[Philippines' release date 1st July 1959; distributed theatrically in the
US in 1961 by Parallel Film Distributors Inc, released in Belgium as "Le
Cri De La Liberte/De Kreet Der Vrijheid"]
Director Lamberto V. Avellana Writer Rolf Bayer Based on the
novel "The Crucible" by Yay Marking Producer Edith Pérez de Tagle Cinematography
Mike Accion Music Restie Umali Editor Fely Crisostomo Sound Flaviano Villareal
Cast Pancho Magalona (Marking), Rosa Rosal (Yay), Johnny
Reyes (Cabalhim), Jack Forster (Sid), Joseph de Cordova, Alfonso Carvajal,
Pedro Faustino, Mario Roldan, Charles Kelley (Lieutenant Stoddard), Tony Santos
(Juanito)
Original Filipino ad courtesy of Simon Santos' Video 48 blog
1955 - No Place To Hide(Josef Shaftel & Co/LVN Pictures/Lebran-Movietec)
[Philippines release date 28th July 1955]
Director/Story/Producer Josef ShaftelScreenplay Norman Corwin Associate Producer Dan Milner Music Herschel Burke Gilbert, [uncredited] Joseph Mullendore Gilbert Editor Arthur H. Nadel Art Director Teodi Carmona Assistant Director Jeremias Terson Conductor Herschel Burke Gilbert Orchestrator Walter Sheets
Cast David Brian (Dr Dobson), Marsha Hunt (Anne Dobson), Hugh Corcoran (Greg Dobson), Ike Jarlego Jr (Ramon), Celia Flor (Miss Diaz), Eddie Infante (Colonel Moreno), Manuel Silos (Manuel), Lou Salvador (Priest), Pianing Vidal (Dr Lorenzo), Alfonso Carvajal (Dr Mateo), Vicenta Advincula (Consuelo), Oscar Keesee, Jose de Cordova, Jose Avellana, Candy the Wonder Dog
Les Adams’ synopsis from the Internet Movie Database: A scientist, his wife, and their young son come to the Phillipines so that the man can continue his germ-warfare studies for the army in uninhabited area. The boy and a playmate come into possession of some of the pellets developed by the scientist which can kill off the citizens of a large city if they are broken. Armed forces and the police are seeking the boys who, thinking they face punishment and the loss of a pet, continue to elude them. And they have already lost one of the death-filled pellets in the city.
Visual materials courtesy of Simon Santos at the Video 48 blog
[A Philippines/Singapore co-production with financial backing primarily from Singapore's Cathay-Keris, Philippines release date 3rd June 1957; released in Singapore as "Bajau Anak Laut"/“The Badjaos Children Of The Sea”. Dubbed into English as “Banjao The Sea Gypsies” and released in the US on 20th September 1962 (1)]
Director Lamberto V. Avellana Story/Screenplay Rolf Bayer Producer Manuel De Leon Executive Producer Narcisa de Leon Cinematography Mike Accion Music Francisco Buencamino Jr Editor Gregorio Carballo Art Director Teodi Carmona) Head Hair Stylist Jose Luis Assistant Director Castor Marcelo Sound July P. Hidalgo
Cast Rosa Rosal (Bal-Amai), Tony Santos [Sr] (Hassan), Leroy Salvador (Asid), “Jose”/Joseph de Cordova (Datu Tahil), Vic Silayan (Jiriki), Oscar Keesee (Pearl Dealer), Arturo Moran, Pedro Faustino (Badjao Chief), Tony Dantes (Chief's Bodyguard)
Francis “Oggs” Cruz's review from his Lessons From The School Of Inattention blog (www.oggsmoggs.blogspot.com/2007/08/badjao-1957.html)
As a romanticized document of two distinct cultures, the Badjao and Tausog tribes of Mindanao, Lamberto Avellana's Badjao is simply spectacular. It begins with a ritual, probably barbaric and shocking to our homogenized world. A baby is born to the pagan sea-faring Badjaos. The baby is then thrown into the sea, and a couple of Badjao men would dive into the sea to save the baby from drowning. A man would rise victorious carrying the baby and delivering it to the tribal chief (Pedro Faustino); and the baby, newest member is finally presented to the tribe.
