LAST FILM FOOTAGE OF MANILA, PHILIPPINES BEFORE WWII U.S. INVASION IN PASIG RIVER

Released in 1946, this black & white educational film from "Library Films" purports to show some of the last footage of Manila prior to the outbreak of WWII. In 1945, as U.S. forces under MacArthur worked their way towards Manila from Leyte, the city became a battleground. As the notes at the beginning of the movie make clear, most of the beautiful buildings shown in the film were completely destroyed during the siege.

Opening titles: Library Films Inc presents Manila (followed by a crawl that explains why Manila is in shambles after WW2) (:06-:50). Pan Am Airlines seaplane comes in for a landing at Cavite. Manila is built along the Pasig River. Bridges span the river. Buildings. Busy streets are filled with native taxicabs. 1572 was when the old city of Manila was founded. A great wall was built around the old city (:51-2:33). Legislative building. University of the Philippines. People walk through a park. Well dressed maidens with men. People take canoes down a river. Three people maneuver a boat through dangerous river rapids (2:34-4:18). Rapids continue and the boat makes its way down river. Water becomes calmer and boat slows as the men reach Pagsanjan Falls. The falls of Pagsanjan Falls. Mountains of Northern Luzon (4:19-5:32). Rice terraces. Sides of mountains. The Banaue rice terraces are a system of irrigated rice terraces in the mountains of north-central Luzon, that were created more than 2,000 years ago by the Ifugao people. Little villages of stone houses. Natives in the mountains, the Igorot people. A native plays an instrument with his nose. Men and boys of the tribe (5:33-7:28). Women harvest rice. Men carry the rice on long poles, the women continually turn the bunches to dry in the sun. The women have tattoos on their arms. Hand looms are used to make clothing. A feud between tribes has resulted in one tribe capturing a head from another. The tribe dances around the head as a signal of victory. The 'head dance' is performed (7:29-9:22). The tribe reenact how the head came in to their possession (9:23-9:45). End credits (9:46-9:55).

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."