Masquerade (1967)

1967 – Masquerade (BZ Productions/Emar Pictures)

[Release date 31st December 1967]

Director Danny L. Zialcita [as "DLZ"] Producer “BZ” [believed to be Danny's father Dr Benjamin Zialcita] Cinematography Mars Rasca Music Demet Velasquez Editor Teofilo de Leon Sound Supervision Luis Reyes Production Manager Max Rivera Assistant Director Fred F. Castro Special Effects Silvano Baligas Makeup Artist Rosita Dizon Unit Manager Emilio Ay-Ay Assistant Camera Jun Rasca, Arnold Alvaro Field Soundman Sebastian Sayson Chief Laboratory Technician Johnny Fornoles Printer Simeon Amado Assistant Editors Benigno de Leon, Ike Jarlego Jr Stillman Alejandro Forno? Titles Bert Nepomuceno 

Cast Bernard Bonnin (Philip Monteverde), Marlene Dauden (Veronica de Villa), Liberty Ilagan (Emily Verzosa), Ben Perez (Dr Hernando Marquez), Vic Salayan (Judge Dante Soriano), Alfonso Carvajal (General Dan Moreno), Martin Marfil (Telesforo), Vic Andaya (Allan Alindogan), Maria Hernandez (Matilde Africa), Eddie Arenas (“Rusty”/Rustico), Jack Davis (Jonathan Dreyfus) [also referred to as “Rayfus”], Eddie Fernandez, Perla Bautista, Nancy Roman, Elvie Gonzales, Eddie Mercado, Nel dela Ysla, Baby Alvarez, Paquito Benitez, Douglas Prieto, Bert Asuncion, Bert Samonte

THRILLER

Review by Andrew Leavold

[Special thanks go to SOFIA's Teddy Co and Monchito Nochon for providing a copy of the film, and to Video 48's Simon Santos for the poster and screen captures]

One of my favourite Bollywood films from the Sixties is the 1965 murder mystery Gumnaam, a rip-roaring plundering of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians bathed in saturated Mario Bava-esque lighting and featuring a butler with a Hitler moustache (the late, great comedian Mehmood) and a musical number every twenty minutes. It’s not the first time Dame Agatha’s plot has been adapted by enterprising producers inside and out of the English-speaking film world, as it’s a hoary, occasionally effective device - a group of strangers with hidden pasts are brought together in an isolated environment, and are killed off one by one until the killer is ultimately revealed – which demands limitations budget, cast and locations, often requiring little more than a single studio set. For a competent filmmaker, a considerable amount of tension and any number of unexpected narrative twists can be wrung from meager resources.

Such a filmmaker is former cause celebre Danny L. Zialcita, a writer-director whose career trajectory bears more than a passing resemblance to the revered Celso Ad. Castillo. Both graduated in the public’s mind at some point in the Seventies from gifted, gimmicky populists to genuine auteurs. Like Celso Ad. Castillo, he started in the pulps, directing spy thrillers and lurid bomba dramas; his 1965 debut, a Bond riff titled Lady Killer, kickstarted a whole series by Zialcita which propelled Romano Castellvi to stardom, and he also helmed two popular spy films with Bernard Bonnin as secret agent Hammerhead (Hammerhead and Incognito [both 1967]). And like Celso, his films from the Seventies and Eighties were more of a Happening, in the Sixties’ sense of the word, than just a premiere. Celso’s peak has long passed, and it’s no doubt due in part to his relentless self-promotion that long-unseen films like Nympha (1971) are recalled with such clarity. Not so Zialcita, who only recently emerged after years of self-imposed exile (due, word on the street tells us, to a decades-long drug problem), and whose name continues to slip under the radar of many cineastes.

Masquerade, a 1967 mystery “inspired” by Ten Little Indians, is an odd duck, appearing at a time in Pinoy cinema during an avalanche of spy films, westerns, war films, karate actioners, Hollywood parodies, musical comedies and both teen and mature weepie dramas. Zialcita hides here behind his eponymous “DLZ”, as does the producer “BZ” (his rich father, perhaps?), and rounds up an impressive cast of top-shelf Pinoy names and character actors to play eight strangers tempted to a masquerade on secluded Diablo Island by an unseen benefactor known only as Mr X, and his enigmatic American proxy Mr Dreyfus (Jack Davis), a strange bird complete with brolly and bowler hat. Hammerhead’s Bonnin plays dashing celebrity and man-of-few-words Philip Monteverde; glamour comes in the comely shapes of Marlene Dauden as the manipulative Vera, and a lovely, if somewhat bedraggled, Liberty Ilagan as boozehound Emily. Veterans Vic Salayan, Alfonso Carvajal, Martin Marfil and Vic Andaya help round out the list of suspects which include a judge, a General, a nightclub singer, a doctor and industrialist playboy. None of them suspect a connection between each other; they are more interested in Mr Dreyfus’ offers of money, women and sport (and for more than one character, the three are inseparable).

