High Velocity (1976)

1976 - High Velocity (First Asian Films Of California)

[Released in Italy as “Due Tigri E Una Carogna”, and in Belgium as “Mercenairs In De Jungle/Dans L’Enfer De La Jungle”]

Director Remi Kramer Screenplay Remi Kramer, Mike Parsons [as Michael J. Parsons] Producers Mike Parsons [as Michael J. Parsons], Takashi Ohashi Executive Producer Joseph Wolf Cinematography Robert Paynter Music Jerry Goldsmith Orchestrator [uncredited, listed on IMDB] Arthur Morton Editor David Bretherton Production Manager Peter Samuelson Art Director Robert Mitchell Casting Director Hoyt Bowers First Assistant Director Peter Macgregor-Scott Assistant Directors Nick Miranda, Hernan Robles Location Managers Gener Sulit, “Joe”/Jose Dagumboy Script Supervisor Tom Moore Camera Operator Derek [V.] Browne Focus Puller Paul Hennessy Camera Assistant David Burr Key Grip Dante Javier Gaffer Alan Martin Best Boy Peter Clarson Assistant Film Editor David Ramirez Wardrobe Supervisor Llandys Williams Special Effects Teofilo Hilario Construction Manager Evaristo Dalistan Stunt Coordinator Clem Parsons Second Unit Director “Joe”/Jose Dagumboy Second Unit Cinematographer Nonong Rasca [Second Unit] Assistant Camera George Rosales Technical Advisor William Darrow Executive Assistant Vincent Pavis Sound Mixer William [B.] Kaplan Boom Operator Earl Sampson Sound Editors Gordon Daniel, “Gil”/Gilbert D. Marchant Music Editor Ken Hall Re-Recording Mixer Robert Knudson

Cast Ben Gazzara (“Bummer” aka Clifford Baumgartner), Britt Ekland (Marie Anderson), Paul Winfield (“Woody” Watson), Keenan Wynn (William Anderson), Alejandro Rey (Alejandro Martel), Victoria Racimo (Dolores), Joonee Gamboa (Commander Habagat), Rita Gomez (Nancy), Joe Andrade (Manong), Liam Dunn (Bennett), Richard O'Brien (Beaumont), Stacy Keach Sr (Carter), James Bacon (Monroe), Jojo Juan (Celia), Kim Ramos (Tigerstripe Officer), Bruno Punzalan (Old Bodyguard), Hernan Robles (Jail Guard)

Review by Andrew Leavold

Taut, unexpectedly gripping mid-shelf thriller stars Ben Gazzara as Baumgartner, ex-Ranger Captain from the Vietnam War and now semi-retired crop duster in an unnamed, corruption-riddled military junta. He’s trying to eke out his own little patch of paradise but the powers-that-be won’t let him, as he’s blackmailed by corporate snake Alejandro Martel (Alejandro Rey) into rescuing his company’s repellent American CEO Anderson (Keenan Wynn) from a guerrilla stronghold in rebel-held territory. Killing’s a business for Baumgartner and he’s reluctantly back on the payroll, as his ex-Nam buddy, the equally jaded African-American Woody, and they both don the camouflage warpaint and head up the river -literally and figuratively - with a small arsenal of crossbows and explosives. Unfortunately for Anderson his head’s full of corporate secrets, and Martel instructs Baumgartner to leave Anderson for dead rather than bring problems back home for him and his mistress, Anderson’s listless wife Marie (Britt Ekland).

I call High Velocity “mid-shelf” as it appears to exist somewhere between an A and a B feature, with Gazzara (in Cassavette’s Killing Of A Chinese Bookie the same year) giving his role class and grit in equal measures, and with the usually dependable Ekland, here little more than window dressing, providing the glamour. Eddie Romero’s long-time collaborator Mike Parsons – as actor, co-producer and screenwriter throughout the Sixties – adds local flavour to director Remi Kramer’s script, lending the film an authenticity: the cockfight, the drunken machismo, the omnipresent military (this WAS filmed during Martial Law, remember), and the requisite titty bar loaded on stage and off with doomed white expatriate faces. The character names are Filipino, the unsubtitled dialogue’s Tagalog, and-the-army versus rebels backdrop (for the so-called “Gang of 45”, read the Philippines’ communist NPA) is all too familiar to a Filipino audience.

