One Law for Both is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Ivan Abramson.
Synopsis
Elga Pulsaki (Rita Jolivet) and her brother Ossip (James W. Morrison) emigrate to the United States from Russia to escape persecution. Elga marries Norman Hutchinson (Vincent Serrano), but their marital bliss is torn asunder when Norman learns that Elga had had sex with a government official in Russia who had threatened her brother. Norman throws Elga out of the house, but Norman's sister reminds him that he did not suggest the same course of action for her when she realized her husband (Count de Fernac, played by Pedro de Cordoba) had previously fathered a child out of wedlock. Struck by cognitive dissonance—the unequal treatment of the sexes—Norman apologizes to Elga and they are reunited.
The exploitation film/sexual hygiene film warns against the dangers of premarital sex. Lillian Stevens (played by Zena Keefe) is young woman who ends up having sex with Harold Winthrop (played by James W. Morrison) after both are caught in an unexpected storm during a date. Of course, she gets pregnant. Mom does not realize Lillian has been out all night due to her own gambling addiction. The same young man later starts dating Lillian's cousin Ruth (played by Rubye De Remer). They get engaged, but Lillian's pregnancy--and the identity of the father--is revealed when she dies from an illegal abortion, and Ruth breaks off the engagement.
Charles Stoddard (played by Hale) is a poor artist living with his wife and two children in Greenwich Village. Destitute after his wife dies, he is forced to sell one of his children for $1,000 to a childless rich woman. He soon comes his senses however, and backs out of the deal. From there, the story takes a number of twists and turns involving Ruth Gardner (Leslie) (the wife of Dr. Gardner who treats Stoddard's child for illness) and Ruth's parents -- whose father is also Stoddard's landlord and mother is later revealed to be Stoddard's long-lost mother from a prior marriage.
Réalisé parRaoul Walsh OrigineEtats-Unis GenresDrame, Policier ThèmesThéâtre, Adaptation d'une pièce de théâtre ActeursMiriam Cooper, Helen Ware, Vincent Serrano, Lincoln Plumer, Bird Millman, Eddie Sturgis Note24% Pop Clark et Harry Leland, des escrocs, s'installent dans une pension dans une petite ville, et Leland y courtise Doris Moore. Leland la convainc de les suivre à New York, où elle va habiter dans une pension tenue par Kate Fallon, une femme au passé peu respectable qui se fait passer pour la tante de Leland. Clark et Leland prévoient d'utiliser Doris pour mettre un jeune ingénieur, William Lake, dans une situation compromettante, mais Kate, qui s'est liée d'amitié avec Doris, prévient Lake, qui emmène Doris hors de portée des deux escrocs. Pendant ce temps, Laylock, un ami de Kate, est libéré de prison, où il était à la suite d'une machination de Clark et Leland. Il tue ce dernier lors d'un duel au pistolet. Lake persuade son ami l'inspecteur Bruce que Leland s'est suicidé, et Laylock reste libre. Doris et Lake se fiancent.