Golden girls honored

(Second of two parts)

The Gawad Parangal sa mga Ginintuang Bituin ng Pelikulang Pilipino is a new awards body that honors some of the greatest actresses in local film. A project of TV/movie director Nick Lizaso, its first ever awards presentation was staged recently at the auditorium of La Consolacion College in Manila and gathered famous names from the ‘30s to the ‘50s. I already wrote about the first set of awardees in my Tuesday column and I am sharing with you below the rest of my encounters and exchanges with the other honorees who showed up on the day of the award ceremony to personally collect their handsome glass trophies.

Gloria Romero — Still regarded as the greatest movie queen to ever reign in showbiz, she should also have been given a loyalty award for not leaving the entertainment profession since she became an actress in 1949. Maybe she’d disappear for a couple of months, but this was only to be with her doctor brother, Gilbert Galla, in Delaware, which the late Douglas Quijano loved to refer to as the American state “na hindi pinupuntahan ng mga Pilipino.”

No, she never abandoned the movies. Never mind if the industry treated her badly at times — billing her below the title in a lot of movies and assigning her to aswang roles! But ever the pro, she never complained and gave her best to each and every part that was thrown her way — no matter how small, no matter how ludicrous. In the end, she proved to everyone that she was still the queen – winning Best Actress (for Tanging Yaman) at past 70.

Rosa Rosal — There are two ways to introduce this greatest of all actresses in Philippine movies. One is to enumerate all her achievements — which may take all day. After all, she’s accomplished not only as a performer. As a humanitarian, she had been crowned with the Ramon Magsaysay award and that says it all. To save on time, maybe it’s best to simply introduce her as the one and only Rosa Rosal because she is truly the one and only — a tough act to follow, either in the movies or in public service.

Citing her accomplishments on that day of the awards ceremony was difficult for me because I didn’t want to sound too biased, considering the fact that industry members know how I’ve always looked up to her as my second mother. And so I took the short cut and ended up telling the audience that she is the one person I respect the most on this earth — and, yes, even fear the most: Readers’ Digest Most Trusted Person in the Philippines — the one and only Rosa Rosal.

Anita Linda — I’d like to think that I’ve spent a significant part of my life in the entertainment profession. I’ve been around so long, everyone thinks I’m ancient. But strangely enough, in all the years I’ve been in this business, I never had the chance to meet Anita Linda in person — until that day of the awards presentation.

Tita Alice (she’s Alice Lake off-screen), forgive me for suspecting these past years that you were already almost senile. Blame your realistic performances in Adela and in Lola for that misconception. You fleshed out those parts so incredibly well that I thought you’ve lost it. But she obviously hasn’t — so I later found out. On the contrary, she proved to be mentally alert, sharp and still capable of winning Best Actress awards.

Perla Bautista — She was the youngest honoree in that batch and she proved this by jogging to the stage in her long Filipiniana dress that day of the awards presentation. In her time, she was also the youngest Best Actress winner — bringing home the FAMAS trophy at age 22 for Markang Rehas.

In spite of the fact that she is one of the finest actresses in local films, she never walked around carrying a chip on her shoulder. In person, she had always been friendly, unpretentious and, well, cool. Trying to get the audience warmed up at the start of the awards ceremony, I began my spiels by teasing Tita Perla about her love life. Oh, it was colorful! And I believe that it was her experiences in this department that helped her mature as a performer — an award-winning one, who had brought home the FAMAS (many times) and the Urian.

I may not see her often, but the fondness will always be there. Our meetings may be few and far between, but we never run out of stories to tell when we see each other. Sometimes we talk about her craft, but at times I also ask her about her past loves — and she’d burst into laughter. Didn’t I tell you she’s cool?

Mila del Sol — She was introduced in the very first production venture of LVN Pictures. This was way back in 1939 — and so I thought she’d be old, brittle, fragile and doddering by now. I was happy to be wrong. Her face remains beautiful and creaseless. And she is sprightly, I swear. What’s surprising, however, is that she’s still got spunk! 

Accepting her award, she even engaged the audience in banter like she was 16 all over again — when she started in the movies. (I read somewhere recently that she’s currently doing the ABS-CBN soap Rosalka.) While she held the spotlight on stage, standing nearby was her escort — no less than the elusive Ira Cruz of the famous band Bamboo. Ira may be famous among the young crowd today, but at that moment, he took the backseat to his grandmother.

Born Clarita Villarba Rivera, she was given the screen name Mila del Sol because her lovely, radiant features always seemed to bring the sunshine in. Now in the sunset of her life (although that’s all figures — she looks much younger than her age), her energy and youthful looks still brings in the sunshine at any time.

The other honorees present on that day of the Gawad Parangal sa mga Ginintuang Bituin ng Pelikulang Pilipino were Delia Razon, Caridad Sanchez and Fely Vallejo, who was escorted by grandson Janno Gibbs. The other awardees who sent representatives to the affair were Virginia Montes, Mona Lisa, Emma Alegre, Gloria Sevilla, Lilia Dizon, Marlene Dauden, Lolita Rodriguez, Linda Estrella and Tessie Agana.

Invited as guest speakers were Eddie Romero, Marichu Maceda and Cecile Guidote-Alvarez. The show was put together by Torch Productions under the supervision of Jo-an Banaga, a respected assistant director/production manager in local movies.