Diwata Ng Karagatan (1936)

1936 - Diwata Ng Karagatan/"Fairy Of The Ocean" (Parlatone Hispano-Filipino)

[Release date 6th February 1936; released in France and Belgium as "Ligaya, Fille des îles" ("Ligaya, Girl Of The Islands") and "Wong, Le Tyran" ("Wong, The Tyrant")]

Director/Writer Carlos Vander Tolosa Producer Jose Nepomuceno

Cast Rogelio de la Rosa, Mari Velez

From Nick Deocampo's Facebook post (images courtesy of Nick): 

IMPORTANT NEWS!!! OLDEST FILIPINO FILM PRODUCED BY PIONEER JOSE NEPOMUCENO FOUND IN BELGIUM

A national film treasure has just been found! A copy of Diwata Ng Karagatan, long-rumored to be existing but not found, has finally been located at the Belgian film archive. Using my personal money to buy a plane ticket to go to Brussels, Belgium from Berlin, I linked-up with the daughter of a pioneering Ilonggo-language film director, Louise Baterna, to liaise with the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique in finding the film. Happy to announce, the film's been found!

On October 28, we found ourselves watching the only-known  existing copy of the vintage movie being played on a Steenbeck editing machine. We were accommodated at the venue by Hugo Mestdagh, coordinator for digital film collection and restoration. The film exists only in a 35 mm print, as no copy has yet been digitized ever since a nitrate original was deposited at the archive by the now-closed Belgian film laboratory CineLabor in 2016.

The film’s 1936 provenance dislodges the claim earlier held by the 1937 Fernando Poe Sr-starrer, Zamboanga, as the oldest Filipino pre-World War II movie, a film that I also discovered abroad while on a Fulbright-funded research scholarship at the Library of Congress in 2004. 

The Tribune, 14th January 1939, p.6

Diwata Ng Karagatan’s appearance is undeniably historic in many ways. Produced in 1936, it will mark its 90-year history next year. After its first screening that year, it was re-premiered in 1939 to celebrate its successful exhibitions abroad. During the intervening years, the film was exported to France and it also had screenings in Belgium and South America. It appeared to be in popular demand in France as the film was released several times in different titles. The most popular of the titles was Ligaya, fille des îles (Ligaya, Girl of the Island). Another was, Wong, Le Tyran (Wong, The Tyrant), referring to the film’s evil nemesis. Since after its last exhibition at Fox Theater in Manila, nothing has been heard of it until the war broke out in 1941. All movies in Manila disappeared with the war. Thankfully, a copy of the film has now been found abroad.

What makes the discovery of this film doubly historical is that this is the first and perhaps the only film that is extant that was produced by the Father of Philippine Cinema, Jose Nepomuceno. Despite rumors of some films attributed to Nepomuceno to be existing, none of his films has ever been found.  

The newly-discovered copy is certifiably Nepomuceno’s, produced by his pioneering film studio, Parlatone Hispano-Filipino. It is a film he produced but not directed. Instead, it was directed by another pioneering figure, Carlos Vander Tolosa, the same filmmaker who directed the first films to open the movie studios, Sampaguita and LVN, in the Thirties. Diwata Ng Karagatan, shot and released in 1936, preceded both movies as Sampaguita’s Bituing Marikit was shot in 1937 and LVN’s Giliw Ko was made in 1939. 

The two films are among the only four (or five?) known feature-length films that survived the war, including Ibong Adarna, Tunay na Ina, and Pakiusap. This is sad considering the scores of films that were made before the war. The film Zamboanga held its reputation as the oldest among them since 2004 when I brought home a copy. This record has now been broken with the discovery of Diwata ng Karagatan.

The reason why it was difficult to find Filipino films in foreign film archives may surprise many of us. It was because of film piracy. This malpractice was rampant even during the early film days. Diwata ng Karagatan fell victim to this unscrupulous practice when a copy presumably owned by a French distributor was re-edited and later released in the French-speaking market. It was claimed to be a French production, which it was not. 

The film was cut down to its present running time of only 52 minutes from a possibly longer version by a French film promoter, a certain Gabriel Pallu. In claiming the film to be a French production, scenes in the film were jumbled, with some elements now missing, and all the names erased of the Filipinos credited to have made the film (including the producer Nepomuceno and the director Tolosa). Their names were substituted by French names, further claiming the film to be a musical romance film. A French voice-over narration could be heard (no narration in the original), while luckily the Tagalog dialogues have been preserved. Louise Baterna and I found it heartbreaking to find only a long black leader at the end of the film where names of Filipinos once appeared in the closing credits. The ending was all blacked-out while the theme music continued to play. This was evidently a clear case of filmic and cultural erasure.

No credit could also be found of the actors, as the film was claimed to be a “documentary” of some exotic South-sea natives, a popular topic in the Thirties. It is of the same genre as Zamboanga, also carrying the same South-sea romance theme. The country where the film was shot (the Philippines) was also left unknown. Identifying the two leading actors now, the male lead was played by the young Rogelio de la Rosa, and the female lead was played by Mari Veles. The antagonist, the sinister Wong, remains unknown, as with the other actors whose names still need to be identified. 

