Melton Barker

In 2012 The Kidnappers Foil was added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.

2012 National Film Registry Picks in A League of Their Own https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2012/12-226.html

The Kidnappers Foil was one of Melton Barker's films. The same script would be shot repeatedly in different towns with a different cast across the United States from the 1930s though the 1950s. Melton Barker Juvenile Productions would contact local theaters and newspapers to sponsor the film, after which a casting call for children would go out and parents would be encouraged to fill out the paperwork provided and after paying a small fee, the children would participate in a short audition before a representative of the production company. This company would consist of a skeleton crew consisting of Melton Barker, a camera man, a sound man, and an assistant.

Barker would film The Kidnappers Foil many times from the 1930s through the 1970s. He also worked on several non-fiction itinerant films. These were The Centralia Story and The Cape Girardeau Story. His last known residence was Meridian, Mississippi. He died in March 1977 while still on the road.

Melton Barker (February 14, 1903 – March 1977) was an itinerant filmmaker who produced and directed numerous films with his company, Melton Barker Juvenile Productions, from the 1930s though the 1970s. These films were shot across the United States with casts of children who each paid a fee for the opportunity to star in the two-reel shorts.