Wilton Franco

Os Trapalhões was a Brazilian comedy group and also a Brazilian television series created by Wilton Franco. Its members were Dedé Santana, Zacarias, Mussum and their leader Didi Mocó, that was played by Renato Aragão. The name Trapalhões is derived from the Portuguese verb atrapalhar, which means the opposite of helping, to do something the wrong way or to Those that confuse. The name is translated "Tramps" in English DVD subtitles. It was aired by Rede Globo from 1977 to 1999. On March 18, 1990, Zacarias died due to respiratory failure, but the group and the series didn't come to an end until July 29, 1994, when Mussum died due to an unsuccessful heart transplant.

Maos Sangrentas translates to Bloody Hands in English, and that's just what this gruesome Brazilian melodrama delivers. The story begins when a gang of dangerous convicts escape from a penal colony. With the police in hot pursuit, the escapees cut a gory swath through the countryside. As his comrades are killed off one by one, the leader of the group descends into gibbering madness. In contrast to this, a subplot develops involving the least dangerous of the escapees, who murdered his wife in a peak of self-righteous rage and is now seriously in doubt about the wisdom of his deed. Principal scenes reworked in 1962 to make the film The Violent and the Damned (q.v.).

In the Rio de Janeiro Central Station, the infamous pickpocket Mão Leve meets Honorina—a Northeastern girl looking for a job—with whom he falls in love. Willing to conquer her, the thief decides to abandon his life of crime, but soon finds out it won't be easy.

Didi, Dedé, Mussum and Zacarias are sent in a rescue mission to the daughter of the Army's minister.

César wants to be a singer and, with the help of his friends Maloca and Didi, seeks an opportunity on television talent shows. When he performs on Chacrinha's show, he wins all the night's prizes and wins the affection of a young woman from a wealthy family who is dating a con man who steals cars. Realizing the girl has a crush on the singer, the con man sets a trap to get César out of the game.

When chain gang prisoners attack their guards, some of the hardened criminals escape Brazil's infamous Anchieta Prison amidst all the pick-ax carnage. The government dispatches a machine-gun squad to round up the fugitives, who have fled by foot and boat and now have begun to turn on each other.