POLLARD’S PICTURES

Hokitika Guardian, 19 May 1917, Page 3

POLLARD’S PICTURES

•‘The Common Law” At tho Princess Theatre on Monday evening Pollard’s Pictures will present for the first time in Hokitika Clara Kimball Young iu “ The Common Law.” This splendid pictureisation of “ The Common Law ” is a treatise on tile oft-debated social problem : Is marriage necessary P In the vivid film version of Robert W. Chambers’s problematic sensation, Miss Clara Kimball Young, in the role of “ Valerie West,” answers the question : —“ Although a woman disobeys, any Jaw at her peril—laws which a man may often ignore with impunity—there is one law to which no woman dare subscribe, and that is known aB the ‘ Common Law of Marriage,’ That is the only law—if it is truly a law —that a woman must ignore.” So great has been tbe success of “ The Common Law ” that seasons of two and three weeks have bsen the rule in the larger cities of New Zealand, and richly- this great masterpiece deserves such a success, for of all the film productions of the year none has aroused greater interest among the millions of motion picture followers than the presentation of that beautiful and tremendously popular star, Clara Kimbell Young, in a seven-act adaptation of Robert W. Chambers’s world-famous novel, “ Tlie Common Law.” The million and more readers of the book will find the appealing love story of Valerie West, the artist’s model, and Louis Neville, the artist, magnificently revealed upon the screen. The sensational touches that gave the novel such wide vogue have beeu retained, but are depicted with such exceptional taste as to give offence to none. Mr Capellani, the director, has wrought quite wonderfully a -play that stands alone as a piece of stagecraft. It is so admirably done that it nowhere hangs. It is a wellmade picture technically, and Miss Kimball Young is both beautiful and histrionic. Mr Fred Resteaux, Mr Pollard’s eminent pianist, will play tbe Overtures and incidental music. For continnsHon of news see toarth pags