AGOURA : Spotlight on Silent Films at Paramount

It’s about to be very quiet at Paramount Ranch.

The National Park Service and the Silent Society of Hollywood Heritage are teaming up for the sixth year to present “Silents Under the Stars,” two nights of silent films in the rustic Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

The program raises money for park service programs and Hollywood Heritage, which promotes appreciation of historic Hollywood films and locations.

Accompanied by live music, “The Night Cry” (1926) and “Manhandled” (1924) will be shown at the ranch’s pavilion, an open-sided building built by Paramount Studios to house props in the late 1920s.

The ranch was the setting of countless Paramount Westerns during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as films such as “The Adventures of Marco Polo” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

After Paramount sold the property in the late 1940s, it changed hands several times, but in 1981, 300 acres of the ranch were acquired by the park service.

The site is used for concerts, festivals and picnics, but parts of it still serve as a Western set for television, film and music video productions.

“The Night Cry” will be shown at 8 p.m. July 17, and “Manhandled” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 21. Both will be accompanied by short subjects. The cost of each is $5 for members of Hollywood Heritage and $6 for non-members. For information, call (818) 597-9192.