Fado and Fatima

Abstract

Although Portugal served as the setting for over thirty Hollywood films produced during the Estado Novo dictatorship (1933-1974), the country's cinematic image was largely a product of World War II, whose specific context encouraged a sanitized depiction of its regime, perpetuated during the Cold War. After contextualizing Portugal's presence and involvement in those productions, this article examines Hollywood's engagement with two important symbols associated with the Salazar dictatorship, namely fado music and the Miracle of Fatima. It discusses their narrative purposes in US film fiction and, in turn, how North American cinema helped promote these cultural pillars of the Estado Novo.