A three-act romance by Margaret Mayo (with unbilled collaboration from Winchell Smith), Polly of the Circus opened on 23 December 1907 at the Liberty Theatre for 160 performances. When circus entertainer Polly, played by Mabel Taliaferro, is injured in a fall during a small-town appearance, she is taken to recover in the home of the local minister, John Douglass. They grow close, but Polly is conscious of her low status as a circus performer and departs with the circus. John follows and convinces her to marry him. The circus scenes were impressive and the romantic plot left its audience satisfied. The play was made into a motion picture twice, in 1917 with Mae Marsh, and in 1932 starring Marion Davies and Clark Gable.
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.