87. The General’s Game: THE SECRET AFFAIR OF DOUGLAS AND DIMPLES

 Deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.----Oscar Wilde

Carrying affairs outside of the marriage bed is proof, they say, that men are, by nature, polygamous . That is why, when one hears of such behavior so commonplace in society, it is usually met with just a shrug of the shoulders, and dismissed with a  “things-like-that-happen” attitude.

But when such indiscretion  is committed by a man of great power and influence, the world questions his values and moral turpitude: what other improprieties is this man hiding? What more shady things is he capable of doing? Can we trust him to lead?

The consequences of these dangerous liaisons are degrading, and most often, permanently damaging. Monica Lewinksy  caused U.S. president’s Bill Clinton’s downfall. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s affair with her housekeeper, Patricia Baena, resulted in a son, Joseph Baena—and a marital rift with wife Maria Shriver. Closer to home, Ferdinand Marcos was ridiculed and laughed at, after tapes of his lovemaking with Dovie Beams leaked out in public—this, even during Martial Law.

 AMERICAN CAESAR. GEN. DOUGLAS MACARTHUR. When asked the reason for his many successes in wars, he said, “I believe it was destiny”. He loved his military life, as well as women. Photo:  wikimedia commons.

Which is why when the most decorated U.S. military man in history, Gen. Douglas MacArthur  fell for the charms of Eurasian beauty, Isabel Rosario Cooper, he knew he had to keep the affair under wraps, lest his reputation  gets stained and his ambitions sabotaged. In his lifetime he has won many battles, but none as messy as the war he waged against the media which had threatened to reveal his deepest, darkest secret.

Douglas MacArthur (b. 26 Jan. 1880/ d. 5 Apr. 1964) was raised a military family: his father had been a Civil War general, while his mother encouraged him to be a soldier. After graduating valedictorian from a Texas military school, he went to the country’s premiere military academy at West Point where, in 1903, he graduated at the top of his class.

During the first World War, MacArthur saw action in France, where he rose to become a bemedalled brigadier general and, after a stint with his alma mater as superintendent of West Point from 1919-22, he was assigned to the Philippines in 1924, where he was credited with stopping the mutiny of the Philippine Scouts. He was promoted to the rank of a major general in 1925—the Army’s youngest , at age 45.

In his prime,  the strapping general noted for his vanity and brilliance, cut an imposing, attractive  figure . As a cadet, he dated and was engaged to eight different young women. But it was to the socialite-heiress Louise Cromwell Brooks that he hitched his star on Valentine’s Day 1922, and in Manila, they began their life together. But Brooks and her well-heeled friends thumbed down at MacArthur’s Filipino company, which eventually led to her filing for a divorce in 1929. MacArthur agreed, “on any grounds that will not compromise my honor”.

ISABEL OF THE ISLANDS. Isabel (or Elizabeth, as she sometimes refer to herself) Rosario Cooper was a Eurasian beauty who spent many years in local and international vaudevilles as a dancer and actress. Er stage name was “Dimples”. Alex Castro Photo.

Enter Isabel Rosario Cooper (b. 15 Jan. 1914/d. 29 Jun. 1960),  a young multi-racial actress, daughter of a Scottish businessman with a Chinese-Filipina mother, who reputedly hailed from the affluent South. As a child, she was nicknamed “Dimples”, which she later used as a stage name when she joined local “bod-a-bil” (vaudeville) shows, musical revues that featured dancing, singing, comic sketches and assorted acts.  She had also previously danced  in a Shanghai chorus line.

Lured into movies, Dimples was cast in the 1926 film, “Tatlong Hambog”, where she, barely a teen,  created history with Luis Tuason by performing the first mouth-to-mouth kiss in a Philippine film—a daring act at that time.

FIRST KISS, Isabel Cooper and Luis Tuason perform the first mouth-to-mouth kiss in Philippine cinema history, in the 1926 movie, “Tatlong Hambog”.

In 1930,  MacArthur was named as Chief of Staff of the United States Army. Five months before his reassignment to Washington D.C., his paths would cross with Isabel Cooper in one Manila social event.  When she was introduced to the general, Cooper, in her exquisite chiffon tea gown,  introduced herself as “an actress”. MacArthur was instantly smitten. A lobbyist  who was in that affair recalled her beauty, ”She looked as if she were carved from the most delicate opaline. She had her hair in braids down her back.”

The affair began almost at once. As soon as MacArthur got settled in his new job in Washington, he sent for her from the Philippines and installed her in a suite at Hotel Chastelton on 16^th St. The general lavished her with gifts like kimonos, lacy intimate wear, fur coats—but no outdoor clothes. MacArthur prohibited her from going out, so there was no need for those; her duty, she was told is, “  to lay in bed”.

Gen. MacArthur’s job included traveling abroad and to keep his mistress preoccupied, he bought her a companion poodle. While on extended official visits to romantic cities like Vienna and Paris, he would send her postcards and love letters which Cooper kept and treasured.

A DECLARATION OF WAR. The MacArthur-Cooper relationship turned sour when the two hurled accusations against each other. MacArthur complained of her extravagance and infidelities, while Cooper complained of her restricted life.

But boredom made Cooper very touchy, and when she started bickering,  MacArthur gave in and arranged to have a chauffeured car and spending money at her disposal.  Isabel enjoyed her new-found freedom and it was said that while MacArthur  was away, she would paint the town red and go nightclubbing to seduce men. There were also stories of her splurging money on shopping sprees in Havana, Cuba.

Nobody  knew of the general’s dalliances with Dimples until MacArthur made the mistake of earning the ire of Drew Pearson, an influential journalist of The Washington Post. Together with Robert S. Allen, he wrote a regular gossip column,”Washington Merry-Go-Round”, which enjoyed a wide national following.

The enmity between MacArthur and the Pearson-Allen tandem began in 1932 when 15,000 veterans known as “Bonus Marchers” staged a camp-out with their families in the nation’s capital. MacArthur dispersed the army protesters by force which led to an article jointly written by the journalists that the methods used by the general was “unwarranted, harsh and brutal”, ending with a charge that he was “dictatorial and disloyal”.  Feeling maligned, the angry MacArthur sued them for libel for $1.75 million dollars.

Around this time, too, MacArthur was getting fed up with Cooper’s extravagance and demanding ways. He had also heard of her infidelities. The last straw was when Isabel enrolled in a law school where she was soon meeting young male companions. MacArthur broke off their relationship in 1934,  and promptly dismissed her, sending her a letter enclosed with a plane ticket for her return trip to the Philippines.

