His Own Law

1920 Drama Directed by J. Parker Read Jr.

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About His Own Law

Contractor J. C. MacNeir, between jobs and drinking, takes up with the young French engineer Jean Saval and brings him to a construction job in Chinook. Saval and Sylvia Harris pledge themselves before he is called into the French army. Word comes that he has been killed. Sylvia is pregnant, and MacNeir marries her so the child will have his name. After four years in a German prison camp, Saval returns and accuses MacNeir. The two men leave the choice to Sylvia. She chooses Saval. MacNeir congratulates them in tears.

Cast & crew

More about His Own Law

J. Parker Read Jr. produced and directed. E. Magnus Ingleton wrote the scenario from a story by Frank Brownlee. Goldwyn distributed it. The copyright date is 1 September 1920, LP15544, and Silent Era lists the release as October 1920. The working title was Mister MacNeir. It is seven reels. Moving Picture World reported on 13 March 1920 that filming was nearly finished. Some scenes were shot in a California mountain range, where Hobart Bosworth was briefly trapped in a snowdrift. A Tacoma Daily Ledger item of 7 October 1920 said most of the scenes were made in and around San Francisco.

Themes

  • A pledge before the army
  • A marriage to give a child a name
  • The prisoner who comes back
  • construction camp
  • World War I
  • prisoner of war
  • Chinook

Background

Saval is called up for French service in the World War and comes back from a German prison camp.

Making

On a mountain location Bosworth was briefly trapped in a snowdrift, according to Motion Picture News of 10 April 1920.

Look

J. O. Taylor photographed the film, including the California mountain locations.

Preservation

Silent Era records a print in the Library of Congress film archive.

Notes

  • Hobart Bosworth plays MacNeir, Rowland V. Lee plays Jean Saval, and Jean Calhoun plays Sylvia.
  • J. O. Taylor was the cinematographer. Ralph H. Dixon edited. W. L. Heywood directed the decorations.
  • The plot summary on Wikipedia is taken from Film Daily and includes Sylvia's choice of Saval. The AFI synopsis stops when MacNeir persuades Saval that he has acted as her guardian.
  • A print is in the Library of Congress. Silent Era lists the film as public domain in the United States.

Scenes

  • Saval gives Sylvia a wedding ring with no one there to marry them.
  • Sylvia chooses Saval, and MacNeir congratulates the pair through tears.