Da Best In Da West (1981)

1981 - Da Best In Da West (RVQ Productions) 

[Release date 12th June 1981] 

Director Romy Villaflor Story Roy Vera Cruz, Ben Feleo Screenplay Ben Feleo Executive Producer Dolphy [as Rodolfo Vera Quizon] Cinematography Alfonso Alvarez Music Dominic [Salustiano] Lyrics Dolphy Choreography Lito Calzado Editor Efren Jarlego Sound Supervisor Luis Reyes Field Soundman Ledwino Robiso General Manager Manny “Boy” Quizon Assistant General Manager Laura Cooper-Nurse Production Manager Caledonio “Boy” Pineda Project Coordinator Danding Inocencio Production Coordinator: Baguio City Barangay Captain Manny Tibayan Assistant Director Danny Hernandez Special Effects Eddie Torrente Stunt Coordinators Fred Esplana, Jay Grama, Eddie Nicart, Jun de Guia Set Decorator Pepe Cruz Property Masters Maning Cabides, Doming Ocenar Cameraman Lito Lapara Assistant Editors Armando Jarlego, Dante de Leon Rerecording Technicians Ramon Reyes, Oscar Magnaye Executive Assistant/Comptroller Paquito Principe Bautista 

Cast Dolphy (Wild Bill Hika), Lito Lapid (Dalton), Yehlen Catral (Jane), Nina Sara (Estralita), Romy Diaz (Facundo), Teroy de Guzman (Barman), Conde Ubaldo, Weng Weng (Deputy Bronson), Tony Carreon [as Antonio Carrion] (Don Oligareon), Naty Santiago (Estralita’s Aunt), Er “Canton” Salazar (Don Oligareon’s Chinese Henchman), Manny Tibayan, Ben Johnson (Mayor), Amay Bisaya (Jailer), Luis San Juan (Diego), Fred Esplana (Facundo’s Goon), Eddie Nicart (Facundo’s Goon), Jay Grama (Facundo’s Goon), Jun de Guia (Facundo’s Goon), Sancho Tesalona, Joe Cunanan (Diablo’s Goon), Romy Nario (Facundo’s Goon), Robert Talby [as Robert Talvy] (Facundo’s Goon), Jing Caparas, Mel Arca, Nonong de Andres (Undertaker), Rene Tupaz (Tribesman), Telly Babasa, Raquel Sayson (Tribesman), Dante Javier, Boyet Argame (Tribesman), “Pete”/Peter M. Caballes (Jailer), Pete Andal, Kent Gonzales, Roger Saulog, Vic Santos, Neri Santos, Eddie Villamor, Remy Nocum, Ben Sanchez, Mando Pangilinan, Oscar Reyes, SOS Daredevils, Lito Calzado’s Body Machine, Panchito (Inkong Gaspar), Paquito Diaz (Diablo), Rodolfo “Boy” Garcia (Vic Tango), Max Vera (Joey Tango), Max Alvarado (Tito Tango), Dely Atay-Atayan (Fat Woman in Credits), Georgie Quizon (Tribal Witchdoctor), Don Pepot (Tribe Spokesman), Florence Carvajal (Large Native Princess), Johnny Madrid, Efred Lapid, Robert Rivera, Steve Alcarado (Bandit), Ruben Ramos (Thug with Sword), Avel Morado, Josie Andico, George Henry Jr 

COMEDY/WESTERN/MUSICAL  

Review, Dolphy and Eddie Nicart interviews by Andrew Leavold 

[Previously appeared in Leavold's book The Search For Weng Weng (2017)]

Much of what still remains of the Philippines’ filmic legacy is currently stored at ABS-CBN, serving as an ersatz archive in the absence of an actual National Film Archive - at time of writing the building has been mandated by the Philippines government but does not yet physically exist.  

The first title I looked up was what I believed to be the Weng Weng western, Da Best In Da West (1981). As the U-Matic tape flickered to life on the archives' tiny TV monitor, there was the Philippines’ King of Comedy, Rodolfo Quizon, known to generations of adoring fans as Dolphy. Beside him was Lito Lapid, nephew of 60s cowboy superstar Jess Lapid Sr… and there was Weng Weng.  

Da Best In Da West unveiled itself to be an elaborate two-hour spoof of Filipino westerns. Dolphy arrives at a town just as the sheriff is shot, and guns down the assassin, and is proclaimed hero and sheriff, all in one swift move. The reluctant hero sets off to clean up the town, and ropes in the two foot nine Bronson to be his deputy. Strictly an ensemble player here, Weng Weng has little to do other than provide a bizarre novelty backdrop, wear garish cowboy outfits, and gesture excitedly during the fight scenes.  

Lito Lapid's stardom was less than three years old when he appeared in Da Best In Da West, one of Dolphy's most popular titles from the early Eighties. An elaborate two-hour parody of Hollywood and Pinoy westerns from Dolphy's RVQ Productions, it was the perfect vehicle not only for Lito Lapid to poke fun at his cowboy persona, but also for Dolphy to star for the third time alongside his diminutive sidekick. The film itself is a reworking of an earlier Dolphy western parody, also called Da Best In Da West (1967), and also directed by Romy Villaflor, in which failed gunfighter Dolphy becomes sheriff in a town where showgirl Divina Valencia's father, the former sheriff, was killed; Panchito plays Dolphy's deputy "Clint Eatwood".

