Narcisa de Leon
Encyclopedia
Narcisa Buencamino Vd.ª De de Leon (October 29, 1877 – February 6, 1966) was a Filipino
film
producer
. Clad daily in the frugal rural dress of the camisón, saya and chinelas
, Doña Sisang, as she was widely known, was already a 61-year old widow when she entered the film industry. Nonetheless, she chartered her family-owned LVN Pictures
into a dominant position in post-World War II Philippine cinema
. In addition, de Leon was one of the most highly-regarded Filipino businesswomen of the first half of the 20th century.
at October 1877, the daughter of a poet and the granddaughter of a Chinese merchant. Her father died when she was five, and she was later forced to stop schooling after the fourth grade to work for a living. In her teens, she was working odd jobs as a cook and a seamstress, and she would eventually enter the business of making umbrellas.
In 1904, she married José de León, a local government official in San Miguel, with whom she would have five children. The family settled in San Miguel, Bulacan.
, Manila
, and other prime locations within Luzon
. They also engaged in philanthropic
activities and donated a hospital to their hometown of San Miguel.
De Leon was widowed in 1934. She moved her family to Manila, took charge of the family business, and refocused it towards real estate. It was said that the business soared to new heights when she took full control after her husband's death. She would also become the first woman appointed to the board of directors of a government corporation when she was named by President
Manuel Quezon to the board of the National Rice and Corn Corporation.
In the 1950s, De Leon would be among the organizing shareholders of Republic Cement Corporation, which soon became among the leading cement
producers in the country.
, the name taken from the respective initials of the three founding families. Apart from de Leon, the two other principal founding partners of LVN Pictures were Carmen Villongco and Eleuterio Navoa Sr.
LVN broke into the Philippine film industry with the successful release of its first feature, Carlos Vander Tolosa's musical Giliw Ko
, released in 1939. De Leon was elected president of LVN Pictures in 1940 , and she eventually bought out the shares of her other partners, gaining full control over the studio.. Giliw Ko was followed with another successful film, Manuel Conde's
Ibong Adarna (1941), which featured the first color sequence in a Filipino film and was the first local film to earn more than a million pesos
. However, LVN Pictures was forced to close shop upon the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in December 1941. It resumed operations after the Liberation of Manila in 1945, and produced the first post-war Filipino movie, Orasang Ginto (1946). In 1949, LVN produced the first full-color Filipino feature film, Batalyon XIII. Dissatisfied by the color-processing of that film, De Leon bought her own color laboratory for LVN.
LVN Pictures saw the peak of its success in the decade following the war, hosting a stable of the most prominent film stars who had joined its studios such as Rogelio de la Rosa
. In addition to producing commercially successful films, LVN also featured critically acclaimed prestige films such as Lamberto Avellana's Anak Dalita
(1956), which was named Best Film at the 1956 Asia-Pacific Film Festival. In the late 1950s, LVN capitalized on the unexpected stardom of one of its contract players, the singer Diomedes Maturan
who emerged as the top box-office draw of 1958-1959.
and corrido
, and populated her movies with Philippine folk dance
s. She resisted copying Hollywood trends and insisted on injecting Filipino culture into LVN films.
Devoutly Catholic
, she demanded that each of LVN's films contain a moral lesson. She disallowed sex scenes
and permitted only love scenes that featured no more than a peck on the cheek.
Her idiosyncrasies aside, de Leon used the phrase "Kung ano ang kikita" ("Whatever makes money") to justify the choices of scripts LVN adapted into film. As a result, she resisted making "prestige films" that delved into socially-conscious issues. She was hesitant to produce Avellana's bleak drama Anak Dalita, and only did so at the insistence of her son, Manuel. The film earned poorly, but received several international awards which failed to mollify de Leon. She told her son, "Ano ngayon ang gagawin ninyo sa mga kopang iyan? Makakain ninyo ba iyan?" ("What will you do with all those trophies? Can you be fed with those?")
De Leon was known for her acumen in selecting and cultivating stars. This was manifested early on in the casting of the very first LVN film, Giliw Ko. De Leon was instrumental in the casting of the then-unknown Mila del Sol
in a romantic leading role, over the objection of director Vander Tolosa who felt that the 12-year old actress was too young for the part. Del Sol would be but the first of many Filipino actors whom de Leon would "discover" and groom for stardom. Among the other discoveries of de Leon and LVN Pictures were Charito Solis
, Nida Blanca
, Armando Goyena
, Luz Valdez, Delia Razon, and Mario Montenegro
. Razon and Montenegro were signed by LVN after De Leon espied them in bit roles in other films.
