Jose ‘Pempe’ Padilla Jr. was the leading man of Carmen ‘Mameng’ Rosales in her first starring role, Arimunding-Munding (1939). They were paired the second time around in Carmen (1941), produced by Sampaguita Pictures.
The blurb of the Mameng-Pempe movie was in ‘deep’ Tagalog seldom — if at all — read or heard these days.
‘Maningning na tagumpay sa ikalawa nilang pagsasama… ipinagkakapuring itanghal ng Sampaguita Pictures, Inc.’
‘Ang dalawang bituin ng Arimunding-Munding… na gigiyagis sa inyo sa paghanga — tigib ng pag-iibigan, halakhak at mga awit.’
Mameng and Pempe co-starred in other films, including Probinsiyana and Matandang Dalaga. — RKC