It’s an interesting smart-pulp improvement on the familiar “mercenaries rescue kidnapped Westerner from enemy territory” scenario, and not just because of Gazzara’s gnarled, laconic delivery, and enjoyable dynamic and snappy banter between him and the as-gnarled Woody. For starters, our sympathies certainly don’t lie with the Ugly American Anderson, played as a barking brutarian, vainglorious and vein-popping popinjay by an over-the-top Wynn, nor with his multi-national corporation, whose conspicuous extravagances are proudly on display. The opening polo match, from which Anderson is snatched, hammers the point home to perfection: polo-playing royalty inside their palatial walls, watched by their resentful, threadbare subjects through the gate’s cell-like bars.

So do we cheer for the left-wing guerrillas led by Commander Habagat (Joonee Gamboa), themselves white-anted by corruption and desire for power, and all too eager to commit the ghastliest of deeds so long as they’re sanctified by the noblest of motives? Or does High Velocity labour under the right-wing libertarian notion that the individual, and not the power structures that hold his true spirit in chains, can triumph? Certainly Baumgartner is only too happy to blast apart the rebels’ huts to save his and his wife’s skins, and doing the corporation's dirty work in the process; in High Velocity’s unmarked hellhole, life is cheap, if not instantly disposable, and is ultimately measured by how strongly one feels the survival urge. Subsequently, there are no cheats nor sappy clichéd resolutions as the film hurtles towards its sour conclusion. Grim, satisfying stuff.

Reviews from the Internet Movie Database:

This movie is completely un-reviewed, and the first time I saw it was on late night TV about fifteen years ago. The reason it is so unknown is because it just has too much to say about capitalism and economic exploitation of the third world. The movie opens with Keenan Wynn enjoying the fruits of his servants labor in an unnamed third world country, though the movie was apparently shot in the Philippines. Being a highly visible wealthy foreigner, he is kidnapped by a local guerrilla group, who soon demand a large ransom. Gazarra plays the man called out of mercenary retirement to go rescue him. I can't give any more away, but what transpires turns the entire good buy/bad guy Hollywood plot sequence on its head, and there are lots of emotional moments as the best laid plans go awry. This movie says much along the way about masters, their servants and what colonial capitalism does to everyone involved. it also has a lot to say about mercenaries. I love this film, and it is REALLY hard to see or rent. Thinking hard, I really can't find anything wrong with this film, and the acting is superb, with, as you can see, a lot of big name stars of the time. Don't believe bad reviews, this is the real deal.

This movie is completely un-reviewed, and the first time I saw it was on late night TV about fifteen years ago. The reason it is so unknown is because it just has too much to say about capitalism and economic exploitation of the third world. The movie opens with Keenan Wynn enjoying the fruits of his servants labor in an unnamed third world country, though the movie was apparently shot in the Phillipines. Being a highly visible wealthy foreigner, he is kidnapped by a local guerrilla group, who soon demand a large ransom. Gazarra plays the man called out of mercenary retirement to go rescue him. I can't give any more away, but what transpires turns the entire good buy/bad guy Hollywood plot sequence on its head, and there are lots of emotional moments as the best laid plans go awry. This movie says much along the way about masters, their servants and what colonial capitalism does to everyone involved. it also has a lot to say about mercenaries. I love this film, and it is REALLY hard to see or rent. Thinking hard, I really can't find anything wrong with this film, and the acting is superb, with, as you can see, a lot of big name stars of the time. Don't believe bad reviews, this is the real deal. (Martin Onassis)

I too stumbled on High Velocity years ago, at a drive-in triple bill or on late night TV, I don't remember which. What I do remember was thinking, "What the heck!!!?"

