Classic stories on the big screen

Leafing through the book I published in 1994, The Golden Years Memorable Tagalog Movie Ads (1946-1956), I came across the 1950 LVN movie Sohrab at Rustum, topbilled by Rogelio de la Rosa, Armando Goyena, Lilia Dizon, Evelyn Villar and Rosa Rosal.

I remember studying and reading Sohrab and Rustum in second year high school at Colegio de San Juan de Letran — it’s the classic story of Sohrab, young and brave hero, looking for his father Rustum. The English subject was under the Narrative and Lyric Poetry chapter of the Philippine High School Readers Book Two (by Mendez Mendez Potts).

Wonder if high school students these days still study and read the classics of world literature like Sohrab and Rustum, written by the English poet, critic and professor Matthew Arnold based on a Syrian legend.

The Golden Years book showed that Filipino movies adapted other classic stories (local and foreign) for the big screen. Among them Ibong Adarna, Pedro Penduko, Hagibis, Romeo at Julieta, Si Malakas at Si Maganda, Ali Mudin, Awit ni Palaris, Juan Tamad, Anak ni Kulafu, Sagur, Siete Infantes de Lara, Genghis Khan, Sigfredo, Sisa, Kapitan Bagwis, Ang Prinsesa at Ang Pulubi, Higit sa Korona, El Conde de Monte Carlo (The Man in the Iron Mask). —RKC