THE FIFTIES # 78: TESSIE AGANA (IN THE TITLE ROLE), VAN DE LEON, BELLA FLORES, MARIA CRISTINA, ROSA MIA, JOSE DE VILLA, ARURAY AND INTRODUCING BOY ALANO, TONY CAYADO IN MARS RAVELO'S "ROBERTA" (1951)/ UPDATED

Sampaguita Pictures was established in 1937 and was hit by a huge fire in 1951 with hundreds of film prints destroyed. The movie, Roberta starring Tessie Agana in her first lead role as a battered child, became one of the sensational hits of the year and saved the company from bankruptcy.