THE BIG MIX : Rimar International Stocks Films From the Philippines

It doesn’t take long to figure out what the customers want when you examine the shelves at Rimar International Video on Fountain near Vermont in East Hollywood.

Specializing in movies and TV shows from the Philippines, the small shop groups most of its tapes by the names of their stars. And those stars appear in videos that reflect the polarity of Filipino tastes. Except for some comedy and musical tapes, they tend to either be very violent . . . or very sentimental.

The male stars--such as Rudy Fernandez, Anthony Alonzo and Bong Revilla--churn out shoot-’em-up movies, many with military themes. Most of the films have Filipino titles but a few are in English: “Sarge,” “Riot 1950,” “Deadly Brothers,” “Boy Tornado,” “Stomach In, Chest Out.”

The shelves featuring female stars are generally marked with nothing more than the woman’s first name--there’s one shelf each for “Sharon,” “Alma,” “Lorna,” “Maricel,” “Nora” and “Snooky” . . . and three for “Vilma.”

Vilma is the enormously popular Vilma Santos, a pretty but not extraordinary looking actress whose films, like those of other Filipino female stars, tend to be soap-opera tales. A teen-age store clerk is asked why Filipino people like her so much. “Oh,” she says with obvious admiration, “she is just such a good actress.”

At another Filipino shop on Temple, a clerk philosophizes: “The Filipino people are very emotional. They love many things, and one of the things they love is crying over the adventures of a movie heroine.”

Along with the similarly adored Sharon Cuneta and Snooky Serna, Santos is among the top female figures Rimar customers seek out, says manager Jerry Dabao. “Those are the most famous Filipino stars. They are beautiful women, and Sharon is a great singer.”

Most of Dabao’s customers are middle-aged, and business is brisk. However, he adds, the store is hardly a gold mine--prices range from a mere 75 cents to $2 a tape. The reason is simple--competition is generally right around the corner. “There are too many other Filipino stores around here,” Dabao sighs, even though he’s some distance from the largest concentration of L.A. Filipinos between Beverly and Temple east of downtown.

One of Dabao’s regular customers, Ronnie Belasco, 67, was renting six videos one day. His grandson was with him. Belasco, who, like most Filipinos, speaks English well, held up the Filipino equivalent of a “Rambo” film: “Nagababagang.”

“Action is my favorite,” Belasco says with a smile. Three of the other tapes in his hands were also adventure films. “But my family says get these others, so I do,” he adds, pointing to two comedies, “Ang Leon at Ang Tigre” and “Kalabog and Bosyo.”

Belasco’s family has been in this country for six years, and the folks still like to keep up with entertainment in the Philippines. He says that when they gather around the VCR, there’s something special about the experience that’s different from just tuning in to “Alf” or “The Wheel of Fortune.”

“It is a time when we all get together,” Belasco says. “I watch their films. They watch mine. And we don’t argue--we just do it.”

Dabao notes that there are strong family ties in the Filipino community. “This neighborhood is all family. People come over, find jobs and bring their family here. Everything is here for them, from the restaurants to places like this.” And “places like this,” he believes, help maintain that family bonding.

“People who rent the videos like to get the family together to watch movies, or just to get away. It keeps them up on what’s happening back home. And, for older people, it lets them see where they used to live.”

Dabao says he can get Filipino movies, once they are released in his native country, in about six weeks.

“But everything is legal,” he says. “There was a time that you could get everything illegally, but everything is done (properly) now.”

Rimar International USA, 4705 Fountain Av e ., Los Angeles; (213) 666-8303.