Origins
On January 1, 1897, the first four movies namely, Un Homme Au Chapeau (Man with a Hat), Une scene de danse Japonaise (Scene from a Japanese Dance), Les Boxers (The Boxers), and La Place de L' Opera (The Place L' Opera), were shown via 60 mm Gaumont Chrono-photograph projector at the Salon de Pertierra at No.12 Escolta in Manila. The venue was formerly known as the Phonograph Parlor on the ground floor of the Casino Espanol at Calle Perez, off the Escolta. Other countries, such as France, England, and Germany had their claims to the introduction of publicly projected motion picture in the Philippines, although Petierra was given the credit to this by most historians and critics.[6]
Antonio Ramos, a Spanish soldier from Aragon, was able to import a Lumiere Cinematograph from Paris, including 30 film titles, out of his savings and the financial banking of two Swiss entrepreneurs, Liebman and Peritz.
By August 1897, Liebman and Peritz presented the first movies on the Lumiere Cinematograph in Manila. The cinema was set up at Escolta, corner San Jacinto, the hall formerly occupied by the Ullman Jewelry shop. A test preview was presented to a limited number of guests on August 28. The inaugural show was presented to the general public the next day, August 29, 1897.[6]. Documentary films showing recent events as well as natural calamities in Europe were shown in Manila.[3]
During the first three weeks, Ramos had a selection of ten different films to show, but by the fourth week, he was forced to shuffle the 30 films in various combinations to produce new programs. These were four viewing sessions, every hour on the hour, from 6:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. After three months, attendance began to slacken for failure to show any new feature. They transferred the viewing hall to a warehouse in Plaza Goiti and reduced the admission fees. By the end of November, the movie hall closed down.[6]
In order to attract patronage, using the Lumiere as a camera, Ramos locally filmed Panorama de Manila (Manila landscape), Fiesta de Quiapo (Quiapo Fiesta), Puente de España (Bridge of Spain), and Esceñas Callejeras (Street scenes), in 1898. Aside from Ramos, there were other foreigners who left who left documentary evidences of their visits to the Philippines. Burton Holmes, father of the Travelogue, who made the first of several visits in 1899, made the Battle of Baliwag; Kimwood Peters shot the Banawe Rice Terraces; and, Raymond Ackerman of American Biography and Mutoscope filmed Filipino Cockfight and the Battle of Mt. Arayat.[6]
American period
Film showing in the Philippines resumed in 1900 when a British entrepreneur named Walgrah opened the Cine Walgrah at No.60 Calle Santa Rosa in Intramuros. The second movie house was opened in 1902 by a Spanish entrepreneur, Samuel Rebarber, who called his building, Gran Cinematografo Parisien, located at No. 80 Calle Crespo in Quiapo. In 1903, Jose Jimenez, a stage backdrop painter, set up the first Filipino-owned movie theater, the Cinematograpo Rizal in Azcarraga street, in front of Tutuban Train Station.[6] In the same year, a movie market was formally created in the country along with the arrival of silent movies and American colonialism.[3] The silent films were always accompanied by gramophone, a piano, or a quartet, or when Caviria was shown at the Manila Grand Opera House, a 200 man choir.[6]
In 1905, Herbert Wyndham, shot scenes at the Manila Fire Department; Albert Yearsly shot the Rizal Day Celebration in Luneta 1909; in 1910, the Manila Carnival; in 1911, the Eruption of Mayon Volcano; the first Airplane Flight Over Manila by Bud Mars and the Fires of Tondo, Pandacan and Paco; and, in 1912, the Departure of the Igorots to Barcelona and the Typhoon in Cebu.[6] These novelty films, however, did not capture the hearts of the audience because they were about the foreigners.[3]
The Philippine Commission recognized early the potential of cinema as a tool of communication and information, so that in 1909, the Bureau of Science bought a complete filmmaking unit and laboratory from Pathe, and sent its chief photographer, the American, Charles Martin, to France to train for a year. When Martin completed his training, he resolved to document, in motion pictures, the varied aspects of the Philippines.
In 1910, the first picture with sound reached Manila, using the Chronophone. A British film crew also visited the Philippines, and filmed, among other scenes, the Pagsanjan Falls (Oriental) in 1911 in kinemakolor.[6] In 1912, New York and Hollywood film companies started to establish their own agencies in Manila to distribute films.[6] In the same year, two American entrepreneurs made a film about the execution of Jose Rizal, and aroused a strong curiosity among Filipino moviegoers. This lead to the making of the first Filipino film.[3]
By 1914, the US colonial government was already using films as a vehicle for information, education, propaganda and entertainment. The Bureau of Science tackled subjects designed to present an accurate picture of the Philippines before the American public, particularly the US Congress. By 1915, the best European and American films were shown in Philippine theaters. When World War I (1914-1918) choked off the production of European studios, Manila theater managers turned to US for new film products. With the variety they offered, American films quickly dominated the Philippine film market.[6]
The first film produced by a Filipino is Jose Nepomuceno's Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) in 1919. This film was based on a highly-acclaimed musical play by Hemogenes Ilagan and Leon Ignacio.[3] Pre-war films were produced by wealthy Spaniards, American businessmen, and Filipino landlords and politicians. Early filmmakers, even with meager capital, followed some of the genres provided by Hollywood movies. The main sources of movie themes during this period were theater pieces from popular dramas or zarzuelas. Another source of movie themes at that time was the Philippine Literature. Ironically, the people who helped the film industry develop and flourish were also the same people who supressed its artistic expression by inhibiting movie themes that would establish radical political views among the Filipinos. Instead, love and reconciliation between members of different classes of people were encouraged to become movie themes.[3]
In 1929, the Syncopation, the first American sound film, was shown in Radio theater in Plaza Santa Cruz in Manila.[6] By 1930s, a few film artists and producers deviated from the norms and presented sociopolitical movies. Julian Manansala’s film Patria Amore (Beloved Country) was almost suppressed because of its anti-Spanish sentiments. During the same period, the first sound film in Tagalog entitled Ang Aswang, a monster movie inspired by Philippine folklore, was shown. But the film apparently did not turn out to be a completely sound film.[6] Jose Nepomuceno's Punyal na Guinto (Golden Dagger), which premiered on March 9, 1933, at the Lyric theater, was credited as the first completely sound movie to all-talking picture in the country.[6] Carmen Concha, the first female director in the country, also ventured into filmmaking, and she directed Magkaisang Landas and Yaman ng Mahirap' in 1939 under Parlatone, and Pangarap in 1940 under LVN.[7]
Despite fierce competition with Hollywood movies, the Filipino film industry grew relatively bigger. When the 1930s drew to a close, the Filipino film industry was already well-established and local moviestars acquired a huge fan-base.
Some popular movie stars of the pre-war era include:
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