A role she will always be remembered for

[e-mail] 

The biggest draw to the cinemas on Aug 31, 1957, was Dendam Pontianak, a Malay horror movie starring Datuk Maria Menado. The 75-year-old former actress, model and beauty queen reminisces about the days when she had to create her own vampire face and film scenes in the jungle in the dark of the night. 

Classic beauty: Maria was picked by Time magazine as the most beautiful woman in Malaya in November 1957.

A “pontianak” and proud of it.After 50 long years, the publicstill remembers beautifulactress Datuk Maria Menado as theone who brought the pontianak tolife for them on the silver screen. 

The screen goddess is the firstbeautiful pontianak that graced oursilver screens in 1957. 

In fact, she acted in threePontianak movies at a go –Pontianak, Dendam Pontianak (both1957) and Sumpah Pontianak(1958). 

In Malay folklore, pontianak is afemale ghost who died while givingbirth and her soul is entombedin banana leaves. 

And because of this legacy, thepress brings up the subject withher at every interview. 

“People still talk about myPontianak movies which was sucha long time ago. They don’t seemto get enough of it. In a way, I amquite proud of it. 

“Where ever I go, people still askme what it’s like to be a vampire. Iam happy people still recogniseme and talk about my movies eventhough I left acting a long timeago,” said Maria, 75, who quit actingin 1963. 

Maria was born in Tunsia,Mabnahasadari, in Menado, Northof Sulawesi on Feb 2, 1932, andher real name is Liesbet Dotulong.She lost her parents when she wasseven and was adopted by heruncle and aunt who later moved toMacassar (Ujung Padang). 

However the fighting betweenthe Dutch and the nationalistsdrove Maria and her new family toJakarta. 

At 17, Maria was already a stunner,receiving numerous modellingoffers for fashion shows paradingthe sexy kebaya in Singapore andMalaya. Maria loved the idea oftravelling and took to modellingimmediately. 

“I love travelling and wanted tobe an air hostess. I decided tomodel kebaya even though I hadnever worn one in my life becauseI wanted to see places,” said Maria,who left for Singapore with heruncle and aunt in 1950 and laterdid modelling stints in KualaLumpur, Ipoh and Penang. 

The gorgeous Maria wascrowned “Indonesia-MalayaKebaya Queen 1950” at the HappyWorld Stadium in Singapore duringone of the tours. 

In November 1957, she waspicked by Time magazine asMalaya’s most beautiful woman.Media organisation UPI alsonamed her the Best-DressedWoman in South-East Asia thatyear. 

In her early 20’s, Maria’s classicbeauty made her the toast of thetown and the pride of many localmagazines. 

During her stay in Malaya andSingapore, the Maria Hertogh riotstook place. 

Maria followed the closely thesaga of Dutch girl, MariaHuberdina Hertogh, who wasadopted by a Muslim family,renamed Nadra and was marriedoff at the age of 13 in 1950 by heradoptive parents. 

The Supreme Court annulled themarriage because she was underageand ruled that Nadra should bereturned to her biological mother,who took her back to theNetherlands. 

This decision led to a two-dayrace riot in Singapore. 

The drama gripped Maria wholater adopted the stage nameMaria Menado (her birthplace). 

Maria’s rise to fame was rathergradual and it was only after herbeautiful face graced numerousnewspapers and magazines thatshe was sought after as an actress. 

Her acting career took off in1951 when Shaw Brothers offeredher a role in the moviePenghidupan (Life) opposite heartthrobP. Ramlee which was directedby B.N Rao. 

But no other screen role made asgreat an impact as her portrayal ofa vampire in Pontianak, the firstlocal horror film that launched hercareer as a movie star. 

“Would you believe it if I said Iwas scared when offered to playPontianak?” asked Maria. 

“The shooting was done at theJalan Tempinis studio in Singaporeand three months in other places,including jungles,” she said. 

“Playing Pontianak was not easy.There was so much make-uprequired for the three transformations– the ugly, the beautiful andthe horrifying ghost. It was difficultespecially when it was doneduring the Merdeka era.” 

The meticulous transformationto Pontianak involved hours ofputting on make-up and Mariarecalled she had to lay still forhours as the transformation wasshot bit by bit. 

“There was no advance technologyback then; everything had tobe done manually. There was nocomputer graphics to aid thechanges,” said Maria, who playedthe part of Comel, a beautiful villagegirl who was cursed andturned into a pontianak. 

Not many people know that thegruesome face of pontianak wasMaria’s own creativity. 

“There was no make-up artistand no budget for it. I had to usemy own make-up kit to make melook ugly. 

“The art director would helpme with the effect so that myface really looked like apontianak. As for the costume, itwas all mine. The productionteam only prepared three sets forme, so I had to use my ownclothes,” said Maria. 