Dolphy’s RVQ Productions released three to four films a year, but one would be its stand-out roadshow presentation. With Da Best In Da West, released in June 1981, Dolphy threw the entire weight of RVQ’s movie-making machine behind its bloated, gargantuan production. “It was a very expensive movie," recalled Dolphy, "because almost all of the villains from the history of making movies are all there. Paquito Diaz, Romy Diaz, Max Alvarado, so many others. [Eddie] Nicart, and all the goons of Lito Lapid. And I had my own goons as well! It was part of my comedy." Dolphy's fight directors Jay Grama and Fred Esplana play two of the Don's goons, and are joined by fellow SOS member Jun de Guia, while Ruben Ramos clashes fencing swords with Dolphy; Eddie’s team of Mando Pangilinan and Oscar Reyes, SOS Daredevils Jing Caparas, Avel Morado, Joe Cunanan, Romy Nario all make appearances. The goons are joined by Dolphy’s comic regulars: Teroy de Guzman, fake Chinese goon Er “Canton” Salazar, Amay Bisaya, Dely Atay-Atayan, comedy trio Tatlong Itlog, brother Georgie Quizon, and Don Pepot as Ifugao tribesmen… the list appears endless, making the film resemble at times the final evening in the Titanic’s casino and everyone’s desperately trying to cash in their chips. 

"We were shooting in Baguio,” Dolphy told me of Da Best In Da West’s locations, “because it looks like a western place. At that time. Not anymore because there’s so many houses there. You can’t see the mountains anymore, there’s all residences there. And you can get some big horses in Baguio." Baguio is five hours drive north of Manila, nestled above the low-lying clouds at the beginning of the Cordillera mountain chain. A former enclave of artists and revolutionaries, it's now the tourist destination of Filipinos searching for a spot that's not as dirty, dank and tropical as the rest of the archipelago. Thus it's a constant ten degrees cooler and its tall European-looking pine trees are usually surrounded by mist, fog or drizzle. Naturally, Baguio has been utilized as an exotic backdrop for countless Tagalog features, doubling for Europe or the US in Cirio Santiago’s films and other international productions, a much-used location for Bobby A. Suarez, and convenient Ifugao exotica - Ifugao being the feathered former headhunters - for Dolphy. Baguio’s also known for its saloons (one, Baguio Country Sounds, looks like it’s straight out of a Clint Eastwood bar brawl), its country pickers, painted ponies, rolling hills, rock quarries, and the original ‘Baguio Cowboys.’ If Manila city slickers ever feel the urge for a frontier experience, Baguio’s idiosyncratic cowboys and injuns are just a relatively short bus ride away. 

Towards the top of one of Baguio City’s facing hills is the Diplomat Hotel, originally a Dominican monastery in the 1800s before it became a hotel much favoured by visiting Americans. It was later taken over by a Faith movement who then rented it out to films such as They Call Her...Cleopatra Wong, and has been in ruins for over twenty years. Scanning the mouldering rooftops, my head was filled with visions of Bobby's moustache-clad nuns falling to their deaths in slow motion. I'm sure, somewhere amidst the slime-covered fountains and bombed-out rooms there's a metaphor for the Philippines film industry somewhere... Dolphy, too, utilized the Diplomat’s formidable exteriors as the villain’s hacienda, and Da Best In Da West ends with Lito Lapid making several leaps from the same roof as Bobby’s nuns onto its once manicured, now overgrown lawns. 

The film starts with Dolphy riding through Marlborough Country singing a parodic medley of Western themes, playing travelling salesman Wild Bill Hika (hika is Tagalog for “asthma”) with his customary hangdog expression, droopy shoulders, pot belly hanging off his spindly frame, and knee-length red puruntong shorts, named after Dolphy’s character John Puruntong in John And Marsha. Bushwacked by a pair of thugs (one is our old friend from the first Tropical Hut meeting, Steve Alcarado), he’s robbed and buried up to his neck; Lito, as bounty hunter Dalton, rides in and rescues him. In turn, Dolphy saves Dalton from being strung up by his latest bounty, the notorious Tango Brothers - Max Alvarado, Rodolfo “Boy” Garcia and Max Vera as Tito, Vic and Joey. They both roll in Bronco Town where the corrupt mayor (Ben Johnson) is on the payroll of dastardly wheelchair-bound land baron Don Oligareon (Spanish-speaking mestizo villain Tony Carreon) and his violent, lecherous, whip-wielding son Facundo (a role played to the hilt by Romy Diaz) who has his eye on Estrelita (Nina Sara), leader of the local workers.  

