Editing The Barker

{{short description|1928 film}}
{{Other uses|Barker (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Barker
| image          = Barker poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[George Fitzmaurice]]
| producer       = [[Al Rockett]]<br>[[Richard A. Rowland]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''The Barker''|[[Kenyon Nicholson]]}}
| writer         = [[Benjamin Glazer]]<br>[[Joseph Jackson (screenwriter)|Joseph Jackson]]<br>[[Herman J. Mankiewicz]] ''(titles)''
| starring       = [[Milton Sills]]<br>[[Dorothy Mackaill]]<br>[[Betty Compson]]<br>[[Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]]
| music          = [[Louis Silvers]]
| cinematography = [[Lee Garmes]]
| editing        = [[Stuart Heisler]]
| studio         = [[First National Pictures]]
| distributor    = [[Warner Bros. Pictures]]
| released       = {{film date|1928|12|9}}
| runtime        = 87 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English ([[Intertitles]] and talking scenes)
| budget         = 
| gross          = 
}}

'''''The Barker''''' is a 1928 American [[part-talkie]] [[Pre-Code Hollywood|pre-Code]] [[romantic drama film]] produced and released by [[First National Pictures]], a subsidiary of [[Warner Bros.]], acquired in September 1928. The film was directed by [[George Fitzmaurice]] and stars [[Milton Sills]], [[Dorothy Mackaill]], [[Betty Compson]], and [[Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]] ''The Barker'' is a [[part-talkie]] with talking sequences and sequences with synchronized musical scoring and sound effects. The film was adapted by [[Benjamin Glazer]], [[Joseph Jackson (screenwriter)|Joseph Jackson]] and [[Herman J. Mankiewicz]] from the play by [[Kenyon Nicholson]].<ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/B/Barker1928.html ''The Barker'' at silentera.com]</ref><ref>''The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30'' by The American Film Institute, (1971)</ref>

The Broadway play of the same name which opened at the [[Samuel J. Friedman Theatre|Biltmore Theatre]] January 18, 1927 and ran until July 1927 for 221 performances. In the stage production [[Walter Huston]] was "Nifty" and a still relatively unknown [[Claudette Colbert]] was "Lou", played in the film by Dorothy Mackaill.<ref>[http://ibdb.com/production.php?id=10209 ''The Barker'' on Broadway at the Biltmore Hotel, Jan. 18 1927 to July 1927; IBDb.com]</ref>

==Plot==
The film tells the story of a woman, Lou ([[Dorothy Mackaill]]), who comes between a man, Nifty Miller ([[Milton Sills]]), and his estranged son Chris (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.). Nifty is a carnival [[Barker (occupation)|barker]] who is in love with a dancing girl and is ambitious to have his son, Chris, become a lawyer. Chris has other ideas and during his vacation he hops a freight, joins the carnival, and weds a dancing girl (Mackaill). Eventually, Chris fulfills the ambition his father had for him.

==Cast==
*[[Dorothy Mackaill]] as Lou
*[[Milton Sills]] as Nifty Miller, the [[Barker (occupation)|barker]]
*[[Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]] as Chris Miller
*[[Betty Compson]] as Carrie
*[[Sylvia Ashton]] as Ma Benson
*[[George Cooper (actor)|George Cooper]] as Hap Spissel
*S. S. Simon as Col. Gowdy
*[[Tom Dugan (actor, born 1889)|Tom Dugan]] as Stuttering Spieler

'''Uncredited:'''
*[[Bobby Dunn]] as Hamburger concessionaire
*[[Pat Harmon]] as Heckler
*Bynunsky Hyman as Fire Eater
*[[Gladden James]] as Member of Hawaiian Trio
*[[Charles Sullivan (actor)|Charles Sullivan]] as Man in audience
*[[Pat West (actor)|Pat West]] as Bartender

==Awards and honors==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
! Year
! Award
! Result
! Category
! Recipient
|- 
| 1928 || [[Academy Award]] || '''Nominated''' || [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress in a Leading Role]] || Betty Compson 
|-
|}

==Preservation==
The film survives intact with its talking sequences and has been preserved by the [[UCLA Film & Television Archive]] and the [[Museum of Modern Art]].<ref>[https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.2808/ Library of Congress/ FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: ''The Barker'']</ref>
<ref>[https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2017/01/22/the-barker ''The Barker''] at UCLA Film and Television Archive</ref>

==Remakes==
''The Barker'' was [[remake|remade]] as ''[[Hoop-La]]'' (1933) with [[Clara Bow]] and as ''[[Diamond Horseshoe]]'' (1945) with [[Betty Grable]]. Japanese director [[Yasujirō Ozu]] remade this film (without crediting the original) as ''[[A Story of Floating Weeds]]'' (1934) and again as ''[[Floating Weeds]]'' (1959).{{Citation needed|date=March 2024|reason=Defaming authorship claim without any reference}}

==See also==
{{Portal|1920s}}
* [[List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)]]
* [[List of early Warner Bros. talking features]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|The Barker (film)}}
*{{IMDb title|id=0018674|title=The Barker}}
*[https://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2017/01/22/the-barker Still] at UCLA Film and Television Archive
*[https://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com/barker.htm Still] at silentfilmstillarchive.com

{{George Fitzmaurice}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, The}}
[[Category:1928 films]]
[[Category:1928 romantic drama films]]
[[Category:1920s American films]]
[[Category:1920s English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American films based on plays]]
[[Category:American silent feature films]]
[[Category:Early sound films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by George Fitzmaurice]]
[[Category:Films scored by Louis Silvers]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Benjamin Glazer]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Herman J. Mankiewicz]]
[[Category:First National Pictures films]]
[[Category:Part-talkie films]]
[[Category:Silent American romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Surviving American silent films]]
[[Category:Transitional sound films]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]