In fact, throughout the threemonths of shooting, the actresslived on biscuits, sandwiches andhome-cooked nasi goreng. 

“It was a budget movie. Thosedays it only cost about RM60,000to make a movie,” added Maria. 

The movie was a hit and Mariawent on to star in two sequels. 

Her first husband, A. RazakSheikh Mohamed, wrote thescripts with Maria’s assistance asshe knew a lot of pontianak storiesfrom Indonesia. 

“It was a tremendous challengeas it was the first Malay horrormovie. I loved doing the movie butI never knew it would do so wellat the box office.” 

She wishes to be able to remake the Pontianak movies now.

Not only did Pontianak create astir, the movie made history as thefirst Malay movie ever screened atthe Cathay cinema. 

The response was overwhelming. 

The first Pontianak movie was abox office success. 

There were long queues for atleast two months at the Cathaycinema in Singapore and anotherthree months at the Panggong Tajin Geylang. Even in Malaysia, itwas an instant hit. 

Pontianak was also dubbed inCantonese and screened in HongKong. 

Screening rights of the moviewas also sold to a TV station inAmerica. 

Maria said she was told thatsome people were terrified at thescreening and a few fainted at theshocking scenes. 

For Maria it was all about hardwork and working round the clock. 

“The movie was shot in the weehours of the morning to capturethe mood and darkness. It was alsoshot in the jungle in the middle ofthe night to get the right feel andatmosphere.” 

Maria said she even had to climb a tree for a song sequence alaBollywood style. But being youngand naive, she just did as scripted. 

With her overnight stardom,offers for more roles followed.She was the first Malay actress toact alongside Bollywood actorShammi Kapoor in Hindi movieSingapore, which was shot inMumbai and Singapore. 

“I played the villain and therewas one scene in a helicopterwhere I was trying to pushShammi over. The pilot told meto wear the harness as he did notwant me to fall off. I was quitestubborn and refused. 

“I wanted to do the stuntmyself because I wanted thescene to be realistic. But theymanaged to coax me into wearingthe harness during the secondtake,” said Maria who was inmore than 20 films spanning 12years of acting. 

The veteran actress had memorableroles in movies like TunFatimah, Matahari, SelendangDelima, Sultan Mahmud MangkatDi Julang, Hilang Gelap DatangTerang and Raja Bersiong. 

She became the first Malaywoman producer when she setup Maria Menado Productions. 

Maria and other Malay artisteswere often invited to the Sultanof Pahang’s palace to perform,especially during special occasionslike his birthday. 

It was during one of thesegatherings that the late SultanAbu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mu’adzam Shah called her overand proposed. 

After much consideration,Maria, then 30, said yes. 

”He was very kind-hearted,gentle and soft-spoken. We gotmarried in 1963. It was what youcalled ‘jodoh’ (fated to marry),”said Maria. 

The marriage not only spelt theend of her acting career but alsoresulted in her movies not beingshown in cinemas or TV. 

The Pahang Royal Councildecreed that as Maria was theSultan’s consort, her moviesshould not be shown in Pahang. 

“Somehow my films were notshown throughout the country.That was why Cathay Kerisowner, Ho Ah Loke, was stuckwith my films and had to dragthem around since no cinema orTV station could play them,” sherecalled. 

Maria decided to leave Pekanand settled in Kuala Lumpur afterthe sultan’s death. 

“I decided to seek the permissionof the present Sultan ofPahang, Sultan Ahmad Shah, whoheads the Pahang Royal Council,to allow my movies to be shownagain and he consented.” 

Maria decided to locate Ho inorder to find her originalPontianak movies. 

But she was shocked to hearthat her Pontianak was gone forgood. 

Apparently, 10 years after themovie was made, Ho of KerisFilm Productions who madePontianak with Loke Wan Tho ofCathay-Keris Films, decided todispose of the Pontianak movies. 

After Ho left CathayOrganisation and moved back toKuala Lumpur, his wife naggedhim into getting rid of themovies. 

He told Maria that his wife didnot like him storing them in anair-conditioned room in theirhouse as the films took up toomuch space. 

She was devastated by thenews. 

“I didn’t even bother to ask himwhich mining pool he hadthrown them into. It was justpointless. I was so angry and sadas all my hard work had gone towaste. Those were the moviesthat depicted my youth andtalent. It was supposed to bepassed down to my children andgrandchildren as heritage,” saidMaria, a vivacious beauty andmother of five with 13 grandchildrenand three great-grandchildren. 

“I had sleepless nights thinkingabout what happened. It was likelosing someone you love. I was sohurt I could not forgive Ho. Inever spoke to him again,” saidMaria who is still quite bitterover her loss. 

“I wish I could remake my originalPontianak movie. Perhaps Icould produce and direct it, whoknows?” she said.