Lately I hunted down a VHS copy of this movie on e-bay and viewed it again. Perhaps my politics, or the times we live in, have changed sufficiently, because the plot doesn't seem quite so outrageous now as it did when I first saw this movie. Or maybe I've seen more films from Hong Kong, China & Japan; I notice now that High Velocity was produced by Takashi Ohashi. In any case, the cast is excellent, with Ben Gazzara playing a likable and sincere ex- soldier, Paul Winfield as his crazy partner, Keenan Wynn, the big rich sweaty slob with a high voice, Alejandro Rey, a greasy bureaucrat, and Britt Ekland is, of course, the babe. I've read elsewhere that the original music was remarkable. This film itself is a bit dark and grainy, as if it was shot under exposed on 16mm stock and blown up to 35mm, but perhaps that just adds to the cheap look and trashy feeling of the whole sleazy enterprise, which is more appropriate for such tales than the usual gorgeous jungles of the popular war pictures .

As a Viet Nam veteran, I found High Velocity, which is set in the Philippines in the early 1970s, to be a better, truer picture about Americans fighting in SE Asia than Camino's "The Deer Hunter", Cappola's "Apocalypse Now" or Spottiswoode's "Air America" (gag!). If you like mercenaries/war movies about spooks killing and carrying on, check this one out. (Denis Wheary)

High Velocity is a solid adventure tale of retired mercenary Clifford Baumgartner(Ben Gazzara) forced back into the trade and hired to rescue a wealthy businessman(Keenan Wynn) from a group of rebels who have kidnapped the abrasive old codger. The businessman's trophy wife and their lawyer coerce Baumgartner into accepting the job, so its off to the jungle for the merc and old associate/fellow merc Watson (Paul Winfield). Filmed in the Phillipines on a low budget the film manages to present an interesting social commentary of the contrast between the haves and the have nots. Of course there is enough combat in the film to warrant its promotion as an action themed film. The real appeal of High Velocity though is the chemistry between Ben Gazzara and Paul Winfield as the two man merc team who sign up for the job of assaulting the rebel group at their jungle base. Both actors were seasoned film veterans by the time this 1976 film was made, and their ease with each other on screen is apparent. Though their characters are comfortable working together at their trade, each feels different about their profession. Gazzara as Baumgartner is tired of the work and only takes the job after he and his family are threatened. Winfield as Watson is more comfortable with the mercenary lifestyle, taking a little too much pleasure in his job as a soldier of fortune. Though High Velocity is low budget and little seen, it remains a nice addition to the small group of films that make up the merc genre, such as Dark of the Sun, Dogs of War, and the Wild Geese. (actionfilm-2)

The Secret Of The Sacred Forest (1970)

1970 - The Secret Of The Sacred Forest (William Copeland-Sari-Manok/Shermart Distribution)

[Also known as “Sacred Forest”]

Director Michael Du Pont Writer/Producer William Copeland Cinematography Vincente Sempio Music Herschel Burke Gilbert Orchestration/Arranger Ernest Hughes Songs "Has Any One Seen Chris" by William Copeland & Herschel Burke Gilbert, "Filipina Filipina" by William Copeland & Angel Pena Singer Maurice Santa Lucia Editor Anthony DiMarco Sound Demetrio Carrianga

Cast Gary Merrill (Mike Parks), Leo Martinez (Bayarti), Michael Parsons (Chris Carpenter), Henry Duval (Garcia), Vic Silayan, Jon Provost (Jimmi), Rolf Bayer, Laurie Agudo (Annie), Zenaida Amador, Poch Apostol, Lola Boy, Joseph de Cordova, Louis Florentino, Dave Harvey (Brownie), Mona Morena, Christina Ponce-Enrile (Fely), Bruno Punzalan, Vincente Sempio, Don Smith, Carol Varga, Fred Viray, Gami Virray