Dolphy heads straight to the local watering hole, where he spies the gorgeous Jane (Dolphy's Angels' Yehlen Catral) dancing to a disco version of “She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain” with a male cowboy equivalent of the Hot Gossip dancers. Things heat up when one of the saloon goons gets overheated by all the disco, shoots the town’s sheriff during the scuffle. Dolphy inadvertently shoots the assassin, and before he knows it, he's wearing a Sheriff's badge, has a two-foot-nine Deputy named Bronson, and is being measured for a coffin by the town's undertaker (cadaverous comic goon Nonong de Andres often referred to as Bankay, or "Corpse").  

Like clockwork, the Tango Brothers show up to cause trouble, but a hidden Dalton saves the day, while a cowering Dolphy tries to hide behind Weng Weng’s tiny frame. It’s the film’s only scene where Weng Weng fills the frame by himself or shares it with Dolphy alone; as Deputy Bronson, much of his screen time is spent as a background figure next to Bronco Town’s other inhabitants, although in his defence his colourful costumes – black with white tassels, an aqua Lone Ranger number, a white suit with speckled vest, and even a purple one – make him hard to miss. Romy Villaflor also frames Weng Weng strategically, sometimes in the foreground of a crowd scene, or conspicuously at its edge. In the jail house sequence, for instance, he sits on a desk grinning and mindlessly slapping a belt against his hand, then is then passed from one townsfolk to another before he’s deposited on the top of a filing cabinet. When Dolphy and Dalton serenade Estrelita in mock-Spanish, Weng Weng is out front, strumming away on a guitar that dwarfs him and threatens to crush him! At one point you can actually hear his real voice - as expected, child-like and even higher pitched than his vocal double in For Y'ur Height Only (1981).

Romance blossoms, first between Dolphy and Jane, then Dalton and Estrelita, and through Dalton’s help, the people of Bronco Town continue to mistake Dolphy for a hero – except for Jane. By then the next wave of goons under gun-for-hire Diablo (Paquito Diaz) ride in, beat up and shoot Dolphy and leave him for dead. Dolphy leaves town in disgrace, but is found by grizzled recluse and former bounty hunter Inkong Gaspar (Panchito, with grey hair and a massive Walrus moustache) and he teaches Dolphy how to shoot and fight with a sword - and makes a man out of Dolphy, before Dolphy shoots off Gaspar’s moustache and leaves him a broken man.  

Dalton’s father (director and parodist Luis San Juan) is then beaten to death by Facundo, prompting the town to take up arms against Don Oligareon and his goon army for the finale’s regulation half-hour shootout. When Dalton discovers Estrelita is being forced at gunpoint to marry Facundo, he rides to her rescue. Ambushed by Facundo’s men at the pass, Lito conveniently discovers a half-built shack – and rides his horse though its floor-to-ceiling window in slow motion. "We had a hard time doing that," recalled Dolphy. "The horses, they stop. So what we did was put a plank, the horse runs over it… In one shot we blindfolded the horse, but the horse can sense this! But we got the shot OK." 

“Those windows,” said Eddie, “it’s candy glass. I mix it myself. Even in America [during The Gunfighter shoot], when I made it, even my American counterpart could not do it, I was the one who mixed it, because I know how to do the clear candy glass, the resin. And when Lito did stunts, before, we use candy glass, the ones I mix. But now, it’s live. Candy glass cannot pass for the real thing any more, because the movie audience and the bystanders will boo you if you don’t use live (real) glass. That’s why I have lots of scars, here, when I broke the hospital glass - that’s where we passed through - because there were lots of bystanders [watching the scene]. They will criticize the stuntmen if they don’t see live action. And yes, after, they said that, Oh, that’s how the stuntmen do it. Even though there’s danger, they still go for it.  

“And so that’s how it was with Lito. Even on horses. Before Lito mounts it, I test and ride it first. Especially if it’s a new horse. Because I don’t want him to get into an accident. And so I have to test the horse first, and then I report to Lito how it is - 'Here are the horse’s cues - when you ride it, it has to be like this…' So when [Lito] rides it, he’ll already know how to treat the horse. That’s how it is. You have to give him tips, and protection, because if he gets in an accident, the shooting will stop.” 

The basic premise of Da Best In Da West – a coward and accidental hero becomes bona fide hero – is central to not only every Dolphy film but every Bob Hope or Buster Keaton vehicle, and as such is as old as the Baguio hills. Regardless, Dolphy trots out each western cliché like a proud kitten with a fresh kill, and STILL manages to inject his own personality into the material, and invents new bits of business: Dolphy’s backward firing pistol, for instance, and his ukulele gun, or the scene where he rigs up a ramshackle shower next to his horse and ends up pissed on… As with all low-brow populist comedies it’s a matter of taste, and you either buy into Dolphy’s time-worn schtick or reject it violently. Me, I’m a sucker for silliness, and this silly, all-star goon comedy romps amiably through its regulation two-hour running time, and the sight of Dolphy astride a plaster Baguio pony trying to make it buck never fails to bring a wry smirk to these jaded features.  

Da Best In Da West was, by Tagalog cinema standards, phenomenally successful. "We were competing with the first Superman [more likely Superman 2] that was showing here," recalled Dolphy. "You would see people watching Superman AND Da Best In Da West!" 

