Take That! Series Revives One Tenacious Mexican Heroine

She is the avenging cabaret dancer, an angry feminist tired of unwanted advances from men who resemble octopuses, constantly groping and wrapping themselves around her.

She breaks bottles over philanderers’ heads, slaps the faces of countless men who disrespect her. In the end, though, she gets her guy--a sweet, forgiving fellow in a land full of deceitful macho men.

This unexpected heroine is Elena, the protagonist of a classic 1949 Mexican melodrama, “Aventurera,” played by Cuban Ninon Sevilla.

The film, which was fully restored and subtitled by a Los Angeles-based distributor, will play Wednesday night at the Orpheum Theatre downtown as part of the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats series.

Though made 50 years ago, the film has not lost its luster, with its themes of betrayal, love, machismo, revenge and honor as relevant as ever. In its time, however, “Aventurera” was a shocker, on the cutting edge of modernism in a country still bogged down with sexist tradition.

“It was, to a certain extent, a rather infamous picture when it first came out,” said Michael Donnelly, who restored and subtitled the film. “Mothers would not let their daughters even listen to the music from the film. It was scandalous.”

The movie, directed by Mexican Alberto Gout, was an important turning point in Mexican film history, according to Donnelly, whose company, Shadowfax Films, specializes in distributing classic foreign films.

It was one of the first films to usher in the cabaretera movies--dance-hall pictures that reflected Mexico’s changing society. These films, which became the Mexican equivalent of film noir, replaced the old ranchera movies that typified the romance of traditional Mexico, said Donnelly.

“It basically became the beginning of a whole series of cabareteras, which dealt with the social microcosm of these bars,” said Donnelly. “They presented a society where all people became equal.”

Part of “Aventurera’s” attraction is its ensemble of musical talent, including Cuban mambo king Damaso Perez-Prado, Mexican tenor Pedro Vargas singing the lyrics of songwriter Agustin Lara and the romantic crooning of the Trio Los Panchos--all of whom were superstars in Latin America and Spain.

From the mid-1940s through the late 1950s, Mexico became the center of Spanish-language film. Talent from all over the Spanish-speaking world landed in Mexico for a shot at making movies. Sevilla, who had been brought over from Cuba, became a star with “Aventurera” and made several other cabaretera films. French critics were enamored of her flaming rumbas and long legs, comparing her to Rita Hayworth, and Marlene Dietrich in “The Blue Angel.”

“Most people would say Ninon couldn’t really act, she couldn’t really dance but she had something,” said Donnelly.

The story was written by a Spaniard, Alvaro Custodio, who had been part of a highly regarded group of writers and intellectuals in Spain (which included Federico Garcia Lorca, who was assassinated by the fascists). Along with Custodio, hundreds of other Spanish Civil War exiles--writers and filmmakers, Luis Bunuel among them--fled to Mexico, enriching the country’s cultural and intellectual landscape.

“Aventurera” was a huge hit, mainly because of Custodio’s story, which is full of surprise twists and deals with formerly taboo subjects like sex and the hypocrisy of Mexico’s upper classes, said Donnelly. Custodio’s disparaging view of the bourgeoisie--shared by his friend Bunuel--added a tinge of surrealism to the film.

Custodio brought a sophistication to a story originally intended to be a pure B-level production, said Mexican film historian Emilio Garcia Riera in his critical essay on the film.

“Alvaro was a very cultured and sophisticated man and he was very bitter to have to do this kind of work for financial reasons,” said Garcia Riera. “So, he made the best out of the situation by writing a script with passion and vengeance, and he used Elena as his channel of expression. He truly made the genre of melodrama shake in its shoes.”

The Mexican cast includes Andrea Palma, who hailed from one of Mexico’s most important cinematic families. Through her cousin, actress Dolores del Rio, Palma met Greta Garbo. As their friendship developed, Garbo gave Palma some acting tips, which the actress took back to Mexico and helped make her a star.

For years, Donnelly had hoped to find and restore the film, but nobody in Mexico knew its whereabouts. Finally, as part of the 1993 UCLA Mexican Cinema Project, Donnelly found the original negative of the movie in Mexico’s National University and purchased the rights to the film.

The Los Angeles Conservancy created its Last Remaining Seats series in 1987 in an effort to save the neglected Broadway Theatre District in downtown Los Angeles. Conservancy members began looking for classic Mexican pictures three years ago, when they came across “Aventurera.”

It is one of the few Spanish-language films available with subtitles.

While many American critics have described the film as “campy melodrama,” to Latin audiences there is nothing campy about it, said Donnelly.

“Americans can understand melodrama if it’s Garbo. Melodrama in Latin society holds a much higher place than it does in ours,” said Donnelly, who grew up in Mexico City. “‘Novelists turn to melodrama to elicit reactions from their readers. There is a lot of pathos involved.”

* “Aventurera” will be shown Wednesday night. Doors open at 7 p.m. The show begins at 8 p.m. and is preceded by a live variety act. Orpheum Theatre, 842 S. Broadway. Tickets are $12 for conservancy members and $15 for nonmembers and at the door. Tickets and information: (213) 896-9114.