The Bamboo Gods Project: The Quick Brown Fox (1980)

1980 - The Quick Brown Fox (RVQ Productions)

[Release date 6th November 1980; full title “The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Pig”]

Director Jett C. Espiritu Story Jett C. Espiritu, Vic J. Poblete Screenplay Vic J. Poblete Executive Producer Dolphy [as Rodolfo V. Quizon] Cinematography Claro Gonzalez Music D'Amarillo Editor Efren Jarlego Sound Effects Demet Velasquez General Manager Manuel “Boy” Quizon Assistant General Manager Laura Cooper-Nurse Production Comptroller Paquito Bautista Production Manager Fred Sta. Ana Assistant Director Andy Andico Fight Instructors Fred Esplana, Jay Grama Special Effects Danny Torrente Makeup Artist Ligaya Quince Setting Director Pepe Cruz Property Master Maning Cabides Propsman Jun de Leon Cameraman Lito Lapara Field Soundman Andrade Robiso Schedule Master Butch Peralta Utility Domingo Ocanar?, Leonardo Manuel Assistant Editors Dante de Leon, Ning de Leon Titles Joseph Bernardo Stills Roger Baruelo Layout Artists Eileen Albayda, [uncredited] Eddie Domer

Cast Dolphy (The Quick Brown Fox), Nida Blanca, Panchito, Carmi Martin (Karen), Anna Marie Gutierrez, Paquito Diaz (Samuel), Jing Abalos (Undercover Cop), Teroy de Guzman, Conde Ubaldo, Tsing Tong Tsai (Syndicate Henchman), Weng Weng, Max Vera, Benny Mack, Panchito Jr, Er "Canton" Salazar (Syndicate Henchman), Lea Dominguez (Lea), Arturo "Bomber" Moran (Syndicate Henchman), Boy Pineda, Nonong de Andres, Fred Esplana, Jay Grama, Paquito Bautista, Manuel "Boy" Quizon, Roy Aoyama (Rainbow Assassin - Japan), Danolo D'Oro (Rainbow Assassin - Spain), Tim Davis (Rainbow Assassin - El Salvador), James Gaines [Jr] (Kurt, aka Rainbow Assassin - USA), George Weber Jr (Mr Whitman), Ibrahim Muhamid [listed on the poster as “Abraham Muhamid”] (Rainbow Assassin - Somalia), Patrick Abide (Rainbow Assassin - Uganda), Cyril Ojinaka, Protacio Dee (Rainbow Assassin - China), Ben Manalo, Telly Babasa, Atong Maximo, Boy de Castro, Roland Falcis [as Rolan Flacis], Danny Catindig, Kent Gonzales, “Big Boy”, Tirso Mediavillo, Rosaura Cotoco, Rene Tupaz, Boyet Argama, Raquel Sayson, Rose Keller (Syndicate Member), Lauro Flores (Syndicate Goon), “Samson”, “Mar” [poster also lists Atong Maximo]

COMEDY/SPY/KUNG FU

Excerpt from The Search For Weng Weng book by Andrew Leavold

"Weng Weng." Dolphy smiled at the memory while we had lunch together in 2007. "I love that guy. A friend of mine brought him to me, saying, 'This is Weng Weng.' I said Okay, I’ll try to think of a place to put him in.”

And was that friend Peter Caballes? "Yeah, Caballes. Pete." Dolphy paused. "You know Pete?" I shook my head. "I don’t know where they are now. I haven’t seen Pete and Cora for a long, long time."

Frank Gray Jr, Dolphy's nephew, and frequent Assistant Director, Production Manager and Director, remembered meeting Pete Caballes, "I think in LVN Studios, or in SQ, a movie production [studio] in San Juan. That's where we met them. I think they were doing some dubbing or something. That's why I knew Weng Weng did some movies first before Da Best In Da West.

"We was always there, he was always doing something, I don't know… They said he had a magic or something, so I'm curious. So… well, why not. And then he wants to be in a movie. And I said, 'Pete, are you serious? He wants to be in a movie?' We always look for James Bond, a big guy with the big muscles, and he's a small guy. Well, I said, we're in a comedy business anyway, why not? (laughs)

“I bring Weng Weng to RVQ and I told Pete to talk to Dolphy. He's a nice guy, Pete, the manager. I said to Dolph, there's another guy who wants to be an actor. Then I bring this guy and all of a sudden Dolphy said, "Whoah! We can use him!" So Dolphy really did dig Weng Weng? "When he sees him, he likes him. He kept on asking, 'Where's Weng Weng?' I don't know. Maybe he got some magic, and it's right, maybe Weng Weng's got some magic. Maybe."

I told Dolphy I’d just seen him and Weng Weng in Da Best In Da West at the archives.
"In my production, that is the second," said Dolphy. The SECOND? "The first one was The Quick Brown Fox."

