‘Diego Salvador’ and other stories
ALLOW me to again skip commenting about the burning issues (or should I say “bloody issues”) of the day to talk once more about something calming: our past. I got interested in this while reading the book “Lilas: An Illustrated History of the Golden Ages of Cebuano Cinema” by Paul Douglas Grant and Misha Boris Anissimov of the USC Graduate School of Cinema Studies. This time I will dwell on some trivia.
I wrote several columns ago about the Colon St. I knew and dared my readers to come up with their own recollections of the movie theaters that once dotted its landscape. I got a number of responses, proving that Cebuanos are interested in anything abut their past. “Lilas,” a product of three years of research provides us these and more. Let me mention a few.
The book talked about two “golden” periods of Cebuano cinema, the first from 1948 to 1958 and the second from 1970 to 1975. But let me focus not on the films but on things at the periphery.
In the book are photocopies of movie advertisements that include the theaters where the films were shown. So what did I find? That during the first “flow” in the ebb and flow of Cebuano cinema (1948-1958) the following theaters existed: Vision, Rene, Lane, Liberty, Venus and Star. Then from 1970-1975, the following were mentioned: Rizal, Oriente, Eden, Cinema, Majestic, President, Ultravistarama, Vision, Seven Arts, Mever, Victor and Diamond.
There probably were more movie theaters during that period but these did not put up ads in the newspapers. Not an ad featured Vision theater from the 1970 to 1975 period, for example, but I think the moviehouse was still in operation at that time. Some theaters were cheap and featured two films per day like Nation, Mansion and Best. I know because when I was in Grade 6 I would cut classes to watch movies.
What amazed me as I scanned the book was the longevity of Gloria Sevilla, the “Queen of Cebuano Movies.” She figured prominently in the two “golden” periods of Cebuano cinema and is still starring in Tagalog movies and in the occasional Cebuano films, some of them “indie.” She and her husband Mat Ranillo Jr. ruled the 1948-1958 period. In the ‘70s, Cebu moviemaking was invaded by Tagalog stars and directors, making for a momentarily lively industry.
I was surprised to find out that the Aznars, or at least some of the members of the family that once owned my former school Southwestern University, were into movie making during the 1948-1958 period. In fact one of the second-generation Aznars, Merelo was once a child star. The book also featured a photo of the family of Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella. I don’t know which of the two boys of the three Labella children was the vice mayor. It showed his father Gene and mother.
As I wrote in the previous article, one point missing in the book was the contribution of radio to Cebuano cinema, especially in the ‘70s. Many of the movies at that time first became popular as radio soap like “Mayor Andal,” “Diego Salvador,” “Antonio Solitario,” “Maria Flordeluna,” “Alma Bonita,” “Ikaduhang Bathala,” “Anino sa Villa Lagrimas,” “Veronica” etc. “Veronica,” starred one of the two SWU pride then, Marie Fe Dejoras (the other was Venesa Laxamana, who made it big in Tagalog films as Alma Moreno).
I write this because I want to pique your interest. If the trivia makes you remember, then write me. This should be fun.