MEANIE COOPER agreed to rent out 6 very revealing love letters of MacArthur to newspaperman Drew Pearson, who planned to use these to reveal their secret affair. MacArthur paid for Pearson’s silence and got his letters back.

Meanwhile, in the course of his investigation of MacArthur, Pearson stumbled on the name of Isabel Cooper, located her—and uncovered their secret. When Cooper admitted that she was in dire financial straits, Pearson offered to “rent” six love letters that MacArthur had sent to her, for him to peruse. She agreed, and Pearson not only paid her, but also sheltered her in a Baltimore hideaway for her safety.

The cache of letters  were very revealing as they chronicled the waxing and waning of their feeling for each other. In one, MacArthur pledged undying devotion to Cooper.  A later missive included a “Help Wanted” ad clipped from a newspaper,  a cold response to Cooper’s request to MacArthur to find her brother a job.  The last letter from Sep. 11, 1934 contained MacArthur’s final rejection of her, complete with the aforementioned return ticket. 

Cooper, however, made it clear that she had no plans of ever returning to the Philippines. The wily Pearson ensured that she won’t be going home anytime soon as he included her to his list of witnesses, as the hearing of the libel case proceeded,

MacArthur had already spent a staggering $16,000 in legal fees when suddenly, without any explanation, he dropped his suit against Pearson. A compromise agreement had apparently been reached. On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1934, $15,000 in $100 bills was paid by MacArthur’s aide to Pearson’s agent, who acted in Cooper’s behalf. MacArthur, in turn, retrieved his 6 letters back (but only after Pearson made copies).

DOUG, JEAN & ARTHUR. In 1937, Gen. MacArthur married jean Marie Faircloth and they settled in Manila where their son, Arthur IV, was born. Photo: Wikimedia commons,

Shortly after that brouhaha, MacArthur was relieved of his post as Chief of Staff and retired , but not before meeting a Southern belle named Jean Marie Faircloth on a Shanghai-bound ship. The two were inseparable by the time the ship docked and for the next year and a half, the general squired the well-bred beauty, even as he accepted a new job as Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines in 1937. 

The general married his second wife in New York on 30 Apr. 1937 and had a whirlwind honeymoon, as the general had to attend a military graduation of his newest Filipino cadets back in the Philippines. But Jean understood her husband, and learned to love the military life. They had a son, Arthur, born in 1938, as a new war loomed in Europe, and which would soon overtake the world. 

With the advent of World War II, MacArthur would play an important role in the defense of the Philippines. Though he was compelled to leave the country and flee to Australia as the allied forces were being defeated in Bataan, he promised “I shall return”, to Filipinos. After 2 years of struggle in the Pacific, MacArthur fulfilled his vow and liberated the Philippines in 1944.

CHA BING, the artist formerly known as Isabel Cooper, as she appears in a Charlie Chan film in 1947.

Cooper, on the other hand, left Washington and relocated to the Midwest, where with her windfall,  opened a beauty shop business.  She later moved to Los Angeles, and tried out for some roles in Hollywood movies where she highlighted her exotic Oriental features and joined auditions using the name Chabing (or sometimes, Cha Bing). 

She was cast but unbilled as one of the wives of King Mongkut in the 1946 film “Anna and the King of Siam (together with fellow Filipina, Rosa del Rosario), and appeared as Lillie Mae Wong in the Charlie Chan film, “The Chinese Ring” (1947). In the 1950s, she was in “The Art of Burlesque” (1951) and “I Was an American Spy” (1951) a true story about war espionage set in Manila where she appeared as Lolita.

ALL THE KING’S WIVES. Isabel Cooper (in circle) was unbilled in this Hollywood classic “Anna and the King of Siam” (1946) as one of the wives of King Mongkut. Rosa del Rosario, another Filipina actress was also a cast member in this Rex Harrison-Irene Dunne starrer.

But offers soon dried up and Cooper fell into a deep depression over her misfortunes, including her failed relationship with MacArthur. She committed suicide by drug overdose on 29 June 1960.

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR ESQUIRE PH., AND POSTED UNDER THE TITLE: "Douglas MacArthur's Secret Affair with a Filipino Starlet", on 18 July 2019.

 SOURCES:

Deocampo, Nick. Cine: Spanish Influences on Early Cinema in the Philippines. published by the NCCA. © 2013, Nick Deocampo.

Manchester, William, American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880 – 1964, Little, Brown and Co., New York, U.S.A., 1978.

Salumbides, Vicente. Motion Pictures in the Philippines. © 1952, by the author. Ch. 18: Kising in the Movies. P.137.

Irving Wallace,  David Wallechinsky, Amy Wallace, Sylvia Wallace, The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People,  Delacorte Press, 1981.pp. 436-439

Womanizing Warriors — 11 Famous Military Leaders Who Kept Mistresses: https://militaryhistorynow.com/2016/06/17/womanizing-warriors-11-famous-military-leaders-who-kept-mistresses/

 Douglas MacArthur: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur

 https://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=118024

 https://www.aveleyman.com/FilmCredit.aspx?FilmID=3369

83. MEMORABLE MOVIE KISSES IN PHILIPPINE CINEMA HISTORY

LIPS-TO-LIPS: Evolution of Kissing Scenes in Philippine Movies

By the first 2 decades of the American Occupation in the Philippines, the influence of our new masters had become more pronounced, even in our forms of entertainment and leisure. For example, the rickety Spanish period cinematografo teatros—cinematographic theaters where short films were screened—were giving way to newer, more modern edifices.

Cine houses sprouted bearing American names:  Empire, Majestic, Modern. Many existing theaters like Ideal and Cine Moderna were enlarged and updated with new acoustics to suit  the latest trend in films--talking pictures—as well as to accommodate the growing number of star-struck moviegoers.

But when it came to film choices, traditions die hard. Filipinos clung to Spanish-influenced themes, which they believed reflected their own culture and values. As such, religious pictures depicting biblical characters and stories—like “Passion Play”, Los Milagros de la Virgen de Antipolo--- were the most popular in the early years of Philippine cinema. In 1911, “Life of Moses”  was the blockbuster film for the year 1911.

OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS. A Hollywood made film that tackled the controversial subject of the “loosening of youth morals”, never before seen in local cinemas. It was shown in 1929 at the Ideal Theater. Starring the flirtatious Joanne Crawford and John Mack Brown. Before the 1920, religious themed-movies were the most popular. Image: Graphic Magazine, July 1929.

This pattern would change when Hollywood stars came to town, overshadowing the European performers. These larger-than-life screen figures would not only become the new idols of the movie masses, but their films would also be powerful mediums of Americanization.

