Dolphy and the German Expressionists
The other day we drove past Makati Med and there were TV crews parked across the street waiting for updates on Dolphy’s medical condition. Of course they were just doing their jobs, but it’s ghoulish.
Dolphy has been a fixture in my consciousness since childhood, when I saw Silveria (the talking horse), Tarzan vs. Tansan and Barilan Sa Baboy Kural on TV (Sine Siete) while pretending to be having my afternoon siesta. I’m pretty sure the yaya (a sporadic presence due to my family’s rapidly shifting liquidity) knew I was awake, but she didn’t rat on me because she was watching the movies too. We saw Kalabog en Bosyo, Jack en Jill, and D’Beatniks (They were “beatniks” because they refused to bathe. In the denouement they all took a bath). I regret that I never saw his Batman spoof, James Batman.
Around this time the original John en Marsha TV series was on, with Nida Blanca, Dely Atay-Atayan and Matutina. Dolphy also produced and starred in movies that spoofed Cyrano de Bergerac, Romeo and Juliet, and The Omen (Omeng Satanasia).
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
There’s this particular Dolphy project I remember, in which the villain played an evil physician named Doctor Kagaw who hypnotized patients into committing crimes. It’s not mentioned in his IMDB page—it was probably an episode in a movie omnibus. Years later, when I saw The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, it occurred to me that Dolphy was spoofing the German Expressionist classic.
If anyone out there has a copy of The Cabinet of Dr. Kagaw, please let me know.
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Message from Boboy: The Caligari spoof was from Kalabog en Bosyo (1959). I loved that movie! Eddie Arenas played Dr. Kagaw. His immortal line: “Revenge!”
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
June 26th, 2012 at 08:36
I think Dr. Kagaw was a character in Kalabog en Bosyo.
When I was a kid, I’d ask for dry ice from the ice cream vendor, so I could put them inside my lola’s test tubes and pretend I was Dr. Kagaw. You’re probably wondering why my lola had test tubes. I think they were for testing her urine for blood sugar.
June 26th, 2012 at 12:08
Dolphy kicked Vic Vargas ass in Tarzan vs Tansan. I used to think the younger and thinner Dolphy in the black and white movies was different than the older Dolphy from the John and Marsha TV show.
June 26th, 2012 at 14:03
I remember Dr. Kagaw and his evil potion “Revenge” from Kalabog en Bosyo.
The antidote was — what else — “Avenge.”