a movie review of a long lost classic

AN AMERICAN GUERILLA IN THE PHILIPPINES is by far still the best Hollywood movie ever made in our country. No other film can match it's finesse, story line, star power and dramatic suspense. Fritz Lang directed it and he is no two bit director when it comes to movie making.

I saw the movie several times when I was young: once in Dagupan, then in Urdaneta and when it was shown on TV, I never missed any broadcast. That is how much I like the movie.

The film's main star is Tyrone Power, the top money maker for 20th Century Fox during its hey day. Until his untimely death, he was drawing fans and money into the box office. Among his popular movies are: PRINCE OF FOXES ( a costume film about the Borgias, ) EDDIE DUCHIN STORY ( a movie about the brilliant pianist Eddie Duchin whose face carries an uncanny resemblance to his ).

There were also hits like BLOOD AND SAND (he was a doomed bullfighter who was helplessly in love with a vixen played by Rita Hayworth,) BLACK ROSE,( he played a an exiled European who went all the way to Asia to escape from his persecutors and in China, he met and befriended Kublai Khan. The noted Asian conqueror played by the legendary ORSON WELLES.)His last assignment was SOLOMON AND SHEBA but unfortunately he died while the film was in production. In his place, the producers took in YUL BRYNNER and they have to let him wear a wig for his part as SOLOMON.


In AMERICAN GUERILLA..he played the title role. When the Americans lost the Philippines to the Japanese all US troops were told to escape, hide in the mountains or surrender. He opted for the second and his true to life escapades make up the plot for this war thriller. It was filmed on location in the Philippines in Technicolor and during those years, the 50s, this film process was still very expensive. It showed some very beautiful shots in the Philippines during that era when all Filipino movies were still shot in Black and White.

He engaged in a cat and mouse game with some Japanese soldiers led by Filipino actor Cris de Vera. Other local stars like Rosa del Rosario, ( who one time played Darna ) Eddie Infante, Ben Perez appeared in cameo roles. Cris ( who was then also a comedian appearing in a radio weekly EDONG MAPANGARAP with Pugo and Togo ) stole the thunder from all of them. After seeing the movie for the first time, I began to develop a phobia for any Japanese. I thought they were all mean like the character played by Cris who slapped, shot and brutalized so many Filipinos in the movie.


The music director also used some familiar Filipino melodies in the soundtrack like Dandansoy for the love scenes between Tyrone and Micheline Prelle who played his leading lady.

The movie ended with a thrilling shoot out inside a church. Then when things seemed to be lost, the American troops led by Gen. McArthur arrived. A close up of him ( the real General ) appeared in the movie spliced into a long shot of the warm reception given to General ( played by a look alike ) just minutes before the movie ended.

The setting is in Leyte. I read somewhere that some people are questioning whether the General landed first in Leyte or in Lingayen..


Anyways, the DVD version has just appeared a few weeks ago, thus ending my search for this title ever since I arrived in Toronto in the '70s.---#

Jim Carrey's back as SCROOGE..BAH, HUMBUG!

Last night I saw the latest version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL a straight to DVD movie featuring Jim Carrey (a Canadian ) playing the miserable Scrooge. Other biggies are Colin Firth, Bo Hoskins, Cary Elwes, etc. Why didn't they show it in theatres?..I can only guess. The co producers Disney and R. Zemickis ( producer of the classic BACK TO THE FUTURE with Michael Fox ) might believe that Xmas shopping usually starts late November, like RIGHT NOW. Thus they are predicting millions of these DVDs will be sold as stocking stuffers which will find their way to millions of stockings all over the planet come Xmas day!..Movie making, after all is not just acting or making good movies: it is also another business of making money!..If I am not mistaken, this is the first movie of the newest filmmaking process:It is a high end kind of animation.First of its kind!..If you watch the actors, you swear they re alive but they are just animated characters..It is not like Pixar, not filmation, not dynamation..The process is explained in a documentary in the SPECIAL FEATURES OF THIS dvd. ..Another good point of this movie is: it is the only version CLOSEST to the text, narrative of the book by Charles Dickens!..At first glance in the the video store I said, "oh no, another CHRISTMAS CAROL by no other than Disney. " We know that many of Disney movies are crap!..Then Miggie brought home a Library copy of THIS movie. I watched it last night, then I watched the film process in making the movie. It made me watch it the second time!..If you are fond of movies and the technology behind modern film animation, or even if you are not..if you want to watch Christmas Carol as Dickens might have envisioned it, this one's for you!!..warning: some scenes are frightening..:) of course!...

written by vic costes

a movie summary of a beautiful French Love story

THE UMBRELLAS OF CHEBOURG is not a movie about umbrellas or umbrellas on a rainy day. It is a love story from France's Jacques Demy, set in music. All dialogues are sung not spoken and moreover they are in French! But don't worry..There are English subtitles for the non Francophones like moi..

When it comes to love and all its aspects including maybe, love-making, nobody could beat the French . And as Henry Higgins said, in MY FAIR LADY "The French do not care what they do actually, as long as they pronounce it properly.."

