Philippine Cinema during the

World War II
By: Joel Ian D. Espenilla &
Alaiza Marie P. Flancia
 Wartime Films and the Effect on
Philippine Films
• The Japanese occupation introduced a new
player to the film industry – the Japanese; and a
new role for film – propaganda

• The Pacific War brought havoc to the film

industry in 1941

• The Japanese invaders commandeered precious

film equipment for their own propaganda needs.
Japanese Films with a Twist of Filipino
• The films that the Japanese brought failed to
appeal to audiences the same way the
Hollywood-made movies or locally-made films
did. Later on, Japanese propaganda offices
hired several local filmmakers to make
propaganda pictures for them.
The Downfall of the Film Industry
• The war years during the first half of the
Forties virtually halted filmmaking activities
save for propaganda work that extolled
Filipino-Japanese friendship.
– The Dawn of Freedom (Abe Yutaka & Gerardo de
Leon)
– Tatlong Marias (Gerardo de Leon)
 Entertainment during the War
• Despite the destruction and hardships of the
war, the people found time for entertainment;
and when movies were not being made nor
imported, they turn to live theater, which
provided alternative jobs for displayed movie
folk.
• The war years may have been the darkest in
film history
 Renaissance of the Theater Industry
• Live theater began to flourish again as movie
stars, directors ad technicians returned to the
stage.
– a way to keep them from being forgotten and at
the same time a way to earn a living
 Heroism in Film Industry
– In 1945:
• A Philippine version of the war movie had
emerged as a genre in which were recreated
narratives of horror and heroism with soldiers
and guerillas as protagonists
• Audience still hungry for new movies and still
fired up by the patriotism and hatred for
foreign enemies did not seem to tire of
recalling their experiences of the war.
 Movies
• Garrison 13 (1946)
• Dugo ng Bayan (1946)
• Walang Kamatayan (1946)
• Guerilyera (1946)
– ‘the heroes and villains of the war”
“World War II left its scars on the Filipino’s
imagination and heightened his sense of
reality…”
Directors and Actors/Actresses
 Gerardo de Leon
• Began making films in the late
1930s after finishing medical
school, becoming licensed as a
physician, and serving a stint as
an actor.
• Directed dozens of movies in
almost every genre over the
next 30-odd years
– Bahay Kubo (1938) a musical
– Adaptations of Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere (1961) and
El Filibusterismo (1962)
– Sanda Wong (1955)
– Pedro Penduko (1954)
– Blood Brothers (…)
– Handful of anti-American forces during World
War II
• The first filmmaker
to be recognized as
“Philippine’s
National Artist”
shortly after his
death
 Carmen Rosales
• A consummated actress, a singer, a dancer,
and a master of improvisation and mime.
• A guerilla fighter during the World War II
– Involved in the killing of a makapili (Japanese
Collaborator)
– A sharpshooter who toted a .45 and wore a
moustache to disguise herself
• Movies:
– Guerilyera (1946)
– Kaaway ng Bayan (1946)
– Si, Si Senorita (1947)
– Kampanang Ginto (1949)
– Kaaway ng Diyos (1949)
– Batalyon XIII (1949)
 Tito Arevalo
• A Filipino actor and musician

• Movies/Theater performances:
– Ang Tiktik (1941)
– Ang Iyong Ina and Ikaw Na (1946)
– Sanggano (1947)
 Mila del Sol
• Clarita Villarba Rivera
• A Filipina film actress and entrepreneur
• Volunteered for the Red Cross during the
World War II
• Movies:
– Orasang ginto (1946)
– Garrison 13 (1946)
– Batalyong XIII (1949)
Movies
 Dugo ng Bayan (1946)
• Directed by Fernando Poe Sr.
• Starred by Fernando Poe
Sr. and Patricia Midares
• A tribute to the Soldiers of
the World War II
 Garrison 13
• Starred by Mila del Sol and Carmen Rosales
• The movies showed the atrocities committed
by the Imperial Japanese Army in the
Philippines during the war
 Walang Kamatayan (1946)
• A drama film
• Directed Tor Villano
• Starred by Rolando Lwanag, Fred Penalosa,
Gregorio Ticman, Don Dano, and Manuel
Barbevto
 Guerilyera (1946)
• Directed by Octavio Silos
• Starred by Carmen Rosales
• A movie about a Filipina guerilla fighting
against the Japanese invaders