The discovery of the film may be seen as an archaeological film find or a detective film work but just the same it was a major coup in finding the old Filipino movie. With Manila totally devastated during World War II, and with no archive to store films then, it is lucky that a few films still remain to be found in foreign archives. A similar incident happened with the finding of the pioneering Ilonggo feature-length movie shot in 1977, also discovered in Belgium. The rare film was Ginauhaw Ako, Ginagutom Ako (I Am Thirsty, I Am Hungry), a film co-directed by Leonardo Belen and Quin Baterna, starring Susan Henson and Rosemarie Gil. The producer’s daughter, Louise Baterna, turned to be an ideal partner as she was instrumental in snatching her father’s film from historical oblivion. The film was later digitized by the Philippine Film Archive. Without Louise’s local support and facility in the French language, I would not have done everything in two days, considering I had no financial or logistical support but my retirement money from UP.

Still, until now, no real effort has been made to find Filipino films abroad. My effort is a personal one driven by my love for Philippine cinema and fueled by my scholarly interest in Filipino film history. Who would be crazy enough to jump on a plane using personal funds to go to Belgium without fully knowing if a copy of the film was there? But the gamble paid off.  A national film treasure has been found! 

PHILIPPINES - initial screenings at the Lyric Theatre in Manila from 6th February 1936, at the Fox Theatre from February 15th, and at the Queens Theatre on 25th and 26th February.

Following its successful sale to France and (according to Manila newspapers) South America, the French edit was screened at the Fox from 17th to 19th January 1939.

HAWAII - initially screened at the Empire in Hilo, Big Island on 8th to 9th January 1937, with Atang de la Rama's live stage show. The film was subsequently distributed throughout the Islands via Consolidated Amusements:

- 2nd March 1937 - Wahiawa Theatre

- 9th March 1937 - Palama, Honolulu

- 15th March 1937 - Ewa Theatre

- 17th March 1937 - Waipahu Theatre

Unlike all film copies in the Philippines, Consolidated's print survives World War 2, and continues to screen until the early Fifties:

- 22nd February 1946 - Aala, Honolulu

- 16th September 1946 - Palama, Honolulu

- 20th October 1946 - Palace, Hilo

- 22nd September 1947 - Palama, Honolulu

- 5th May 1949 - Roosevelt, Honolulu

- 16th June 1949 - Mamo, Hilo

- 1st May 1952 - Mamo, Hilo

USA - Consolidated's print takes a tour of California with at least two screenings, possibly many more, as most Tagalog programs went unannounced in the English-language newspapers:

- 21st April 1948 - Rio Theatre, Soledad

- 28th April 1948 - Globe Theatre, San Pedro

FRANCE - released under several different titles, "Ligaya, Fille des îles" ("Ligaya, Girl Of The Islands") and "Wong, Le Tyran" ("Wong, The Tyrant"). See Nick Deocampo's above article for more details. 

The Walls Of Hell (1964)

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

[US-Filipino co-production filmed in Manila; local release date 7th March 1964 as “Intramuros”]  

Directors Gerardo de Leon, Eddie Romero Writers Cesar Amigo, Ferde Grofé Jr, Eddie Romero [as “E.F. Romero”] Producer Eddie Romero Executive Producer Kane W. Lynn Cinematography Felipe Sacdalan Music Tito Arevalo Orchestration Vic Marqueses Supervising Editor Joven Calub Editor Ben Barcelon Sound Engineer Demetrio de Santos Sound Mixer Pat del Rosario Sound Effects Editor Tony Gosalvez Production Manager Carpi Asturias Art Director Vicente Bonus Assistant Director Jose M. Dagumboy Special Effects Hilario Brothers Makeup Artist Remy Amazan Wardrobe Paquito Salcedo Assistant Cameraman Edmundo Bautista Sound Recordists Vicente Dona, Arsenio Nicolas Unit Manager Jose Flores Sibal Assistant Unit Manager Walter K. Phelps Jr Continuity Director Dik Trofeo Armorer Fernando Fernandez Laboratory Cesario Ereso, Cirilo Marcos  

Cast Jock Mahoney (Lieutenant Jim Sorenson), Fernando Poe Jr (Sergeant Nardo Maglaya), Michael J. Parsons [as Mike Parsons], Oscar Roncal (Joker), Paul Edwards Jr (Murray), Ely Ramos Jr (Jose), Fred Galang (Pedring), Arsenio Alonzo, Vance Skarstedt [as “Vance Scarstead”] (Major Briggs), Claude Wilson, Pedro Navarro, Carpi Asturias (Commander Reyes), Andres Centenera (Benjamin Soler), Paquito Salcedo (Old Man in Prison Camp), Alex Swanbeck, Tommy Romulo, Willie Salcedo, Angelo Ventura [as “Angel Buenaventura”] (Private Felipe Cruz), George Kramer, Cecilia Lopez (Tina Sorenson) [IMDB also lists Jess Montalban, Ben Sanchez, Reynaldo Sibaldo]  

WAR  

Co-director Gerardo de Leon (middle) with actors Fernando Poe Jr and Jock Mahoney. 