We get a feel of their lifestyle through Avellana's curious and meticulous eye: the sense of justice of the Muslim Tausogs (there's a scene wherein the datu sentences a wrongdoer to pay the victim money and to be inflicted a slap that would erase all evidence of the wrongdoing); the intricate marriage vows; the codes of honor and bonds of dignity among and between these people; the clockwork commerce wherein the Badjaos supply the Tausogs pearls, and the latter supplies the rest of the world such pearls through shrewd middlemen.
The story, about Hassan (Tony Santos), a Badjao prince, who falls in love with Bal-Amai (Rosa Rosal), niece of the Tausog datu (Joseph de Cordova), is set in an age of the cultural inequality that has characterized the tensions that divide the two tribes. The vast cultural conflicts would lead Hassan to choose between his heritage and his heart. He chooses his heart and converts to Islam and cleansing himself of his Badjao heritage, and deciding to live as a farmer with Bal-Amai within the Tausog tribe. This decision leads to his banishment from the Badjao tribe.
It's a powerful picture, one that is very universal and human despite being set against the exoticized landscapes and seascapes of Mindanao. It pits traditions of honor, justice and civility of the two tribes, with sources of human fallibility like greed, prejudice and treachery. Characters are tested: Hassan with his decision to withdraw from the Badjao tribe and adopt Tausog culture; the datu who is blinded enough by the allure of money to descend to the level of blunt treachery; Bal-Amai with her insistence of making Hassan forget his roots.
Avellana always fills his scenes with intricacies and details. The Tausog town, with its port of bamboo scaffolds to the marketplace wherein the air of racism is quite apparent, is an impressively built set. Much more spectacular are the boats of the Badjaos: at night, we see these floating boats with their respective lighted torches, like will-o-wisps floating against the night sky. The action scenes are equally gripping: Jiriki (Vic Silayan), the datu's treacherous adviser, and Hassan's duel in the rock beach is nail-bitingly exciting; Muslim kris pitted against Badjao forked staff; and the two fighters end up rolling in the rocks. Avellana understands the mechanics of the fights (the same way he coherently choreographs the early duels in the Tausog town) and commits to celluloid such visceral intensity.
The film's final scene, a revisit of the ritual in the beginning, we begin to understand the rationale and humanity underneath the culture-specific ritual. We become more open to the similarities that bind us as a single people despite the diversity in religion, culture, and traditions. Badjao is a beautiful and intense film, probably the best and most ambitious Avellana made. Avellana, although a Catholic filmmaker and working under the grips of a commercial studio, paints a portrait of both Muslim and tribal cultures with forceful accuracy and affecting sensitivity.
Eboy Donato's review from his Buhay/Pelikula blog (www.eboydonato.blogspot.com/2007/08/badjao-1957.html)
Hassan (Tony Santos), son of a Badjao chief, falls in love with Bala Amai (Red Cross Philippines matriarch, Rosa Rosal), niece of a Tausog datu (Jose de Cardova). Hassan, proves his worth to Bala Amai's uncle by leaving his heritage behind to follow his heart. A treacherous uncle, then conspires to hold Hassan by the neck by forcing him to work for him diving for pearls for his own greedy end. Feeling violated, they both leave the confines of the Tausogs and set sail to return to Hassan's people together with his wife.
A sea of mystecism abound in the film, get enthralled by the customs. Most notable are the wedding ritual, the traditional dance, we see women with long metallic nails wave about as they dance together with the captivating gongs, and the sets used in the Tausog tribe, a wide array of cloths and textures will surely excite. Just imagine how this might have been in color; The night scenes of the Badjao's vintas illuminated by small lamps. Even a run around in the thick of the jungle turns symbolic as Bala Amai resists Hassan's dominance. She eventually gives in and the sound of gongs echo louder and louder. Also, Jiriki (Vic Silayan), the Tausog datu's right hand, has a embroiling battle scene with Hassan.
So much is to be said about the film, the fact that the story rings true to some aspect of our lives, as portrayed by the two tribes, we are a constant threat to each others existence. The prejudices and hate we harbor inside, even a good-natured character, like Rosal's Bala Amai is not spared to this human weakness. Even her uncle, which she revere and loves turn his back just to spite her. Badjao truly captivates and holds the viewer in a trace like state.
