Arthur Duarte on AllMovie

Portuguese director Arthur Duarte started his career as a stage actor following studies at the Conservatório Nacional in the late 1900s. He first acted in films in 1921. Duarte moved to Paris in 1923 as a representative of Portuguese distributor Castello Lopes. In 1927, Duarte moved to Germany to work under an acting contract with UFA. During the six years he was there, Duarte branched out into assistant directing, a vocation he continued following his return to Portugal in 1933. Duarte entered films as a full-fledged director with Os Fidalgos da Casa Mourisca/The Noblemen From Casa Mourisca. In 1939, Duarte helmed the Portugal-set prologue scenes of the German film Der Florentiner Hut/The Florentine Hat. During the 1940s, Duarte directed and produced a number Portuguese/Spanish productions (though Duarte only received directing credit for the Portuguese versions). Duarte resumed his acting career on-stage and in films during the '70s; he also moved the United States in hopes of establishing himself as a film producer.