Shades of silence at preservation festival

One of the more intriguing elements in UCLA’s 12th Festival of Preservation is Wednesday night’s Silent Film Sampler, a series of 10 films made between 1910 and 1928, ranging from one minute to roughly half an hour.

The longest entry -- “Who Pays?, Chapter 5: Unto Herself Alone” (1915) -- is a mini-melodrama set in high society, whose pitfalls may seem even harsher and more revealing today.

It stars Henry King, who began his distinguished career as a director that same year (he also wrote “Who Pays?”), and Ruth Roland, in the role that launched her ascent as a serial queen.

Trouble starts for King’s tall, handsome Felix Lynn when he invites his secret love, Alicia (Corenne Grant), to christen his yacht. Her father forbids it, so in her place, Felix invites her vivacious friend Esther (Roland) to do the honors. Big mistake.

High-spirited Esther, who defies her mother to attend unchaperoned, has a terrific and quite innocent time as the only woman aboard the yacht with Felix and his friends. Then the friends depart and the two, rather daringly for 1915, spend the night together on the yacht. So rigid were the mores of the time that the consequences far exceed mere scandal.

Although melodrama escalates extravagantly in “Who Pays?” the acting, particularly that of the patrician King, is at times surprisingly shaded. With Southern California locales serving for exterior shots combined with ornately furnished sets, the film is a delightful period piece.

Latino festival

Working from a true story, Juan Carlos Desanzo elicits remarkable performances from actual street kids in his raw, dynamic film “El Polaquito,” screening Friday at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival. Its title is the nickname of a boy (Abel Ayala) who earns a living singing the songs of El Polanco (Roberto Goyenche, Argentina’s beloved tango performer) on trains from Buenos Aires.

Bertolucci series

LACMA’s comprehensive “Dreaming Cinema: The Films of Bernardo Bertolucci” continues Friday with “Last Tango in Paris” (1973), Marlon Brando’s last great performance. “The Spider’s Stratagem” (1970) and “Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man” (1981) are not as well known but shouldn’t be overlooked.

Made for Italian television, “The Spider’s Stratagem” is based on a Jorge Luis Borges short story that explores the myth of the hero. “Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man” seems conventional: The son of a Parma cheese magnate (Ugo Tognazzi) and his French wife (Anouk Aimee) are kidnapped. But in the end, what concerns Bertolucci most isn’t politics or plot, but psychology and human nature.

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Screenings

UCLA Festival of Preservation

* Silent Short Film Sampler, James Bridges Theater, 1409 Melnitz Hall, UCLA, Westwood, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, (310) 206-FILM.

Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival

* “El Polaquito,” Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, 5 p.m. Friday, (323) 469-9066

Dreaming Cinema: The Films of Bernardo Bertolucci

* “Last Tango in Paris,” 7:30 p.m. Friday.

* “The Spider’s Stratagem” and “Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man,” Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 7:30 p.m. Saturday, (323) 857-6010.