Zamboanga (1937)

1937 - Zamboanga (Filippine Productions)

[Philippines release date 7th December 1937; distributed in the US by Grand National Pictures]

Director “Eduardo de Castro”/Marvin Edward Gardner Producers George Harris, Eddie Tait Music Dr Edward Kilenyi Cinematography William H. Jansen Editor Ralph Dixon Sound Louis R. Morse

Cast Fernando Poe [Sr] (Danao), Rosa Del Rosario (Minda)

'Lost' RP Film Found in US Archive by Nick Deocampo

Inquirer News Service 05/02/04

(Editor's note: This article is included in Nick Deocampo's new book Film: US Colonization and the Emergence of Cinema in the Philippines, to be released in September 2004 to commemorate the 85th Anniversary of Philippine Cinema.)

A COPY of the film "Zamboanga," a movie about the exotic life of south sea dwellers daringly shot in the remote island of Jolo in 1936 was found recently in the US.

With the recent discovery of the film print, plans are underway to repatriate the film back to the Philippines.

This February, it will be the festival opening film at the "Pelikula at Lipunan" to celebrate the Philippine movie industry's forthcoming 85th anniversary.

"Zamboanga" was made 60 years ago by two American producers, Eddie Tait and George Harris. It is the first attempt to launch a Philippine-made film for international release.

Hoping that the success of the film would turn the Philippines into the Hollywood of the Orient, they produced, aimed for the American market.

But after its premiere in San Diego, California and its screening in New York on Dec. 10, 1937, nothing has been heard of it.

The film has for decades been considered a lost film, one of the hundreds made before World War II that is irretrievably lost. Until a copy was recently found.

During my last research trip as a senior Fulbright research scholar in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., I was surprised to be informed by a library staff, Zoran Sinobad, that there was a newly-acquired film about the Philippines, and would I be interested to take a look at it? I was lukewarm at the invitation because after years of rummaging through hundreds of film titles in the library's collection, there must have been at least three films I came across with the name Zamboanga in them. None was the fabled Tait and Harris film. What could possibly make me think that this newly found film was the lost classic?

I only became interested when I was told that the film was newly-struck from an original print that came all the way from Finland. Now there's a story. Why would a film about the Philippines turn up in a frigid country in the Scandinavian peninsula? Interesting!

My anxiety grew intense as I waited for the print to arrive while my departure date was nearing. But three days before I left, the print finally arrived. To my biggest shock, the film I hoped to find was right before my very eyes! After perhaps 60 years that the film has not been seen by any Filipino, there I was watching the film alone in the darkened viewing room of the archive. It was a thrill of a lifetime!

I sat spellbound for 65 minutes watching the young Fernando Poe display his masculine physique and the beauteous Rosa del Rosario glow in the well-photographed black-and-white film. Patterned in the genre of the south sea film made famous by Robert Flaherty's "Moana," the film capitalized on tales of exoticism. It showed the picturesque sea and the captivating landscape and with warring tribes and a kidnapped maiden to hook the audience's attention.

The discovery of "Zamboanga" brings only to four the feature-length films made in the Philippines that survived the catastrophic war. A few hundred others failed to make it. Its rarity gives the film its aura of significance. The film joins the distinguished line-up of pre-war films "Tunay na Ina" (1938), "Pakiusap" (1938) and "Giliw Ko" (1938). But none beats "Zamboanga's" production date of 1936. It is truly the mother of all studio-made films in the country!

Historically, "Zamboanga" came at a crucial moment in the history of filmmaking in the Philippines. Tait and Harris revolutionized local filmmaking when they established the first film studio, Filippine Films, in 1932. Their act ushered in the studio system that made it possible for subsequent native-owned studios like the LVN, Sampaguita, Premiere and Lebran to bring Philippine movies to their "golden era" in the '50s.

Starting their career first as circus showmen, the two Americans later embarked on film production with the high hope of one day turning the Philippines into becoming Asia's enviable film capital. Upon teaming up with George Harris, the former producer of Hollywood's celebrated director, Frank Capra, Eddie Tait introduced technical innovations that upgraded the fledgling native film industry. The two brought with them not only up-to-date technology and expertise but also capital and the necessary clout to produce quality films.