NOTES
1. Richard P. Krafsur (supervising ed.), American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films 1961-1970, Berkeley CA, University of California Press, 1976, p.57
1959 - Atrocities Of The Orient(US version: Film Import Company/Social Service Pictures)
[Original production date estimated at 1948-49, also known as “Outrages Of The Orient”, “Atrocities Of Manila”, “Beast Of The East”, and in Greece as “I Kitrini Maska”]
Director/Writer Carlos Vander Tolosa, [US version] William H. Jansen Producer Don Jesus Cacho Editor [US version] Lloyd Friedgen Cinematography William H. Jansen Music Julio Esteban Anguita Orchestrations Bernardino F. Custodio Assistant Director Luis Galasanz Sound Charles Gray
Cast Linda Estrella Fernando Royo Mona Lisa, Teddy Benavides [Alma] Rosa Aguirre Bimbo Danao
Clumsily spliced together from at least three different productions, Atrocities Of The Orient is one of those fascinating specimens of exploitation cinema that is entertaining simply because it is so bad!
The opening scenes are reminiscent of a South Pacific musical - happy villagers singing and going about their daily chores in a tropical setting. The action then abruptly shifts to mayhem as the Japanese army attacks the village, murdering, raping and pillaging. Then, just as abruptly, we are plunged into a slow-moving melodrama regarding two enlisted brothers and their struggles during wartime. Thereafter comes POW brutality, miscellaneous love stories, titillating tidbits and attempts at humor, all chopped together without a care for consistency of narrative.
Purportedly a dramatization of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II, Atrocities Of The Orient becomes something quite different: a surreal pastiche of horror, action, ham-fisted melodrama, stock footage, and even lame attempts at comedy, book-ended by sober narration that is apropos of nothing. Don't miss it!
After a narrated intro and a musical number by happy Filipino villagers (similar to Indian movie segments) the main story is about the Japanese occupation (some actual news footage is used), two rival brothers and some captured freedom fighters. The Japanese Col. (“There is only one God, the Emperor Of Japan!”) orders (mostly offscreen) bayonet deaths and decapitations. Eve, a tough lady guerrilla leader shoots one of her own men for punishment. There’s even a comedy relief Sgt. character. In (second language) English but whole conversations are in Japanese. The topless women running and some other sequences were awkwardly edited in for the U.S. exploitation release. The David Friedman Roadshow Rarity release is from a 59 re-issue. It still played theatres in the 70s!
Southern Luzon.Before the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, life was simple and good.All that changed with the coming of the Japanese in World War II.As the resistance to the Japanese occupation became stronger, the Japanese became even more cruel than usual.
The native residents sing while they pound some type of seed.The narrator then speaks of Corregidor, the Gibraltar of the Philippines, the old fortress blasted to a heap of ruble. Then the narrator shows a military cemetery:"Here lay our dead: Philippine and American, buried together."
Planes roll over the Philippines skies and start bombing the cities.There is a great deal of fire in the city.And there are firefights breaking out between the invading Japanese and the Philippine and American resistance.A Japanese soldier invades a house and when the old man there tries to protect the women of the house the soldier bayonets him.Captain Antonio Cruz knocks out the Japanese soldier.He then goes in to a bedroom to speak with his wife.More Japanese come into the house and threaten the women.Captain Antonio hears the women screaming.He shoots his wife dead.He opens the door and the Japanese start to pour in.He has no more bullets so he has to jump out the bedroom window to survive.Some of the women run out of the house, one naked from the waist up.A Japanese soldier pursues her, but she either jumps or falls of the cliff to her death.
Filipino Colonel Cruz is in critical condition at the underground hospital.Before dying he writes a note to his son.It says:"Lt. Carlos Cruz: Fight to the last.Tell mother everything is all right.Father."He dies.Lt. Carlos Cruz receives the letter.Then he hears his mother calling him.They hug each other.She comments on how ruthless the Japanese are.Mom then tells Carlos that he dropped a letter.Carlos picks it up, but he won't tell her what it really says.Mom asks him if he has seen his brother Antonio.Carlos tells her not to mention his brother's name."As far as I'm concerned, he's dead.He stole the woman I love."Carlos has someone take his mother and the others to a place of relative safety.
Carlos Cruz brings in some natives and a dead woman.But the bombing gets so close to them that they all have to leave the area. Carlos goes to a field hospital and sees a woman he really likes, Nurse Carmen.Carmen likes him too, but she won't get serious with him because he still is hung up over his brother's wife.As they talk, his brother Antonio brings in the dead body of his wife.Carlos can't believe his ears when Antonio admits that he killed his wife:better that, he says, than leaving her to suffer at the hands of the Japanese.Carlos and Antonio start to fight each other, but they are broken up.Mom wants them to reconcile but that seems impossible.Antonio leaves.