Image and Filipino posters courtesy of Simon Santos and his Video 48 blog

NOTES by Andrew Leavold: Intramuros/The Walls Of Hell was the first co-production between Eddie Romero's Filipinas Productions and his partner in Lynn-Romero Productions, Kane W. Lynn's new company Hemisphere Pictures. Filipinas' co-producer Michael J. Parsons has a significant role as Papa. Screenplay was co-written by George Montgomery's writer and director Ferde Grofe Jr (The Steel Claw, Warkill etc). Eddie co-directed with his long-time mentor Gerardo (aka "Gerry") de Leon, on location in the still-war ravaged ruins of the walled city.

From Intramuros' Facebook page:

Review by Andrew Leavold [transcript of my intro to the "Schlock Treatment" screening of The Walls Of Hell on Brisbane's Briz 31 TV, 18th January 2008]

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 Liberation 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 released, as Romero often did under his “Filipinas Productions” banner, as a local 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.

Noel Vera's review on his Critic After Dark blog

Jock Mahoney (Lieutenant Jim Sorenson)

Fernando Poe Jr (Sergeant Nardo Maglaya)

Michael J. Parsons [as Mike Parsons] (Papa)

Oscar Roncal (Joker)

Paul Edwards Jr (Murray)

Ely Ramos Jr (Jose)

Fred Galang (Pedring)

Vance Skarstedt [as “Vance Scarstead”] (Major Briggs)

Carpi Asturias (Commander Reyes)

Andres Centenera (Benjamin Soler)

Paquito Salcedo (left - Old Man in Prison Camp)

Angelo Ventura [as “Angel Buenaventura”] (Private Felipe Cruz)

Cecilia Lopez (Tina Sorenson) 

THEATRICAL

PHILIPPINES - released as "Intramuros" on 7th March 1964 via Eddie Romero's Filipinas Productions.

Later re-released to Filipino screens as "The Walls Of Hell" (date unknown). You always know when it's a Filipino poster - Fernando Poe Jr is billed above Tarzan!

USA - released by Hemisphere Pictures as "The Walls Of Hell" on 10th August 1964, according to the Internet Movie Database. Response was underwhelming, to say the least - note the above ad where the film is dumped on a double bill with Robin And The Seven Hoods!

In an attempt to rebrand the film as a horror title, Hemisphere re-releases The Walls Of Hell to US theatres in December 1964 on a much more marketable double bill with Eddie and Gerry's earlier film Terror Is A Man (1959), retitled "Blood Creature". 

Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 14th December 1964, p.27

HAWAII - "The Walls Of Hell" made the newspapers ahead of its tour of the Islands via Consolidated with Girls On The Beach (1965).

The film was then re-released in April/May 1966 onto Consolidated's Filipino-language circuit (although the film was in English, the obvious drawcard for the Filipino diaspora was Fernando Poe Jr - again, notice his name comes first).

GUAM - distributed by Herbert Johnston, owner of the Johnston Theatre in Agana and the Marine Drive-In. Both venues had a large Filipino clientele; Johnston later began importing Tagalog-language films with great success. "The Walls Of Hell" was paired with Wild On The Beach (1965) and screened at the Johnston from 27th to 29th January 1966 and 6th to 8th March 1966, before appearing at the Marine Drive-In from 19th to 23rd March the same year. 

UK - released as "The Walls Of Hell" in a double bill with the Hammer thriller The Nanny (1965) by ABC [Associated British Cinemas, a branch of Associated British Picture Corporation] on 8th November 1965; screened around the UK from November 1965 to February 1966.  

FRANCE - released dubbed into French as “Les Murailles de l’Enfer” via Sorexi, on 8th March 1967 (according to the Internet Movie Database).

WEST GERMANY - released dubbed into German as "Der Hölle Ausgeliefert", according to the Internet Movie Database.

ITALY - released dubbed into Italian as "Ora X Commandos Invisibili" via Florida Cinematografica, date unknown.

SPAIN - released dubbed into Spanish as “Las Murallas Del Infierno (The Walls Of Hell)” by CB Films, date unknown.

SWEDEN - released with Swedish subtitles as "Blod över Filippinerna" ("Blood Over The Philippines"), distributor unknown, on 23rd August 1965 (according to the Internet Movie Database).

DENMARK - released with Danish subtitles as "Helvedes Mure" via Simonex-Film on 19th April 1965 [according to the Danish Film Institute].

FINLAND - released as "Helvetin Muurit" on 1st October 1965 (according to the Internet Movie Database).

MEXICO - released as "La Muralla Del Infierno", release date 22nd July 1965 (according to the Internet Movie Database).

BRAZIL - released as "Muralhas Do Inferno", according to the Internet Movie Database.

DIGITAL

USA - released on DVD in 2001 via Winstar Video.

ITALY - released on DVD as "Ora X Commandos Invisibili" in both English and Italian dubs via Mosaico Media.

CZECH REPUBLIC - the internet suggests the DVD release of "Bitva O Manilu" is in fact The Walls Of Hell, but could also be Manila Open City (1968) or a documentary about the fall of Manila. If anyone has a scan of the back cover, I'd love to confirm its contents.

- US DVD