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Dolphy (Wild Bill Hika)

Lito Lapid (Dalton)

Yehlen Catral (Jane)

Nina Sara (Estralita)

Romy Diaz (Facundo)

Teroy de Guzman (Barman)

Conde Ubaldo

Weng Weng (Deputy Bronson)

Tony Carreon [as Antonio Carrion] (Don Oligareon)

Naty Santiago (Estralita’s Aunt)

Er “Canton” Salazar (Don Oligareon’s Chinese Henchman)

Manny Tibayan

Ben Johnson (Mayor)

Amay Bisaya [front, left] (Jailer)

Luis San Juan (Diego)

Fred Esplana (Facundo’s Goon)

Eddie Nicart (Facundo’s Goon)

Jay Grama (Facundo’s Goon)

Jun de Guia (Facundo’s Goon)

Sancho Tesalona

Joe Cunanan (Diablo’s Goon)

Romy Nario [right] (Facundo’s Goon)

Robert Talby [as Robert Talvy] [middle, denim shirt] (Facundo’s Goon)

Jing Caparas

Mel Arca

Nonong de Andres (Undertaker)

Rene Tupaz (Tribesman)

Telly Babasa

Raquel Sayson (Tribesman)

Dante Javier

Boyet Argame (Tribesman)

Peter M. Caballes [back, left] [as Pete Caballes] (Jailer)

Pete Andal

Kent Gonzales

Roger Saulog

Vic Santos

Neri Santos

Eddie Villamor

Remy Nocum

Ben Sanchez

Mando Pangilinan

Oscar Reyes

Panchito (Inkong Gaspar)

Paquito Diaz (Diablo)

Rodolfo “Boy” Garcia (Vic Tango)

Max Vera [right] (Joey Tango)

Max Alvarado (Tito Tango)

Dely Atay-Atayan (Fat Woman in Credits)

Georgie Quizon [far right] (Tribal Witchdoctor)

Don Pepot [left] (Tribe Spokesman)

Florence Carvajal [left] (Large Native Princess)

Johnny Madrid

Efred Lapid

Robert Rivera

Steve Alcarado (Bandit)

Ruben Ramos (Thug with Sword)

Avel Morado

Josie Andico

George Henry Jr 

GUAM - screened at the Hafa Adai 3 in January/February 1982

USA - Tagalog version screened at the Phil Asia International, Salinas in May 1982, and at the Embassy in Los Angeles in May/June 1982

HAWAII - screened at the Kam, June 1982

According to a news report, the film had previously screened in San Francisco in October 1981, when a shootout occurred in the theatre and a family employee died

- mp4 file [in Tagalog with no subtitles]

 

Agent 00 (1981)

1981 - Agent 00 (Liliw Productions) 

[Release date 29th May 1981; working title "Kunin Silang Lahat"/"Take Them All"] 

Director Eddie Nicart Screenplay Cora Ridon Caballes Executive Producers Peter M. Caballes, Cora Ridon Caballes Music Pablo Vergara Assistant Director Mando Pangilinan Fight Instructors Mando Pangilinan, Oscar Reyes 

Cast Weng Weng (Agent 00), Ramon Zamora (Agent 001/“Dragon”), Philip Gamboa (Agent 002/“Diego Salvador”), Dante Varona (Agent 003/“Ermitanyo”), Lito Lapid ("Brusko"), Dolphy ("The Quick Brown Fox"), Linda Lee, Linda Castro 

COMEDY/SPY/KUNG FU 

Eddie Nicart and Dante "Boy" Pangilinan interviews by Andrew Leavold 

[Previously appeared in Leavold's book The Search For Weng Weng (2017)]

Dante ‘Boy’ Pangilinan: “After Chop Suey [Met Big Time Papa (1978)], thanks God, I have plenty of offers like in Regal Films, RPM Productions, SQ Film Productions, so I came to my Ninang [Cora Caballes], ‘This company want my services as director…’" Dante recommended his Assistant Director on Chop Suey… as his replacement. 

“‘Eddie Nicart can do justice in directing in your future films.’ 

“‘Is that a guarantee?’ ‘Yes! I can guarantee Eddie Nicart as next director.’ 

"‘You can make it,’ I said to Eddie Nicart, ‘Be humble enough. Don't put in your head you're already a director. And try to learn more.’ That's where Eddie Nicart started. 

“Agent 00 - I think Eddie Nicart gave justice to that film. As a good stunt man, even Weng Weng overpasses other action stars!" 

Did you have ambitions to direct before this, I asked Eddie? “Yes. And, in SOS, when they get me as assistant director, sometimes, I get to direct as well. It was my ambition to direct even before, but not for Weng Weng… Because it would be a big [complicated] task to direct Weng Weng. But I accepted. 

“Ninang Cora [was supportive]. Even though I was just a newbie [in directing]… Because that time, 100,000 pesos is almost equivalent to one million pesos now… [Ninang Cora] said, yes, you can do it. I’ll be the one to gamble on you. She did not think twice. And it was good. It paid off." 

