Showbiz trivia 1968 to 1969

In the mail this week is a letter from reader Jun Lugtu. Here’s Mr. Lugtu’s letter to me in full:

Dear Butch,

I read your article about TV shows and movies of the past. I’m doing a yearbook for our class and would like to seek your assistance. The yearbook is an update on all of us after 33 years. We graduated in 1969 (St. James Academy, Malabon) and I am compiling some memorable events circa 1968-69 to serve as a time capsule.

I would like to know the following:

1) Channels available during this period.

2) The TV shows circa 1968-69 – noontime (Darigold Jamboree, Student Canteen, etc.) and evening shows.

3) The popular Tagalog movies around this time. I was able to get the English movies from the Net.

4) The FAMAS Best Actor and Best Actress and for what movies.

5) Popular movie theaters – like Ideal and Avenue. Were the Cubao theaters already in existence then?

6) Stage shows.

7) Malls or department stores (Aguinaldo’s, COD, etc).

8) Any other popular trivia that happened around that time. (Did You know that the Ruby Tower collapsed in 1968?)

I know that St. James Academy is a very good school. In fact, I know some of its graduates and they are very nice people. Yes, I am willing to provide information (at least, those that I know) that may be of use to the yearbook you are planning to compile for your class. I suppose the time frame would have to cover July 1968 to April 1969. (Classes back then started in July and ended in April.) The landing of the Apollo 11 on the moon in July of 1969 therefore should no longer be part of your yearbook because you guys were already in college by then. Below are my answers to your questions:

1) The channels available on local TV that time were ABS-CBN Channel 3 (no, there was no Channel 2 that time), ABC-5, RBS Channel 7, KBS Channel 9, MBC Channel 11 and IBC Channel 13, which had its studio in P. Guevarra in San Juan.

2) The old Student Canteen had already been taken off the air by then. (It wasn’t revived until January 1975. But yes, there was Darigold Jamboree on Channel 11 with Johnny Wilson, Bentot and Thelma Kennedy, but this came in at 1 p.m. – after the noontime show Tayo’y Maghapi-hapi with Jean Lopez and Bayani Casimiro. This period saw the dying days of the ABS-CBN noontime show Bigay-Hilig with Bobby Gonzales and the early days of Stop, Look & Listen on the same channel. Some of the evening programs then were Oras ng Ligaya, Salamsim, The Nida-Nestor Show, The Rosemarie-Pepito Show, Kuwarto o Kahon, Tawag ng Tanghalan, Si Tatang Kasi, Maggie (with Maggie de la Riva) and Buhay Artista.

3) Some of the popular movies around this period were Bandana (with Susan Roces and Romeo Vasquez, Petrang Paminta (with Jeanne Young), Baluga (starring Rosemarie Sonora) – all in 1968, Perlas ng Silangan (with Fernando Poe, Jr., Susan Roces and Vic Vargas) and Kapatid Ko ang Aking Ina (with Amalia Fuentes), both released in 1969.

4) The FAMAS winners in 1969 (awards given in April 1970) were Joseph Estrada, Best Actor (for Patria Adorada), Gloria Sevilla, Best Actress (for Badlis sa Kinabuhi), Eddie Garcia, Best Supporting Actor (for Patria Adorada) and Eva Darren, Best Supporting Actress (for Ang Pulubi). The Best Picture winner was Pinagbuklod ng Langit, which chronicled the lives of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos at the Palace. The year before, Luis Nepomuceno Production’s Igorota had a sweep of the awards. On FAMAS night, Best Actress winner Charito Solis accepted her trophy from presenter Marlene Dauden in her Ang Pulubi costume.

5) Ideal – with its beautiful lobby – was a popular movie theater along Avenida, Rizal. Avenue, State, Lyric, Center, Capitol and the Manila Grand Opera House were also popular then. Cubao had New Frontier and Nation. But the classiest movie theater then was Rizal in Makati.

6) Stage shows were no longer very popular around this time – although there were still some venues in Manila that featured live comic skits, song numbers and sexpots (usually has-been sex goddesses on the big screen) dancing on stage in sequined bikinis.

7) Aguinaldo’s was no longer a top department store toward the late ’60s. But C.O.D. was – especially during December because of its Christmas tableau. (That time, you could still park your car in front of the department store and watch the display from across the building.) Also very popular was Oceanic Commercial (especially when it came to silverware). Rustan’s in San Marcelino was starting to become popular, while Farmer’s Market was being readied for its inauguration in 1969.

8) The Ruby Tower collapsed during the early morning earthquake that struck the metropolis in August 1968, but I don’t think that should qualify as trivia since it claimed a lot of lives. Anyway, this was when Johnny Midnight had his shining moment on radio because he had the most extensive coverage of this tragedy. I have more trivia to share for the benefit of St. James Academy, Malabon Class 1968-69. But that would have to be on Thursday because I’ve already used up my space for today.