I couldn't believe my ears - Weng Weng made more than one film with the King of Comedy! "I’m playing the role of an agent," Dolphy continued, "and Weng Weng is my sidekick." I seem to remember Dolphy looking more than a little concerned at the sight of me hyperventilating behind the camera.

Released in November 1980, The Quick Brown Fox was indeed Weng Weng’s first film with Dolphy. The title had been kicking around since April 1974, when it was announced in newspapers as coming soon "for international release" alongside 'Fung Ku Force', a never-made sequel to Dolphy's successful Fung Ku (1973). Forced to become an undercover agent, wily safecracker Dolphy is employed by Carmi Martin (who’s also, unbeknownst to him, a secret agent) to steal a cannister of deadly bacteriological gas for the Syndicate known as the "Rainbow" due to the myriad of colours of its seven nation members: Paquito Diaz represents the Philippines; Pinoy kung fu regular Protacio Dee fronts China, Roy Aoyama is Japan, Danilo D'Ora from El Salvador.. "Because some of the goons and the masterminds are all foreigners, I’m the brown face who’s very fast in everything. So I am the one to be eliminated by the Racket." With "Rainbow" holding the US and Philippines to ransom, the Quick Brown Fox ropes in his miniature associate. "Weng Weng is my sidekick, he lives with me.” He laughed again at the memory. “He’s my right hand, you know? But he was killed by the goons, crucified in my room."

Director Jett C. Espiritu had previously helmed Dolphy's Bugoy and Dancing Master, described in an interview at the time as "one movie director who knows all the ropes in filmmaking. He has been a legman, propsman, production manager, assistant director, story writer, scripter. Name it, he's been through it. He is a graduate of the school of hard knocks in the movies." Espiritu would eventually direct more than ten action-comedies for Dolphy. "He has an uncanny knack of coming up with a bright idea on the set," Jett remarks. "One scene in the picture which should keep the audience in stitches is that of Dolphy and Panchito in a van being chased by syndicate men in a car. To keep them at bay, Dolphy keeps lobbing Molotov bombs at their car., tearing Panchito's clothes and using the shreds as wicks to light the improvised bombs. By the time the chase ends, Panchito is stripped almost naked."

Dolphy joined Frank Gray Jr in extolling Weng Weng’s magical charm. "He clicked in that movie because he knows martial arts and he can jump very fast. Everybody’s getting Weng Weng after The Quick Brown Fox and Da Best In Da West. They say Weng Weng’s lucky, to be in a movie."

I almost made the cab driver burn out his engine on the way to ABS-CBN Archives the next day, gave Mary del Pilar a big hug of gratitude, bounded into the viewing room and inserted the ancient U-Matic tape of The Quick Brown Fox into the machine. And – behold! - Weng Weng appeared on the TV monitor as Dolphy's tiny assistant, looking even more baby-faced than ever, and without a screen persona as such, he’s a little awkward during his squeaky dialogue (all in Tagalog, of course, with no subtitles). Paquito’s goons corner Weng at Dolphy’s pad and he fights back like a little kung fu dynamo, grabbing one by the arm and swinging backwards to kick him in the head - all classic Agent 00 moves, of course, long before For Y’ur Height Only. And then…..

The picture disintegrated into a snowstorm, and no matter how many times I ran the tape through the machine on fast forward, there was sound and nothing else. Mary then gave me the crushing news: the sole copy of The Quick Brown Fox in existence needs surgery, and if beyond resurrection, is gone forever.

I rang Jim Gaines from the upstairs coffee shop.
“Hey man, I’ve just seen another Dolphy film with Weng Weng in it.” I briefly described The Quick Brown Fox to him.
“Oh wow, dude. Congratulations.”
“Jim...you’re IN the movie too.”
“I am? God. Really? Oh yeah, I was….”
I laugh out loud. “Jim, we’ve been talking about Weng Weng for eight months, and you FORGOT you were in a film with him?”
He laughs too. “Jeez man, I plain forgot. Oh wow…”
Inwardly I both kissed and cursed my unreliable narrator.

The next day I sat Jim down to record his admittedly sketchy memories of The Quick Brown Fox. "I remember the first scene," said Jim, "the first day I shot, I think we were in a bake shop. Dolphy was molding this little bread, he would slap it (slaps his stomach) here, so that it's a strange shape, and he'd put it in an oven.

"I remember Weng Weng came in the afternoon, because he had a scene in the afternoon… That was the first time I met Weng Weng. I was wondering who's this little guy walking on the set, and it turned out to be a sidekick. Then we had lunch together, and we started talking, with this squeaky voice… Then Roy Aoyama came, he had his tattoo, and he's the real deal.” REAL Yakuza? Jim laughed. “Real yakuza who lives in the Philippines, and is a good friend of Dolphy's, he owned two clubs. He played the Japanese yakuza assassin hunting Dolphy. I played the American assassin, and was supposed to be an expert in martial arts. I can't remember if I had a fight scene with Weng Weng either? Gosh…" You more likely had a fight scene with Dolphy. "Oh definitely, yeah. 'Cos he killed me - I think I fell into the swimming pool and drowned. Roy was chasing Dolphy with a samurai at poolside, and I died. That's what I remember."

