Teddy Page
Encyclopedia
Teddy Page is a Filipino
film director
and occasional writer. Page, whose real name is Teddy Chiu, began his career as a young man in the early 1980s, directing low-budget action movies for producer K.Y. Lim's Silver Star Film Company (known as Kinavesa in the Philippines).
Most of them starred the same prolific group of European
and American
expatriate
actors working in the Philippines
in the 1980s: Mike Monty
, Bruce Baron
, Romano Kristoff
, James Gaines
, Eric Hahn, Mike Cohen, Ann Milhench, Gwendolyn Hung, Ronnie Patterson and Ken Watanabe (not to be confused with the Japan
ese actor of the same name).
Former Spaghetti Western
and peplum
star, Richard Harrison
, appeared in three of Page's films, Fireback
, Hunter's Crossing and Blood Debts
(1983). Many of his earlier efforts were written or co-written by Watanabe, Kristoff, Gaines or Harrison using a pseudonym
. The majority of Page's films have been generally classified as Z-movies, characterized by loose, seemingly improvised narrative (Fireback
, for example, is supposed to take place in the United States
, but the setting suddenly changes to "The Jungle" for the last third of the film), bizarre plot twists, and comically bad acting accentuated by equally poor dubbing
. Gratuitous, often sadistic violence is mixed with near childlike naivety, with characters having comic book names like "Panther" and "Cat Burglar". Another trademark of the earlier Page films were oversized, customized special weapons, which feature prominently in Fireback and Blood Debts.
The Silver Star productions are infamous for their extremely low budgets, which might have also contributed to the low technical quality. In the book Gods In Spandex, Richard Harrison states that the Page films he appeared in didn't have complete shooting scripts and many scenes were improvised, hence the disjointed narrative. However, it can be said that Page's early films are particularly bad, even on the admittedly low Silver Star standards, but they have attracted some cult interest, especially in French B-movie fandom.
There is very little information on Teddy Page in print or online. He is discussed briefly in pieces by Richard Harrison and John P. Dulaney in the books Gods in Polyester, Or, A Survivors' Account of 70's Cinema Obscura
(2004) and Gods In Spandex, Or, A Survivors' Account of 80's Cinema Obscura (2007). He is also mentioned in passing in interviews of Bruce Baron
, Nick Nicholson
and Mike Monty
at the French B-movie website Nanarland.
He is still working as a director on films and television in the Philippines
, now using his real name (Teddy Chiu). His last directing credit is the 1999 action film Anino. He has also worked as a Second Unit Director or assistant director
, most recently in the 2001 film Xtreme Warriors.
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and occasional writer. Page, whose real name is Teddy Chiu, began his career as a young man in the early 1980s, directing low-budget action movies for producer K.Y. Lim's Silver Star Film Company (known as Kinavesa in the Philippines).
Most of them starred the same prolific group of European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
actors working in the Philippines
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...
in the 1980s: Mike Monty
Mike Monty
Mike Monty was an American character actor, born in 1936 in Chattanooga, Tennessee as Michael O'Donahue but he changed his name to Mike Monty late in life....
, Bruce Baron
Bruce Baron
Bruce Baron is an American movie actor.Born in New York, he graduated from Cornell University . He starred in several Asian movies, playing over a dozen lead roles in Hong Kong and Manila productions, including among others, in Godfrey Ho's "Ninja" features and Filipino low-budget action films for...
, Romano Kristoff
Romano Kristoff
Romano Kristoff was a Spanish-born B-movie actor working in the Philippines in the 80's and early 90's. He was also credited as Rom Kristoff, Ron Kristoff, Run Kristoff, Ron Krastoff, and other similar variants...
, James Gaines
James Gaines
James Gaines, birth name James Larry M. Gaines Jr., is an African-American-Filipino character actor, writer and director with dual nationality, born on May 18, 1955, in Maui, Hawaii. He was sometimes also credited as Jaimes Gaines, Jim Gaines, and James Gainers...
, Eric Hahn, Mike Cohen, Ann Milhench, Gwendolyn Hung, Ronnie Patterson and Ken Watanabe (not to be confused with the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese actor of the same name).
Former Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
and peplum
Sword and sandal
The Peplum , also known as Sword-and-Sandal, is a genre of largely Italian-made Historical or Biblical Epics that dominated the Italian film industry from 1957 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by the "Spaghetti Western"...
star, Richard Harrison
Richard Harrison (actor)
Richard Harrison is an American B-movie actor and occasionally a writer/director/producer.Harrison was very prolific and worked with most of the better-known names in European B-movies during the 1960s and 1970s, branching out to exploitation films shot all over the world in the early 1970s...
