Anak dalita (The Ruins). 1956. Philippines. Directed by Lamberto V. Avellana. Screenplay by Rolf Bayer. With Rosa Rosal, Tony Santos, Jose (Joseph) de Cordova. DCP. Courtesy ABS-CBN Sagip Pelikula. In Filipino; English subtitles. 119 min.
“As a young boy of nine in 1956, one of my most vivid memories was the jubilation among the LVN folk when Anak Dalita won the Golden Harvest Award at the 3rd Asian Film Festival in Hong Kong. The Philippines had finally beaten Japan, and the euphoria in the studio could hardly be put into words…. The story revolves around Tita (Rosa Rosal), a prostitute with a golden heart, and her relationship with Vic (Tony Santos), a Korean war veteran who comes home in time to say goodbye to his dying mother…. The film is easily distinguishable from the mass-produced output of LVN. There is no singing and dancing, the story ends sadly, and the setting is bleak—the ruins of Intramuros. However, the acting impressed me the most. It seemed authentic and the dialogue was gutsy” (Mike De Leon, Last Look Back).
An Actor Remembers – Joseph de Cordova. 2006. Philippines. Directed by Mike De Leon. In Filipino; English subtitles. 17 min.
In this loving portrait of Joseph de Cordova, the beloved character actor who memorably appears as a racketeer in The Ruins and as a communist guerilla in Huk in a New Life, he recalls, “I looked upon [studio head] Doña Sisang like a mother. [When she died] we lost our way. I never made a movie outside LVN. What for? I never went hungry. I was cared for. As long as you do what she wants.”
Please note, little survives of the film library of LVN studios, and what does survive is generally in poor condition. We nonetheless present these rare films so that New York audiences can experience them for the first time.