Bertoldo-Balodoy
Cebu’s First Talking Motion Picure

Bertoldo-Balodoy was written and directed by playwright Piux Kabahar and produced by Estudio Americo-Filipino, Cebu’s first movie company, owned by Dr. Virgilio R. Gonzalez, a Pampangueño who took up residence in Cebu in 1919 after he married a local carnival queen. This time, a serious effort was made to create the movie professionally. Two “studios” were established, ordering equipment from the United States. A team composed of Piux Kabahar, assistant director S. Alvarez Villarino, and a cameraman Prudencio Iriarte was sent to Manila to train under director Carlos Vander Tolosa and observe film production at Sampaguita Pictures and Parlatone Hispano-Filipino. The movie was premiered in Cebu’s Vision Theater in 1938.

Bertoldo-Balodoy elicited great interest despite technical lapses (such as an actor’s kiss that sounded like thunder because of audio effects.) A copy of the film was bought for the sum of P26,000 and shown in Hawaii. The movie failed to recover the investment put into it but it did not discourage Gonzalez. He had six other films lined up and had plans to expand his studios.

Extracted from an article by Resil Mojares