A far cry from the plot-less, disjointed films of old, American films, with their superior production,  were windows to the changing ways, mores  and attitudes of the modern world. Depictions of sex on screen, under the cloak of harmless amusement, provided sensual fulfillment, among others.

Ideal, for example, showed MGM films that would captivate even the morality-conscious Filipinos—fiery love stories  like “Woman of Affairs”, and “Our Dancing Daughters”—that tackled “the loosening of youth morals”.

A WOMAN’S AFFAIRS. A Greta Garbo-Gilbert Roland starrer, first shown in 1929 at the Ideal Theater. Just  3 years before, the same stars indulged in the first open mouth kissing on screen, which shocked audiences worldwide. Hollywood Films such as this would change Filipino attitudes towards overt displays of affection such as kissing. Image: Graphic Magazine, August 1929 issue.

Filipino males ogled at early sex sirens Theda Bara, Clara Bow, and later, Great Garbo. Women secretly admired the bedroom charms of Rudolph Valentino,  Douglas Fairbanks, Ramon Novarro, and John Gilbert. 

Filipino film makers foresaw the lucrative future of this new art, with Jose Nepomuceno  (b. 15 May 1893 ‘ d. 1 Dec. 1959) at the helm. Known today as the “father of Philippine Movies”,  Nepomuceno  exhibited his first dramatic feature, “Dalagang Bukid”, in 1917, followed by a string of usual Spanish-titled films.  Two fires destroyed his studios and equipment, but Nepomuceno would rebuild his business in 1924  with the help of a University of Southern California law graduate and  Hollywood-trained actor and director, Dr. Vicente Salumbides.

Salumbides not only introduced new techniques in screenwriting,  design, editing, and cinematography, but also dared defy guardians of morality—including movie censors—by showing on the big silver screen, the first ever kiss in Philippine movie history.

THE KISS THAT STARTED IT ALL. Couple May Irwin and John Rice re-enact the kiss from the musical “The Widow Jones”, captured on film in April 1986. Image: wikimedia.commons

The world’s first kissing scene captured on film was shot in April 1896, a re- enactment of the kiss from the stage musical “The Widow Jones”, between May Irwin and John Rice, at the Edison Studios, New Jersey. The 18 second kiss—which includes sweet nuzzling and short pecks—shocked the Catholic Church and called for its censorship. But not only was this ignored; instead,  the film spawned  three copycat film versions: Negro Kiss (1898), The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899) and The Kiss (1900).

LEARNING FRENCH. The first open-mouth French kiss, performed by reel-real life lovebirds, Greta Garbo and Gilbert Roland in the movie “The Flesh and the Devil”. Image: Alex Castro Photo Archives

In due time, passionate displays of affection were routine in American movies. But the most explicit was performed  by  reel and real life lovers, Greta Garbo and Gilbert Roland in the movie, “The Flesh and the Devil” shown in 1926.  Their torrid, open-mouth kissing was the first French kiss in an American film. Their  lip-smacking moments were photographed by William Daniels, using natural lighting (such as a lit match stick), and were described as “very erotic”.

That very same year, Salumbides began a film project with the title “Tatlong Hambog”, a silent romantic comedy starring the hunky Luis Tuason, a nationally-ranked boxer and the Filipina-American actress Isabel Rosario (Elizabeth) Cooper (aka “Dimples Cooper” on the bod-a-bil stage) .

FIRST MOVIE KISS IN PHILIPPINE CINEMA. Luis Tuason and Isabel Cooper (aka “Dimples”) made history by smooching for the silver screen in “Tatlong Hambog”, a silent picture produced by Jose Nepomuceno in 1926. Cooper later became a mistress of Gen. Douglas Macarthur. Image: Motion Pictures in the Philippines, by Vicente Salumbides. 1952.

The story called for a kissing scene, which, ordinary Filipino directors would simulate, using such tricks as fading out the lights before the  lips of the actors could touch, or shooting from the back so as to hide the actors’ lips.

Salumbides and his stars dared break the kissing taboo by performing the real thing—a full mouth-to-mouth kiss, that was shot against the ruins of the old Guadalupe Church in Makati. It is, today, recognized as the first historic osculation in Philippine movies.

An undated  silent picture, “La Hija de la Revolucion”, starring Mary Walter and Gregorio Fernandez, also featured a kissing scene between the two stars. Though no photo exists, Walter, said in a 1962 magazine interview: “It was a kiss and there was no faking about  it”.

Director Salumbides began shooting another movie later in the year entitled “Fate or Consequence”. This time,  he would not just direct a film, but would also star in it. Written into the script was another intense kissing scene.

The Manila Carnival of 1926  had just ended, and Salumbides convinced some of the candidates to appear in his film, including Muslim princess and former Miss Cotabato, Sofia Lota (real name: Pinaganda Magadi Sinambal Malibatang).  Also cast in the film was Miss Pampanga, Rosario Panganiban, whom Salumbides had been squiring for some time. They had met through Vicente’s niece, Nanita, who was a classmate of Rosario at Centro Escolar de Señoritas.

A WHOLE LOTA LOVE: The exotic Mindano beauty queen, Sofia Lota, locked lips with Vicente Salumbides in the 1926 film, “Fate or Consequence”. Salumbides was also the director of the film. Image: Motion Pictures in the Philippines, by Vicente Salumbides. 1952.

When the cameras began rolling, Salumbides and Lota embraced and locked lips—much to the chagrin of Panganiban, who was watching the shoot. She was livid.

“When I saw you (Vicente) kissing Miss Cotabato”, Rosario recalled,” I suffered the worst feeling of jealousy although we were not engaged at that time. I don’t want to experience another attack of that sort. It’s better to be away from temptation”.

Needless to say, that movie kiss fast-tracked the wedding nuptials of Salumbides and Panganiban. As for Lota, “the exotic find from the untamed regions of Cotabato” would pucker up again in her next movie, “Lumang Simbahan”, doing it this time with Gregorio Fernandez. Lota would rise to become one of the most sought after star in the showbiz circuit.

MOUTH-WATERING. Fernando Poe Sr. and Rosa del Rosario caroused and kissed underwater, and on land in this 1937 classic movie directed by Eduardo Castro. Image: (Zamboanga Movie 1937) Robert G. Published on Jul 14, 201 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWb6fo8ZbYI

It would take over a decade before another much-talked about kissing scene would happen. This time, it was in the 1937  “ Zamboanga”, the first Philippine full color movie from Filippine Films which famed director Frank Capra proclaimed as “the most exciting and beautiful picture of native life I have ever seen on screen.”

