Described by the Biograph publicity department as a "circus romance," D.W. Griffith's The Call was partially filmed on location at Fort Lee, New Jersey. Florence Barker is cast as a sideshow hootchy-kootchy dancer who catches the eye of a virtuous young farmer. He is so impressed by her beauty that he proposes marriage, despite protests from his family. Though she'd like to escape her tawdry existence, the dancer is under the sinister influence of her no-good boyfriend. Finally shedding this human snake, she marries the farmer, and for at least a year or so the union is a happy one. But when the sideshow comes back to town, the dancer's ex-boyfriend insists that she return to him. Unable to resist his dubious charms, the dancer writes a "Dear John" letter to her farmer husband and deserts him. Ultimately, however, the "call" of decency proves stronger than the influence of her shady circus beau, and the dancer heads back to her husband, begging and receiving forgiveness.
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
