“KAMBAL TUKO”

“KAMBAL TUKO” was a movie released by LVN Pictures, Inc. in 1952. The title refers to the lead characters who are Siamese Twins or conjoined twins.

The genre of the said movie which was directed by F.H. Constantino can be categorized as comedy.

The cast of characters (per movie poster courtesy of the Video 48 Blog) were Pugo, Togo, Inday Jalandoni, Carmencita Palma, Eddie San Jose, Gil De Leon, Jose De Cordova, Chuchi, Ramon Monroy, Pamboy, Berting Liwanag and Henry Dayao.

During the boyhood days of the twins when they were pupils studying in the elementary grade in their hometown in the province, they can be described as naughty and take their studies for granted. During class discussions and recitations, they always gave the wrong answers. Naturally, their teacher berates them for this and for their bad attitudes also.

One day, a wealthy man (De Leon) saw them. Something impressed him about the twins even though they engaged in a fight with their classmates who bullied them. The teacher saw the fight and told the twins that she will accompany them home to tell this to their grandmother. The grandmother is the guardian of the twins since their parents are both dead already. The wealthy man volunteered that he will come with them and told them that he ride with him in his car.

When they reached the home of the twins, the teacher told immediately what happened to their grandmother. The grandmother apologized again for her grandsons’ behavior to the teacher. The wealthy man told the old woman his intention of adopting the twins and presented his proposal too. The old woman replied that she will think about and asked for some time to discuss it with her grandsons.

The teacher went home ahead of the wealthy man. The twins saw their teacher left and looked at the car of the wealthy man that was parked outside their home. They rode it and drive the car to scare their teacher. Their teacher almost suffered a heart attack because of this act. The grandmother berated again the twins for their behavior. But, the honest intention of the wealthy man to adopt them still persists and he told this again to the old woman.

After thinking it over, the grandmother of the twins agreed for the legal adoption of her grandsons by the wealthy man. The twins were picked up by car owned by their new adoptive father on the scheduled day where they bade goodbye to their grandmother and their childhood friends. When they reached their new home in Manila, they were surprised that it was a very huge one. Their new father has a family driver (the one who picked them up with their new father) and a servant (San Jose) who on the spot became the target of the twins’ brand of bullying. The servant was slighted immediately of their actions and his chance to retaliate came when De Leon’s character requested him to prepare the twins for their bath. The twins requested for hot water to be used in their bath and they ordered the servant to be the one who will bathe them. The servant maximized the temperature of the heater in the shower which resulted for the hair loss of the twins making them bald from then on. Their father was shocked to see the twins after taking their first bath in their new home, but he could not do anything, except berating his servant, because it had happened already.

Since their bodies are connected, the twins do the same activities through the years up to the time they reached their adult age (Pugo and Togo) which include playing baseball, attending parties and courting their respective lady loves (Jalandoni and Palma) who had encountered challenges in their relationships with the twins. When Pugo’s character had a fever, Togo’s character had none. What the former eats and drink, the latter must also eat. When the former takes a medicine to cure his fever, the latter must also take. Togo’s character protested to these, but he had no choice because their bodies are connected as explained by the twins’ family doctor to them and their lady loves. Fortunately, Pugo’s character became well from his illness which was diagnosed as cold that almost lead to pulmonary infection. Their respected partners told them that their connected bodies are also hindrances to the respected privacy for couples like them and they cannot go to separate places where they want to go alone.