Underwater photography

To make "Zamboanga," the two Americans engaged themselves in nine months of film production in Jolo, the second largest island in the Sulu Sea. An American mestizo from Manila was employed to direct the film, Eduardo de Castro. William H. Jansen, a local cameraman, shot the film made stunning by his remarkable underwater photography.

When the principal photography was done, Harris brought the negatives to Hollywood in April 1937 and commenced the film's post production. Louis R. Morse did the sound recording, Ralph Dixon did the editing and Dr. Edward Kilenyi was hired to do the musical scoring.

Exotic tale, native cast

Running for 65 minutes and shot in 35mm, the film is about a sea-faring tribe where a kindly and well-loved Datu Tanbuong rules. The tribe's main occupation is pearl fishing. Danao (played by Poe), a handsome young pearl fisher, is betrothed to Minda (played by del Rosario), the datu's granddaughter. Upon Danao's return with a handful of impressive pearls, the datu announces a celebration.

Among those invited is Hadji Razul, a cruel and lustful ruler of another tribe of piratical Moros living in another island. Engaged in piracy and looting, he has illicit relations with a renegade American Captain, owner of a small trading schooner, who delivers him smuggled Chinese coolies.

Danao and Hadji fight over Minda when Hadji abducts the maiden during one of Danao's diving expeditions. A tribal war ensues and peace was only restored when Danao rescues his woman and Hadji is killed. The ending shows the newly-married couple sailing into the sunset.

(Nick Deocampo is the author of Cine: Spanish Influences on Early Cinema in the Philippines, the first in five volumes covering the 100-year history of cinema in the Philippines.)

Two Lost Films to be Screened at Pelikula at Lipunan Fest

(from The Manila Times 09/02/04)

The 11th Pelikula at Lipunan film festival will kick off Wednesday, February 11 at the SM Megamall Cinema with the screening of a Tagalog movie that dates back to 1937. Entitled Zamboanga, the movie was directed by Eduardo De Castro and stars Fernando Poe Sr. and Rosa del Rosario.

Organized by the Mowelfund Film Institute, the Pelikula at Lipunan festival was established to help enlighten Filipino audiences on the role of cinema on nation-building. This year, Pelikula at Lipunan offers new foreign films, rediscovered classics and historical clues to the Philippines early history as a nation struggling to be free. It is a fitting tribute to 85 years of the Filipino film industry, said festival director Nick Deocampo during a media briefing.

As a salute to the past. the organizers, which include Mowelfund stalwarts Eddie Romero and Boots Anson Roa, have chosen to open the festival with Zamboanga. Deocampo said the 67 year-old movie was previously thought as irretrievably lost. He had discovered it during a research mission in the US Library of Congress which earlier acquired an almost mint condition copy from Finland.

The movie depicts the life of south sea divers and was shot in the remote island of Jolo. Its two American producers, Eddie Tait and George Harris managed to screen it only to audiences in New York and San Francisco in 1937. Both producers, however, ran out of money due to excessive taxes and the film disappeared into obscurity.

In a year when glossy Hollywood productions like The Great Ziegfeld and Stage Door dominated the movie scene, Zamboanga managed to win rave reviews from The Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles Times and Hollywood Spectator, among others.

Decoampo says the film was aimed for the American market but after its premiere in San Diego and its screening in New York, nothing has been heard of it. The film has for decades been considered a lost film, one of the hundreds made before World War II that is irretrievably lost, he said.

However, Deocampo found the film when he was on a research trip in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. I was surprised to be informed by a library staff, Zoran Sinobad, that there was a a newly-acquired film about the Philippines and would I be interested to look at it? I was told that the film was newly-struck from an original print that came all the way from Finland. Interesting!

In the movie, the young Poe played a pearl fisher who marries the village chief's daughter (played by Rosa del Rosario). Among the guests of their wedding is a pirate who abducts the bride, inciting a tribal war. Fil-American Eduardo de Castro directed the cast that spoke in the Tausog and English languages. Deocampo says the movie features underwater photography and that the film processing chores boggles the mind with thoughts of the sacrifices behind the nine month shooting.

Wrong movie at the wrong time?

When Deocampo gleefully announced his find, he was warned by colleagues that exhibiting a movie starring Fernando Poe Sr. in an election year may be tantamount to politicking, especially since Fernando Poe Jr. is running for President.

