| ~The Barker~ 1928 |
| ~Cast~ Milton Sills ... Nifty Miller Dorothy Mackaill ... Lou Betty Compson ... Carrie Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ... Chris Miller Sylvia Ashton ... Ma Benson George Cooper ... Hap Spissel S.S. Simon ... Col. Gowdy John Erwin ... Sailor West One-Eye Connelly Tom Dugan ... Stuttering Spieler Bobby Dunn ... Hamburger Concessionaire (uncredited) Pat Harmon ... Heckler (uncredited) Bynunsky Hyman ... Fire Eater (uncredited) Gladden James ... Member of Hawaiian Trio (uncredited) Charles Sullivan ... Man in Audience (uncredited) Pat West ... Bartender (uncredited) |
| ~Milton Sills~ |
| ~Lobby Card featuring Milton Sills, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Betty Compson and Dorothy Mackaill~ |
| Directed by: George Fitzmaurice Written by: Benjamin Glazer - writer Joseph Jackson - writer Herman J. Mankiewicz - titles Based on the play by Kenyon Nicholson |
Based on the oft-filmed play by Kenyon Nicholson, The Barker represented the talking-picture debut of
silent-screen favorite Milton Sills (the film itself is a part-talkie, containing 38 minutes' worth of
dialogue). Sills is cast as Nifty Miller, veteran sideshow barker for a cheap carnival. Miller is determined
that his young son Chris (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) will not follow in his footsteps but will instead attend law
school. But Chris cannot help but be drawn to carnival life -- especially when he meets pretty "carney"
Lou (Dorothy Mackaill). The film ran into some state-by-state censorship problems due to the scanty
costumes worn by the female cast members. Herman Mankiewicz was among the screenwriters of The
Barker, which received a latter-day fame of sorts when its crowded opening-credit title was reproduced
in the pages of Kevin Brownlow's silent-film retrospective The Parade's Gone By.
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson, AllMovie.com
silent-screen favorite Milton Sills (the film itself is a part-talkie, containing 38 minutes' worth of
dialogue). Sills is cast as Nifty Miller, veteran sideshow barker for a cheap carnival. Miller is determined
that his young son Chris (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) will not follow in his footsteps but will instead attend law
school. But Chris cannot help but be drawn to carnival life -- especially when he meets pretty "carney"
Lou (Dorothy Mackaill). The film ran into some state-by-state censorship problems due to the scanty
costumes worn by the female cast members. Herman Mankiewicz was among the screenwriters of The
Barker, which received a latter-day fame of sorts when its crowded opening-credit title was reproduced
in the pages of Kevin Brownlow's silent-film retrospective The Parade's Gone By.
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson, AllMovie.com
| ~Plot Synopsis~ |
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| ~Remaining Credits~ Production Company: The Essanay Film Manufacturing CompanyFirst National Pictures (controlled by Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.) (as a First National-Vitaphone Picture) Distribution Company: Warner Bros. Producer: Al Rockett & Richard A. Rowland Music by: Louis Silvers Cinematography by: Lee Garmes Film Editing by: Stuart Heisler Costume Design by: Max Rée Photo Double for Betty Compson: Andreva Nunée Length: 8 Reels Runtime: 80 Minutes Released: December 9, 1928 |