“Common Clay” at Tivoli

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6620, 5 August 1931, Page 3

“Common Clay” at Tivoli

With the talented Constance Bennett in what many acclaim as her greatest role, "Common Clay,” a gripping story of a pleasure-loving girl -whose mistakes and subsequent attempts to redeem herself bring about poignant drama, is the current feature at tho Tivoli. The opening sequences show Miss Bennett as a "hostess” at a speakeasy, not because she is inherently vicious, but because of her love for gaiety and dancing. When the place is raided by the police and she- is arraigned in court, tho dangers of her career become clear and she decides to abandon it for something less exciting and more respectable. This she seeks as a maid in a fashionable home, but her beauty and her past reputation serve to make her the prey of the young heir of the house, home from college for the summer. After vainly trying to convince him of her intentions, she falls in love with him, "not wisely but too well.’-’ When her baby is born she appeals to him, but is ignored, both the boy and his father believing she is only a "golddigger.” Forced to seek legal assistance in obtaining justice, she is offered a largo sum, but refuses, telling them that she want 3 a name for her child rather than money. This results in the boy’s attorney bringing out her polico court record, much to the dismay of her own lawyer. He, however, turns the tables by telling them that since she is under age, their witnesses, including the boy’s pal, who had known her during Ir.u- speakeasy days, will bo prose-cut'-'l on criminal charges. At the trial th-- girls’ mother is compelled to admit that she is not her real mother at all, but that the girl is the child of a friend who committed suicide rather than bring shame on tho man sho loved. Since there is no record of the girl’s exact age, tho entire case is thrown out of court. Summoned to the attorney’s home tho next day, tho girl, wearied of the apparently hopeless light for justice, receives some startling revelations which culminate in a climax of unusual power and feeling, as well as bringing her some measure of the happiness she Lad craved. A matinee will be held today at 2.30 p.m.