THE BARKER in 35mm (1928)

Special Features: Intro by film historian Farran Smith Nehme

Dorothy Mackaill gives one of her most memorable performances as a worldly carnival girl who takes a reckless wager to seduce the innocent son (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) of a wily fairground barker (Milton Sills) who is determined to steer the boy away from the midway. Complicating the scheme is Carrie (an Oscar®-nominated Betty Compson), a manipulative dancer consumed by her devotion to the father. But it is Mackaill’s performance as a woman whose love becomes her salvation that provides the film’s emotional core. Originally produced as a silent film, several talking sequences and a recorded score were added before release. The film was remade with Clara Bow five years later, and then adapted twice by Yasujirō Ozu in 1934 and 1959. DIR George Fitzmaurice; SCR Benjamin Glazer, Joseph Jackson, from the play by Kenyon Nicholson; PROD Al Rockett, Richard A. Rowland. U.S., 1928, b&w, 87 min. NOT RATED

35mm restored print courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Run Time: 87 Minutes

Opening Date: Friday, November 13, 2026

Genre: Drama

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