''Puto'' is a 1987 Filipino teen

fantasy comedy Fantasy comedy or comic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on and parodies of other works of fantasy. Literature The subgenre rose ...

film directed by Leroy Salvador and starring

Herbert Bautista Herbert Constantine "Bistek" Maclang Bautista (born May 12, 1968) is a Filipino actor and politician who served as mayor of Quezon City, the Philippines' largest city by population, from 2010 to 2019. Bautista has starred in numerous films and T ...

as the titular character, alongside

Janno Gibbs Janno Ronaldo Ilagan Gibbs (born September 16, 1969) is a singer-songwriter, actor, and comedian in the Philippines. He was a regular host of GMA Network television shows ''SOP Rules'', ''Nuts Entertainment'', ''Eat Bulaga!'', '' Kakasa Ka Ba ...

, Mia Prats, Dennis Da Silva,

Bing Loyzaga Carla Cuerva Loyzaga-Gibbs popularly known as Miss Bing Loyzaga-Gibbs or simply Miss Bing Loyzaga (born April 9, 1970) is a Filipina actress and singer. She is being known for her Antagonistic Roles like ''Babaeng Hampaslupa'' as Katarina, ''Si ...

, Jigo Garcia, Gelie de Belen, Jayjay Salvador, and Cathy Mora. It is Bautista's first film to feature him in the solo lead role. Produced by

Viva Films Viva Films is a Philippine film production company established under Viva Communications. It was founded on November 11, 1981, by Vic del Rosario Jr. History Veering away from the Sharon Cuneta-Gabby Concepcion tandem, Viva became home to qual ...

, the film was released on November 4, 1987, and was a box office success. Luciano E. Soriano gave the film a mixed review, praising Bautista's performance while having middling feelings about the supporting cast and some gaps in logic.

Plot

Ivanhoe "Puto" de la Cruz is a young puto vendor who dreams of being with Gina, his classmate at the Andres Bonifacio High School. After accidentally rescuing three little elves (Elvis, Boy George, and Travolta), he is granted a week-long chance to wish for anything he wants.

Cast

as Ivanhoe "Puto" de la Cruz *

as Juanito * Mia Prats as Gina * Dennis Da Silva as Danny *

as Tere * Jigo Garcia as Sonny * Gelie de Belen as Mindy * Jayjay Salvador as Charlie * Cathy Mora as Kathy *

Marita Zobel Mary Ann Respall Blanch-Roxas, better known by her screen name Marita Zobel (born June 18, 1941), is a Filipina actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the ...

as Aling Loleng *

Berting Labra Berting Labra (born Roberto S. Labra; April 17, 1933 – February 10, 2009) was a Filipino child star and veteran actor equally adept in comedy and drama, in action flicks and musicals. Personal life and career Labra starred in ''Apat na Taga ...

as Travolta *

Max Alvarado Max Alvarado (February 19, 1929 – April 6, 1997) was a FAMAS award-winning Filipino film actor known mainly by his portrayals of villains in a career which spanned six decades. Early life Max Alvarado was born as Gavino Maximo Teodosio in ...

as Elvis *

Cachupoy Salvador Garcia Tampac (July 12, 1932 – January 1, 2008), better known by his screen name Cachupoy was a Filipino actor-comedian. His trademark is sporting hair that is parted in the middle. He was a mainstay of the '' Magandang Tanghali'' ...

as Boy George * Chris Villanueva as Johnny

Release

''Puto'' was given a "G" rating by the

Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (English: "For Intelligent and Responsible Viewing") , employees = More than 33 , chief1_name = Diorella Maria Sotto-Antonio , chief1_position = Chairperson , agency_type = Film and television classification , parent_agency ...

(MTRCB), which stands for "General Patronage", and was released by

on November 4, 1987. The film was a success at the box office.

Critical response

Luciano E. Soriano of the ''

Manila Standard The ''Manila Standard'' is a broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines. , it is owned by the Romualdez family. The Romualdezes, through incumbent speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, also own Journal Publications, Inc., the owner of tabloid pap ...

'' gave the film a mixed review, questioning some of the film's gaps in logic such as whether the school attended by Puto, a poor vendor, is public despite the presence of rich students, as well as why the elves need someone to rescue them when they can transform into animals and easily escape. Soriano also wrote that the film's situations "are standard fare among youth-oriented movies", and that the supporting cast were unmemorable in their roles, though he commended Bautista by stating that "it is as clear as daylight that this is Bautista's show all the way."

References

External links

* {{Leroy Salvador 1987 films 1987 fantasy films 1980s fantasy comedy films 1980s teen comedy films 1987 comedy films Filipino-language films Films shot in Metro Manila Philippine comedy films Philippine fantasy films Philippine fantasy comedy films