The story about the seafaring southern tribes starred Rosa del Rosario as Minda, and Fernando Poe Sr., as Danao. It featured the first underwater kissing scene, and more smooching on land.

Of her kissing scenes in that movie, del Rosario would later muse: “My underwater sequence with Fernando Sr., were nothing compared to my kissing scenes with Johnny Mack Brown in Hollywood westerns”. Del Rosario was referring to the 1946 cowboy photoplay, “Border Bandits”, where she was cast as Mack Brown’s love interest.

Not to be outdone, the 1939 Visayan talkie, “Bartoldo Balodoy”, featuring leading man Ben Ollada, paid lip service to her leading lady. But so defective was the sound system of Cebu’s Vision Theater where the movie was screened, that a crackling smack was loudly heard all over the cinema.

KISS ME, JOE!. Matinee idols Rogelio dela Rosa and Norma Blancaflor had their kissing moment in the 1946 rom-com movie, “Victory Joe”.Image: (1946 Victory Joe B&W 97 minutes Directed by Manuel Silos), Citizen Jake, https://vimeo.com/328659457

After the war,  producers  had more reasons to insert  titillating  kissing moments in their films. The 1946 romantic comedy from LVN pictures, “Victory Joe”, showed a long, romantic kiss between Norma Blancaflor and her suitor, Rogelio dela Rosa, just returned from the War.

WE KISS IN THE SHADOWS. Vic Oliver and Erlinda Cortes do some serious kissing in the 1947 movie “Dalawang Anino”.Image: Motion Pictures in the Philippines, by Vicente Salumbides. 1952.

 When things had settled a year later, movie fans were treated to the provocative kiss performed by Vicente Oliver and Erlinda Cortes,  complete with tight embracing and hair clutching. The 1947 blurb of the love-drama  “Dalawang Anino” referred to this fervid display of feelings as the  result of the “baliw na pagnanasang umabot sa sukdulan ng pagbubunyag” (crazed desire that had reached the point where it had to be revealed!).

KISS UNIVERSE. Armi Kuusela and Virgilio Hilario in their only movie based on their love story “Now and Forever” shown in 1953. Kuusela was a guest of the 1953 Philippine International Exposition when he met the dashing businessman, and became man and wife soon after. Image: Constantino, Ronald K., Lo, Ricardo F. The Golden Years: Memorable Tagalog Movie Ads 1946-1956. Published by Danny Dolor, Manila, 1944. P. 18.

By the 1950s, kissing in Philippines became more common, and in fact, more fashionable.  The first Miss Universe Armi Kuusela and beau Virgilio Hilario showed them how it was done in their 1953 debut “Now and Forever”.

A VETERAN AT KISSING. In “Anak Dalita” (1956) Rosa Rosal plays a prostitute who falls for Vic, a war veteran, ably played by Tony Santos Sr. Image: (Anak Dalita) Gobitz, Published on Apr 18, 2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX2fiDZ8gPE

The Golden Harvest Best  Film awardee at the 1956 Asia-Pacific Film Festival, “Anak Dalita” (1956), had, perhaps, the best horizontal position kiss administered by Tony Santos Sr., on screen vamp Rosa Rosal. In the film, Rosal was Cita, a prostitute with a heart of gold, who has fallen in love with a returning injured Korean war soldier, Vic, portrayed by Santos. The fleeting, loving  kiss was just about the hopeful thing in a story filled with sorrow and squalor.

CARIÑO BRUTAL. Aida Cariño and Oscar Moreno were the star performers in “the  most sizzling kissing scene ever  shot for a Philippine film”, at least in 1957. This was in the movie,  “Objective: Patayin si Magsaysay” . Image: Garcia, Jessie B., A Movie Album Quizbook. Erehwon Books & Magazines, © December 2004 by Jessie B. Garcia.

After reviewing local films, weekly magazine Variety voted the kissing-in-bed scene of film veteran  Oscar Moreno and young actress Aida Cariño as “the most sizzling kissing scene in Philippine movies, to date”.  The said scene was shot for Champion Pictures’ “Objective: Patayin si Magsaysay”,  released in 1957.

It was also in the Fifties that American production outfits began discovering the Philippines as a perfect shooting location for war pictures that were all the rage at that time. Filipino actresses were often typecast as island girls who stole American soldiers’ hearts. It was not difficult to persuade our conservative actresses to kiss their American leading men--for the sake of art.

TAKE ONE KISSER. Filipino actress Alicia Vergel resisted a kissing scene in the 1957 movie “Day of the Trumpet”  with American John Agar, but changed her mind and did the scene in one take. Agar asked for more, which sent her scurrying  away. Image: Garcia, Jessie B., A Movie Album Quizbook. Erehwon Books & Magazines, © December 2004 by Jessie B. Garcia.

Alicia Vergel reluctantly complied when she was cast as John Agar’s love interest in the 1958 film, “Day of the Trumpet”, a joint Fil-American production. ”I didn’t like to do the kissing scene”, she said. But then she reconsidered when she realized that “the film would be dull in America without the kissing scene.”

Her only condition was that the kissing scene be done in one take. Vergel got a good “take one” kiss. But, as she related, “John Agar commented that he liked the kiss so much that he wanted one more take!”. Alicia demurred, and reacted by scampering away from the set, bawling all the while.  She recalled later that John Agar came back to appease and humor her. “I feel insulted”, Agar said. “You are the first leading lady I kissed who cried.”

PARALUMAN SURRENDERS TO A KISS. German-Filipino actress Paraluman had a record 4 kissing scenes with American actorKeith ndes in the war movie, “Surrender Hell”, shot in 1958.Image: (Surrender Hell) VCIClassicMovies, Published on Nov 7, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeq_NcD8ckM

The lovely Paraluman had no qualms about  kissing a foreigner, and required no persuasion.  “As long as it is done with finesse and the script calls for it, I do not object to it,”she declared like a real pro.

When she was cast with American Keith Andes in the 1959 war action film  “Surrender Hell” ( an Allied Artists movie based on Gen. Donald Blackburn’s exploits), Paraluman not just had one, but four serious smooching scenes with her leading man, an experience she enjoyed. “It’ all in a day’s work”, she quipped.

George Montgomery was already a  big star of TV and the Silver Screen when he returned  to the Philippines in 1961. He had previously been to the country in 1955 to shoot a guerrilla movie entitled “Huks”, with Mona Freeman.

This time around,  Montgomery was set to direct--and star-- in yet another war film-- “The Steel Claw”. As the handicapped John Larsen whose right hand has been replaced by a hook,  Montgomery meets a mestiza, Lolita Smith—played by Charito Luna.

