the US government as part of Roosevelt's
Good Neighbor policy, designed to strengthen ties with Latin America. It was believed that performers like her would give the policy a favorable impression with the American public. Miranda's contract with
20th Century Fox lasted from 1941 to 1946, coinciding with the creation and activities of the
Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. The goal of the OCIAA was to obtain support from Latin American society and its governments for the United States. The Good Neighbor policy had been linked to American interference in Latin America; Roosevelt sought better diplomatic relations with Brazil and other South American nations and pledged to refrain from military intervention (which had occurred to protect American business interests in industries such as mining or agriculture).
Hollywood was asked to help, and
Walt Disney Studios and 20th Century Fox participated. Miranda was considered a goodwill ambassador and a promoter of intercontinental culture.
Brazilian criticism Although Miranda's American popularity continued to increase, she began to lose favor with some Brazilians. On 10 July 1940, she returned to Brazil and was welcomed by cheering fans. Soon after her arrival, however, the Brazilian press began criticizing Miranda for accommodating American commercialism and projecting a negative image of Brazil. Members of the upper class felt that her image was "too black", and she was criticized in a Brazilian newspaper for "singing bad-taste black sambas". Other Brazilians criticized Miranda for playing a stereotypical "Latina bimbo". In her first interview after her arrival in the US in the
New York World-Telegram, she played up her then-limited knowledge of the English language: "I say money, money, money. I say twenty words in English. I say money, money, money and I say hot dog!" On 15 July, Miranda appeared in a charity concert organized by Brazilian
First Lady Darci Vargas and attended by members of Brazil's
high society. She greeted the audience in English and was met with silence. When Miranda began singing "The South American Way", a song from one of her club acts, the audience began to boo her. Although she tried to finish her act, she gave up and left the stage when the audience refused to let up. The incident deeply hurt Miranda, who wept in her dressing room. The following day, the Brazilian press criticized her as "too Americanized". Weeks later, Miranda responded to the criticism with the Portuguese song "
Disseram que Voltei Americanizada" ("They Say I've Come Back Americanized"). Another song, "Bananas Is My Business", was based on a line from one of her films and directly addressed her image. Upset by the criticism, Miranda did not return to Brazil for 14 years. Her films were scrutinized by Latin American audiences for characterizing Central and South America in a culturally homogeneous way. When Miranda's films reached Central and South American theaters, they were perceived as depicting Latin American cultures through the lens of American preconceptions. Some Latin Americans felt that their cultures were misrepresented, and felt that someone from their own region was misrepresenting them.
Down Argentine Way was criticized, with Argentines saying that it failed to depict Argentine culture. Its lyrics were allegedly replete with non-Argentine themes, and its sets were a fusion of Mexican, Cuban, and Brazilian culture. The film was later banned in Argentina for "wrongfully portraying life in Buenos Aires". Similar sentiments were voiced in Cuba after the debut of Miranda's
Weekend in Havana (1941), with Cuban audiences offended by Miranda's portrayal of a Cuban woman. Her performances were arguably hybrids of Brazilian and other Latin cultures. Critics said that Miranda's other films misrepresented Latin locales, assuming that Brazilian culture was a representation of Latin America.
Peak years , the first Latin American to do so. During the war years, Miranda starred in eight of her 14 films; although the studios called her the Brazilian Bombshell, the films blurred her Brazilian identity in favor of a Latin American image. According to a
Variety review of director
Irving Cummings'
That Night in Rio (1941, Miranda's second Hollywood film), her character upstaged the leads: "[Don] Ameche is very capable in a dual role, and Miss [Alice] Faye is eye-appealing but it's the tempestuous Miranda who really gets away to a flying start from the first sequence".
The New York Times article said, "Whenever one or the other Ameche character gets out of the way and lets [Miranda] have the screen, the film sizzles and scorches wickedly." Years later,
Clive Hirschhorn wrote: "
That Night in Rio was the quintessential Fox war-time musical – an over-blown, over-dressed, over-produced and thoroughly irresistible cornucopia of escapist ingredients." On 24 March 1941, Miranda was one of the first Latinas to imprint her handprints and footprints on the sidewalk of
Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Her next film,
Week-End in Havana, was directed by
Walter Lang and produced by
William LeBaron. The cast included
Alice Faye,
John Payne, and
Cesar Romero. After the studio's third effort to activate the "Latin hot blood", Fox was called "Hollywood's best good neighbor" by
Bosley Crowther. During the week it was released, the film topped the box office (surpassing
Citizen Kane, released a week earlier). In 1942,
20th Century-Fox paid $60,000 to
Lee Shubert to terminate his contract with Miranda, who finished her ''
Sons o' Fun tour and began filming Springtime in the Rockies''. The film, which grossed about $2 million, was one of the year's ten most-successful films at the box office. According to a
Chicago Tribune review, it was "senseless, but eye intriguing ... The basic plot is splashed over with songs and dances and the mouthings and eye and hand work of Carmen Miranda, who sure would be up a tree if she ever had to sing in the dark". ", performed by Miranda in the film ''
The Gang's All Here''. In 1943, she appeared in
Busby Berkeley's ''
The Gang's All Here''. Berkeley's musicals were known for lavish production, and Miranda's role as Dorita featured "
The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat". A special effect made her fruit-bedecked hat appear larger than possible. By then she was
typecast as an exotic singer, and under her studio contract she was obligated to make public appearances in her ever-more-outlandish film costumes. One of her records, "I Make My Money With Bananas" seemed to pay ironic tribute to her typecasting. ''The Gang's All Here'' was one of 1943's 10 highest-grossing films and Fox's most expensive production of the year. It received positive reviews, although
The New York Times film critic wrote: "Mr. Berkeley has some sly notions under his busby. One or two of his dance spectacles seem to stem straight from Freud." The following year Miranda made a cameo appearance in
Four Jills in a Jeep, a film based on a true adventure of actresses
Kay Francis,
Carole Landis,
Martha Raye, and
Mitzi Mayfair;
Alice Faye and
Betty Grable also made brief appearances. In 1944 Miranda also starred with
Don Ameche in
Greenwich Village, a Fox musical with
William Bendix and
Vivian Blaine in supporting roles. The film was poorly received; according to
The New York Times, "Technicolor is the picture's chief asset, but still worth a look for the presence of Carmen Miranda". In her
Miami News review, Peggy Simmonds wrote: "Fortunately for
Greenwich Village, the picture is made in Technicolor and has Carmen Miranda. Unfortunately for Carmen Miranda, the production doesn't do her justice, the overall effect is disappointing, but still she sparkles the picture whenever she appears."