As the ferry leaves the island and the eight guests are trapped in a sprawling mansion along with Dreyfus and two bemused servants, they all find themselves unwilling participants in, as one puts it, “a Masquerade…of DEATH!” One suffocates in a glass-topped coffin and another lands a cleaver in the face, while their hidden host plays upon each of their insecurities, suspicions and paranoias. No-one has been judged innocent, it appears, and their killer has stacked eleven funereal wreaths in the basement and published their death notices in the previous week’s newspaper. Eventually the characters are whittled down to just two, and still there’s no sign of an easy resolution. “Who could it be?” demands the narrator, as a ragged yet effective recap of the film’s murders swings the footage into negative stock. “You have been given ample time. Now be prepared for a SHOCK!”

Zialcita attended a 2010 screening of the film’s only surviving print from its distributor, JE Films’ Joseph Estrada, and during a Q&A session afterwards trashed his efforts as “short of rubbish”. I can understand why – I’m sure he prefers the post-bomba films he’s more famous for, in which he had found a far less forced voice, and a maturity in theme, form and technique. On the evolutionary scale of a filmmaker, Masquerade is the showy, self-conscious attempt by a young auteur-in-waiting at breaking out of the restrictions of local storytelling and attempting a more sophisticated, deliberately European-influenced or Welles-ian work. A telling sign is that almost half of the dialogue is spoken in English (delivered at a leaden pace for those less familiar with the language), which immediately sets the film apart from its Tagalog contemporaries. It’s also in the noir-ish lighting from below casting shadows on ceilings, in the deliberate framing, and perspective tricks. The film is certainly impressive for a young director working within such a rigid star system, audience expectations and formulaic genre, but Zialcita’s stylistic ploys are often forced and aggressive, and cry out for attention. It’s far from “rubbish”, however, and Mr Zialcita is either being unnecessarily humble or self-critical to the point of self-immolation. Masquerade is not great and, despite the nods to Welles, can in no way be considered his Citizen Kane. Instead it’s “clever” (and I mean that with no disrespect), zippy and intriguing, and crammed with shadows of films to come.

Bernard Bonnin (Philip Monteverde)

Marlene Dauden (Veronica de Villa)

Liberty Ilagan (Emily Verzosa)

Ben Perez (Dr Hernando Marquez)

Vic Salayan (Judge Dante Soriano)

Alfonso Carvajal (General Dan Moreno)

Maria Hernandez (Matilde Africa) and Martin Marfil (Telesforo)

Vic Andaya (Allan Alindogan)

Eddie Arenas (“Rusty”/Rustico)

Jack Davis (Jonathan Dreyfus) 

- mp4 file [in Tagalog with no subtitles]

Seven Deadly Roses (1969)

Image courtesy of the Video 48 blog

1969 - Seven Deadly Roses (Elk’s Productions)  

[Release date 11th April 1969; also listed as “Tony Falcon And The Seven Deadly Roses”]  

Director A. Gregorio Writer Greg Macabenta Cinematography Mike Accion Music Tony Maiquez  

Cast Tony Ferrer (Tony Falcon, Agent X-44), Marlene Dauden, Lourdes Medel, Imelda Ilanan, Sofia Moran, Verna Gaston, Joy Dee, Perla Bautista, Victor Bravo, Manolo Noble, Rocco Montalban, Nort Nepomuceno, Larry Silva, Joaquin Fajardo, Ruben Ramos, Joe Sison, Joe Cunanan, Leon Pajaron, Romy Nario, Larry Esguerra, Sancho Tesalona, Art Veloso, Benny Mallari, Joe Canlas, Romy Blanco, Joe Andrade, Gaston Garcia, Ruben Disamparo, Pons de Guzman, Hosping Pregonero, Rudy de Vera, Tony Garcia, Lito Montoya, Jing Caparas, Amado Gasmin, PMP Commandos, SOS Daredevils, Arthur Villegas, Jack Davis   

SPY/ACTION  

NOTE: This is number 21 in a long-running series of Agent X-44 films starring Tony Ferrer. For a full filmography and detailed article on the X-44 series, click HERE. 

