User Reviews

In selecting a cast for "Her Right to Live." the five-reel Vitagraph Blue Ribbon Feature written by Paul West, the man in charge has had the courage to give Peggy Hyland the part of a heroine of the most pronounced soubrette type. All the stage tricks that tradition has bequeathed to the simple but roguish village maiden, are to be expected in the character of Polly Biggs. The star of "Her Right to Live" discards them entirely and makes the orphan girl a natural human being with a bright sunny nature, and an innocence that is not more wise than nice. The plot of the Paul West picture turns upon the question of a young girl's reputation. She and her young brother and sister have spent the night in a bungalow in company with a young man who is accused later of murder. The girl's testimony will clear him, but he is in love with her and does not want her to speak. Polly takes the stand, however, and tells the whole story with a frankness that releases the prisoner and leaves her name unsullied. It is in this scene that Peggy Hyland does her best work, her personality and stage experience being perfectly adapted to such a situation. "Her Right to Live" is an uneven piece of work. The atmosphere is that of a small city and many of the touches are true to life; but the plot is along conventional lines and is not always well put together. The production is of fair quality, and Antonio Moreno is a manly John Armore. Three small children, in the persons of Bobby and Helen Connelly and Mildred Platz, are a pleasing feature of the picture. Mrs. Costello, John Robertson. Jack Ellis and Eulalie Jensen complete the cast. – The Moving Picture World, January 27, 1917