As the film's most famous star, Ramon “Dragon" Zamora is numbered Agent 001. Action regular Philip Gamboa plays Agent 002/“Diego Salvador”, possibly after a 1973 Visayan western starring Von Serna – such is the Pinoy action film’s sometimes aggressively self-congratulatory, self-promoting, self-aggrandizing nature; Dante Varona, Agent 003, is “Ermitanyo” after his recent starring role for Carlo J. Caparas. Weng Weng, however, is the undeniable star of the show, his slight frame not even registering an agent's number. "Ninang Cora said, okay, let’s make him Agent 00 for the film. That’s when it started." 

What is the film's story? "I’m not quite familiar with that first film. It was so long go. And I only started to focus on For Y'ur Height [Only], because it was the one that boomed. The first one, the one with Dante [Varona], he was just the fourth lead, because we were just building him up then. That’s why we even had Dolphy as a guest." In one of the surviving stills, Dolphy - as his Quick Brown Fox character – can be seen standing next to Weng Weng outside the entrance to a building. "In Midland Hotel," said Eddie, claiming they pressed his buzzer just in case he was at home. "So we waited for him. Because he was living there. He said, Ok, just wait for me at the lobby. And when Dolphy arrives, I’m already rolling, while he was talking with Weng Weng, and so, he’s already a guest." Lito Lapid also makes a cameo as his recent character Brusko. 

The project was announced to the press during shooting as Kunin Silang Lahat ["Take Them All"]. Emboldened by Weng Weng's raised profile thanks to The Quick Brown Fox, Stariray and the soon-to-be-released Da Best In Da West, the film was released on May 29th 1981 as Agent 00. For the first time, Weng Weng became the primary focus of the film's advertising ("He loves! He flies!"), his name twice the size of the well-established Ramon Zamora and Dante Varona. It was a gambit on the Caballes' part, releasing their film on the same day as Vilma Santos' Pakawalan Mo Ako (“???”) and Joseph Estrada in Kumander Alibasbas: 

WENG-WENG MADE IT! Despite the strong opposition posed by two giants of Philippine cinema, WENG-WENG's first solo starrer has managed to hit it big at the box-office and continues to attract vast crowds of moviegoers! Our sincerest thanks to everybody for this unexpected success, most especially to DOLPHY and LITO LAPID. PETER CABALLES Producer, Liliw Productions (Philippines Express, 3rd June 1981) 

Weng Weng (Agent 00)

Ramon Zamora (Agent 001/“Dragon”)

Philip Gamboa (Agent 002/“Diego Salvador”)

Dante Varona (Agent 003/“Ermitanyo”)

Lito Lapid ("Brusko")

Dolphy ("The Quick Brown Fox")

Linda Castro

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 

The Infiltrators (1969)

1969 - The Infiltrators (Gilbert Roland Productions/Empress Pictures) 

[Release date 7th February 1969] 

Director A. Gregorio Story/Screenplay Greg B. Macabenta Cinematography Avelino Peralta Music Carding Cruz Layout Artist Marvin B. Panganiban  

Cast Tony Ferrer (Tony Falcon, Agent X-44), Josephine Estrada, Eddie Garcia, Rod Navarro (Martin Savedo), Jack Davis, Manolo Noble, Ronald Remy (Mr Banez), Alicja Basili (Marlene Marquez), Mallory McCraig [McCrae?], Rocco Montalban, Joaquin Fajardo, Leon Pajaron, Steve Alcarado, Alex Flores, Rudy Dominguez, Greg Lansang, Larry Esguerra, Ruben Ramos, Ben Dato, Romy Nario, Joe Cunanan, Art Velaso, Tiva Lava, Eddie Nicart, Sancho Tesalona, Mandy Bustamante, Hosping Pregonero, Amado Gasmin, Oscar Simbulan, Doming Reyes, Joe Andrade, SOS Daredevils, Arthur Villegas, Frank Godinez, Pons de Guzman, Joe Canlas, Sim Jorge, Baby Alvarez 

SPY/ACTION

NOTE: This is number 20 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.  

Mini-review by Andrew Leavold

[From Leavold's book The Search For Weng Weng (2017)]

One of the few surviving Agent X-44 prints from the Sixties, The Infiltrators (1969) reveals a very knowing spy flick peppered with white faces, delivering half its dialogue in English, and its décor leaning towards a garish Euro Pop-Art cheapie. Scientist Dr Jonathan Goldenberg is determined to put man on the Moon (this IS still 1969, remember); Aryan assassin “Adolf Strauss” is given orders that Dr Goldenberg is not to leave Manila, thereby setting the US thirty years behind the Reds. Strauss sets up a Kennedy style assassination complete with his own decoy. Falcon, however, does a switcheroo on the scientist, but the decoy tries to blackmail crime boss Savedo (Rod Navarro), whose blonde Italian moll Gina Cardinale also doubles as an exotic dancer shaking her tassles in a giant parrot cage, and quickly finds his toes pointing ceiling-wards. The Infiltrators, with its Batman segues, machine gun shoot-outs, car chases, and the iconic Falcon with his unrepentant Pomade-flavoured pompadour and trademark all-white suit, is just fantastic. 