Politics was never in my mind, declared Deocampo. Here we had a lost treasure that has practically been given to us by the Library of Congress on a silver plate. Normally it would have cost hundreds of thousands of pesos to obtain a movie like that from the Library of Congress. What did they expect me to do? Tell them, sorry we don't want the film, it's election year!

Fortunately, Deocampo discovered another lost film which he deemed perfect for the festival and would equalize the politics. It happens to be an omnibus film directed by three of the greatest directors of the Philippines' Gerry de Leon, Eddie Romero and Lamberto Avellana.

The film is Tagumpay ng Mahirap, Deocampo proudly announced. It's the biopic of our fifth President, Diosdado Macapagal. It shows how Macapagal rose from being a provincial boy to become the President. This one was discovered right under our noses, at the CCP film library!

With the fathers of two presidential candidates represented in one vintage film each, Deocampo expects to have a smooth-sailing Pelikula at Lipunan festival this year.

Life History of "Eduardo de Castro"/Marvin Edward GARDNER (7-Jul-1907 to 17-Nov-1955)

Born on 7-Jul-1907 to William Henry GARDNER, a Manila Police Officer, and Ceferina De Castro in Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines. His father, an American soldier from Tennessee, arrived in the Philippines in 1899 to fight in the Philippine Insurrection and began serving as a policeman under the American administration in 1901. Marvin Edward was the eldest surviving child with four sisters and one brother (see William Henry GARDNER Family Group Record).

Excerpts from the Gardner Family Journal by his sister, Flora Gardner Bass:

My parents made their home in Manila and reared a family of eight. Two died in infancy, leaving two boys and four girls. Marvin was the oldest boy and George, the youngest. The girls were Dolores, Trinidad, Cora and I (Flora). We lived at the back of the police station. Papa was assistant to the captain and was on 24-hour call. The jail was on the front side of the police station. We always felt safe and well cared for since we were so close to where Papa and the policemen worked.

After Papa died of a heart attack on March 12, 1929, our family had to move out of the police precinct. I was a pre-teen and still not aware of the many problems of life without our father.

Marvin was away at sea working on a freighter that sailed for America.

Marvin joined a movie company and became an actor (early 1930's). He was so handsome that he became known as the "Rudolf Valentino of the Philippines." His professional name was Eduardo de Castro (after Mama's maiden name). She was so proud of him and would point out to us his name on banners and billboards announcing his movies. He later became a director. His career flourished and he married his leading lady (Florence Little). What a good looking pair they were! Later he became father of two handsome boys.

The war changed all our lives (1942-1945). Although Manila was declared an "open city," it was continually bombed. Manila Bay was a graveyard of sunken ships.

George, who was then a teenager, joined my brother Marvin with the guerillas in the hills. George evaded arrest and returned home just before liberation, but Marvin was caught and imprisoned in the infamous Fort Santiago in Manila's walled city (Intramuros). When he was released, we could not recognize him with his beard and unkempt rags hanging from his emaciated body. He looked like a walking skeleton but thank God he was alive.

A letter from his sister, Dolores, to cousin Patsy Ellis at the time of Marvin Edward's death in November 1955:

Nov. 21st

Dear Patsy:

Just a short message being mailed to you by a friend to notify you of the death of my oldest brother, Marvin. I last wrote to you on Nov. 16th and mentioned him particularly. Little did I realize then that he was dying just as I was writing you about him.

He is at last at peace. The last few years were very unhappy and confused years for him. He drank heavily and consequently failed to get pictures to direct. At one time, he was the highest paid movie director in Philippine movies. But he died destitute. I took care of all his hospital and burial expenses. His son, William, was a great help to me. His first wife, Florence, did all she could. But his second wife, Norma Krueger, had left him 3 years ago and never attended the funeral. She left her 2 children, a 4-yr. old girl and a 3-yr. old boy, with her mother, who has been caring for them. Since these are Marvin's legal children, I feel responsible for them.(letter continues)

Your cousin,

Dolores

P.S. Marvin had 2 sons by Florence, both married with families. The oldest son is in Korea. William, the younger son, is studying here on the G.I. Bill of Rights (finishing accounting in 1956).