Sandra Brennan’s review on the AllMovie website: In this adventure, a courageous teen sneaks into the Philippines so he can find his missing brother whose plane went down in the jungle. The brother he seeks is a renowned investigative reporter who had gone to the islands to expose a ring of drug smugglers. When an American embassy official learns that the younger brother is in the Philippines illegally, he rushes into the jungle to find him. Meanwhile, with the help of a native guide, the young man continues his search. He is undaunted by the smugglers, angry government agents, and headhunters who pursue them. When he finally does find his brother, he is shocked to learn that the reporter has joined the smugglers. Fortunately, the older brother explains that he had simply gone undercover to infiltrate their ring so he could write a more effective expose.

Flight To Fury (1964)

1964 – Flight To Fury (Lippert Inc/Filipinas Productions Inc)

[Eddie Romero directed a Filipino version released locally as “Cordillera”, release date 24th October 1964]

Director Monte Hellman Story Fred Roos, Monte Hellman Screenplay Jack Nicholson Producer Fred Roos Associate Producer Walter Phelps Executive Producers “M.J.”/Mike Parsons, [uncredited] Eddie Romero Music Nestor Robles Cinematography Mike Accion Editors Joven Calub, [uncredited] Monte Hellman Production Manager Artemio B. Tecson Assistant Director “J.M.”/Jose M. Dagumboy Makeup Baby Buencamino Wardrobe Paquito Salcedo Production Coordinator F.H. de Sena

Cast Dewey Martin (Joe Gaines), Fay Spain (Destiny Cooper), Jack Nicholson (Jay Wickham), Joseph Estrada (Garuda), Vic Diaz (Lorgren), “Jaclyn”/Jacqueline Hellman (Gloria Walsh), Juliet Prado (Lei Ling), John Hackett (Al Ross), Vic Uematsu, Lucien Pan (Police Inspector), Henry Duval, Serafin Sicat, Joe Dagumboy, Robert Arevalo, Jennings Sturgeon (Bearded Man)

Review by Andrew Leavold

In the modern noir script of Flight To Fury, Nicholson, wrote himself the juicy role of antagonist and, in the process, crafted the most multi-layered role. The film’s main protagonist is Joe Gaines (Dewey Martin), a penniless American drifter in South East Asia cadging drinks off fellow American Jay Wickham (Nicholson), self-professed bad luck Jonah and card carrying nihilist. A chance meeting with the aloof beauty Lai Ling leaves one dead body and Gaines on the next plane out of the country along with Wickham, slimy businessman Vincent Lorgrin (Vic Diaz), and Lorgrin’s blonde companion Destiny Cooper (Fay Spain).

Characters, secrets, murky motives and a subplot of missing diamonds are set up before the plane crashes wiping out several passengers and forces the survivors to make their way through the hostile environment battling the anonymous jungle, their own mistrust, and a group of bandidos led by the sleazy, lecherous Garuda, played by future Philippines president Joseph Estrada. A veteran of almost 200 Tagalog films, curiously this is his only English language film, as his small but utterly memorable role is the only one in the cast to match the greasiness of the venerable Vic Diaz.

Nicholson, of course, is the Creator of Flight To Fury’s paranoid microcosmos and, as such, gives himself the most intriguing character and the film's best lines ("Are you interested in death?"). In typical Filipino fashion, the film’s co-producer Eddie Romero, his Filipinas Productions and frequent collaborator Mike Parsons made a local version called Cordillera after the American cast left, using local actors and his own Tagalog script. In a country where 90% of their film history has not survived, this version has not surprisingly disappeared forever, but we are left with the Nicholson/Hellman version, perhaps the finest moment from their combined early careers.

Ron Wells' review on the Film Threat website:

Much has been made of the pair of low-budget political Westerns director Monte Hellman and Jack Nicholson shot back-to-back in Utah for Roger Corman in 1965, "Ride In the Whirlwind" and "The Shooting". Before that though, the pair went to the Philippines to shoot a pair of black-and-white thrillers called "Flight to Fury" and "Back Door to Hell".

