The Life Theater, which was later known as the Teofilo Villonco Building, was an Art Deco

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

located

Quiapo Quiapo may refer to: * Quiapo, Chile, a location in Arauco Province *Quiapo, Manila, a district in the Philippines ** Quiapo Church The Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno (), commonly known as Quiapo Church and canonically ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. It was designed by

Pablo Antonio Pablo Sebero Antonio, Sr. (January 25, 1901 – June 14, 1975)CCP Encyclopedia, p. 298 was a Philippines, Filipino architect. A pioneer of modern Architecture of the Philippines, Philippine architecture, he was recognized in some quarters as the ...

. During its operational years as a movie theater, the Life Theater was reserved for

blockbuster Blockbuster may refer to: Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a former video rental chain * Blockbuster (Bend, Oregon), remaining store Arts and entertainment * Blockbuster (entertainment) a very successful movie * Blockbuster (DC Comics ...

movies due to its large audience capacity and

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

system. The building is owned by Remy Villonco of

Malabon Malabon, officially the City of Malabon (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 380,522 people. Located just north of the city of Manila, Malabon is ...

, son of Dr. Teofilo Villonco, whose family is involved in the theater industry. The auditorium was demolished from April–June 2017, and then, the rest of the building was demolished by 2018 for the construction of Foinix Center, a 33-storey commercial building. Its facade was left intact and will be incorporated into the design of the new high-rise building.

History

Erected in 1941, Life Theater was designed in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style. The theater was meant to show only Tagalog films. ''Ang Maestra'', where

Rosa del Rosario Rose Stagner, better known by her screen name Rosa del Rosario (December 15, 1917 – February 4, 2006), was a Filipino-American actress. Regarded as one of the most prominent figures during the Golden Age of Philippine Cinema, she has appear ...

and

Rogelio dela Rosa Rogelio () is a masculine Spanish given name and a variant of the first name Roger. Notable people with the name include: *Rogelio Antonio, Jr. (born 1962), Filipino chess player *Rogelio Armenteros (born 1994), Cuban pitcher in Major League Base ...

starred, was the first movie showed upon the theater's opening. The theater was destroyed following the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was rebuilt in 1946 with an upgraded seating capacity of 1,144. The

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

film, '' A Thousand and One Nights'' was the first movie showed when the theater reopened. The theater continued to feature several films, both in English and Tagalog until the mid-1950s when

Sampaguita Pictures Sampaguita Pictures was a Philippine film production company. It was named for the Philippine national flower, sampaguita. Though no longer functioning, the company's Sampaguita Compound remains in Quezon City. History Sampaguita Pictures was e ...

took over the theater. The Life Theater was owned by Romeo Villonco, who continued his father, Dr. Teofilo Villonco's enterprise. The Palace Theater located along Ronquillo Street in Quiapo was owned by the Villoncos. The Villoncos, together with the De Leon and Navoa families originally ran

LVN Pictures LVN Pictures, Inc. was a Filipino film studio that was considered one of the biggest in the history of Philippine cinema and its foremost establishment in motion picture post-production until 2005. In its heyday of motion picture production, LV ...

. The name of the

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

is an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

which represents the three families (De Leon, Villonco and Navoa).

Premieres A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

were held in this venue when movie stars were dressed by famous couturiers, sometimes dressed up the characters they were portrayed in the movie. The actors and actresses were transported to the theater by a new air-conditioned bus owned by Sampaguita Pictures causing heavy traffic build-up on nearby roads.

Current use

The theater shut down in the 1990s when moviegoers began shifting to malls for shopping and entertainment pleasures. It now houses booths selling cheap goods. As of June 2018, the building is condemned and has barricades on it for demolition despite a heritage building. Rumors are that a mall is about to be built in that location.

Architecture

The white facade of the theater contains both elements of

and

neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

due to the building's streamlining and scaled round columns, each adorned with a conical

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

. The theater was also adorned with aluminum buffles, consistent with its Art Deco design. Along with the Times Theater, the theater is found along Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo. It has since been converted to a shopping center.

References

{{Reflist Theaters in Manila Former cinemas Buildings and structures in Quiapo, Manila Theatres completed in 1941 Works of National Artists of the Philippines Art Deco architecture in the Philippines