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