Captain Cruz receives a message from headquarters to surrender to the nearest Japanese outpost.Cruz tells his men:"We'll never surrender."A wounded soldier comes back to the Philippine defense line in the area and tells the captain that there is a Japanese machine gun nest about a mile up the road.The captain asks for three volunteers and he gets them.The three attack the nest.The first soldier throws a hand grenade which hits its mark, but not before he is shot and killed.The hand grenade explodes and kills many of the Japanese soldiers.The second Philippine soldier goes to check on the nest.He is shot and dies, but he does manage to shoot and kill the Japanese soldier that shot him.The last Philippine soldier now goes to check on things.A Japanese survivor throws a knife into his back.The Philippine soldier is able to kill his killer.
Lt. Carlos Cruz and his men also decide not to surrender.The Japanese attack them in force and many are killed.The lieutenant and about 8 or 9 of his men are captured.The Japanese Colonel asks the lieutenant why did he not follow the orders from his superiors to surrender.The lieutenant doesn't say anything is reply.The Colonel tells him that he understands and says he likes the lieutenant.One of the captives shoots a Japanese soldier and he in turn is killed by an enemy soldier.The line of Philippine soldiers then are forced to bow to the Japanese flag.
One of the Filipinos is taken out of line and beheaded by the second in command.A crazy Filipino sneaks up behind the Colonel and steals a pistol.When the crazed man kills a Japanese soldier, the Japanese Colonel kills him.A chaplain steps out of line to say some words over the crazy fellow.For this, he is tied to a tree and then the second in command bayonets him to death.The Japanese killer then cackles over his feat.
The Colonel talks with Carlos.He tells him that the Japanese came to liberate them from the Americans. He adds that Bataan has fallen and soon Corregidor will surrender.If the lieutenant cooperates, he and his men will not be killed.Some of the Japanese enlisted men start to chase the Philippine nurses.For this offense, the second in command punishes the sergeant involved by hitting him and knocking him down several times.Lt. Carlos thanks the Colonel for having the sergeant punished, but also tells the Colonel to leave nurse Carmen alone because she is his fiancé.
At a Japanese check point, when a Filipino tries to prevent the Japanese from taking his rice that he needs to feed his children, the Japanese guard bayoneted him for his protest.
Captain Antonio hears some noise down by the river.He readies his men for an attack.But they find out that the noise is made by a lovely Philippine woman swimming in the river.The men cat call and whistle at her.She does not care for this at all.She thinks they are Japanese.She is actually a Colonel in rank and has 11 men with her.She goes to the attack against the invaders, only to find out that they are also Philippine.She is still mad because of the cat calls. Her name is Colonel Eve.She slaps Captain Antonio for gawking at her.She then suggests that they combine the two commands under her leadership.Antonio accepts.
The misbehaving Japanese sergeant has still not learned his lesson.He leads the exercises for the nurses and male medical staff.Then he starts flirting with the nurses.To make things worse, he tells them all to give him their watches.As he is bragging to them about his prowess in the army, the second in command comes up to him.The sergeant immediately starts giving the women back their watches.The second in command threatens to stab the sergeant with his sword, but the nurses scream so much at the idea that he relents.
Under the command of Colonel Eve, the group attacks a village housing Japanese soldiers.It is a successful raid, but they lose three men.She asks who was the man in charge of the now dead men.She then shoots and kills the man in charge.She figures that she should eliminate him now and avoid the loss of three more men the next day.
The Japanese Colonel asks Lt. Carlos who were the forces making the attacks on Japanese posts.Carlos says its Philippine guerrillas.When the Colonel starts getting read to take some offensive action, Carlos knocks out the Colonel.A Filipino soldier grabs some Japanese documents.He rushes out, but the alarm is sounded.The Filipino is shot, but he succeeds in handing off the documents to another Filipino.The Japanese then capture the wounded man and torture him.The captured man and others like him are saved from the Japanese, by an attack on the P.O.W. facilities.They get their men out of there.