Greenwich Village was less successful at the box office than Fox and Miranda had expected. Miranda's third 1944 film was
Something for the Boys, a musical comedy based on the
Broadway musical with songs by
Cole Porter and starring
Ethel Merman. It was Miranda's first film without
William LeBaron or
Darryl F. Zanuck as producer. The producer was
Irving Starr, who oversaw the studio's second-string films. According to
Time magazine, the film "turns out to have nothing very notable for anyone". By 1945, Miranda was
Hollywood's highest-paid entertainer and the top female taxpayer in the United States, earning more than $200,000 that year ($2.88 million in 2020, adjusted for inflation).
Decline '' (1945), Miranda's first black-and-white film for Fox After
World War II, Miranda's films at Fox were produced in black-and-white, indicative of Hollywood's diminishing interest in her and Latin Americans in general. A monochrome Carmen Miranda reduced the box-office appeal of the backstage musical,
Doll Face (1945), in which she was fourth on the bill. Miranda played Chita Chula, billed in the show-within-the-film as "the little lady from Brazil"—a cheerful comic sidekick to leading lady Doll Face (
Vivian Blaine) with one musical number and little dialogue. A
New York Herald Tribune review read, "Carmen Miranda does what she always does, only not well"; according to
The Sydney Morning Herald, "Carmen Miranda appears in a straight part with only one singing number. The innovation is not a success, but the fault is the director's not Carmen's." In ''
If I'm Lucky'' (1946), her follow-up film for Fox when she was no longer under contract, Miranda was again fourth on the bill with her stock screen persona firmly in evidence: heavily accented English, comic
malapropisms, and bizarre hairstyles recreating her famous turbans. When Miranda's contract with Fox expired on 1 January 1946, she decided to pursue an acting career free of studio constraints. Miranda's ambition was to play a lead role showcasing her comic skills, which she set out to do in
Copacabana (1947, an independent production released by
United Artists starring
Groucho Marx). Although her films were modest hits, critics and the American public did not accept her new image. Although Miranda's film career was faltering, her musical career remained solid and she was still a popular nightclub attraction. From 1948 to 1950, she joined
the Andrews Sisters in producing and recording three
Decca singles. Their first collaboration was on radio in 1945, when Miranda appeared on ABC's
The Andrews Sisters Show. Their first single, "Cuanto La Gusta", was the most popular and reached number twelve on the
Billboard chart. "
The Wedding Samba", which reached number 23, followed in 1950. and Miranda in
Copacabana (1947) After
Copacabana,
Joe Pasternak invited Miranda to make two Technicolor musicals for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer:
A Date with Judy (1948) and
Nancy Goes to Rio (1950). In the first production MGM wanted to portray a different image, allowing her to remove her turban and reveal her own hair (styled by
Sydney Guilaroff) and makeup (by
Jack Dawn). Miranda's wardrobe for the film substituted elegant dresses and hats designed by
Helen Rose for
"baiana" outfits. She was again fourth on the bill as Rosita Cochellas, a rumba teacher who first appears about 40 minutes into the film and has little dialogue. Despite MGM's efforts to change Miranda's persona, her roles in both productions were peripheral, watered-down caricatures relying on fractured English and over-the-top musical and dance numbers. In her final film,
Scared Stiff (1953, a black-and-white
Paramount production with
Dean Martin and
Jerry Lewis), Miranda's appeal was again muted. Returning full-circle to her first Hollywood film,
Down Argentine Way, she had virtually no narrative function. Lewis parodies her, miming badly to "
Mamãe eu quero" (which is playing on a scratched record) and eating a banana he plucks from his turban. Miranda played Carmelita Castilha, a Brazilian showgirl on a cruise ship, with her costumes and performances bordering on self-parody. In April 1953, she began a four-month European tour. While performing in
Cincinnati in October, Miranda collapsed from exhaustion; she was rushed to
LeRoy Sanitarium by her husband, Dave Sebastian, and canceled four following performances. ==Personal life==