"THE GLORY OF FILMMAKING IN PORTUGAL" "During all his life," "Albano António de Amorim Marques collected hundreds of items related to Vila do Conde and the region surrounding it." "A man from the land and from the sea, he gathered without order or classification calendars, magazines, cups, pennants, postcards, photographs, medals and other bric-a-brac related to Vila do Conde, which he bought in fairs and antiquarians from North to South of Portugal." "I. Overture" "Replying to an ad asking for local archives to provide visual memorabilia of the city, Albano António let them know that, beside some old age photographs, he owned some reels of film that he bought some years ago on a countryside fair." "The reels, as he was told by the seller, had several little things and some films about Vila do Conde." "Then he tried to get in touch with the advertisers, setting time and place to watch the material." "With variable lengths of footage, the reels showed:" "images of fishing boats on an unidentified site, a soundless newsreel, possibly a staging, the short film "Vila do Conde Come and Visit It", directed by Sério Fernandes in 1979, and about four minutes of footage in Senhora da Guia Chapel" "that didn't make much sense at first sight." "The content of Albano António's reels wouldn't have much importance in Portuguese Cinema's obscure history if it were not precisely for these four minutes shot in the chapel and its condition as a key factor in a composition long thought to be incomplete." "II." "THE LETTER" "On September 18, 1929," "José Régio writes, from Vila do Conde, a letter to his friend Alberto Serpa." ""Dear poet, you probably weren't expecting a letter from me, were you?" "We have established in Coimbra, our friends Branquinho, Simões, Bettencourt," "Zé Neves, Fausto, Alves Machado and me the so-called Ultra group, with the utmost purpose of creating Portuguese cinema." "The sine qua non condition of our first experiences is a machine." "I remembered that you talked to me in Porto about a friend of yours that said he had this machine and the good taste of aiming to achieve some important experiences, interesting as they should be." "Without further ado, the big question is this:" "Would your friend be willing to rent or lend his machine to our group?" "We'd have, yours as always, the glory of filmmaking in Portugal."" "If the collected letters of Régio with Serpa and with every Ultra member has no clue about the outcome of Régio's desire, there is no news or social record about the creation of any company and from the group's eagerness no film work was created." "The four minutes of film found in Albano António's reels seems crucial to understand the answers that this letter has roused for so many years." "Indeed, the slender figure walking on screen to correct an actor's position barely leaves doubt about its identification as José Régio." "This thesis is strengthened when we relate the shot of the actor with the sword to Régio's imagery and particularly one of seven drawings made in 1952 for his book "The Crossroads of God"." "Does it mean that Régio's letter has arrived at its destination?" "That Serpa got in touch with his friend and this friend went to Vila do Conde to perform cinematographic experiences?" "III." "Mr. Caillaud" "Well, on August 30, 1930, a man was registered in the Palace Hotel of Vila do Conde, coming from Porto." "His name was Rémy Caillaud, an initially unknown character." "After a more thorough research, his name is linked to a small film production shot in the North of Portugal." "Indeed, Rémy Caillaud is identified as a camera operator, using a Bell  Howell Filmo 75, on a film by director F. Morais Abrahão, the notorious documentary "The Fisgas do Ermelo Waterfalls", shot in 1929." "Born to french parents, Rémy Caillaud was given birth on May 4, 1887, in Meiringen, a small Swiss town in the Bernese Alps." "After ten years, the Caillaud family moved to Paris." "In his teenage years, Rémy worked as a watchman at the Grévin Museum." "At that time, the museum held film screenings and served as a film stage for several productions." "Another young man who worked at the museum was Jimmy Berliet, who years later would become the cinematographer of "Entr'acte", directed by René Clair, and assisted by Caillaud himself." "All these facts are told in the foreword of the only book written by Caillaud:" ""Moi, péripatétique", published in 1938." "In the book, Caillaud accounts for his beginnings in cinematography, influenced by chemist, photographer and film pioneer Jonathan Fakenham, who he met in Cornwall in 1911." "When the First World War began and France mobilized its troops in 1914," "Caillaud joined the 132nd Infantry Regiment of the French Army, camped in Reims." "He fought bravely in the Battle of Les Éparges and therefore made lieutenant in 1916." "It was probably at that time that he gathered a small fortune, which came from the roulette and the cards." "By the end of the war, Rémy Caillaud established himself in Paris, and worked as a film projectionist, never abandoning his old habit of gambling." "In 1926, two years after completing his work as an assistant director in "Entr'acte"," "Caillaud went to Italy, where he achieved some notoriety making films about the phenomenon of aviation." "For this reason he traveled to Portugal in 1928, advised by his friend Roger Lyon, to shoot an air show." "In the 30's, he came back to France, where he kept working as a projectionist, shooting air shows and gambling." "It is believed that he died in 1940, during the German attack in Sedan." "IV." "The Meeting" "José Régio and Rémy Caillaud met for the first time at Palace Hotel's Terraço bar, on September 1st, 1930." "The introductions were made by Alberto Serpa, their friend in common." "It is known that the two men stayed in Vila do Conde for some weeks." "Some accounts consider them habitués of the Central restaurant and confirm they attended the Afonso Sanches Theater at the screening of "Miraculous Fátima", a film by Rino Lupo." "It is very likely, thus, that the four minutes of footage were shot about this time." "And after that, silence." "Almost 90 years have gone by since Régio's letter to Serpa." "All archives have been closely examined, but no other mention was found about this project." "It is known that Régio told Serpa he didn't like some of the Frenchman's ideas." "It is unknown, however, if these ideas referred to politics or art." "After this episode, Rémy Caillaud's name was never associated to any film production, whether in Portugal or in France." "In November, Caillaud is back in Paris." "This time as a projectionist for the Luxor theater." "However, as something more than a simple curiosity, it must be told that on the issue of September 26, 1930, the newspaper "O Democrático", from Vila do Conde, ran a story about a Frenchman" "who lost two contos de réis at the gambling table;" "he lost also a Swiss 23 jewels gold watch and film equipment owned by him." "Extremely enraged, he violently destroyed the games room of the first floor." "V. EPILOGUE" "It is unknown if the other Ultra members knew about this meeting and about this important experiences, interesting as they should be." "Régio didn't mention this subject anymore, nor showed any desire to create a film company and make films for the glory of filmmaking in Portugal." "Maybe because in the first hours of a December night in 1931, in front of the Olympia theater, in Porto, after the screening of "Labor on the Douro River"," "Casais Monteiro introduced him to Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira, and what follows is already another story."