(NOTE: This is a two-year old post and I've learned so many things since then. - Hero)
The other day I happened to catch the last quarter hour of Diborsyada, a 1960s (or early 70s) film starring Gina Alajar and Michael de Mesa. There was one scene where Gina (Gina Alajar's character. How serendipitous!) told Michael (Michael de Mesa's character. How fortuitous!) said the line in the blog title.
And I went "Are you crazy? That's Michael de Mesa. He is bald!” Or balding, in any case. The fact that he was so hairy at the time that it was as if growing hair was his mutant power (apologies to Tom Beland, author/artist of the comic series True Story, Swear To God...) notwithstanding.
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Truthfully, the movie didn't do much for me. It wasn't bakya, that's the term I save for Joyce Bernal's recent comedies. Sorry, fans. (Save for Kimmy Dora which was truly fun - Hero.). However, it was badly edited. The jump cuts were frequent and detracted from the momentum. The script was also a little overlong when it came to the meaningful exchanges. --I guess what I mean is that the characters would pontificate unnaturally even though they're supposed to be wrought with emotion that a normal person shouldn't be able to speak so eloquently at the moment.
But I liked it even through the sloppy editing and forced writing. Gina Alajar is a great actress. I've always known that but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Kwago (Michael de Mesa's nickname from Batang Batang Batang Batang X! I love calling him that) was a great lech. And there was this other guy who played the second husband. He looked familiar but I can't remember where I've seen him before.
The best part, however, is Baguio. The movie was shot in Baguio back when the elegant Hyatt Hotel still stood. It looked cool, clean and beautiful. One of the main reasons I watch movies from the early 80s and 70s is to see how Manila and Baguio and its people looked like. At least those eras are similar in environment to the times of my childhood but without the trash and flash fashion of the Cyndi Lauper-New Wave-Bagets era.
Maaann. 1970’s Manila was pretty. (Or it looked pretty, based on the movies and photos I've seen. - Hero)
Wait! IMDB lists Gina Alajar's Japanese-speaking second husband in the movie as Jimi Melendez. Aiko's dad? I thought maybe it was Richard Bonnin.
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I'm looking to watch an old Gabby Concepcion and Maricel Soriano comedy that involves a tandem name title and a bottle of arsenic but I can't remember what it was. I also want to watch the old John en Marsha movies. I remember enjoying them but hopefully I won't find them as bad as I did Ernest Scared Stupid ten years after first seeing it.
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