SPLENDOR ON THE GRASS. Filipina Charito Luna and George Montgomery had some lovey-dovey moments in th 1961 war film “The Steel Claw”, that ended with some heavy kissing, dominated by Charito. Image: The Steel Claw: PizzaFlix, Published on Jul 10, 2013,: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v14Cpol3YQ8

In contrast to the shy, demure roles assigned to Filipinas, Luna’s character was more wordly and aggressive. As Lolita, she comes on strong to the captain, and soon, their small talk leads to some lolling on the grass,  culminating in a meeting of lips, with Charito on top.

Two movies in the 60s made the tabloid news—and not just because they featured sensational kissing scenes. “The first local picture wherein kissing scenes will be consummated”…. “the first Tagalog movie with real, honest-to-goodness kissing scenes”, thus heralded the blurbs used to promote “Huwag Mo Akong Limutin”, Director  Gerry de Leon’s 1960  opus.

KISSING LESSONS FROM THE SENIORS. The 1961 movie ”Huwag Mo Akong Limutin” ran afoul of the censor’s rules because of its controversial themes. But the theme won major awards at the FAMAS including acting awards for  the kissing seniors, Oscar Keesee and Arsenia Francisco. Image: Mirana Medina Collection

As it turned out, it was not the double kissing scenes (performed by Oscar Keesee/Arsenia Francisco and Cesar  Ramirez/Cynthia Zamora) that alarmed the local censors board, but the central themes of the flick: marital infidelity, kidnapping and abortion. The movie was briefly banned, until it was re-edited. De Leon was vindicated when the film dominated that year’s FAMAS, winning 8 awards, including Best Film and Best Director trophies. Senior kissers Keesee and Francisco won both supporting acting awards too.

KISS-KISS, BANG-BANG. Ronald Remy holds the distinction as the first Filipino actor to kiss an American actress full on the lips, He traded kisses with Sylvia Lawrence in the 1961 war movie, “Bus to Bataan”. Image. Video48 “The 60s #174. Ronald Remy, Liza Moreno, Paul Edwards, Sylvia Lawrence in Lamberto V. Avellana’s “Bus to Bataan” (1961).http://video48.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-sixties-174-ronald-remy-liza-moreno.html

The next year (1961) , “Bus to Bataan”, another war film with Filipino and American stars hot the theaters to the thrill of movie fans.  Filipino Ronald Remy turned the tables on Pinay-kissing American actors, by French-kissing American actress Sylvia Lawrence.  Remy eventually became a born-again religious leader, while Lawrence shifted to costume design which won for her many Emmy awards and nominations.

After awhile, it seemed that every other film of different genres was inserting  kissing scenes as part of the strory’s attraction.  In 1964, the comedy spoof, “James Bandong” had funny man  Chiquito, cavorting with sexpot Miriam Jurado. Their beach shore romp ends in a smooch that would go down in our film history as the longest, uninterrupted kiss in local cinema, that lasted for all of 6 minutes.

All hell broke loose at the onset of a the 70s decade as local producers took the counterculture slogan “Make love, not war” literally, by churning out soft-core movies known as “bomba” films.  Considered as the first bomba film is “Uhaw”,  the film, starring Merle Fernandez, was based on a komiks series touted as “the most daring and boldest story ever written”.  Fly-by-night producers cashed in on the bomba trend, but pushed the envelope further by adding not just scandalous kisses of all kinds, but also real, hard-core sex.

But nothing prepared the audience for one of the most unexpected kisses ever to be seen on theater screens. In 1971, the multi-awarded director, Lino Brocka, made the film “Tubog sa Ginto”, a story about an unfulfilled woman married to a closet-gay husband Benito, who secretly carried an affair with his male driver.

The theme of the movie was controversial enough, but Brocka defied government censorship and religious censure by showing the first no-holds barred gay kissing scene on Philippine cinema, between the homosexual husband Don Benito (Eddie Garcia)  and his young stud Diego (Mario O’Hara).

MAN-TO-MAN RESUSCITATION. Lino Brocka broke barriers by introducing the first gay kiss in the film, “Tubog sa Ginto” (1971) . Eddie Garcia and the late Mario O’Hara shared some daring kisses (as well as a shower), all done in the buff. Image: (Tubog sa Ginto), Cinema Retro, Published on 2017-05-01. https://reppeat.com/watch/?v=4ah2ajH_8aw

With a story written by the venerable comics legend Mars Ravelo,  and shot under the helm of a respected director, no dissenting voice was heard, not even a whimper. “Tubog sa Ginto” was given the ultimate accolades during the FAMAS season, winning  Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and  plus two other acting nominations.

The Garcia-O’Hara gay kiss was unprecedented in our media history, predating the first gay-themed drama series in Philippine television, “My Husband’s Lover” (2013), where the conflicted Tom Rodriguez (as Vincent) planted an oh-so-tender kiss on his object of affection, Dennis Trillo (as Eric). Unfortunately, the full kiss was not shown on TV, in deference to the MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board); it is included, however in the DVD release.

Kissing in Philippine movies have now been featured for nearly a hundred years. Since then, every imaginable taboo, once unspoken and forbidden,  have  been depicted in graphic ways, especially in the internet age—involving transgenders, lesbians, bisexuals, husbands with multiple queridas, priests having affairs, mature women  indulging in carnal pleasures with young men (remember the rough kissing of young Tom Labrusca and Angel Aquino in “Glorious”?), among others.

But there’s nothing like a fundamental kiss to incite and ignite the audience’s full range of emotions—from warming hearts,  conjuring the magic of romance, arousing feelings of giddiness,  naughty thoughts, and let’s face it, lust and sex. Movies give a sense of legitimacy in releasing those feelings with the imprimatur of the censors.  

The audience can lose themselves and become, for a fleeting moment, the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, the tempestuous Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler, the Sheik of Araby and his harem of lovers; or,  closer to home,  the conquering “Machete” or the insatiable “Curacha, ang Babaeng Walang Pahinga”. And since new love teams emerge every day from the silver screen, movies will never run out of kisses, because, just as the song reminds us-- the world will always welcome lovers…as time goes by.

 ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR ESQUIRE PHILIPPINES UNDER THE TITLE "LIPS TO LIPS" THE EVOLUTION OF KISSING SCENES IN PHILIPPINE MOVIES", posted on 12 June 2019.

