Louise Brooks, in her best American film, is luminous as a freight-train-hopping runaway who dresses in a flat cap and trousers to escape capture by the police. She joins up with young vagabond Richard Arlen, and along the way they encounter a hobo encampment and its charismatic leader, played by Wallace Beery in a performance that Brooks later called “a little masterpiece.” William A. Wellman, whose Wings (1927) had just won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Picture, directs with nuance and grace.
Live musical accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra
Introduction by Rob Byrne
Sponsored by McRoskey Mattress Company
Underwritten by Friends of the Silent Film Festival
Co-presented by California Film Institute and the San Francisco Film Society
ASL interpretation provided