As the screenplay to "Flight to Fury" was actually written by Nicholson from a story by Hellman and producer Fred Roos, you can actually see the same themes from Hellman and the same kind of performance from Nicholson that you could expect from their later films, together or apart. Hellman was only about 32 at this time while smilin' Jack was five year younger.

The actual star is Dewey Martin as Joe Gaines. We find Joe losing at a Manila casino's card tables only after witnessing several other people either watching or participating in the exchange of some stolen diamonds. Joe is oblivious to any of this as he finds himself dead broke and quickly befriended by the very strange Jay Wickham (Nicholson).

When a local woman he picks up is murdered while he's in the shower after the pair had sex, Joe figures it's a good time to leave town. He sends a message to his pilot pal Al Ross (John Hackett) to save a seat on the next flight out. Joe sends the message through Jay who promptly invites himself along for the ride. As a matter of fact, most of the other passengers, and Al, look mighty familiar from the opening scenes of the jewelry exchange. Somehow I don't think the flight will actually arrive anyplace any of them had wanted to go.

The budget constraints are fairly obvious, and according to Hellman, filming in the Philippines in the early 1960's was no picnic, either. Even at only 80 minutes, the movie drags along in parts. Most of the cast is okay, though a gang that figures prominently in the story appear as if they just walked out of the Manila production of "West Side Story". It's Nicholson's sardonic and often sociopathic presence that mostly propels the film. He's probably about 26 when this production was shot but he feels fully formed, even more so than in some of his later films.

"Flight to Fury" still looks more competent than the majority of the independent films I see made today, and there's several hints of the great things to come from the people involved. I guess part of the fun is watching the proceedings and realizing that Jack never ever really looked particularly young and innocent. He was crazy even then.

The Raiders Of Leyte Gulf (1962)

1962 – The Raiders Of Leyte Gulf (Eddie Romero Productions/Cirio Santiago Film Organization/Hemisphere Pictures)

[Philippines release date 19th August 1962, original title "Target 1-1-1"]

Director/Producer Eddie Romero Writers Carl Kuntze, “E.F.”/Eddie Romero Editor “E.F.”/Eddie Romero Music Tito Arevalo Cinematography Felipe Sacdalan

Cast Jennings Sturgeon (Emmett Wilson), Michael Parsons (Lieutenant Robert Grimm), Efren Reyes (Captain Shirai Akira), Eddie Mesa (Angel Zabala), Leopoldo Salcedo (Colonel Lino Sebastian), Liza Moreno (Aida Rivas), Oscar Keesee Jr (Leon Magpayo)

Cry Of Battle (1963)

1963 – Cry Of Battle (Petramonte Productions/Filipinas Productions)

[Philippines release date 18th March 1963, original title "To Be A Man"]

Director Irving Lerner Producer Joe Steinberg Associate Producer Eddie Romero Writer Bernard Gordon Based on the novel ‘Fortress In The Rice’ by Benjamin Appel Director of Photography Felipe Sacdalan Supervising Editor Verna Fields Music Richard Markowitz [listed on Philippines poster as “Dick Markovitch”]

Cast Van Heflin (Joe Trent), Rita Moreno (Sisa), James MacArthur (David McVey), Leopoldo Salcedo (Manuel Careo), Sidney Clute (Col. Ryker), Oscar Roncal (Atong), Vic “Solyin”/Salayan (Capt. Garcia), Liza Moreno (Vera), Marilou Muñoz (Pinang), “Mike”/Michael Parsons (Capt. Davis), Claude Wilson (Matchek), Oscar “Keese”/Keesee Jr, [uncredited except on Philippines poster] Ruben Rustia, Hal Bowie, Francisco Cruz

The Walls Of Hell (1964)

