''Her Right to Live'' is a 1917 dramatic

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

released by the

Vitagraph Studios Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907, ...

. This film is now

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

Plot

Polly Biggs (

Peggy Hyland Peggy Hyland (born Gladys Lucy Hutchinson; 11 June 1884 – 19 September 1973) was an English silent film actress who after a brief period on the stage had a successful career as a silent film actress, appearing in at least 40 films in Great B ...

) is the eldest of a family of orphaned children who are taken in by their uncle, Mayor Hoadley ( John S. Robertson). Hoadley despises the children and has only taken them in as good publicity for the upcoming election. His wife, Mrs. Hoadley (

Julia Swayne Gordon Julia Swayne Gordon (born Sarah Victoria Smith; October 29, 1878 – May 28, 1933) was an American actress who appeared in at least 228 films between 1908 and 1933. Early years Gordon was born in Columbus, Ohio, to Louis and Anna Smith and wa ...

) is equally cruel to the children, especially Polly. One day, Polly Biggs takes the children fishing and meets a young man named John Oxmore (

Antonio Moreno Antonio Garrido Monteagudo (September 26, 1887 – February 15, 1967), better known as Antonio Moreno or Tony Moreno, was a Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s. Early life and silent fi ...

), who is the son of the opposing mayoral candidate. When she returns home, Polly discovers that her uncle intends to send all the children to the poorhouse as soon as the election is over. Polly plans to take revenge on her uncle and immediately takes the children to the poorhouse herself, rather than let her uncle do so. Mayor Hoadley, frightened that voters may be incensed to learn that his nieces and nephews are living as orphans in a squalid poorhouse, goes to retrieve them. When Polly sees his car arriving at the poorhouse, she and the children flee. They find an unoccupied cabin in the woods where the brood of youngsters settle in. Unbeknownst to Polly, the cabin is owned by John Oxmore, the young man she met earlier. After Oxmore finds them at his cabin, he grants Polly permission to keep the children there. However, the next day he is accused of a murder committed by Mayor Hoadley. Although John was at the cabin at the time the murder was committed but he says nothing, in hopes of sparing Polly and the children. After John is arrested and Polly discovers his fate, she rushes to the courthouse and announces that John couldn't have committed the crime because he was with her and the children when it occurred. John is released and the cruel Mayor Hoadley is arrested and convicted of the crime.

Cast

– Polly Biggs *

– John Oxmore *

Mae Costello Mae Costello (born Mae Altschuk; August 13, 1882 – August 2, 1929) was an American stage and film actress of the early twentieth-century. Early life Mae Costello was born Mae Altschuk in Brooklyn, New York to Catherine (''née'' Callender) an ...

– Mrs. Biggs *

Bobby Connelly Robert Joseph Connelly (April 4, 1909 – July 5, 1922) was an American child actor of silent films. He is one of the first male child stars of American motion pictures beginning his career in 1913 at the age of four. Career Connelly's parents w ...

– Jimmy Biggs * Helen Connelly – Janet Biggs * Mildred Platz – Alice Biggs * John S. Robertson – Daniel Hoadley * Jack Ellis – Hawkins *

– Mrs. Hoadley

References

External links

* * 1917 films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by Paul Scardon Silent American drama films 1917 drama films Lost American drama films Vitagraph Studios films 1917 lost films 1910s American films {{1910s-drama-film-stub