 SOURCES:

·       “First Philippine Movie Kiss”, Sunday Times Variety, 1 May 1962. P. 3

·       GRAPHIC Magazine, July-August 1929 issues

·       “The History of the Kiss in Philippine Cinema”. PIC, The Ultimate Magazine,  Vol. 1, No. 11, 1972.

·       Constantino, Ronald K., Lo, Ricardo F. The Golden Years: Memorable Tagalog Movie Ads 1946-1956. Published by Danny Dolor, Manila, 1944. P. 18.

·       Deocampo, Nick. CINE: Spanish Influences on Tagalog Cinema, Chapter 5: On Viewership, published by The National Commission for the Culture and the Arts. p. 298

·       Garcia, Jessie B., A Movie Album Quizbook. Erehwon Books & Magazines, © December 2004 by Jessie B. Garcia.

·       Villasanta, Julianito, Tio Ticong Pelikula at Pulitika (Vicente Salumbides) . 2002

·       Salumbides, Vicente. Motion Pictures in the Philippines. © 1952, by the author. Ch. 18: Kising in the Movies. P.137.

·       Best Movie Kisses of All Time, https://www.filmsite.org/filmkisses2.html

·       Mirana Medina Collection, for the photo of Oscar Keesee and Arsenia Francisco from “Huwag Mo Akong Limutin”.

·       Advocacine Blog: https://advocacine.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/first-honest-to-goodness-kissing-scene-in-tagalog-movies/?unapproved=15163&moderation-hash=cdcdcad03be03a8275d815a84e040c54#comment-15163

YouTube screen grabs:

·       Zamboanga: (Zamboanga Movie 1937) Robert G. Published on Jul 14, 201

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWb6fo8ZbYI

·       Victory Joe: 1946 Victory Joe B&W 97 minutes Directed by Manuel Silos, Citizen Jake, https://vimeo.com/328659457

·       Anak Dalita: Gobitz, Published on Apr 18, 2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX2fiDZ8gPE

·       Surrender Hell: VCIClassicMovies, Published on Nov 7, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeq_NcD8ckM

·       The Steel Claw: PizzaFlix, Published on Jul 10, 2013,: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v14Cpol3YQ8

·       Tubog Sa Ginto: Cinema Retro, Published on 2017-05-01: https://reppeat.com/watch/?v=4ah2ajH_8aw

  

86. His Life and Times: FERNANDO POE SR., the King of Kings of Philippine Movies

THE ORIGINAL KING. Fernando Poe Sr., one of the early male superstars of the local silver screen. At his peak, he also became a director, producer and a short career as a military man. Alex R. Castro Collection.

At the peak of his fame, he was hailed as the King of All Stars—“Hari ng mga Bituin”. He was in the top triumvirate of 1930s-50s male screen legends that included Rogelio de la Rosa and Leopoldo Salcedo.

As an actor, he appeared in a South Sea epic that was the first Philippine film to be shown worldwide. He went on to blaze trails by starting his own production company—producing his own films which he himself wrote, directed and also starred in, to great acclaim.

As a director, he megged the first Darna film starring Rosa del Rosario that became a blockbuster hit here, and across the seas.

But his achievements went beyond films—he was also  a distinguished soldier who  served in the military and was a decorated veteran of the war.

When he met his untimely death, half a million people turn up for the long, sad march to his final rest.

Perhaps, his best-known legacy is having fathered “Da King”—Fernando Poe Jr.,--who, just like him was once known as the King of the Philippine Movies.

Yet, today, Fernando Poe Sr.’s life and works are hardly remembered because few of his films survived.  His influences, however, still resonate in varying degrees in today’s Philippine filmcraft, thanks largely to the efforts of his eldest son and namesake.

A Catalan in Pangasinan.

Fernando Pou y Reyes was born on 27 November 1916, in San Carlos, Pangasinan, the son of Catalan Lorenzo Pou, a dramatist, originally from the island of Mallorca, Spain, and local woman Marta Reyes. The elder Pou sought his fortune in the Philippines by establishing a mining business in north Luzon. “Pou” was later Anglicized to “Poe” , a surname deemed more fitting to carry, in the years of the American rule.

PROFILING POE: Poe’s father, Lorenzo Pou, was a Spanish playwright, while his mother, Marta Reyes, was a Pangasinan belle who was previously married to a Samson. The chemistry graduate was also taking up a dentistry course when showbiz beckoned. Photo: Alex R. Castro Collection.

Poe grew up in Manila, and as a young boy, he was affectionately called “Brick”, and later, Nanding. When he came of school-age, he went to the premiere Meisic Primary School. He went through his elementary grades at the Sampaloc Intermediate School, then to Araullo High School, where he got his secondary school diploma in 1931.

Then, it was off to the University of the Philippines where he finished his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry course in 1935. (Note: An  urban legend has it that Poe, Sr. served as a model for the iconic statue of  U.P., the Oblation, but this has never been proven.) 

From 1937 to 1938, he worked as a chemist for the Blue Star Products, Co. During this time, he was already dabbling in movies—he shot the love story drama, “Birheng Walang Dambana” topbilled  by Rosa del Rosario in 1936.

He felt, though, that acting was an unstable profession, he enrolled at the famed Philippine Dental College and earned a degree in Dental Medicine in 1942. He, however, did not take the licensure exams. (It is interesting to note that the acclaimed actor/director Gregorio Fernandez, who was 12 years’ his senior, was also a dentistry graduate from the said school. )

Saga of a star.

ZAMBOANGA. Thefilm that Poe starred in was the first Filipno film shown worldwide. With his dark, handsome features and lean physique, he was perfect for the role of the island boy who cavorted on the sand and surf of Sulu with Rosa del Rosario. Photo: http://petersmovieposters.com/

But a movie he shot in 1936 and released in 1937 would change Poe’s career path forever. That movie was Filippine Film’s “Zamboanga”, a lush adventure saga about native islanders down south, which paired him again with Rosa del Rosario, then the country’s most popular female star.

The lithe, 20 year old Nanding, with his muscular frame, long legs, firm jaw and smoldering eyes was the perfect choice to portray Del Rosario’s love interest. Clad only in loin cloth, the athletic Poe climbed coconut trees, frolicked in the tropical paradise and traded underwater kisses with her leading lady.

He made such a deep impression on the moviegoers, and the film, released in 1937, would go on to be subtitled and exhibited all over Europe, in countries such as Spain, Finland and France. In the U.S.,”Zamboanga” was exhibited at the Embassy Newsreel Theater at the New York Times Square under the title “Native Bride”.

In no time at all, Poe was being snapped by producers to star in their films.  But he decided to sign up with the newly-founded X’Otic Films put up by Jose Nepomuceno, Julian Salgado and Jesus Cacho in 1938.