De Leon was a fiery disciplinarian whom, it was joked, would fall ill when she had no one to scold. She maintained a strict supervision over the behavior of her stars, restraining their spending habits by withholding portions of their salaries until their withheld pay was sufficient to buy a new house or car. De Leon though would periodically hand out cash advances to LVN actresses so they could purchase new gowns. She would involve herself into the personal lives of her stars, engineering for example, the reconcillation between Nestor de Villa
and his father, with whom he had become estranged after he disapproved of his becoming an actor. She frequently invited many of her actors to her Quezon City
home along Broadway Street. De Leon was also willing to help in manually sewing the costumes of her actresses.
In line with her frugal nature, De Leon was hesitant to spend on publicity
for LVN films. Instead, she would develop "love team" tandems among her stars, such as Nestor de Villa
and Nida Blanca
, and encourage them to "Magpa-chismis kayo." ("Make gossip for yourselves.")
even after it had fallen out of fashion and in disrepair. De Leon also continued her philanthropic activities, providing for a school building to her native San Miguel, contributing to the renovation of the San Miguel Church, and even donating parcels of land in Bulacan and Cabanatuan to the needy.
Despite her financial success, de Leon never learned to read English
and could only speak the language at a most rudimentary level. She was however, well-versed in Spanish and Tagalog.
. Despite being in her eighties, De Leon continued on as a film producer with Dalisay Pictures, an independent production outfit. She likewise attended to her other businesses and was active until the week before her death at age 88 in 1966. De Leon is buried at the Manila North Cemetery
.
Her grandson, Mike de Leon
, emerged as a highly-acclaimed film director beginning in the 1970s. His 1977 film Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising was dedicated to his late grandmother on the occasion of her birth centenary.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. Clad daily in the frugal rural dress of the camisón, saya and chinelas
Slipper
A slipper or houseshoe is a semi-closed type of indoor/outdoor shoe, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by a strap running over the toes or instep. Slippers are soft and lightweight compared to other types of footwear. They are mostly made of soft or comforting materials that allow a...
, Doña Sisang, as she was widely known, was already a 61-year old widow when she entered the film industry. Nonetheless, she chartered her family-owned LVN Pictures
LVN Pictures
LVN Pictures, Inc. is one of the biggest film studios in the history of Philippine cinema and its foremost establishment in motion picture post-production until 2005...
into a dominant position in post-World War II Philippine cinema
Cinema of the Philippines
Cinema of the Philippines started with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on January 1, 1897 at the Salón de Pertierra in Manila. The following year, local scenes were shot on film for the first time by a Spaniard, Antonio Ramos, using the Lumiere Cinematograph...
. In addition, de Leon was one of the most highly-regarded Filipino businesswomen of the first half of the 20th century.
Early life
She was born Narcisa Buencamino in San Miguel, BulacanSan Miguel, Bulacan
San Miguel de Mayumo is a 1st class, partially urban municipality located in the 3rd district of the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 138,839 people.-History:...
at October 1877, the daughter of a poet and the granddaughter of a Chinese merchant. Her father died when she was five, and she was later forced to stop schooling after the fourth grade to work for a living. In her teens, she was working odd jobs as a cook and a seamstress, and she would eventually enter the business of making umbrellas.
In 1904, she married José de León, a local government official in San Miguel, with whom she would have five children. The family settled in San Miguel, Bulacan.
Businesswoman
The de Leon couple ventured into the rice production business, and soon would be recognized as among the leading rice producers in Luzon. By the 1920s, the couple would own several high-valued real properties in BulacanBulacan
Bulacan , officially called the Province of Bulacan or simply Bulacan Province, is a first class province of the Republic of the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Region in the island of Luzon, north of Manila , and part of the Metro...
, Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, and other prime locations within Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
. They also engaged in philanthropic
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
activities and donated a hospital to their hometown of San Miguel.
De Leon was widowed in 1934. She moved her family to Manila, took charge of the family business, and refocused it towards real estate. It was said that the business soared to new heights when she took full control after her husband's death. She would also become the first woman appointed to the board of directors of a government corporation when she was named by President
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...
Manuel Quezon to the board of the National Rice and Corn Corporation.
In the 1950s, De Leon would be among the organizing shareholders of Republic Cement Corporation, which soon became among the leading cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
producers in the country.
LVN Pictures
After her husband's death, de Leon was urged by her brother and some friends to invest in the Filipino film industry. She agreed, and in 1938, her family, along with the Villonco and Navoa families, contributed capital to establish a film studio. The company was named LVN PicturesLVN Pictures
LVN Pictures, Inc. is one of the biggest film studios in the history of Philippine cinema and its foremost establishment in motion picture post-production until 2005...
, the name taken from the respective initials of the three founding families. Apart from de Leon, the two other principal founding partners of LVN Pictures were Carmen Villongco and Eleuterio Navoa Sr.
