User Reviews

While grieving her husband in a cemetery, a widow meets a smart widower and tells him that she has inherited a large amount of money from her husband. The small time crook convinces her to go to a beauty shop and he moves to her apartment, going to parties, theaters, restaurants and casinos with her. The widow brings her son Carlinhos (Oscarito), who lives in a mental institution, to live with them.

"Tristezas Não Pagam Dívidas" is a funny Brazilian musical comedy called "chanchada", written and directed by Ruy Costa. This very common type of movie in the 40s has great technical limitations and usually is a silly storyline prepared for many songs sing by the popular Brazilian radio singers of the 40s. The original running time of "Tristezas Não Pagam Dívidas" was about 100 minutes, but only 43 minutes survived, therefore it is quite difficult to understand some parts of the story. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Tristezas Não Pagam Dívidas" ("Sadnesses Do not Pay Debts")

Man meets widow at the cemetery. She asks him to help her spend the fortune her late husband left for her to "have fun" with. In order not to raise suspicions on the neighborhood, she invites back home her only son, which happens to be a little weird, to say the least.

This movie was originally almost 2 hours long. What is left of it nowadays amounts to some 40 minutes. This can make the storyline a little crazier than it was originally intended to be, but you can follow it, and it makes sense in the end. As for Oscarito, the actor playing the son, he does NOT make sense anywhere in this movie, and that's a joy to behold! This is your usual romantic spiritual comedy, and I won't explain what I mean by this in order not to spoil the fun.