Eve personally leads the next charge.She is a little upset about not finding true love in her life and decides to be a bit reckless.She gets shot for her recklessness.Antonio tries to comfort her.He tells her he loves her.Eve asks:"Why didn't you say so in the first place?This could have all been avoided."She then asks Antonio for a kiss good-bye.They kiss.She dies.
American and Philippine soldiers parachute onto the Philippines.American and Philippine troops push forward.Up goes the American flag, a welcome sight.
The narrator says:"Yes, many died so we may live."
Not that great of a movie.The quality of the film on the DVD was poor.There were scenes so dark you couldn't see anything.The acting was o.k., but nothing special.And the title of the movie is a bit misleading.There are definitely atrocities in the movie, but it did not live up to they hype I read in some of the reviews.Especially the Japanese crimes against women, were not covered that much.It's more of a Philippine guerrilla fighting movie than anything else, along with scenes of Japanese excesses.In one sense, the Japanese get off lightly because they do have two scenes with the sergeant being punished for his trying to mess with the women.I did like the title of the movie.My version was "Atrocities in the Orient".And atrocities is a good name for the behavior of the Japanese in Asia and the South Pacific.
Director John Barnwell Screenplay Stirling Silliphant (based on his novel) Producer Collier Young Music Albert Glasser Cinematography William Snyder Editor Helene Turner Production Manager James H. Anderson Second Unit Director Alfred Wyatt Sound Stephen Bass Assistant Sound Angel “Avellano”/Avellana Sound Effects Milton Citron Special Effects Roland Chiniquy, [uncredited] Al Wyatt Sr Camera Operator Manuel Rojas Philippine-American coordinator Monchi Brown Aguinaldo Production Assistants Jack Guiterrez, Mario David Production Associates (Philippines) Gerardo de Leon, Manuel De Leon, Col. Ernesto D. Rufino
Cast George Montgomery (Greg Dickson), Mona Freeman (Cindy Rogers), John Baer (Bart Rogers), James Bell (Stephen Rogers), Teddy Benavedes (Major Balatbat), Mario Barri (Kalak), Ben Perez (Pinote)
1959 - Surrender - Hell! (Cory Film Corporation/Allied Artists Pictures)
Director/Screenplay John Barnwell based on the novel "Blackburn's Headhunters" by Philip HarkinsProducer Edmund Goldman Executive Producers Newton P. Jacobs, Paul Schreibman Associate Producer Paul Mart Music Francisco Buencamino Jr Cinematography Mike Accion [as Miguel Accion] Editor Gerardo de Leon Art Direction Richard Abelardo Assistant Director Milton Carter Sound Editor Don Olson Supervising Editor Hugo Grimaldi Assistant Editor Harry Kaye Orchestrator Restie Umali
Cast Keith Andes (Col. Donald D. Blackburn), Susan Cabot (Delia Guerrero), Paraluman (Pilar), Nestor De Villa (Major Bulao)
1958 – The Day Of The Trumpet (Cirio Santiago Film Organization/Premiere Productions)
[Philippines release date 17th January 1958; released in the US in 1963 as "Cavalry Command", also known as "Cavalleria Commandos" and "The Battle Of San Pasquale"]
Director/Writer Eddie Romero Producers Harry Smith, Cirio H. Santiago Associate Producer Gerardo de Leon Music Tito Arevalo, Ariston Auelino Cinematography Felipe Sacdalan Editors Gervacio Santos, L.S. 'Ted' Smith
Cast John Agar (Sgt. Judd Norcutt), Richard Arlen (Sgt. Jim Heisler), Pancho Magalona (Capt. Magno Maxalla), Alicia Vergel (Laura), William Phipps (Pvt. Steve Haines), Myron Healey (Lt. Worth), Cielito Legaspi (Clara), Eddie Infante (San Pascual's priest), Boy Planas (Tibo Maxalla), Vic Diaz (Julio), Jennings Sturgeon (Pvt. Scanlon), Max Alvarado (Carlo)
National Artist of the Philippines Eddie Romero had over twenty Tagalog-language films to his credit before he made Day Of The Trumpet, his first English language film for the export market, in 1957. It was produced by Cirio H. Santiago’s Premiere Productions with Eddie’s mentor and long-time collaborator Gerardo de Leon as co-producer, and with Gerardo’s brother Tito Arevalo providing the rousing orchestral score.