, appeared in three of Page's films, Fireback
Fireback
Fireback is a Filipino low-budget action movie directed by Teddy Page and starring Richard Harrison, Bruce Baron, James Gaines, Ann Milhench, Gwendolyn Hung, Mike Monty, Ronnie Patterson, and Ruel Vernal.- Characters :...
, Hunter's Crossing and Blood Debts
Blood Debts
Blood Debts is a Philippines action movie directed by Teddy Page starring Richard Harrison.-Plot:While enjoying a picnic, Sarah Collins and her boyfriend are surprised by a gang of juvenile hunters...
(1983). Many of his earlier efforts were written or co-written by Watanabe, Kristoff, Gaines or Harrison using a pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
. The majority of Page's films have been generally classified as Z-movies, characterized by loose, seemingly improvised narrative (Fireback
Fireback
Fireback is a Filipino low-budget action movie directed by Teddy Page and starring Richard Harrison, Bruce Baron, James Gaines, Ann Milhench, Gwendolyn Hung, Mike Monty, Ronnie Patterson, and Ruel Vernal.- Characters :...
, for example, is supposed to take place in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, but the setting suddenly changes to "The Jungle" for the last third of the film), bizarre plot twists, and comically bad acting accentuated by equally poor dubbing
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
. Gratuitous, often sadistic violence is mixed with near childlike naivety, with characters having comic book names like "Panther" and "Cat Burglar". Another trademark of the earlier Page films were oversized, customized special weapons, which feature prominently in Fireback and Blood Debts.
The Silver Star productions are infamous for their extremely low budgets, which might have also contributed to the low technical quality. In the book Gods In Spandex, Richard Harrison states that the Page films he appeared in didn't have complete shooting scripts and many scenes were improvised, hence the disjointed narrative. However, it can be said that Page's early films are particularly bad, even on the admittedly low Silver Star standards, but they have attracted some cult interest, especially in French B-movie fandom.
There is very little information on Teddy Page in print or online. He is discussed briefly in pieces by Richard Harrison and John P. Dulaney in the books Gods in Polyester, Or, A Survivors' Account of 70's Cinema Obscura
Gods In Polyester (film book)
Gods In Polyester: A Survivors' Account Of 70's Cinema Obscura is a cult film book covering mainly American obscure, low-budget, and independent film horror, sci-fi, exploitation film, Blaxploitation, Spaghetti Western, and action films that were created between 1970 and 1981.This book was...
(2004) and Gods In Spandex, Or, A Survivors' Account of 80's Cinema Obscura (2007). He is also mentioned in passing in interviews of Bruce Baron
Bruce Baron
Bruce Baron is an American movie actor.Born in New York, he graduated from Cornell University . He starred in several Asian movies, playing over a dozen lead roles in Hong Kong and Manila productions, including among others, in Godfrey Ho's "Ninja" features and Filipino low-budget action films for...
, Nick Nicholson
Nick Nicholson
Daniel Patrick Nicholson, better known as Nick Nicholson, is an American expatriate character actor working in the Philippines. Since the early 1980s, Nicholson has appeared in both big-budget Hollywood productions shot in the archipelago and low-budget, Filipino action movies.He has acted in...
and Mike Monty
Mike Monty
Mike Monty was an American character actor, born in 1936 in Chattanooga, Tennessee as Michael O'Donahue but he changed his name to Mike Monty late in life....
at the French B-movie website Nanarland.
He is still working as a director on films and television in the Philippines
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...
, now using his real name (Teddy Chiu). His last directing credit is the 1999 action film Anino. He has also worked as a Second Unit Director or assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
, most recently in the 2001 film Xtreme Warriors.
Partial filmography
- Fireback (listed as a 1978 film on the IMDb, more likely made in the '80s)
- Blood DebtsBlood DebtsBlood Debts is a Philippines action movie directed by Teddy Page starring Richard Harrison.-Plot:While enjoying a picnic, Sarah Collins and her boyfriend are surprised by a gang of juvenile hunters...
(1983) - Deadringer (1985) starring Max ThayerMax Thayer-Filmography:*Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks , the sequel of the infamous Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS.*Planet of Dinosaurs*Hot Ice - this was the last movie where Ed Wood appeared, directed by Steven Apostolof.*The Retrievers...
- Phantom Soldiers (1987) starring Max ThayerMax Thayer-Filmography:*Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks , the sequel of the infamous Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS.*Planet of Dinosaurs*Hot Ice - this was the last movie where Ed Wood appeared, directed by Steven Apostolof.*The Retrievers...
External links
- Nanarland, a French site housing many reviews of Teddy Page and Silver Star films (in French) and related interviews (some in English).