Jim laughed. "Wow, man, you told me about that yesterday, it blew my mind. 'I was in that film?'" He laughed again. "With Weng Weng? I didn't know that! Wow."

“On Crime Syndicates And The ‘Rainbow’ Connection In ‘The Quick Brown Fox’”, Philippines Daily Express, November 1980 [exact date and page number unknown]

Crime syndicates come by various names in different countries. In the US the most perniciously known is the Mafia whose “families” have engaged in rubbing out each other in bitter rivalry over territories and the spoils involved. In Japan the most notorious is the Yakuza. In Chinese communities they are known as the “tongs.”

Whatever their names, crime syndicates pose a big threat to society due to their nefarious activities which range from kidnapping to blackmail, drug trafficking, prostitution, protection racket, gambling, etc. Law enforcement agencies invariably have hard time busting their activities because their corrupting influence sometimes stretches into high places.

Some crime syndicates have become sophisticated and disguise their operations as legitimate business to launder their “dirty” money from that they derive from extortion and other strong-arm methods. The syndicate bosses, in their grey flannel suits and chauffeur-driven limousines, often look more like businessmen than deadly gangsters.

The mystique of evil attached to crime syndicates has aroused wide public curiosity and there have been many films made about these underworld organizations, the most famous of which is The Godfather.

Now RVQ Productions has come up with The Quick Brown Fox, a Dolphy starrer, in which the crime syndicate has been caricaturized as the “Rainbow” because of its multi-national membership whose racial colors represent the various hues of the spectrum.

There is Paquito Diaz representing the Philippines; Ibrahim Muhammad, Somalia, Africa; Patrick Adiba, Uganda, Africa: James Gaines, Los Angeles, California; Jim Davis, South America; Danilo D’Ora, El Salvador, South America; Roy Aoyama, Osaka, Japan; and Protacio Dee, China.

The “Rainbow” syndicate which operates world-wide has gotten hold of a cannister containing deadly experimental bacteriological gas which could wipe out the entire populace of a town. It is asking the Philippines and US governments a fabulous ransom for the return of the cannister.

To bust the local “Rainbow” connection, Dolphy has to use his sly-as-a-fox wits and rely on the help of his well-meaning but bumbling friends like Nida Blanca, Panchito and Teroy de Guzman.

George Weber, a long-time American resident of the Philippines who supplies local productions with foreign actors, provided some of the multi-national players who appeared as the “Rainbow” syndicate members.

Others in The Quick Brown Fox which is directed by Jett C. Espiritu from his own script and story by Vic Poblete are Carmi Martin, Anna Marie Gutierrez, Conde Ubaldo, Tsing Tong Tsai, Jing Abaolos, Paquito Principe Bautista, Weng Weng.

“Jett C. Espiritu: Director From School Of Hard Knocks”, Philippines Sunday Express, 09/11/80, pp.22-23

Here’s one movie director who knows all the ropes in filmmaking. He has been a legman, props man, sets man, production manager, assistant director, story writer, scripter. Name it, he’s been through it. He is a graduate of the school of hard knocks in the movies.

He’s Jett C. Espiritu who made two of Dolphy’s biggest hits, Dancing Master and Bugoy, and who has just finished directing another Dolphy starrer, RVQ Productions’ The Quick Brown Fox.

Jett says he didn’t direct until he learned all there is to know from first-hand experience and hard sweat. “Being a jack of all trades has helped me a lot in my directorial career,” he points out.

Before he became a sort of house director for RVQ Productions, Jett directed pictures for other movie outfits, among them Shanghai Joe for AFP Films in 1976, which was Rey Malonzo’s first starrer.

Jett claims he does not see other films, whether foreign or local. He only sees his own films to gauge what the audience likes or dislikes about them. He observes that for a picture to be commercially successful, the moviegoer must get his money’s worth. In The Quick Brown Fox, in pursuit of such dictum he kept injecting scenes not in the script that would entertain the audience or make them roll down the aisle in laughter. “This is possible because Dolphy gives me all the support,” he says. “Since Dolphy is not only an actor but also a producer, he has more knowledge and knows what his fans like.”

Jett says that Dolphy catalyzed some of the funniest scenes in The Quick Brown Fox. “He has an uncanny knack of coming up with a bright idea on the set,” Jett remarks. One scene in the picture which should keep the audience in stitches is that of Dolphy and Panchito in a van being chased by syndicate men in a car. To keep them at bay, Dolphy keeps lobbing Molotov bombs at their car, tearing Panchito’s clothes and using the shreds as wicks to light the improvised bombs. By the time the chase ends, Panchito is stripped almost naked.

Jett says that in a comedy picture, the script often serves merely as a guide and the director improvises to achieve that element of spontaneity which provokes laughter.