Marvin E. Gardner died of stroke in Baguio City on 17-Nov-1955

Three of his movies, one as actor, two director are listed on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) website.

Forbidden Women (1949)

1949 - Forbidden Women (X’Otic Films)

[Philippines release date 23rd September 1949, original Philippines title “The Thirteenth Sultan”]

Director Eduardo de Castro Cinematography Steve Perez Music Josefino Cenizal, Apolinar Rojas Sound Recordist Demetrio Carianga, [US version] Charles Gray Editor Braulio R. Calma Re-Editing/Additional Footage [US version] Lloyd Friedgen Assistant Director Tor Reyes Art Director Zinado A. Salceda Wardrobe Lolita Munoz

Cast Fernando Poe [Sr], Berting “La Bra”/Labra, Mona Lisa, Fernando Royo, Luningning, Bimbo Danao [IMDB also lists Conchita Montes in Forbidden Women, and Carol Varga in The Thirteenth Sultan]

From John Santos’ article “The Lost and Found Box: Rediscovering a Cinematic Tradition” from his Sinehan Sa Kanto blog:

The other extreme of Philippine cinema could be of help as well. On the one hand there’s the political consciousness of the films of the 60s through the 80s. On the other there’s the exploitation films not only of the 70s and the 80s where Cleopatra Wong and Weng Weng reigned, or the 60s where Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero slummed it with Roger Corman’s exploitation film outfits, but also the “Golden Age of Exploitation,” the 30s and the 40s when films from other countries, especially the “Orient,” were brought to American shores, cut, re-cut, scenes added, even multiple movies merged, and shown in seedy theatres as shocking views of an alien world.

One particular character is Lloyd Friedgen. As an enterprising producer, he traveled to Asia’s more active filmmaking industries—that is, the studios of the Philippines and India—to take films that could possibly attract an audience in the US. Two films he “discovered” that are now known amongst cult film enthusiasts are Forbidden Women (1948) by Eduardo Castro, the mind behind Zamboanga (1937; the print was discovered of all places in Finland) and Outrages of the Orient (1948) by Carlos Vander Tolosa, the man who made Bilanggong Birhen (1960) and Giliw Ko (1939). Of course, these movies were manhandled by Friedgen, cutting dialogue and action continuity and flow, reinserting scenes from other movies or scenes newly filmed by Friedgen to “spice-up” the story. If anything, if not re-done and re-transformed to at least remove scenes that are known to be Friedgen’s and not Castro’s/Tolosa’s, these movies are great windows to what would otherwise remain lost, hidden, and forgotten. Tracking Friedgen’s history, his dealings with other producers like him (especially another producer, Ray Friedgen, although I’m thinking they are the same person or possibly he is Lloyd’s father), and possibly any existing archive of his movies could uncover an interesting goldmine of unseen—but unfortunately molested—Filipino films.

Casey Scott’s review on the DVD Drive-In website:

FORBIDDEN WOMEN is a Filipino production imported to the U.S. and sold as an exploitation film. Strangely, it was also shot in English, not Tagalog, the Filipino language. Following an education abroad, young Prince Sigore returns to his South Pacific island kingdom to take over the throne. However, he finds that his black widow sister-in-law, an evil schemestress, intends to take the kingdom for herself!

Thankfully FORBIDDEN WOMEN is only 62 minutes, as it’s a very talky attempt at creating a Hollywood epic on a Filipino budget. The lavish sets and costumes, cultural dances, and political script are impressive, but it’s surprising to think that anyone in the U.S. would have purchased this film for distribution! But distributor Lloyd Friedgen shot new sequences of topless women (the FORBIDDEN ones of the title, I assume) to spice up the film and ensure it would sell as a roadshow attraction; the brief torture chamber sequence probably helped, too. In other words, skip this one and watch FORBIDDEN ADVENTURE again.

Stuart Glabraith IV’s review on the DVD Talk website:

Something Weird Video deserves a medal of some kind for rescuing from oblivion dozens, if not hundreds of fringe market movies that they quite rightly regard as historically significant examples of the type of PT Barnum-type showmanship worth preserving. The two features in this "Taboo Double Feature," Forbidden Adventure (1935) and Forbidden Women (1949), are esthetically awful but quite fascinating in other ways not intended. Both are in surprisingly good shape (though the extensive stock footage in the former is often pretty terrible) and, par for the course, Something Weird has supplemented this package with another hour or so of extra features, including an entirely different cut of Forbidden Adventure that was released in Britain.