1964 – The Walls Of Hell (Hemisphere Pictures/Filipinas Productions)

[Philippines release date 7th March 1964, original title "Intramuros"]

Directors Gerardo de Leon, Eddie Romero Writers Cesar Amigo, Ferde Grofé Jr, “E.F.”/Eddie Romero Producer Eddie Romero Executive Producer Kane W. Lynn Music Tito Arevalo Cinematography Felipe Sacdalan

Cast Jock Mahoney (Lt. Sorenson), Fernando Poe Jr (Nardo), Mike Parsons (Papa), Oscar Roncal (Joker), Paul Edwards Jr (Murray), Ely Ramos Jr, Fred Galang, Arsenio “Alonzo”/Alonso, Vance “Scarstead”/Skarstedt (Captain), Claude Wilson (Major), Pedro Navarro, Carpi Asturias, Andres Centenera, Paquito Salcedo, Alex Swanbeck, Tommy Romulo, Willie Salcedo, Angel Buenaventura, George Kramer, Cecilia Lopez (Tina) [IMDB also lists Jess Montalban, Ben Sanchez, Reynaldo Sibaldo]

The Philippines, it would seem, is a country that was destined to relive the trauma of the Japanese invasion through their cinema. Unlike Cavalry Command, there’s not many movies about the American-Philippines War of 1899, a shameful period of betrayal and capitulation. World War 2, on the other hand, produces the kind of instant heroes that populist cinema thrives on, and from the 50s right through until the 70s and 80s there were literally hundreds, if not thousands, of Tagalog-language war movies featuring Pinoy guerrillas proudly fighting side by side with American troops to liberate the islands from the retreating Japanese.

The Walls Of Hell is set in the final stages of the Battle of Manila, and filmed where it happened - behind the actual walled city of Intramuros, the oldest part of Manila built by the Spanish in the 1600s. Despite the Japanese high command declaring Manila an “open city”, the remaining troops holed themselves up behind the ancient, almost impenetrable walls and embarked on a suicide mission to inflict as much damage on their would-be captors, and Manila’s civilians, as possible. It took 3 weeks of throwing 10,000 shells an hour into the walled city to finally retake Intramuros at an appalling cost to culture, history, real estate and human life, and without a single Japanese soldier left alive.

The Walls Of Hell is initially framed through the eyes of a visiting journalist intent on capturing the true spirit of America’s fighting men. He finds it in Jim Sorensen, played by king of the stuntmen and one-time Tarzan Jock Mahoney. Alternating between gruff, stoic and violently angry - his Filipina wife Tina is missing and presumed killed by his own artillery – he’s fighting his own war, according to fellow soldier Papa (Mike Parsons), a lay preacher turned medic, and the film’s Catholic voice of conscience.

The focus changes with the appearance of Nardo, a guerrilla from inside Manila played by the all-time king of Filipino actors, Fernando Poe Jr. He was both the Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley of the Philippines with over 200 films to his credit which, with the exception of this and Romero’s war movie The Ravagers made the following year, never made it beyond the islands’ borders. His earnestly downbeat performance and patriotic speeches in The Walls Of Hell use his own voice, and he proves to be a fine local lead in an English language picture. FPJ, or “Da King”, died from a stroke in 2004 just after an unsuccessful attempt to follow his friendly rival and regular co-star Joseph Estrada into the Presidential Palace, and so why he was never a successful export like Weng Weng, he will never be able to explain.

At first he’s suspected to be a spy working for the Japanese, but shows the soldiers a passageway to get in to – and for civilians get out of – Intramuros. The three hundred year old catacombs, now eerie smoke-shrouded sewers, are lit in a dramatic way to resemble the corridors of Hell. In fact the entire film appears to shake; the soundtrack of sparingly-used military snare over a ceaseless artillery barrage lends a very real sense of doom, as do the wobbling cameras and ever-present smoke and fires. Director Eddie Romero once said he WISHED Filipino filmmakers could work with a B-Grade budget, and I’m sure the film is much smaller than he would have liked, but by telescoping the action to tight, claustrophobic locations, the parts add together to make a vivid whole.