If you hear the song I WILL WAIT FOR YOU popularized by Connie Francis, know that the song came from this movie and it was nominated for an Oscar award. The complete music score of the whole film was written by Michel Legrand. You will hear several pieces here played in FM stations or in the elevator. Now to the story.



In the 50s there lived in Cherbourg a mother and her lovely teenaged daughter named Guenevieve. They owned this umbrella shop ( thus the title ). One day, a letter came from the bank telling the Mother the store will be foreclosed if they could not come up with 80,000 francs. The Mother do not have any recourse but to go to the jewelry store to sell some of her gems. While they were there, a young jewel businessman was around and he could not help overhearing the conversation of the owner and the Mother. Guinevieve was also there and the young jewelry merchant fell in love with the teenaged daughter at first sight.. No wonder. She was played by the very pretty Catherine Denueve.

The Mother wanted instant cash for the jewels. The owner said he could not afford to buy them for 80,000 francs. Then the young businessperson named Richard stepped in and offered to buy the jewels. The Mother handed her the stones and he said he will pay her the next night, at her house. She agreed.

Now Guinevieve has already a boy friend named Guy who worked as a mechanic in a local garage. On the night when Richard is supposed to visit them to pay for the jewels, Guinevieve, much to the chagrin of her Mom went out of the house to have a date with her boy friend Guy. The mother could not stop her. Richard arrived minutes later and handed the Mother a check. She apologized for the absence of her daughter but Richard said its okay.He said he is going to America for some business deals but promised he will visit them again upon his return.

Guy and Guineviev that night made love for the first time in his apartment. Guy lived with his sickly Aunt who was being taken cared of by a pretty caregiver named Madeline.

Some weeks later, Guy received a letter from the government telling him to report for military duty. He told this to Guinevieve who felt very, very sad. But she can not do anythin except bring him to the train station during his departure Then the theme song I WILL WAIT FOR YOU was introduced.


One day Guinevieve recieved a letter from Guy who related to her his experiences in combat duty. Few of his friends were killed already.

Meanwhile, Guinevieve found out she was pregnant.

Then the letters from Guy stopped. Guinevievewas downtrodden. But her Mother said Richard would always be there for her.


The next time Richard visited Guinevieve and saw she was pregnant, he reiterated his love and promised he would raise her child as if it were his own. Guinevieve and Richard got married. After the wedding the newly weds left for Paris leaving Cherbourg for good. The Mother stayed in Cherbourg for two months . Then she sold the umbrella store and left for Paris also to join her daughter.


Months later, Guy returned to Cherbourg. His aunt was so happy to see him again and she said she can already die having seen him finally. Guy scoffed at the idea. Then Madeline arrived. She was happy to see Guy once more. She was still single because she has a secret love for Guy.

Guy's Aunt finally died. It was then that Guy professed his love for her and asked her to be his wife. She said she would accept his proposal if only he promised to completely forget Guinevieve. He said he would. Not long fterwards, they got married.

Guy fulfilled an early dream to buy a gasoline station. With his money for his medical disability ( he was hospitalized for being wounded by grenade during a fight, and that is the reason why he was not able to write Guinevere anymore)plus a bank loan.

Years passed by. Guy had a child with Madeline and his gas station was doing okay. Then one Christmas Eve, as he was about to close shop, a car stopped for a gas refill. The owner of the car was Guinevieve who was riding and her daughter Francois and their car driver.

Guy and Guinevieve recognized each other at the gas tank. The snow was falling so Guy invited Guinevieve inside his office for a short talk, since the attendant was still working on the car. I was wondering what will happen next if both of them would renew their old love.

Well, their next conversation ( or I would say singing ) was short, brief and their words were honest and sincere. The daughter did not enter the office but was left in the car with the driver.

Guinevere said they were on their way to another French City but just as they reach near Courbourg, the car was running out of gas. It was fate and a low gas tank that brought them together again.

She paid the bill, saidgood bye. No tears, no kisses but their faces revealed what they felt inside. Guy told her the reason he stopped writing.

Her car left. Then Madeline and her child also arrived to pick up Guy. Guy started to play with his child on a snowbank as the snowflakes started to fall heavier. It was some Christmas for all of them.

As the camera shifted away slowly, the end credits started to appear and roll up---#

	Connie Francis - I will wait for you .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

(IF IT TAKES FOREVER)I WILL WAIT FOR YOU

English Words by Norman Gimbel and Music by Michel Legrand

If it takes forever I will wait for you
For a thousand summers I will wait for you
Till you're back beside me, till I'm holding you
Till I hear you sigh here in my arms

Anywhere you wander, anywhere you go
Every day remember how I love you so
In your heart believe what in my heart I know
That forevermore I'll wait for you

The clock will tick away the hours one by one
Then the time will come when all the waiting's done
The time when you return and find me here and run
Straight to my waiting arms

If it takes forever I will wait for you
For a thousand summers I will wait for you
Till you're here beside me, till I'm touching you
And forevermore sharing your love

This haunting melody appeared in the movie several times: notably first when Guenevieve brought Guy to the train station to see him off as he reported for military duty. Then it came again in the last part of the movie when they bade good bye for the second ( and last ) time upon knowing that each one has already a separate family to look after. First love never ever dies. And somehow, to borrow another cliche, it is better to have loved and lost and never to have loved at all!

