The best of Times

(First of two parts)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way... — Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

In last week’s column, “An Ideal Christmas,” I featured downtown movie houses and how they contributed to the vibrancy of pre- and post-war Manila. One of those edifices was the Times Theater. The theater was probably scheduled to open in December 1940 but the construction of the new Quezon Boulevard fronting it may have led to its opening only in March 1941.

That new boulevard is one of the key elements in a story that brings to mind English novelist Charles Dickens’ classic tale. Quezon Boulevard was widened and extended to link old Manila with the planned new capital of Quezon City. The tale of the two cities of Manila and Quezon is as dramatic and turbulent as that of London and Paris; as told through the story of Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. But I will leave that to some young Palanca aspirant to weave a compelling yarn that channels Dickens.

I recently found an old souvenir program that I thought I had misplaced among my ever-growing collection of ephemera on Manila in particular and Philippine cities in general. It was from the 1941 inauguration of the Times Theater. Theater openings were grand affairs then but what made this event significant was that it pushed through despite the geo-political uncertainty that year. Europe had plunged into war. The Philippines’ independence was imminent. All this produced an anxiety built on fears of expansionist neighbors and an America initially inclined to shut itself off from the rest of the world’s troubles.

The souvenir was optimistic, pointing to a fact that holds true today: That in the face of troubles (military, political or economic), people turn to the movies to escape. The souvenir played on this as a justification of the theater’s opening. “With the threatening clouds on the horizon and amidst the turmoil of a perturbed and troubled world the Times Theater, undaunted and unafraid, a center of joy, an institution of happiness, a symbol and champion of the Philippines’ bright future in this era of war is now open for the public’s entertainment.”

The architect of the theater was young, new and talented. There were less than a hundred registered architects before the war and Luis Ma. Araneta entered their small fraternity right before the tumult. He came from an upper-class background but little has been documented of his body of work. He is one of those forgotten but talented modern Filipino architects of the mid-century.

Araneta graduated with a degree in architecture from the University of Santo Tomas in 1939. He was the architect of the Makati Medical Center, the Manila Doctors Hospital and a slew of private residences but it was with the Times Theater that he made his landmark debut; or rather a debut that produced a Manila landmark that has survived to this day.

The souvenir program described the architecture of the theater in the article entitled “Arts, Science and Industry Play the Times Symphony.” The introduction credits the structure as a collaborative effort between Araneta and engineer Jose Cortez, who “knows no impossibility in solving the structural problems that modern architecture presents.”

The rest of the article was a flowery description of the exterior and interior treatment. It started with the main façade: “(The) center motif in the scheme for the façade is the towering block of glass. Here, the march of time is symbolized in the use of glass, a material once weak and disgustingly fragile, now made firm and surprisingly strong by the progress of science …(suggesting) a look into the future. Night turns the tower of glass into a monumental lamp — an expression of the triumph of time over darkness.”

The theme of architecture as “frozen music” was used by the writer with the description of the rest of the theater: “Flanking the tower of glass are columns depicting organ pipes; as if to prepare us for the great symphony to be found within. …In the lobby the music starts with a sombre tone as reflected by the floor of black marble and columns of black carrara glass.”

From the article, we know that the architect specified what was considered modern materials then — steel and structural glass mixed with luxurious native and imported materials like marble, and Dao hardwood.

Araneta reserved the most dramatic note in his composition for the proscenium, the frame for the projected images of the featured movies. A magnificent mural was commissioned. The artist was Enrique Ruiz, known for his illuminated illustrative type of murals in pre-war Manila.

The mural is made up of three panels. The right panel features the “Vision of the Architect.” It was meant to personify “…the spirit of one man glorifying the edifice wherein shall spring the arts of film, fiction and comedy. Fiction embodied by the pleading female figure, pleads for the preservation of truth and the art of serious thinking.”

The central panel tells the story of “The Wooing of Maria Makiling.” This shows how much culturally connected Manila was then with its surrounding provinces. Finally, the left panel portrayed “The influence of film,” showing the “producer upholding the contribution” of his art, the scripts, cameramen, actors and a “family” of artists towards the production of the movies shown in the theater.

One final innovation was introduced with the Times Theater. It was a lighting effect that would not see popularity until much later, in the swinging ‘60s — blacklight. Intermissions were a regular part of movies in those days, so the lighting of the mural and the interiors were an important part of the experience.

The article ended by placing the theater in a perspective of the times (no pun intended), “The Times Theater stands — a great structure of steel and concrete and glass and chromium and wood and a hundred other materials — a product of modern minds and modern mechanical power. In the course of time, men have learned to take advantage of the earth’s resources, developing them to their maximum perfection in order to fit human needs…Times Theatre is a notable contribution to Manila Beautifu l —a shining tribute to time, the modern times, the arts, industry and science — and the men who had courage to erect such a structure in these troubled times.”

2009 is shaping up to feel like 1940, the nervous calm before the storm. The start of 2008 seemed like the best of times until the dam burst on Wall Street and other foreign centers of finance. All the economic and political experts say that it will be the worst of times before it will even start to become better.

Filipinos wake up each day now to incredulous tales of government inanity that has threatened to turn this season of Light into to a prolonged season of Darkness. 

As the Dickens tale stated, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven or we were all going direct the other way. The choice is ours. The thing with stories and history is that we need to learn from them. Movies too, can paint not just escape but inspiration to overcome adversity.

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Feedback is welcome. Please email the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.