THEATRICAL

PHILIPPINES - released 11th April 1969

GUAM - screened at the Johnston in Agana from 23rd to 29th July 1969, and at the Marina Drive-In from 13th to 19th August 1969  

HAWAII - screened at the Zamboanga in Honolulu from 18th to 24th January 1972, and on 10th November 1972 and 25th May 1973 at the Waipahu Theatre

USA - screened at the Grand in San Francisco from 28th June to 5th July 1971, and at the Campus theatre in Hollywood on 22nd February 1975

The Specialists (1968)

Image courtesy of the Video 48 blog

1968 - The Specialists (Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions)  

[Release date 14th December 1968]  

Director A. Gregorio Writer Greg Macabenta Producer Attorney Espiridion Laxa Music Carding Cruz 

Cast Tony Ferrer (Tony Falcon, Agent X-44), Marlene Dauden, Liza Lorena, Joy Dee, Johnny Wilson, Joe Sison, Jack Davis, Perla Bautista, Alicja Basili, Lauro Delgado, Victor Bravo, Max Alvarado, Monolo Noble, SOS Daredevils, Danny Rojo  

SPY/ACTION   

NOTE: This is the nineteenth in a long-running series of Agent X-44 films starring Tony Ferrer. For a full filmography and detailed article on the X-44 series, click HERE. 

THEATRICAL

PHILIPPINES - released 14th December 1968

  

Modus Operandi (1967)

Image courtesy of the Video 48 blog 

1967 - Modus Operandi (Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions/Dan-Sil Productions)  

[Release date 18th June 1967]  

Director Eddie Garcia Screenplay Greg B. Macabenta Producer Attorney Espiridion Laxa Music Carding Cruz  

Cast Tony Ferrer (Tony Falcon, Agent X-44), Divina Valencia, Anna Gonzales, Peggy Williams, Marlene Dauden, Rod Navarro, Jack Davis, Lauro Delgado, Joe Sison, Manolo Robles, Rocco Montalban, Danny Rojo, Leon Pajaron, Bernard Belleza, Steve Alcarado, Lope Policarpio, Greg Lansang [other sources list Bert Olivar, Alex Flores, Jerry Skiver]  

SPY/ACTION 

NOTE: This is the seventeenth in a long-running series of Agent X-44 films starring Tony Ferrer. For a full filmography and detailed article on the X-44 series, click HERE. 

 

THEATRICAL

PHILIPPINES - released 18th June 1967

  

Kill...Tony Falcon (1966)

Image courtesy of the Video 48 blog

1966 - Kill...Tony Falcon (Arguz Productions/Regina Productions)  

[Release date 11th November 1966]  

Director/Producer Armando de Guzman  

Cast Tony Ferrer (Tony Falcon, Agent X44), Marlene Dauden, Willie Sotelo, Vic Silayan, Lito Garcia, Gabriel Paile, Danilo Jurado, Suzanne Machele, Liza Grey, Ric Bustamante  

SPY/ACTION   

NOTE: This is the twelfth in a long-running series of Agent X-44 films starring Tony Ferrer. For a full filmography and detailed article on the X-44 series, click HERE. 

Image courtesy of the Pelikula Atbp blog

THEATRICAL

PHILIPPINES - released 11th November 1966

  

Mastermind (1965)

Image courtesy of the Video 48 blog

1965 – Mastermind (Tagalog Ilang-Ilang Productions)  

[Release date 3rd December 1965]  

Director Eddie Garcia Producer Attorney Espiridion Laxa

Cast Tony Ferrer (Tony Falcon, Agent X-44), Miriam Jurado, Bessie Barredo, Marlene Dauden, Max Alvarado, Arnold Mendoza, Joe Sison, Victor Bravo, Monolo Robles, Jose Garcia, Manolo Noble, Rocco Montalban, Nort Nepomuceno, Rod Navarro, Divina Valencia  

SPY/ACTION  

NOTE: This is the fifth in a long-running series of Agent X-44 films starring Tony Ferrer. For a full filmography and detailed article on the X-44 series, click HERE.