The hunky Poe was first groomed into a well-rounded, dashing matinee idol who can do a bit of everything—from light drama, period  movies, a bit of action and musical romance. He became the biggest box-office star of the company in such films as ”Giliw Ko”,  “Datu Talim”and  “Bayani ng Buhay” (1940).

PUNIT NA BANDILA. Poe teamed with Lucita Goyena in this 1939 classic movie set against the backdrop of war. It was the first of 6 consecutive smash hits for the love team. Photo: Alex R. Castro Collection.

With the lovely Lucita Goyena as her leading lady, Poe completed 6 movies in succession—“Punit na Bandila”, “Leron-Leron Sinta” (1939), “Biyak na Bato” (1939), “Ala-alang Banal” (1940) , “Dilim at Liwanag”, and “Dalagang Pilipina” –all smash hits. For this feat, Goyena and Poe were acclaimed as the “1940 Queen and King of Philippine Movies”.

It was in the mega-blockbuster hit “Palaris” (1941) that his star shone the brightest. As the fabled hero of the Philippine jungles who fought against Spanish oppression, Poe captivated movie fans with his inspired performance opposite Mona Lisa.

An officer and a leading man.

Unfortunately, World War II intervened. Twelve days after the war officially started in the Philippines, Poe , who was a member of the Reserve Officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was called to active duty on 20 December 1941 as 1^st Lieutenant.  His first assignment was as assistant Provost Marshall of the 59^th Provisionary Brigade under Gen. Simeon de Jesus, from the December 1941 to January 1942.

HANDSOMEST MAN ALIVE. Fernando Poe Sr. at the zenith of his popularity. Alex R. Castro Collection

He rose to become a Platoon Leader, then the Morale Officer of the Lamao Combat Team Regiment.  He saw action in Bataan—where he saved residents from a house that was bombed by the Japanese, carrying children and the wounded to safety. He stayed in his position till Bataan fell on 9 April 1942. With the surrender of the American-Filipino forces, Lt. Poe joined the dreaded Death March.

“Oh. the Death March”, he would recall after the War, “it  was a veritable journey to the grave. It was gruesome!’.  Nonetheless, he survived the march and was released from the camp, as he was recognized as a famous Filipino movie star by the Japanese officers.

During the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese imposed strict censorship on Filipino and American films, so Poe bided his time by staging plays, often directing and starring in them. Little did the enemies know that Poe had secretly joined the Panay Guerrilas under Col. Macario Peralta. He became an undercover man of the Llanes Intelligence and Information Corps. These, he revealed, during his inquisition by the post-war Loyalty Status Board.

Family, fame, fortune.

HIS GIRL, BESSIE. Poe’s wife, Elizabeth Kelley Poe, was a schoolmate at the University of the Philippines. The American-Kapampangan mestiza is the mother of  Ronald Allan (FPJ), Andy Jr. and Freddie Poe, who all  became movie stars. Motion Pictures in the Philippines. by Vicente Salumbides. © 1952., Alex R. Castro Collection.

Poe rose to become a captain, but there came a point when he had to leave his military career. In 1940, he had married Pampangueña beauty, Elizabeth “Bessie” Gatbonton Kelley (b. 8 Nov. 1918) the daughter of Marta Reyes Gatbonton and Irish-American Arthur Kelley, who had settled in Lubao.  They had met at the state university, college mates, in fact, as Bessie had also taken up Chemistry.

By 1943, he had a growing family of three children—daughter Elizabeth,  sons Ronald Allan and Fernando Jr. or Andy. (Ronald would later borrow the full name of his younger sibling Andy. as his screen name: Fernando Poe Jr.). Poe, thus, made the painful decision to go full-time into movie making, which he deemed more lucrative.

DUGO NG BAYAN. Produced by Palaris Films, Starring Fernando Poe Sr. and Priscilla Mijares. Mijrae would have a child with Poe Sr. who also became an occasional actor,  Conrad Poe.  Photo: The Golden Years: Memorable Tagalog Movie Ads 1946-1956, ed. By Cnstantio, Ronald K., Lo, Ricardp. Published by Danny Dolor.(c) 1994. p. 80

In 1946, he put up his production company,  Palaris Films, named after his hit pre-war movie, using the defunct Manila Pictures  in  San Francico del Monte, Quezon City. His first offering for 1946 “Dugo ng Bayan (I Remember Bataan)” was a huge hit, and provided more capital to produce a string of hits like “Awit ni Palaris”, “Hanggang Pier” (1946) , and ”Intramuros: The Rage of a City”, “Limbas” (1947).

 

FERNANDO POE PRODUCTIONS INC., at San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City. Photo:  Motion Pictures in the Philippines. by Vicente Salumbides. © 1952., Alex R. Castro Collection.

In 1949, Poe built his own state-of-the art studio, with equipment ordered from the U.S., and renamed his outfit as Fernando Poe Productions, Inc. A subsidiary, Royal Films, was set up in 1951.

It was also in that year that Poe directed a barrier-breaking movie featuring the country’s first female comics superhero. Created by comics legends Mars Ravelo and Nestor Redodo, the 1951 film was “Darna”,  with Rosa del Rosario in the lead role as Darna, who saves a town from the snake-headed woman, Valentina, played by Cristina Aragon.

DING,ANG BATO! The first Darna film, shown in 1951, featured Rosa del Rosario as the high- flying heroine and her nemesis, Valentina, the snake-woman played by Cristina Aragon. Photo:  Motion Pictures in the Philippines. by Vicente Salumbides. © 1952

The 1951 film featured some of the most mesmerizing visual effects ever seen on the celluloid screen—from high-flying scenes,  magical transformations of the cripple Narda into Darna, and special prosthetics and make-up that included real, live snakes.

“Darna” was such a spectacular hit not only in the Philippines, but was also shown in Thailand and Indonesia where it set unprecedented box-office records. The original movie would spawned more hit sequels, and no other version is as loved and remembered as the 1951 “Darna” classic.

Fallen star.

Riding on the crest of his directorial success, Poe began work on a new melodrama, “Basag na Manika”, a story about a maltreated child of a leper, Nene, played by Mila Nimfa, who had been in the “Darna” movie, as the young “Narda”. He had just wrapped up the film when a tragedy befell him, that left the movie industry in shock and in tears.

BASAG NA MANIKA. The last film directed by Poe Sr., starred Mila Nimfa, as the maltreated waif in this super-tearker of a drama. Its premiere was postponed in deference to the death of the director. Photo: Alex R. Castro Collection.