…The 62-minute Forbidden Women is another curio. Apparently this is a Filipino production, possibly with American input and, at the very least, features scenes of obviously American strippers crudely inserted into the narrative. Though set on an "unknown island in the South Pacific," Forbidden Women's familiar tale of palace intrigue is set in a mythical kingdom more Siamese than Polynesian (and its citizens are explicitly Islamic). Prepubescent Prince Sigore (Bimbo Danao? the cast goes unidentified), a Filipino cross between Sabu and Bobby Blake, returns to his kingdom as heir to the throne. His arrival is heralded in the film's big musical number, curiously similar to the Danny Kaye number "(You'll Never) Outfox the Fox" from The Court Jester (1956). However, the Sultan's evil cousin and sister-in-law conspire to take power by poisoning the ruler and discrediting Prince Sigore. It's a frame-up as the Prince is caught red-handed in the Ladies-Only Temple of the Golden Chamber, home to the Forbidden Women.

Where did Forbidden Women come from? Was it a wholly Filipino production with American inserts or primarily an American production shot in the Philippines? Is its story typical of the kinds of films popular in the Philippines in 1948, or tailor-made for a perceived foreign market? Whatever the answer, the film was shot entirely in English, though one assumes that many in the cast were primarily Tagalog speakers, as the performances are uniformly terrible. The sets are elaborate but cheaply-made and the action crudely realized. But some in the cast, especially the actors playing Prince Sigore, his attendant (a Filipino Smiley Burnette, complete with blank, wall-eyed stares), and the Sultan are likable.

Bill Gibron’s review at the DVD Verdict website:

At least Forbidden Women doesn't deny its jerry-rigged joys. When producer Lloyd Friedgen traveled to a post-World War II Philippines looking for films to release, he struck Polynesian paydirt with this tropical island melodrama. Beginning with a sufficiently strange musical number (that's right, our proto-political potboiler is also a saccharine songfest) about life as a "merry hunter" and ending with a free-for-all battle that's more action-packed than a post-millennial summer blockbuster, all Friedgen had to do was import some erotic eye candy and he believed he had a horny hit on his hands. Yet instead of hiring exotic-looking dancers who could cinematically mingle with the rest of the decidedly ethnic cast, our flawed filmmaker hired girls from some skid-row burlesque house and forced them to flop around in their decidedly Caucasian accoutrements. The result is immediately obvious. One moment, we are watching a wise old Asian woman speak in a clipped Confucius-like manner concerning laws and tradition. The next, a barmaid from Queens is shaking her fans and exposing her cellulite. The fact that all of this is happening in front of a whisper-thin pre-teen prince who is visiting the Golden Chamber (read: Bali brothel) as part of his "continuing education in preparation for becoming Sultan" says more for the original film's perverted premise than Friedgen's post-production pandering.

Indeed, a lot of Forbidden Women plays like an overripe cautionary tale about the ability of power to corrupt and the inability of island people to settle their differences without poisonings and armed fisticuffs. The rather sedate Sultan may be one heck of a leader, but his son with big ideas wants to cause all kinds of trouble (he's been off being schooled by the colonialist white men, don't you know). He believes in concepts like equality, freedom, humanity, and justice. Naturally this puts him at odds with relatives that would rather kill than share with the impoverished. The complicated coup d'etat, which requires slowly filling the leader with homemade toxins while feeding his snot-nosed offspring to the sharks (!!!), begins without a hitch, but our adolescent agitator throws a big fat monarchal monkey wrench into things when one of his assassins turns spineless. He can't kill a kid, no matter how much wealth, security, and political power it means for him. No, the assassin vows loyalty to the future sovereign, takes him to his uncharted home island, and even hooks him up with his own prepubescent daughter. After favoring us with a powerful love ballad about the "magical moonlight," his tiny highness prepares to kick some backstabber butt. Yet while his armies are fighting, all he does is "haunt" his evil aunt (she thinks he's dead, remember?) and warns his pop against any more toxic treats. Having long since forgotten its strip-show sequences, Forbidden Women ends just as oddly as it began.