Red Belt Master (1974)

Image courtesy of Simon Santos' Video 48 blog

1974 – Red Belt Master (Gerald Productions)  

[Release date 23rd June 1974]  

Directors Carlos O. Manalastas, Angel Labra Story/Screenplay Jerry O. Tirazona  

Cast Trovador Ramos, Rommel Valdez [as Rommell Valdez], Gina Pareno, Paquito Diaz, Charlie Davao, Perry Baltazar, Max Alvarado, Protacio Dee, Johnny Vicar, Ernie Ortega, Robert Rivera, Ruben Ramos, Sancho Tesalona, Jun Santos, Pong Pong, SOS Daredevils, PMP [Stuntmen], PIS [Stuntmen], Tracma Boys, Pepe Cruz, Rey Javier, Jim de Leon  

Proposed Cast* Trovador Ramos (Cabigat, an Igorot brave whose father was killed by a band of goons), Rommel Valdez (Rommel, top undercover agent of the law who comes to the small Igorot village to get classified information about landgrabbing in the place), Gina Pareno (Lamya, the Igorot maiden), Charlie Davao (Don Manolo, the greedy landlord and miner), Sancho Tesalona (Sancho, one of the Don's trusted men), Johnny Vicar (Johnny, another trusted man of the Don), Jim Delon (Jim, Rommel's detective partner) Don's Henchmen Aldo Cruz, Rey Javier, Larry Silva, Jimmy Javier, Jimmy Evangelista

KUNG FU  

*from the shooting script submitted to the Board of Censors in 1974

THE LOST MOVIE PROJECT: Piecing together the fragments of the Philippines' vanished cinema

NOTE by Andrew Leavold: Yet another Pinoy martial arts film from the initial rush of Bruce Lee-inspired movies. This time Trovador Ramos, head of Filipino-based martial arts organization TRACMA (hence his own stunt team TRACMA Boys) and, so the story goes, the only man to ever beat Bruce Lee in a sparring match, was top-billed along with former stuntman Rommel Valdez. Red Belt Master was entered in the 1974 Manila Film Festival and vanished soon afterwards; other than the newspaper ad, the only evidence we can find of the film is the outline in the shooting script submitted to the Board of Censors in 1974...

SYNOPSIS: Time was during the early part of the 1950s. In the far-flung areas, the rich and the powerful harass and oppress the poor - using their riches and power to amass wealth; and amass more wealth just to maintain their power and stature.

Our story is centered on a group of Igorot tribesfolk somewhere in a sleepy community in the Mountain Province, ruled by their chief, Lakay Bugan. 

A group of armed goons harass the tribe, the purpose is to frighten them into leaving their village. The leader of the goons is a rich landed gentry named Don Manolo - who wanted the place of the Igorots vacated so that his secret in a nearby coal mines will not easily be made vulgar. Actually, he is not just mining coal as what he wants the authorities to believe: He is mining diamonds in a secret compartment inside the coal mines caves, a mining operation which he hides so much from the government and the people around so he won't pay large sums of money in taxes plus the fact that the government may take over the mining operations from him.

In trying to frighten the Igorots, Don Manolo's armed goons hang Lakay Bugan from the branch of a tree. With this, he is successful.

Classified information reaches the office of Colonel Ramos who is head of an intelligence group about several cases wherein those who were said to have gone near the Black Mountain were not able to get back and were believed to be either lost or dead. The Colonel right then and there sends his top-calibre undercover agent to the place to conduct an investigation.

It so happens that a certain man called Cabigat also arrived in the area and finds his way in the wooded area until he comes to the newly-settled Igorot tribe who had fled their former settlement. Actually, Cabigat is the only son of the murdered tribal chieftain. He had left his tribe when he was at the age of 12 when he was brought along to Tokyo by a Japanese soldier just after the last World War. In Tokyo he served under a Japanese karate master and had learned the art himself by which he earned the 13th dan red belt championship honor.

The undercover agent - Rommel Valdez - arrives in the vicinity of the Black Mountain, pretending to be hunting for wild pigs. Goons chance upon him. They shoot him, wounding him on the breast, then maul him and left him for dead. Later that evening, some Igorot braves chance upon him and bring him with them to their new settlement where an Igorot maid named Lamya takes care of him to nourish him back to health.

Cabigat and Rommel come to know each other, the tribe being now under the leadership of the former. Cabigat wants to fit force against Don Manolo and his goons but Rommel convinces him about using peaceful means. But this becomes a vain attempt because the town mayor is in cohorts with the Don.

A series of incidents lead one day to the disguise of Cabigat and Rommel as miners and penetrate the mining camp where they are immediately unmasked. They have no other way but to fight to defend themselves. They discover the secret and are able to kill some of the goons and capture the rest. As for Don Manolo, he is brought by Rommel to justice.