Here we recall one of the most iconic images of our Beatriz Costa in Portuguese Cinema, Canção de Lisboa, directed by José Cottinelli Telmo.
Beatriz Costa
Beatriz da Conceição, born in Milharado, Mafra, daughter of a miller, arrives in Lisbon with her mother in 1912, at the age of 4, in search of a better life. With the onset of the First World War in 1914, her mother finds work as a seamstress at the Military Casão, shortly after moving to Figueiró dos Vinhos, where Beatriz allegedly served as a model for the painter José Malhoa, in an oil painting where she is depicted with braids, a bow, and a lace collar. In that locality, her mother meets her first stepfather, Manuel Jorge, originally from Casal de São Simão and a soldier in the 15th Infantry Regiment, with the marriage taking place in Tomar, where the regiment was stationed. At the age of 6, she moves to Tomar, where she stays until she is 12. Due to a new separation, she comes to Lisbon in 1920, in a laundry cart, spending her first night with her mother on a bench on Avenida da Liberdade, and then moving to Costa do Castelo. Beatriz worked as a gatherer, domestic worker, and embroiderer. She learned to read and write by herself at the age of 13. In 1924, she leaves for a tour in Brazil (with the businessman António de Macedo having to forge documents to transport such a young chorus girl...). Beatriz quickly makes a name for herself to the extent that, when the company stages the play “As Máscaras” in São Paulo, in honor of the Brazilian writer Menotti Del Picchia, she is one of the performers. And when she returns to Portugal in 1925, she appears as an actress in the revue “Ditosa Pátria” at T. Trindade. She then performs in some operettas and zarzuelas, but it is in the revue that she shines best: “Fox-Trot,” premiered at T. Joaquim de Almeida, “Olarila” (T. Maria Vitória), and in 1927, “Revista de Lisboa” (Salão Foz) and, above all, “Sete e Meio” (T. Apolo) where she appears for the first time with hair styled like ‘Louise Brooks,’ which would become her trademark. Meanwhile, in 1926, she accepts a small role (a customer of a cabaret) in Rino Lupo's film “O Diabo em Lisboa.” The film was never truly completed, although a first cut was presented to guests in 1928. Thus, Beatriz Costa makes her debut in cinema.