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It’s not unusual in Philippine Cinema to find beauty titleholders find opportunities to enter showbusiness after their reigns and achieve good measures of success as film actresses. The list is long and varied in impact. Most of them ended up doing roles in comedy and action movies as leading ladies with no major demands in acting and/or internalization of character. But not Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz.

When she finally decided to make her first appearance on the big screen, the project was for a major production that would have her doing the big lead and directed by the respected Celso Ad. Castillo. And if that’s not enough, she agreed to do a daring turn that was considered eye-poppingly trend-setting. While the “wet look” was considered tamer at a time when softcore bold movies were still at its peak, “Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa” (The Most Beautiful Animal on the Face of the Earth) successfully combined the elements of a serious/artistic masterpiece with the commercial formula that insured box-office success. And the rest is history, so to speak.

From 1974 up to the present, Gloria parlayed her worldwide beauty title into a successful career in film and television where she has also been honored with acting awards and the respect of colleagues in the industry.

Watch a 15-minute clip from the said movie now.

courtesy of gobitz69

Do you have a favorite Gloria Diaz movie? Mine would be this one. But my guiltiest pleasure of a performance from her was a relatively obscure (read: forgotten) one from 1983 titled “Hayop Sa Ganda” which she did with Miss Universe 1974 Amparo Munoz. Their scenes together were too delightful to pass up on. 😉