I was 'pilyo' in my youth

I haven’t been to a movie theater in years, before and after the pandemic. I am a certified movie buff. I hate science fiction movies which are mostly digital. I prefer love stories, musicals like Sound of Music, West Side Story and My Fair Lady. And of course historical, biographical and true events movies.Most movie theaters in Angeles, San Fernando and Guagua are already closed even before the veerus struck. Thank God there's Netflix and YouTube. Enough to fill the space left void by full length movies shown on wide wide screens of movie houses.

Ah memories. I have loved movies since I was young. (In my teen years I sat at the topmost seat on the ill lighted balcony area with my girlfriend and we whispered sweet nothings). Even though I was still in my shorts, I begged Kong Cosme, our jeepney driver neighbor, to take me as his helper. He was plying the Porac-Angeles route. As a result, I became known to all jeepney drivers in my hometown, and got free rides. On Sunday I go to Angeles to spend the whole day looking at the display of movie ads in theaters. I love going to those with double features. Orchestra ticket was only twenty five centavos. Repeat: twenty five centavos!

There’s a short chapter in my life that when I look back I cannot help but laugh at myself. This was in the mid-fifties and I was a dishwasher in a small restaurant located at the corner of N. Domingo and Lozada streets in San Juan City.My sister Eugenia was the cook and each summer break from high school I joined my sister there and got ‘employed’ not only as a dishwasher but as janitor and errand boy as well.

Despite the heavy workload I never felt burdened, probably because I was young and enjoyed the metropolitan atmosphere, instead of the bucolic and laid back setting in my hometown of Porac. And on Sunday, my day off, I walked from the restaurant to the nearby Sampaguita studios where together with fans waited outside of the high walled Vera Perez residences for the movie stars coming in and out. The late Amalia Fuentes was the newest discovery of the studio together with Romeo Vasquez and Juancho Gutierrez. Other popular stars were Luis Gonzales, Ramon Revilla, Carlos Salazar, Gloria Romero, Rita Gomez, Ric Rodrigo, Pepito Rodriguez, Daisy Romualdez, Rosemarie Sonora, Greg Martin and Eddie Arenas. Rodolfo Quezon aka Dolphy was starting to make a name and was still second billing.

I was a movie fan then and now. In my youth an orchestra ticket either in Angeles City, Guagua or San Fernando or even in Metro Manila theaters was only 35 centavos. A balcony ticket was priced double and considered a luxury for most. And lotharios who were playing hide and seek were not much visible but moviegoers can hear loud smacking among young couples. Under cover of darkness, brave couples were doing more than that. Boom boom.

On top of it, in those days, you could stay in your seat and view the movie twice or thrice and no usher will bother you. Unlike today where there are time schedules for screening. The digital age came, and the laptops, IPads and even cellphones offer more movies and documentaries. You can even view them repeatedly and on any of one’s available free time. And the subscription is not that much. Unli movies. Unli documentaries and unli news.

In the early years in Angeles town, there were few theaters and sometimes featured two movies. The Paraiso movie house which later became Lita theater showed mostly Tagalog movies like Robin Theater. Devry and Marte theaters only featured English movies. I remember it was either in these two movie houses where I saw Tarzan and starred Johnny Weissmuller. Other male stars were Errol Flynn, Audie Murphy, Humphrey Bogart and more. Hollywood movies were real treats then. I viewed it twice with only two pandesal as lunch at the 1957 movie Boy on a Dolphin starring Sophia Loren. I fell in love with her. Everytime I went to the bathroom I always saw her face, her pouting lips and sexy behind. Gina Lolobrigida and Brigitte Bardot’s posters I kept at the back of my pillow and ‘romanced’ them almost each night. Oh,Wow I remember. I was pilyo in my youth.

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