LVN broke into the Philippine film industry with the successful release of its first feature, Carlos Vander Tolosa's musical Giliw Ko
Giliw Ko
Giliw Ko is a 1939 Filipino movie. A musical romance, Giliw Ko had a radio theme, and was first production of the Filipino company, LVN Pictures. It is notable for being a gift from Australia to the Filipino people to commemorate 100 years of independence...
, released in 1939. De Leon was elected president of LVN Pictures in 1940 , and she eventually bought out the shares of her other partners, gaining full control over the studio.. Giliw Ko was followed with another successful film, Manuel Conde's
Manuel Conde
Manuel Conde was born on October 15, 1915 in Daet, Camarines Norte . He was an actor, director and producer. As an actor, he also used the screen name Juan Urbano during the 1930s aside from his more popular screen name. His first film was "Mahiwagang Biyolin" in 1935. He made almost three dozen...
Ibong Adarna (1941), which featured the first color sequence in a Filipino film and was the first local film to earn more than a million pesos
Philippine peso
The peso is the currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 centavos . Before 1967, the language used on the banknotes and coins was English and so "peso" was the name used...
. However, LVN Pictures was forced to close shop upon the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in December 1941. It resumed operations after the Liberation of Manila in 1945, and produced the first post-war Filipino movie, Orasang Ginto (1946). In 1949, LVN produced the first full-color Filipino feature film, Batalyon XIII. Dissatisfied by the color-processing of that film, De Leon bought her own color laboratory for LVN.
LVN Pictures saw the peak of its success in the decade following the war, hosting a stable of the most prominent film stars who had joined its studios such as Rogelio de la Rosa
Rogelio de la Rosa
Regidor de la Rosa , better known as Rogelio de la Rosa, was one of the most popular Filipino matinee idols of the 20th century. He is also remembered for his statesmanship, in particular his accomplishments as a diplomat...
. In addition to producing commercially successful films, LVN also featured critically acclaimed prestige films such as Lamberto Avellana's Anak Dalita
Child of Sorrow (film)
Child of Sorrow is a 1956 Philippine crime film directed by Lamberto V. Avellana. The film was selected as the Philippine entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 29th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee...
(1956), which was named Best Film at the 1956 Asia-Pacific Film Festival. In the late 1950s, LVN capitalized on the unexpected stardom of one of its contract players, the singer Diomedes Maturan
Diomedes Maturan
Diomedes Maturan was an actor who played in Botika sa baryo and Tawag ng tanghalan. Maturan died on April 7, 2002 of heart attack at age 61....
who emerged as the top box-office draw of 1958-1959.
Thematic influence on LVN films
During her years at the helm of LVN Pictures, de Leon retained absolute control over the operations of the studio and of the films it produced. She personally read and approved the final scripts prior to production, later with the assistance of her son Manuel. Her personal tastes dictated the themes of LVN films. Reflecting her upbringing and age, she was partial to rural romances and stories based on the traditional forms of awitAwit
The awit is a form of Filipino poetry. Its literal translation into English is "song," although in the context of poetry, it is closer to the narrative.-Characteristics:The following are characteristics observed in the awit, Florante at Laura....
and corrido
Corrido
The corrido is a popular narrative song and poetry form, a ballad, of Mexico. The songs are often about oppression, history, daily life for peasants, and other socially important information. It is still a popular form today, and was widely popular during the Mexican Revolution and Nicaraguan...
, and populated her movies with Philippine folk dance
Folk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
s. She resisted copying Hollywood trends and insisted on injecting Filipino culture into LVN films.
Devoutly Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, she demanded that each of LVN's films contain a moral lesson. She disallowed sex scenes
Sex in film
Sex in film refers to the presentation in motion pictures of sexuality and sex acts, including love scenes. Sex scenes have been depicted in film since the silent era of cinematography. Many actors and actresses have exposed parts of their bodies or dressed and behaved in ways considered sexually...
and permitted only love scenes that featured no more than a peck on the cheek.
Her idiosyncrasies aside, de Leon used the phrase "Kung ano ang kikita" ("Whatever makes money") to justify the choices of scripts LVN adapted into film. As a result, she resisted making "prestige films" that delved into socially-conscious issues. She was hesitant to produce Avellana's bleak drama Anak Dalita, and only did so at the insistence of her son, Manuel. The film earned poorly, but received several international awards which failed to mollify de Leon. She told her son, "Ano ngayon ang gagawin ninyo sa mga kopang iyan? Makakain ninyo ba iyan?" ("What will you do with all those trophies? Can you be fed with those?")