Napoleon Doble And The Sexy Six (1966)

1966 - Napoleon Doble And The Sexy Six (LSJ Productions)

[Release date 19th June 1966; released on Philippines VCD as “Napoleon Doble”]

Director/Story Carling Marquez Screenplay Tony Camonti Producer Femy Rillo Executive Producer [uncredited] Luis San Juan Music Restie Umali

Cast Dolphy (Napoleon Doble/Elias), Lourdes Medel (Anna), Lucita Soriano (Girlfriend Number One), Gina Laforteza, Chona Delgado, Rita Reyes, Leni Trinidad, Ponga (Mr Tan), Miniong Alvarez, Sancho Tesalona, Bill Nino, Carlos Diaz (Surgeon), Charlie Mendez, Angel Casaje, Pete Andal, SOS Daredevils, Prospero Luna (Bulba), Mary Walter, Jose Garcia, Bert Martinez, Eva Marie, Rodolfo “Boy” Garcia, Aruray (Housemaid), Menggay, Ike Fernando, Agnes Moran, Babalu (Waiter), Jeff Elechosa, Mat Lazaro, [uncredited] Tange

COMEDY/SPY/ACTION

Review by Andrew Leavold

For connoisseurs of Pinoy parodies, the recent appearance on Filipino VCD of Dolphy's Bond-like action-comedy Napoleon Doble And The Sexy Six signals an unearthing of grail-like proportions. I realize it's hard to be entirely objective about comedy, and even more so when you're removed from its host culture by time, language, and the shared experience of growing up in the shadow of Dolphy's schtick. To this pulp-addled brain at least it was worth the wait, but keep in mind I've already devoured over twenty of Dolphy's back catalogue and haven't even made a dent. If you're a casual Trash Tourist, a cursory examination of Napoleon Doble...'s discs reveals a film that looks, sounds and feels like Dolphy's James Batman, also from 1966. Actually you're not far from the mark: it's a similarly crazed surfadelic romp through appropriated Sixties pop culture, with wildly tilted camera angles, cartoon goons and go-go girls, and the omniscient Dolphy filling almost every frame – and sometimes twice! However, in order to rescue Napoleon Doble... from history's “like James Batman but not as silly” bin and place it into some kind of cultural context, there are a number of facts to consider.

Dolphy contra Dolphy! Napoleon Doble (left) comes face to face with his nemesis Elias

In a career covering an astounding 250-plus features to date, 1966 was Dolphy's peak year: starring roles in nineteen features, or almost one movie a fortnight. In Dolphy's peak period from '65-'66, Luis San Juan was writer, producer or director for seven films, including an executive producer role for LSJ Productions' Napoleon Doble. The sheer volume of Dolphy's output suggests a much larger, well-oiled machine grinding out quickly-made and comfortably generic - though certainly not inferior - product, with the Dolphy brand ensuring audience goodwill and return trade. In the '65 to '66 period, Dolphy's films were primarily “goon” parodies, or more precisely, spoofs on then-popular trends with dedicated action sequences; as a trained dancer and physical comedian, Dolphy was a natural, if unlikely, action star. In contrast to his lighter Sampaguita vehicles from the Fifties and early Sixties, Goon Comedies downplayed frothy romance and song and dance numbers in favour of relentless stunts and on-screen fist fights. In his western spoofs [1] he's eyeball-to-eyeball with a baddie in a black hat and an army of apes in stetsons; in Pambihirang Dalawa: Sa Combat (1966) it's him, Panchito and a bevy of women in long skirts against the Japanese army.

During Dolphy's busiest phase, the genre du jour was the James Bond craze. Most Western-influenced film cultures were churning out one gadget-laden spy caper after the other, and the Philippines' copycat industry was more eager than most. Following Goldfinger's worldwide release in 1964, no fewer than twenty Pinoy Bonds appeared within a manic two year cycle. And, as every popular Pinoy genre must have its parodic mirror, so too did the Bond Parodies begin in earnest, most notably from the dual Kings of Comedy: Chiquito as James Bandong or Agent 0-2-10 (“oh-two-ten” is a play on “utoten”, the Tagalog word for “farter” for “fart-face”), and Dolphy as Agent 1-2-3 (the name suggests a person's been tricked) or in variations on the “Dolpinger” theme. In Dolphy's filmography from 1965 to 1966, a minimum of fifteen features can lay claim to parodying the spy genre, or at least include elements of the Bond films [3] – and that's a considerable number of Bondian villains with goon armies at their disposal.

Opening bank heist: Dolphy shoots at himself

As Napoleon Doble, Dolphy trades in his secret agent badge for one with the NBI [4]. The film opens in wham-bam style, with Napoleon shooting it out with machine guns as his nemesis Elias (also Dolphy, much-gnarled but, under the latex buboes, still recognizable) robs a bank and makes a hasty getaway. The Thirties gangster-style car crashes and somehow Elias drags the stolen loot back to his mansion hideaway, where Girlfriend Number One (Lucita Soriano) and his trusted scientist-slash-plastic surgeon (Carlos Diaz) perform a face-changing operation – under strict orders to make him look JUST like Napoleon Doble.

