Hailed as the Brazilian Chaplin, Amácio Mazzaropi is one of the most popular Brazilian filmmakers of all time. Looking beyond Cinema Novo films, Amácio Mazzaropi in the Film and Culture of Brazil analyzes the cultural impact and critical reception of Mazzaropi's work. A former circus and radio artist, Mazzaropi started his cinema career in 1951, with the Companhia Cinematográfica Vera Cruz; in 1958 he founded his own company, PAM Filmes. He acted in, produced, and directed more than thirty films in which he presents his beloved character, Jeca Tatu, and discusses race, class, gender, religion, and the meaning of nation. Bueno discusses how the films approach issues facing a changing country that was becoming more urban, how ex-centric Brazilians ("caipiras") resolved their position in this new society, and how they fit in the politics and in the history of the country.