Star maker
Mila del Sol
Clarita Rivera Villarba , better known as Mila del Sol, is a Filipina film actress and entrepreneur. Del Sol was born in Tondo, Manila. She gained fame in her very first lead role in the 1939 film Giliw Ko...
in a romantic leading role, over the objection of director Vander Tolosa who felt that the 12-year old actress was too young for the part. Del Sol would be but the first of many Filipino actors whom de Leon would "discover" and groom for stardom. Among the other discoveries of de Leon and LVN Pictures were Charito Solis
Charito Solis
Charito Solis was a FAMAS and Gawad Urian award-winning Filipino film actress. Acknowledged as one of the leading dramatic actresses of post-war Philippine cinema, she was tagged either as the "Anna Magnani of the Philippines" or as "the Meryl Streep of the Philippines."-Profile:Rosario Violeta...
, Nida Blanca
Nida Blanca
Dorothy Acueza Jones, popularly known by her stage name Nida Blanca, was a Filipina actress. She starred in over 163 movies and 14 television shows and received over 16 awards for movies and six awards for television during her 50-year film career...
, Armando Goyena
Armando Goyena
Armando Goyena was a Filipino actor and matinée idol who was popular in the 1950s.-Family:...
, Luz Valdez, Delia Razon, and Mario Montenegro
Mario Montenegro
Mario Montenegro was a Filipino film actor best known for his heroic leading roles.-Biography:Montenegro was born in Pagsanjan, Laguna to a Filipino father and a French mother....
. Razon and Montenegro were signed by LVN after De Leon espied them in bit roles in other films.
De Leon was a fiery disciplinarian whom, it was joked, would fall ill when she had no one to scold. She maintained a strict supervision over the behavior of her stars, restraining their spending habits by withholding portions of their salaries until their withheld pay was sufficient to buy a new house or car. De Leon though would periodically hand out cash advances to LVN actresses so they could purchase new gowns. She would involve herself into the personal lives of her stars, engineering for example, the reconcillation between Nestor de Villa
Néstor de Villa
Néstor de Villa was a Filipino actor frequently cast in musical films. He was a gifted dancer, often paired with frequent on-screen partner Nida Blanca in both movies and television...
and his father, with whom he had become estranged after he disapproved of his becoming an actor. She frequently invited many of her actors to her Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
home along Broadway Street. De Leon was also willing to help in manually sewing the costumes of her actresses.
In line with her frugal nature, De Leon was hesitant to spend on publicity
Publicity
Publicity is the deliberate attempt to manage the public's perception of a subject. The subjects of publicity include people , goods and services, organizations of all kinds, and works of art or entertainment.From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion which is one...
for LVN films. Instead, she would develop "love team" tandems among her stars, such as Nestor de Villa
Néstor de Villa
Néstor de Villa was a Filipino actor frequently cast in musical films. He was a gifted dancer, often paired with frequent on-screen partner Nida Blanca in both movies and television...
and Nida Blanca
Nida Blanca
Dorothy Acueza Jones, popularly known by her stage name Nida Blanca, was a Filipina actress. She starred in over 163 movies and 14 television shows and received over 16 awards for movies and six awards for television during her 50-year film career...
, and encourage them to "Magpa-chismis kayo." ("Make gossip for yourselves.")
Lifestyle
De Leon was known for her extreme humility . She favored her simple rural attire even when attending the most lavish receptions, and would immediately deflect any praises directed at her. She insisted on using an old diesel-powered Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
even after it had fallen out of fashion and in disrepair. De Leon also continued her philanthropic activities, providing for a school building to her native San Miguel, contributing to the renovation of the San Miguel Church, and even donating parcels of land in Bulacan and Cabanatuan to the needy.
Despite her financial success, de Leon never learned to read English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and could only speak the language at a most rudimentary level. She was however, well-versed in Spanish and Tagalog.
Later years
Despite the box-office success of the films of LVN Pictures in the 1940s and 1950s, it was unable to sustain financial liquidity, and by 1961, it stopped producing movies and redirected its operations for post-production servicesPost-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
. Despite being in her eighties, De Leon continued on as a film producer with Dalisay Pictures, an independent production outfit. She likewise attended to her other businesses and was active until the week before her death at age 88 in 1966. De Leon is buried at the Manila North Cemetery
Manila North Cemetery
The Manila North Cemetery , which measures 54 hectares, is considered the biggest and one of the oldest cemeteries in Metro Manila. Beside it are two other important cemeteries, namely the La Loma Cemetery and the Manila Chinese Cemetery...
.
Her grandson, Mike de Leon
Mike de Leon
Miguel Pamintuan de Leon is a noted Filipino film director, cinematographer, scripwriter and film producer. His is also known as Mike de Leon. He was born in Manila on May 24, 1947 to Manuel de Leon and Imelda Pamintuan...
, emerged as a highly-acclaimed film director beginning in the 1970s. His 1977 film Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising was dedicated to his late grandmother on the occasion of her birth centenary.