Because of the above situations, the twins requested their father, who is now sickly and very old, that they be allowed to leave for abroad. The twins’ bodies, according to their family doctor, can be separated by a surgical operation (certain internal organs are being shared by the twins) by a doctor who is an expert on this matter. However, the said doctor is based in the United States and the twins need to go there to undertake the medical procedure. Their father asked his servant to call the former’s lawyer so that he can prepare the necessary documents for the travel. The twins asked their respective lady loves that they be married before they leave and requested them to come with them on their travel whatever happens to their operation. Their father just wants the operation of his adopted sons to be successful. The twins and their respective wives left for the United States for the former’s operation which was a success. The twins, together with their wives, returned home to the Philippines as separate persons. However, before their return, their father suffered a severe heart attack which cause his sudden death in a robbery attempt led by De Cordova’s character in their house. He and his two henchmen did not get any loot from the house because of the old man’s sudden death in which they left immediately. The attempted robbery was reported by the loyal servant to the police. However, the servant did not see their appearances because it was dark and their faces were covered by handkerchiefs. The robbers just learned about their foiled attempt in a newspaper headline report the following early morning.

When the lawyer of the twins’ father read the last will and testament of their departed parent to them together with their wives, they found out that half of the money they got each from their father as inheritance would be earmarked for the inheritance taxes and attorney’s fees. The remaining balance can not be considered for them to a wealthy life. It was presented in the movie that their adoptive father was the only breadwinner of the family by establishing business ventures while the twins had a life of luxuries without being exposed to be trained in these ventures and were not able to learn how to work in the companies of their father or firms not run by their father. The father was a workaholic one to the point of not prioritizing his health which deteriorated when he became old. His being sick deterred him from managing the stability of his business ventures in the later years. This situation led to his business entities to suffer bankruptcies and being closed later. To add more insult to injury, the house where the twins had lived from their younger years was being mortgaged. The twins, together with their respective wives, had no choice but to leave the said house. The loyal male servant of their father was with them when they left the house. He never left their side even if they have not enough money and even if they are still bullying him through the years.

The twins and their respective wives and the loyal male servant changed their rented house (usually made of wood) thrice. They were kicked out twice because they cannot pay the rental for a long period of time and were always delayed due to lack of financial resources. It was presented in a scene where the twins and their spouses were eating lunch without a viand for the cooked rice. They just smell the viand (one dried fish) and they finished eating the cooked rice. Due to this situation, the twins cannot afford to treat their wives to movie dates.

To earn a living, the character played by Pugo collects old bottles and newspapers to sell to a Chinese junk shop owner. Togo’s character is a bootblack wherein he shine shoes. However, they need to earn more because their respective spouses are about to give birth to their respective first born child. The answer to their problem came in a form of announcement which was placed in a sari sari store about a wrestling match.

The venue of the said match is in a stadium where the wrestler will fight one by one his challengers. Pugo’s character convinced Togo’s that the latter fight in the said match because he knows wrestling. There are prizes at stake in the form of money. A challenger will be paid a certain sum of money even if he will be defeated. If a challenger defeated the wrestler, he will be paid a larger amount.

Since they need the money badly for their wives who are about to give birth, they went for it. The challengers were injured one by one which almost made Togo’s character quit. He fought the wrestler and was knocked out temporarily. Pugo’s character gave him some energy food during the break which the latter ate and rinsed it with drinking water. When the fight resumed, he defeated the wrestler and got the cash prize. They almost lost it to the group of De Cordova’s character when the latter watched the match and planned quickly the robbery to get the money. However, the timely arrival of the male servant to the stadium who are looking for the twins foiled the group’s plans and they fought the robbers. Fortunately, there were plain clothes policemen seen by the male servant near within the area and asked for assistance. The policemen saw the face of the group leader and told him and the twins that they are looking for the said criminals who were responsible for the death of the adoptive father of the twins.

The male servant was there at the stadium to inform the twins that their wives are about to give birth. They went immediately to the hospital where the wives are seen sharing one hospital bed after giving birth to their respective first child. The twins told them about the fortune that came to them at the right time. They have now the money to pay for the hospital expenses and the balance from the cash prize would be used to have a fresh start in living to the hometown of the province where they grew up. It was here where the branch of their families grew with the next generation of Siamese twins as their children as seen in the closing scene of the movie when they are about to attend the Sunday mass in the church of their town.

The images that were used for this feature post were taken from selected online resources as references.

That’s all for now.

Until the next feature post.

Happier Days Ahead to All of Us!