Anak Dalita copped the Golden Harvest Award (Best Picture) at the Film Festival in Asia in 1956. The story takes place in Intramuros where there is a slum settlement. Vic (Tony Santos), a war hero from Korea returns to find his mother dying. When his mother dies, he is befriended by Cita (Rosa Rosal), a prostitute with a golden heart who takes care of him, but eventually both fall into a deeper relationship. Since both are poverty-stricken, Vic decides to work with Carlo (Jose de Cordova), a smuggler. Later, Vic and the smuggler ends up fighting causing the death of the latter and the younger brother of Cita in the crossfire. In the end, the area is resettled and Vic and Cita find a new life in another settlement.