Lumpy-faced Elias (top) and his new sardonic sneer

Elias, the dark Hyde to Dolphy's likeable Pinoy Everyman, is a hoot: cold, calculating slits for eyes and a sardonic smirk, and with a harem of five girlfriends on call, all top-shelf Pinoy starlets who are forced to line up and have their cocktail frocks ripped down in one of Elias' cleavage inspections! Not content with merely a Foxy Five, Elias decides to recruit a sexy Sixth, and as fate would have it, stalks the gorgeous Anna (Lourdes Mendel), a dancer at his own nightclub – and, the same girl courted by Napoleon. Anna, of course, only has eyes for the REAL Napoleon, yet Elias is undeterred, and takes her refusal to bare her cleavage as a sign she's the new Number One Girlfriend, a position jealously fought over by the Sexy Five in a messy, drunken, all-in catfight. A complicated web of mistaken identities – that old hackneyed comedic standby! - ensues, with Elias stealing NBI files while posing as Napoleon, and ends with Napoleon and Anna trapped in a cell in Elias' mansion at the mercy of a leering, power-hungry and clearly insane Elias.

The Sexy Six cattle call (top) and catfight (bottom)

Viewed as part of a much larger whole, Napoleon Doble And The Sexy Six makes perfect sense. Dolphy's individual films are elements of a much grander story arc, almost a meta-narrative spread over fifty-plus years, with its main protagonist growing older disgracefully, and his supporting cast and crew entering and leaving at will, more often than not becoming familiar parts of the background scenery. Wives, girlfriends and siblings appear, along with children and eventually grandchildren. Families are at the core of Filipino culture and is reflected in the Dolphy's own film company RVQ Productions: from its inception in 1967 and through its Glory Days into the Eighties, it was a dynastic studio dynamo for the Quizon clan, and Dolphy more than generously shared, and still shares, the limelight. The cherry-picked icons from both foreign and domestic pop culture, the interchangeable plotlines of Western spoofs and goon comedies, domestic barrio soap operas and their ilk, the recycled characters (the droopy-shouldered Ompong, the flamboyant Pacifica Falayfay), the movies, radio shows, stage performances and TV series, are all episodes of a seemingly endless variety show, with Dolphy centre stage as its amiable emcee.

Although Dolphy's Napoleon Doble presents himself to the filmic world as an undercover policeman, he's essentially Dolpinger: a government representative of the forces of Good, facing off against a Super Villain with a lair choked to the brim with Bondian gadgets (a pen, for instance, that doubles as a Ray Gun!), not to mention his very own Q on tap. Bond allusions aside, Dolphy takes characteristically low swipes at other Sixties pop icons, not least The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Napoleon “Solo” being the obvious reference point, plus a sizeable portion from U.N.C.L.E. feature The Spy With My Face (1965). Let's not forget the Pink Panther series, notably Ponga's Kato-like Mr Tan [5], a Chinese caricature saved by Napoleon during the bank robbery, and whose housebound karate fights with Napoleon usually end up trounced by the equally chop-frenzied maid (Aruray).

Napoleon takes on both houseguest Mr Tan (Ponga) and disinterested housemaid (Aruray), Pink Panther style!

“Thrifty” is is not a surprising term for a low-budget quickie, and there are constant reminders of the budgetary shortcomings, from the use of limited locations (Elias' mansion, with its now-familiar warren of rooms, balconies and shadow-lined stairwell is put through the ringer, as is his nightclub) to its tin-can sound recording and compact, cut-to-order thrills. As rough as the seams are, however, the film never threatens to tear a hole in its pants' seat; LSJ Productions' camera crew are imaginative with their comic-strip framing and composition, not to mention weirdly effective though glaringly primitive lighting techniques, and Restie Umali's horns-and-bongos jazz score, despite its occasional Bond stings, never becomes glaringly cliched. Like most populist Pinoy films, Napoleon... trots out its regulation array of marquee-value “Special Guests” like well-rehearsed sideshow exhibits - the big-chinned Babalu (one of Dolphy's regular sidekick in his later films) makes a blink-and-he's-gone cameo as a shirtless waiter, crone-ish Menggay tries out as the Sexy Sixth (and is accused of being less than human!). It's modest yet easy money for an afternoon's work, and all are welcome faces, along with the remainder of Napoleon Doble's cast: Sancho Tessalona, Rodolfo “Boy” Garcia, Prospero Luna, the SOS Daredevils and many others, some of the hardest working actors and stuntmen in show business and equally at home in a Fernando Poe Jr or Dolphy and Chiquito flick.

Elias menaces the helpless Anna (Lourdes Mendel)

Likewise, Luis San Juan successfully balanced straight action films and “goon” or action parodies over a thirty-year career as producer/writer/director – from Dolphy and Chiquito vehicles to Ramon Zamora and Rey Malonzo chop-sockeys. It's this double helix of thrall and gall, the essence of Goon combined with the sheer chutzpah of James Batman and company, that makes Napoleon Doble And The Sexy Six a satisfying Sixties pop cocktail, brimming with pure unadulterated Pinoy Pulp.