Ostensibly a Filipino western, Day Of The Trumpet, or its US title Cavalry Command, is framed by the American-Philippine War of 1899. The Philippines declared itself a republic the year before after a long and bitter struggle with their Spanish overlords, and believed America was in full support of its independence, only to find America had actually purchased the colony, along with Guam and Puerto Rico, after its own war with Spain. As soon as Filipino troops helped clear the last pockets of Spanish resistance from Manila, the Americans turned on their former allies.
And so began what the Americans called an “insurrection” rather than a “war” that officially lasted for three years. It was during the American-Philippine War that the United States began to see tangible evidence of its Manifest Destiny, and was its first imperialist push of the 20th Century. In an all-out campaign to destroy the country’s morale, the Americans trialled their Scorched Earth techniques they would later perfect in Vietnam: razing villages to the ground, executing women and children believed to be sympathizers with the rebels, and penning the survivors in concentration camps where many died of disease and neglect. After a sporadic ten year campaign to break the country’s spirit, it’s believed up to a million soldiers and civilians died.
Once you grasp the deep sense of outrage many Filipinos feel over this dark chapter of history, it makes Eddie Romero’s vision of life under the American occupation that much more curious. Set in Northern Luzon in the final clean-up phase of the uprising, the US Cavalry treks wearily into the small country town of San Pasqual. They find the townsfolk beaten, weary, and huddled together in the convent under the protection of the local priest. The Cavalry’s mission is to restore order; they regard themselves as facilitators as well as liberators, and with the help of a translator (a VERY young Vic Diaz), set about restoring the battered infrastructure that has taken a pounding from not only the Americans but the retreating Spanish and their own guerrilla campaigners.
Of course there’s a clash of cultures, particularly amongst the restless male horse soldiers. The new teacher Haines finds his eye wandering towards an innocent convent lass, to the horror of the priest, who sees their differences as irreconcilable, and the Sergeant (John Agar from Brain From Planet Arous) is drawn to the fiery Laura, also the girlfriend of renegade patriot Magno. Once captured, Magno refuses to betray his ideals, and is painted as a bitter, dogmatic radical regarded by the Cavalry as a minor inconvenience. Brooding and almost drowning in resentment, he waits until fiesta time to draw together a pathetic ragtag brigade of revolutionaries to retake the town, with tragic consequences. Magno even turns on his child brother, a junior would-be guerrilla; even the child has learnt the Americans are not their enemies.
Romero’s painstaking recreation of turn-of-the-century town and rural society shows he’s much more concerned with the human drama rather than the mechanics of war, and may explain why the film was not a success when finally released in the States in 1963 as “Cavalry Command”. For a film marketed as a western, with Magno as a parochial Pancho Villa, and the feather-wearing Igorots as ersatz Red Indians, it’s a cheat, and indeed the shoot ‘em up action doesn’t rear its white Stetson until three quarters through its running time. Instead it’s a serious meditation on the personal politics and consequences during occupation, one that shouldn’t take sides and yet does, for what one can only assume are for commercial reasons.
1958 – Man On The Run(Cirio Santiago Film Organization/Halcyon Productions/People’s Pictures)
[Philippines release date 15th May 1958; released in USA in June 1964 as "The Kidnappers" by Manson Distributing Corp]
Director Eddie Romero Story/Screenplay Harry Paul Harber based on the story “Blaze Of Night” Producer Cirio H. Santiago Cinematography Felipe Sacdalan Music Ariston Avelino Editor Jovan Calub
Cast Burgess Meredith (Louis Halliburton), Olivia Cenizal (Chrisitine Hall), William Phipps (Jay), Paul Harber, Carol Varga, Amado Cortez, Zaldy Zshornack, Johnny Monteiro, Theodore Bikel
Synopsis (from the AFI Film Catalog): Louis Halliburton, an American living in the Philippines, frantic with guilt over the kidnapping of his young son Leslie, is convinced by his Filipina wife Christine to enlist the aid of a former FBI agent who was once her fiancee. Jay, the kidnapper, a disgruntled American drifter, sends Halliburton from one end of Manila to the other in hopes of safely collecting his ransom, while Christine and the detective follow behind. Working with his Filipina girlfriend, Jay instructs Halliburton to leave the ransom money at the railroad station. Jay then tricks his girlfriendby taking the money for himself and leaving her a dummy parcel to pick up. She discovers Jay's deception and tries to stop him, but Jay runs her down in his car and flees to a warehouse, shooting and wounding the pursuing Halliburton. The police eventually corner Jay and he falls to his death. At the same time his dying girlfriend informs Christine that her son is safe.
