History of Philippine Cinema 2

World War II and Japanese occupation

During the Japanese Occupation, filmmaking was suddenly put to a halt. The Japanese brought with them their own films, but this was not appealing to the local audience. For this reason, Japanese propaganda offices hired several local filmmakers, including Gerardo de Leon, to make propaganda pictures that extoll Filipino-Japanese friendship. One of these propaganda films was the Dawn of Freedom, which was directed by Abe Yutaka and Gerardo de Leon.^[3]

During World War II, almost all actors depended on stage shows only, mostly on major Manila movie theaters, to provide for their livelihood. Live theater began to thrive again as movie stars, directors and technicians returned to the stage.

1950s

Bundles of 35-mm films of several old movies being kept by the Mowelfund at the Movie Museum of the Philippines in Quezon City.

After World War II, the Philippine version of a war movie had emerged as a genre. The audience were hungry for films with patriotic themes. Films such as Garrison 13 (1946), Dugo ng Bayan (The Country’s Blood) (1946), Walang Kamatayan (Deathless) (1946), and Guerilyera (1946), narrated the horrors of the war and the heroism of the soldiers and guerillas.^[3]

The 1950s was the so-called first golden age of Philippine cinema, mainly because at this time, the "Big Four" studios (LVN Pictures, Sampaguita Pictures, Premiere Productions and Lebran International) were at the height of their powers in filmmaking, having employed master directors like Gerardo de Leon, Eddie Romero and Cesar Gallardo and housing the biggest stars of the industry that day. The "Big Four" has been also churning out an estimated total of 350 films a year. This number made the Philippines second only to Japan in terms of film productions a year, which made it one of the busiest and bustling film communities in Asia. Nevertheless, Hollywood still has its grips on the Filipino audience mainly because all those 350 films are only shown in two theaters, namely Dalisay and Life theaters in Manila.

The premiere directors of the era were (but not limited to):

• Gerardo de Leon
• Gregorio Fernandez
• Eddie Romero
• Lamberto Avellana
• Armando Garces
• Cirio Santiago
• Cesar Gallardo

The biggest stars of the era were (but not limited to):

Rogelio de la Rosa Jaime de la Rosa Carmen Rosales Jose Padilla, Jr. Arsenia Francisco Ben Perez Ben Rubio Fred Peñalosa Rosa del Rosario Paraluman Oscar Moreno Carlos Salazar Manuel Conde Tony Santos Fred Montilla Oscar Keese Bert Olivar Anita Linda Carol Varga Evelyn Villar Tessie Agana

Linda Estrella Alicia Vergel Cesar Ramirez Ruben Rustia Lauro Delgado Eddie Garcia Gloria Romero Nida Blanca Nestor de Villa Luis Gonzales Van de Leon Gil de Leon Mila del Sol Rita Gomez Lolita Rodriguez Charito Solis Rosa Mia Rosa Rosal Delia Razon Eddie del Mar Efren Reyes

Johnny Reyes Nena Cardenas Chichay Tolindoy Bayani Casimiro Bentot (Cosca) Vicente Liwanay Pugo Tugo Patsy (Pachochay) Lopito Tugak Pugak Billy "Surot" Vizcarra Chiquito Oscar Obligacion Dely Atayatayan Andoy Balumbalunan Levi Celerio Zaldy Zshornack

The "Big Four" studios produced most of the notable films of Philippine cinema during this era. Roberta (1951) of Sampaguita Pictures, featuring child stars, was a phenomenal success at that time. LVN Pictures, under the leadership of the grandmotherly Doña Sisang de Leon, specialized in superproductions, rural comedies and musicals, but also produced socially-relevant films such as Avellana's Anak Dalita (1956), Tony Santos's Badjao (1957) and Manuel Silos's Biyaya ng Lupa (1959). Sampaguita Pictures mainly produced high-gloss, glamorous pictures such as Maalaala Mo Kaya (1954). On the other hand Premiere Productions released most of the action films of the decade, such as Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo (1952), Salabusab (1954) and Huwag Mo Akong Limutin (1960).

Due to the high production values of the motion pictures during this era, these movies started to win awards internationally. In 1952, Manuel Conde's Genghis Khan became the first Asian film to be shown in the Venice Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival, a feat that would not be defeated until the 1970s. Inspired by Conde's picture, Hollywood remade Genghis Khan, with John Wayne as its lead actor.^[3][6] In 1956, Anak Dalita copped the Golden Harvest Award (Best Picture) of the prestigious Asia-Pacific Film Festival.

In addition, the stars of these productions also won international awards. Lilia Dizon, for example, may have not romped away with the FAMAS Best Actress Award fo the time, but the prince of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, presented her with the Best Actress Award from the Asia-Pacific Film Festival in 1954. Leroy Salvador was also recognized in his performance as Best Supporting Actor for the film Huk sa Bagong Pamumuhay (1953) in the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.

During this era, the first award-giving bodies were also established. The first award-giving body, the Maria Clara Awards of the Manila Times Publishing, Inc, was composed of film publicists and writers who voted for the exemplary achievements of Filipino motion pictures for a certain calendar year. In 1953, the Maria Clara folded up to give way to the establishment of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the Philippines' answer to the United States' Academy Awards. With this, the Philippines set a trend in Asian cinema; FAMAS was the first film industry award-giving body in Asia.

FAMAS has awarded its most coveted Best Picture Award to the following films:

• 1952 Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo (Premiere Productions and M.J. Vistan Productions)
• 1953 Huk sa Bagong Pamumuhay (LVN Pictures)
• 1954 Salabusab (Premiere Productions)
• 1955 Higit sa Lahat (LVN Pictures)
• 1956 Luksang Tagumapay (LVN Pictures)
• 1957 Kalibre .45 (Premiere Productions)
• 1958 Hanggang sa Dulo ng Daigdig (Premiere Productions)
• 1959 Biyaya ng Lupa (LVN Pictures)

During this period, Filipinos seen Hollywood's first full length picture in living technicolor. Filipino local producers presented too, during this period, their own full length pictures in color in spite of some technical deficiency, and one of which, was Prinsipe Amante (Prince Amante).