Best Actress - "...When she felt she already had enough of Europe, Celia returned to the Philippines to resume her acting career. It was Mike Velarde (now of El Shaddai fame) who gave her the chance to make a spectacular comeback in the movies. Velarde, who is also from Bicol like Celia, had suddenly come into money and wanted to produce a movie. Never mind that he was a geodetic engineer by profession and probably didn’t know the first thing about moviemaking. Since Velarde wanted only the best, Celia got no less than Gerry de Leon as director and Pierre Salas as writer. The result was Lilet, a mystery drama that was shot in three long months ("We worked everyday," cried out Celia) and had used enough raw materials to make four movies. The effort was worth it though because it won for Celia her FAMAS Best Actress trophy. Lilet may have put her back on track in the movies, but it also spawned malicious rumors about a romance between Celia and Velarde. "But that is not true!" Celia flatly denies this piece of gossip that had been hounding her the past three decades. "If there was any truth to that, I would have admitted it. He would have been a feather in my cap-considering his popularity. But it’s not true," she insists. To that, we say Amen. Or as Mike Velarde would say it, "Ehmen!" Lilet and the subsequent Best Actress trophy she got for it actually inspired Celia to finally take the business of acting seriously..." - Butch Francisco (READ MORE)
Celia Rodriguez ay isang artista sa Pilipinas. Una siang nakitang gumanap sa mga pelikula ng Premiere Production noong huling dekada 1950. Siya ay nanalo ng apat na FAMAS Awards: isa bilang pinakamahusay na aktres ng 1971 para sa pelikulang Lilet at tatlo pa bilang pinakamahusay na pangalawang aktres ng 1964 (Kulay Dugo ang Gabi), 1966 (The Passionate Strangers) at 2003 (Magnifico). - Wikipedia (READ MORE)
Celia Rodriguez and Vilma Santos
Celia Rodriguez and Vilma Santos did eight films together. The most memorable were: Lipad Darna Lipad where Celia played the Snake Queen, Valentina and Vilma as Darna; and Kampanerang Kuba were Celia played the evil sex starved villain and Vilma played the hunch back bell ringer, their fight in the pig pen was one of the highlight of the film.
Hiwalay (1981) - "...Dagdag pa ni Vilma, “Pero isa rin sa pinakapaborito ko is Dindo Fernando. Si Dindo, na yumao noong 1987, ay nakapareha ni Vilma sa mga pelikulang gaya ng Langis at Tubig (1980), Hiwalay (1981), T-Bird At Ako (1982), Gaano Kadalas Ang Minsan (1982), Baby Tsina (1984), at Muling Buksan Ang Puso (1985)..." - Rico Jr (READ MORE)
Darna at Ding (1980) - "...The climax of this “Darna vs. the Dragon Lady” part of Darna At Ding sees Lei Ming conjure up an evil double of Darna to keep our heroine busy while, elsewhere in her lair, a towering robot bears menacingly down upon Ding. It’s a suitably whiz-bang finale to this loopy, kitchen sink confection, and one that makes the long, strange and circuitous route that we’ve taken to get to it seem perhaps less arduous in retrospect. Still, at a solid two hours, Darna At Ding is an example of a movie that pulls out all the stops, but perhaps shouldn’t have. While it’s combination of horror movie chills, superhero thrills and slapstick spills might have been catnip for the Filipino audience of its day, for the rest of us it might prove mildly exhausting. Nonetheless, I find Vilma Santos so appealing in her role that it’s hard for me to imagine hating any Darna movie that she appears in, and this one’s no exception..." - Todd of “luchadiaries” (READ MORE)
Coed (1979) - "...Mula sa VS Films at Bancom Audiovision Films ang pelikulang Coed (January 25, 1979) ay nagtatampok kina Vi, Jay Ilagan, Delia Razon, Allan Valenzuela, Romeo Enriquez, Romeo Rivera, Jun Soler, Angge, Jojo Santiago at Rosemarie Sarita sa panulat at iskrip ni Allan Jayme Rabaza at direksiyon ni Emmanuel H. Borlaza..." - Alfonso Valencia (READ MORE)
Mga Rosas Sa Putikan (1976) - "...Ang initial offering ng VS Films na Mga Rosas Sa Putikan (July 10, 1976) ay nagtatampok kina Vi, Celia Rodriguez, Barbara Luna, Trixia Gomez, Merle Fernandez, Romeo Enriquez, Arnold Gamboa, Ike Lozada at Sandy Garcia sa panulat at direksiyon ni Emmanuel H. Borlaza..." - Alfonso Valencia (READ MORE)
Karugtong Ng Kahapon (1975) - "...Vilma Santos, on the other hand, gave a notable performance in Roma Films’ Karugtong ang Kahapon. That time, Nora and Vilma were in their peak, their career and the movies they made were being followed closely, compared, watched, praised, scrutinized both by fans and critics. Their storied and fierce rivalry dominated our movie industry for years..." - Wikipedia (READ MORE)
Biktima (1974) - "...In a strange turn of events, Dolores (Vilma Santos) moves in to live with her grandfather, who has sole custody of her ever since her mother was imprisoned for the m rder of Dolores’ father. Mystery unfolds as Dolores stays with her grandfather when members of the household are murdered one by one. Will Dolores escape the chaos unraveling around her or will she be the next victim?..." - Kabayan Central (READ MORE)
Kampanerang Kuba (1974) - "...With limited dialouge, a young Dindo Fernando portrayed Tateng’s lover convincingly. All the other supporting roles including Perla Bautista, Ernie Garcia and others gave a forgettable performances. About the two main lead, Edgar Mortiz and Vilma Santos did what they can to portrayed their roles. Edgar Mortiz seems to be trying very hard to be effective as the priest but acting is clearly not his forte. Would this be different if Jay Ilagan did this role? Vilma Santos succeed more with her solo scenes, talking to the patron saints and the bell tower, eating with her bare hands and trying to beautify her ugly face..." - RV (READ MORE)
Lipad, Darna, lipad! (1973) - "...Ding, ang bato!” yells Narda, the adolescent country lass, to her younger brother. Ding obligingly hands over a shiny pebble which Narda swallows to turn herself into the vivacious super-vixen, Darna. Mars Ravelo’s superheroine, clad in crimson bikinis and knee-high stiletto boots, may perhaps be the most famous local fantasy character given life on the silver screen. Though not actually considered a career-defining role, portraying Darna is, nonetheless, highly-coveted. Darna has been portrayed by no less than nine actress in 12 feature films. Rosa del Rosario first wore the scarlet two piece in May 1951. She reprised the role after three months. Liza Moreno, Eva Montes and Gina Pareno followed her. The inter-galactic pebble found its way to Vilma Santos’ throat in 1973 via the flick “Lipad, Darna, Lipad!” Santos, now a two-term mayor of Lipa City in Batangas, is probably the most popular Darna, with a total of four movies in a span of seven years. Some of these were made known to younger generations through afternoon airings on television in the late ’80s. Maybe RPN 9 should do that again so that even younger generations can marvel at Darna’s greatness, albeit antiquated, in such movies as “Darna and the Giants” and “Darna vs. the Planet Women..." - Armin Adina, Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 06, 2003 (READ MORE)