[re-released by Hemisphere Pictures in 1968 as "Blood Creature"]
Director Gerardo de Leon Producers Kane W. Lynn, “Edgar F.”/Eddie Romero Writer Harry Paul Harber Music Ariston Avelino Cinematography Emmanuel I. Rojas Editor Gervacio Santos Production Design Vicente Bonus
Cast Francis Lederer (Dr Charles Girard), Greta Thyssen (Frances Girard), Richard Derr (William Fitzgerald), Oscar Keesee Jr (Walter Perrera), Lilio Duran (Selene), Peyton Keesee (Tiago, the boy), Flory Carlos (Beast-Man)
Review by Andrew Leavold
Long before drive-in audiences were used to seeing the Philippines double as Vietnam or South America in literally thousands of Z-grade sleazefests, there were two men in Manila, the cineaste Gerardo de Leon and his younger protoge Eddie Romero, who had incredible success amongst audiences and critics alike making populist yet artistic movies for the local Philippines market. Not surprisingly, no-one outside the Philippines had heard of their films.
That was until an enterprising American producer Kane Lynn teamed up with Eddie and Gerry to produce a bizarre variation of Island Of Dr Moreau. Forming a production company called Hemisphere based in the Philippines but selling its product to the rest of the world, the three men starting producing what is kindly known as “B-grade trash” for the seemingly insatiable drive-in market. Soon the cultured, critically acclaimed duo, who are enshrined in the PhilippinesFilmMuseum as national film artists, were the unwitting Kings of Philippines Horror.
Hemisphere’s greatest successes were the so-called “BloodIsland” films: Brides Of Blood(1968), Mad Doctor Of Blood Island (1969) and its semi-sequel Beast Of Blood (1970), a trio of gore-soaked canvases dotted with palm trees and jungle-bound sleaze, all starring former AIP drive-in star John Ashley and a variety of oozing ghouls. Gerry de Leon made two solo pictures for Hemisphere, the bona fide vampire classics The Blood Drinkers(1964) and Curse Of The Vampires (1966) featuring a crazed mix of Hammer horror motifs and the Philippines’ uniquely histronic brand of Catholicism.
This deluge of horrors, ridiculous science fiction and women-in-prison features ushered in the country’s Golden Age of Exploitation. Meanwhile, both de Leon and Romero had turned their backs on the export market they had virtually created for Filipino B-films, and from 1975 onwards made smaller, more personal “art” films in the local dialect Tagalog.
But to their first film together from 1959 - de Leon directed, with Romero and Lynn as producers, Terror Is A Man, rereleased in 1968 by Hemisphere as Blood Creature. Its plot is fantastically simple and compact - an American adventurer William Fitzgerald washes up on a Pacific beach on Blood Island (and where else could it be but part of the Philippines?), and stumbles on the clandestine operations of the very European Dr Girard (Francis Lederer) and his platinum blonde hussy of a wife Frances (played by a very flat - performance-wise - Greta Thyssen). Girard, it seems, wants Fitzgerald to witness him playing God, attempting to speed up evolution by transforming a panther into a human being. His scared wife on the other hand has a combination of cabin fever and hormonal overload, and spends most of the monsoon season flapping her impossibly heavy eyelashes at Fitzgerald.
When not killing villagers off-camera, Girard’s creature is kept under wraps - literally - for most of the film, and its final appearance as a strange whiskered thing more like a shrew than a panther man, is so much more effective than it should be thanks to de Leon’s careful camera placements and use of light and shade. In short, a great B-film made by A-grade artists.
Romero later teamed up with Ashley and the king of the US drive-in market, Roger Corman, to mastermind the werewolf film The Beast Of The Yellow Night(1971), prime drive-in nonsense Beyond Atlantis (1973), The Big Doll House (1971), and The Twilight People with Pam Grier as a pantherwoman, in yet another virtual remake of Blood Creature.
During its 1968 cinema rerelease, theatres installed a warning bell due to go off at the first appearance of the creature. In its absence, please set your mobile alarms for 70 minutes from now, as we witness the birth of Philippines horror, the 1959 Terror Is A Man or Blood Creature.