[1] Kulog At Kidlat and Keng Leon, Keng Tigre Ecu Tatakut, Keka Pa (both 1965), Da Best In Da West (1967)

[2] Sometimes listed as “Dolphinger” or “Dolfinger”

[3] Released in 1965: Dr Yes, Dolpinger, Agent Dolpinger Sa Lagim, Dolpinger Meets Pantarorong, Scarface At Al Capone: Espiya Sa Ginto, Genghis Bond: Agent 1-2-3. Released in 1966: Alyas Don Juan: Agent 1-2-3, Doble Solo (with Chiquito), Dolpong Scarface Agent 1-2-3, Dolpong Istambol, Dressed To Kill, James Batman, Napoleon Doble And The Sexy Six, Operation Butterball, Sungit Conference: Ng Pitong Dakila

[4] National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippines' police force

[5] Burt Kwouk as the karate-crazed Kato makes his debut in the second Pink Panther film, A Shot In The Dark (1964).

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

- Filipino VCD

- mp4 file

Enter Garote (1974)

1974 – Enter Garote (JMJ Pictures) 

[Release date 4th October 1974; working title “Nonoy Garote”*] 

Directors Tino Garcia, Sol Gaudite Story/Screenplay Bert R. Mendoza Producer Maraiano L. Bermejo Jr Cinematography Rolly de la Rosa, Luis Chiong Music/Sound Effects Demet Velasquez Editor Abelardo Hulleza Sound Supervisor Greg Ella Sound Editor Boy? Cabrales In-Charge Of Production Juliet Rufino Bermejo Production Managers Paquito Maclang, Ben Javier Assistant Director “C.P.D.” Fight Director Johnny Chiuten Stunts Jonathan Gabriel Post-Production-In-Chief Johnny Chiuten, Ali Gabung? Assistant Editors Efren Salvador, Orlando Vinarao  

Cast Chiquito, Lotis Key, Elizabeth Oropesa, Jay Hess, Frankie Navaja Jr, Yoyoy Villame, Jess Vargas, Ding Salvador, Tinoy de Gracia, Carlos Diaz, Ernie Ortega, Golay, Larry Alcuizar, Jun Gabriel [as Jonathan Gabriel], Bino Garcia, Manuel Dagul, Vivian Long, Alice Sison, Ben Contreras, Jun Escario, George Aznar, Edgar Rodriguez, Aly Gabuya, Joe Gutierrez, Romy Lagura, Leo Musni, Bob Rodiz, Cesar Roque, Rey Naguit, Vultures Stuntmen, Dragon Tiger Kung Fu Karate Club, Durex Karate Club & Judo, Evelyn Laxamana, Lynn Madrigal, Remy Presas [Father of Modern Arnis], Ansiong Bacon [Cebu Garote Grandmaster Balintawak Group], Filemon Canete [Cebu Garote Grand Master Doce Pares Group], Johnny Chiuten, Captain Ciriaco Canete, Atty Jose Villasin, Teofilo Veles 

VISAYAN/COMEDY/KUNG FU 

* According to the shooting script submitted to the Board of Censors 

From the Facebook group Visayan Eskrimadors: Enter Garote is a 1974 Film which is starred by Chiquito with special appearance of Clubs like Doce Pares, Tiger Kung Fu Karate Club Dragon Johnny Chiuten's group with their style of arnis called LAPUNTI Arnis de Abanico, Balintawak Eskrima and Modern Arnis.

Here's some background of some of the Filipino Martial Artists in the video:

Venancio Bacon founder of Balintawak standing at 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and no more than 120 pounds, he was dimunitive in physical stature, a giant in terms of his influence and impact in Filipino Martial Art, there was a story when he was ambushed in the dark while walking to his home in Labangon. He killed his assailant in self defense by snapping his spine, but he was incarcerated for homicide, the judge considered that his martial skills were lethal weapons and should have been used with restraint.

Filemon "Momoy" Canete Founder of San Miguel Eskrima a blade-based martial art system wherein various weapons are used as a primary training tools to teach universally transferable skills. Momoy was the chief instructor of the Doce Pares Club for 55 years until his death in 1995. Together with Lorenzo Saavedra, Teodoro Saavedra, Rostico Cobarrubias and others they formed the Labangon Fencing Club in 1920. In 1932, Momoy joined both Saavedras and his other brothers to form the Doce Pares Club.

Johnny Chiuten a pure Chinese Cantonese descent who studied martial arts from Hung Gar Kung fu, aikido, karate and eskrima dropped all his college subjects in Manila for the year and went back home to Cebu to study stick fighting with the masters. Anciong Bacon of Balintawak accepted him without reservation. When Johnny left Balintawak he approached Filemon Caburnay a former member of Doce Pares. They had good chemistry and the two of them later invented Lapunti Arnis de Abanico. Johnny Chiuten introduced the footwork and locking techniques of Hung Cha kung fu into Lapunti.

On the set of ENTER GAROTE (1974)