HAWAII 5-0 REBORN

When I was still in Los Banios, we watched regularly Jack Lord and his friends make Hawaii a safer place to live in with the 5-0 unit. Our TV there was only a 16 “ B and W Panasonic.

When Martial law was proclaimed, it was good-bye to McGarret and all those hit TV programs being broadcasted abroad. Malacaniang, for several years filtered everything that goes into the media, whether TV, Print or radio..

When we arrived in Canada in 1975, I felt like Alice seeing Wonderland for the first time. The good news is, all TVs in Canada are colored. Bad news is Hawaii-50 is already cancelled.


We now fast forward to 2010...,The DVD box set of Hawaii-50 Season 1 came out. I bought a copy immediately. It contains the pilot movie where Steve was placed inside a water tank with a tube of oxygen supply and he languished for several hours . This torture was devised by Woo Fat, the unkillable nemesis of Steve used to break the will of people who will then become zombie-like doing anything that Woo Fat would tell them to do. It worked for everybody except Mc Garret.

To date, there are already 9 box sets of Hawaii 5-0 and we have all of them. Each episode is set on a certain part of the Hawaiian Islands and we saw many of these places when we visited Juliet and Marcie Uson in 2005 . In 2009, we revisited Hawaii this time visiting Marcie Tesoro who lives in Maui.

Hawaii 5-0 returns

About 3 weeks ago, the new Hawaii 5-0 was launched with just a low fan fare. But we watched it. We saw Steve McGarret murdered by a terrorist while his released was being negotiated with his son, an officer of the US Navy. Something went wrong with the talks, Steve was shot close range and his killer escaped. The body was sent to his son also named Steve, to Hawai for a hero’s burial. But the younger Steve vowed he would hunt down for the killers of his dad. This sets the tone and plotline for the pilot episode which climaxed in a shoot out where the killer was shot before he fell into some murky waters. We saw the villain fall into the ocean, but his body was never found. Maybe he will re appear in a future episode of the series.

The new 5-0 series is what they call in the trade a “run-away” success. It has all the action, chases, shoot outs which are prevalent in the 70s series. Even the opening logos and vignettes are practically the same. And so with the Hawaii5-0 theme which is still being played now in classic rock radio stations.

The last episode took place in what is supposed to be Molokai. It is one of the Islands of Maui. I e-mailed Marcie, my Hawaiian connection, and the paragraph below was her comment . I reprinted it here because of its interesting contents, something which will add to our knowledge of these Islands……

Molokai and Lanai islands are part of the County of Maui. We are unique in a sense that we have 3-islands under one County. They have lots of bangus on Molokai, and fresh from the ponds. The Hawaiians there are very protective of their island so much so that they know when a visitor is on island. They know everyone who lives there. The worst part is they are anti-development. The people who live on Molokai do not want any progress to evolve. They would rather live like the ancient times (live off the land, off the sea, etc), than to have lots of tourists and business in the area. One time, there was this incident: this cruise ship wanted to stop over on Molokai. This is good for the island right? Wrong! When the cruise ship was about to dock on Molokai waters, hundreds of surfers went out into the sea and blocked the ship!!! This is true story. Needless to say the cruise ship did not and will not stop on Molokai.

click on the window below to listen to the timeless theme of HAWAII 5-0
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Download this mp3 from Beemp3.com

THE MIRACLE AT FATIMA

Very young movie stars portrayed the three children who saw The Virgin Mary in Fatima. The leading man is played by veteran actor Gilbert Roland..

Many movie producers shun away from making religious movies because these may flop at the box office and they will lose their money. Not all directors can be like Cecil B. de Milles..

A few of them took their chances. THE SONG OF BERNADETTE ( this film also shown by Fr. Jose Estrada before in Asingan as a fund raising show ) garnered some awards..It was an artistic and financial success..

THE MIRACLE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA may not have the distinction earned by the above movie, but nevertheless it is a good one in many counts. It has a simple story frame but it never lost touch in portraying the Mother of God in mystic and reverent terms..Anyway Mary when she was still alive on earth was a very simple woman. The Bible did not mention much about her least it would take some attention away from her Son. Her real purpose in her temporal life is to glorify God and to take care of her Son until He matured and he started doing about His Father's business...

It seems as if anyone who go about preaching the Word of God will be persecuted. The three children in the movie were not exempted. But remember, this is a movie, and some events were changed or modified to suit the story plan of the director and producer.

For me, it has enough conflict to hold the movie goer's interest up to the last frame before the end title credits.

The DANSE MACABRE of the sun really took place. But one has to read other reports from witnesses during that fateful day when people screamed and run away in sheer terror..


I hope you will find the time to watch this movie. You will not regret it.

link to the movie, copy and paste to your tool bar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_7Pup_C__o

dangerous life: PARTS 10-17

part 14

COPY AND PASTE THE LINK BELOW TO YOUR TOOL BAR, THEN PRESS ENTER..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBfYmNEgKmE


part 15


part 16


part 17

DANGEROUS LIFE:1-9