On Monday night, October 21, 1951, Poe went to the Family Clinic on Maria Clara St., Sampaloc, to have himself admitted to seek treatment for a severe pain on the hip area that he couldn’t shake. He thought it was the result of a hip injury he sustained a few days before, after a pillow fight with actor Fred Peñalosa, at a party.

Eight doctor-specialists attended to him from an orthopedist, neurologist to contagious disease and cardiovascular specialist.  They gave him several medications, to which Poe did not respond. The next day, Poe complained of difficulties in breathing and stiffness of muscles, especially in the neck.

It was at this point that  Dr. Eliodoro Congco, owner of the clinic and Poe’s family friend, suspected something, so she took Mrs. Bessie Poe aside and asked her if her husband had any incident with a dog. She then revealed that in August, Poe was bitten by a puppy, but brushed this aside and did not underdo anti-rabies injections. (Years later, son FPJ clarified that his father had a dog lick his wounds that he accidentally sustained, in the belief that it will hasten its healing.)

The end.

By early the next morning, all doctors confirmed that Poe had contracted rabies,  and had reached a point where nothing could be done. His condition took a turn for the worse, and he was given the last sacraments.

POE SIBLINGS, led by Ronald Allan (age 12) take a final look at their father, while their mother, Bessie Kelley-Poe, also looks on. Photo: Literary Song- Movie Magazine/ November 1951, Alex R. Castro Collection

Shortly before midnight on 23 October 1951, Fernando Poe Sr., just 35 years old passed away, leaving behind his widow, Bessie , their six children, Elizabeth, 13; Ronald Allan, 11; Fernando Jr.  (Andy), 9; Martha Genevieve (Jenny), 7; Frederick (Freddie), 4; and Evangeline Ida, 1, and his mother, Marta Reyes. He also left behind his legion of sorrowing movie fans, and colleagues in the industry who could not believe his early demise.

His body was laid in state at the large studio of Royal Productions, to accommodate an endless stream of visitors who had come to pay their last respects who had done much  for the Philippine film industry.  The presence of beautiful movie stars at his wake—like Delia Razon, Patria Plata, Diana Recto, Corazon Rivas, and the sobbing Rita Gomez, certainly contributed to the spike in the number of movie fan, industry attendees, and gawkers.

STARGAZERS. Grieving artists like Mila Nimfa, Oscar Keesee, Delia Razon and Patria Plata pay their last respects to their fallen colleague.  Photo: Literary Song- Movie Magazine/ November 1951, Alex R. Castro Collection

At the requiem mass in Quiapo Church, 10,000 people were packed like sardines; 50,00 more were outside unable to squeeze in.

Over half a million Filipinos showed up at his funeral procession, bigger than the crowds that came to the funeral of Pres. Manuel Roxas in 1947. From Quezon Boulevard to the North Cemetery, the sides of the roads were lined with thousands of people who braved the heat to catch a final glimpse of their idol’s bier.

WEEPING WIDOW.  Mrs. Bessie Kelley-Poe takes a final glimpse of his husband Fernando Sr., dead at 35 years old. Photo: Literary Song- Movie Magazine/ November 1951, Alex R. Castro Collection

Three hundred thousand waiting people were massed at the cemetery grounds to witness his interment. In life, and in death. Fernando Poe Sr. was admired by all who knew him as a fine actor and a gallant soldier, a great director-producer, kind and upright, a pride not only to his profession, but to his race as well.

The King is dead, long live Da King.

He left behind much unfinished business—his last film as a director, “Basag na Manika”, was scheduled to premiere  at Clover Theater on the day before he died, and had to be postponed.

FINAL PAGE. Five months after shooting this print ad for Glo-Co Tonix, Fernando Poe Sr. succumbed to rabies infection. Photo: Literary Song- Movie Magazine/ May 1951, Alex R. Castro Collection

 He had also set the groundwork for the filming of a war documentary chronicling the feats of the Philippine’ 20^th  Battalion Combat Team that was fighting in Korea at that time, a project that then-Defense Secretary Ramon Magsaysay praised and endorsed. Like the generous person that he was, Poe had also scheduled a fund-rasing ball for the benefit of the Philippine Anti-TB Society.

Elder half-brother Jose Reyes Samson, the company treasurer, took over the helm of Poe’s production outfit which had been renamed Royal Productions.  Eventually, he would be elected president and Royal would go on to produce many more films as well as act as distributor for other movies.

Ronald Allan, Poe’s eldest son, would take over the mantle of his father as an actor, a responsibility that certainly seemed heavy for a 12 year old. He would stop schooling at age 15 to earn a few bucks as a movie extra. He was billed as ‘Fernando Poe Jr.’, a name borrowed from his younger sibling, Andy, to ride on the crest of his father’s popularity

THE SON ALSO RISES. The Fernando Poe name lives on in the showbiz success of eldest son Ronald Allan (aka Fernando Poe Jr.) would be known as the Da King of Philippine Movies, just like his father before him. Alex R. Castro Collection

In 1955, the sixteen year old finally came of age and was chosen to play the lead in “Anak ni Palaris”,  a tribute to his father who had starred as the swashbuckling hero more than a decade before. Heralded as the “sensational new, teenage heart throb”,  he had big shoes to fill but he acquitted himself well for a first-timer.  Though the movie did not do so well, the movie crowd took note of the promising, dreamy-eyed lead star.

But it was his next movie that would catapult Poe’s eldest to national fame—“Lo’Waist Gang”, a timely story about rebel teen-age gangs from Premiere Productions. The young Poe was paired with rising star Corazon Rivas, and the result was a smash movie hit that also earned rave reviews from local critics.

 For the next 50 years, the Poe legacy would live on in the lifeworks of his son, who would realize greater, more lasting fame than what he himself had reached. Which is why, in the hallowed history of Philippine cinema today, the name “Poe” not only endures, but has achieved immortality.

 ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR ESQUIRE.PH, UNDER THE TITLE: "The Amazing and Tragic Life of Fernando Poes Sr., the King of Kings of Philippone Movies". Posted on 3 July 2019. 

SOURCES:

Literary Song- Movie Magazine/ May, December 1951 issues, Alex R. Castro Collection

Motion Pictures in the Philippines. by Vicente Salumbides. © 1952.

The Golden Years: Memorable Tagalog Movie Ads 1946-1956, ed. By Cnstantio, Rinald K., Lo, Ricardp. Published by Danny Dolor.(c) 1994.

 A Movie Album Quiz Book, Garcia, Jessie B. , Erewhwon Books and Magazine, Iloilo City © 2004