The Walls Of Hell lists two directors, both enshrined as National Artists of the Philippines, and marks a truly successful collaboration between the two directors: Eddie Romero, primarily a screenwriter before moving into directing, concentrates on the actors and the unfolding drama, while the older Gerardo de Leon is more interested in frame composition and the film’s gorgeous black and white aesthetics. Ferde Grofe Jr took time off from working on George Montgomery’s tropical action films to contribute to the script which was filmed simultaneously, as Romero often did under his “Filipinas Productions” banner, as a Tagalog-language version called Intramuros. Naturally in the Philippines, FPJ received top billing.

It’s a gung-ho war film Filipino style by a primarily local cast and crew and with added, rather creepy sense of history by filming on the actual locations. I’m sure the Ghosts of Manila are watching as we fearlessly scale The Walls Of Hell.

Moro Witch Doctor (1964)

1964 – Moro Witch Doctor (Associated Producers/Hemisphere Pictures)

[originally released as "Amok"]

Director/Writer/Producer Eddie Romero Executive Producer Kane W. Lynn Music Ariston Avelino Cinematography Felipe Sacdalan Editor Joven Calub Art Director Vicente Bonus Makeup “Remy”/Remedios Amazan Sound Demetrio de Santos Special Effects Hilario Santos Assistant Director Jose Dagumboy Assistant Editor Ben Barcelon Sound Effects Tony Gosalvez

Cast Jock Mahoney (Jefferson Stark), Margia Dean (Paula Cameron), Pancho Magalona (Martin Gonzaga), Paraluman (Felisa Noble), Mike Parsons (Ackerman), Vic Diaz (Salek), Reed Hadley (Robert Collins), Dale Ishimoto (Manuel Romblon), Jay Ilagan (Mahmud), Bruno Punzalan (Datu Sumlang), Nemia Velasco (Mulan), Jerry Uslander (Tom Cameron), Paul Edwards Jr. (Arthur Kruger), Jess Montalban, [uncredited] Bill Kane, Paquito Salcedo

The Ravagers (1965)

1965 – The Ravagers (Hemisphere Pictures/Filipinas Productions)

[Philippines release date 7th February 1965, original Philippines titles "Only The Brave Know Hell" and "Hanggang May Kalaban"]

Director Eddie Romero Writers Cesar Amigo, Eddie Romero Producers Kane W. Lynn, Eddie Romero Music Tito Arevalo Editor Jovan Calub Makeup Remedios Amazan Sound Demetrio de Santos Wardrobe Paquito Salcedo

Cast John Saxon (Captain Kermit Dowling), Bronwyn FitzSimons (Sheila), Fernando Poe Jr (Gaudiel), Robert Arevalo (Captain Araullo), Vic Diaz (Cruz), Mike Parsons (Reardon), Kristina Scott (Mother Superior), Vic Silayan (Captain Mori), Jose Dagumboy (Joe), Ann Saxon

The Passionate Strangers (1966)

1966 – The Passionate Strangers (MJP Productions)

[Philippines release date 3rd March 1966]

Director/Screenplay Eddie Romero Writers Cesar Amigo, Reuben Canoy, Jose F. Lacaba Producer "M.J."/Mike Parsons Music Nestor Robles Cinematography Justo Paulino Editor Ben Barcelon Sound Demetrio de Santos

Cast Michael J. Parsons (Adam Courtney), Valora Noland (Margaret Courtney), Mario Montenegro (Roberto Valdez), Celia Rodriguez (Lydia Transmonte), Vic Diaz (Angel Mascardo), Butz Aquino (Julio Lazatin), Claude Wilson (J.V. Harrison), Jose Dagumboy (Yoyong), Bong Calumpang (Yoyong's Companion), César Aguilar (Manuel Hidalgo)