"CONVOY."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19151, 7 November 1927, Page 6

"CONVOY."

THE BIG PARADE OF WARSHIPS. LIBERTY THEATRE, TO-DAY. "Convoy," a First National picture with a five-star cast supported by many lesser players, heads the bill at the Liberty Theatre this week. It might aptly be described as the most novel, and perhaps the cleverest of all war pictures yet produced. For the vory word "Convoy" conjures up visions, of stately processions across the Seven Seas, of honourable 'escorts, of oceangoing greyhounds, of espionage and, hurried drama, of the thousand things that went hand-iu-hand with war in those days. Tho only war scene in' the entire film is a faithful reproduction of the naval battlo between

the British Fleet when it bottled up . tho enemy ships in Kiel Harbour; but this bit is thrilling and human enough to compensate for the trenches, cntanglemeuts, and rnuck that one can see in army film?. Tho .plot, and the subsequent development thereof, which makes, iu'large part, the actual story,

is concerned with German espionage in America, and how. a girl renounced her inheritance and her lover to thwart, or help thwart, tho fell designs of the controller of the system; and of how she. earned tho title "tho face that saved a thousand ships," for the convoy sails in safety,, and the girl pays the prico of patriotism. It is a solid story made into an exceptionally brilliant picture through inspired direction and sympathetic acting,- a story that showers its humour, its human interest, its seething drama as generously as it showers the thrills of war in the great sequence of the film. It is a dedication to tho Navy, not the American Navy only, for art is universal, and chivalry is international. It is a picture that makes a lively appeal to the imagination. In the leading role- Miss Dorothy _ Mackaill-is excellent, lending, a tragic air to her part that is'quito in ac-: cordnnco with it; Lowell Sherninn, as the urbano director of the spy system in America is, of course, tho most brilliant performer in the piece, while Lawrence Gray, William Collier, jun., and lan Keith complete the quintet of .stars, who add dignity' and quality to "Convoy.". In "The Auctioneer" audiences see on the screen tho great Davjd Bela'sco's most successful stage venture; they also sec,' to their huge delight,'Georgo Siducy'and Sammy 'Cohen—Sammy Cohen'who was tho ; direct cause of so 'much mirth, as tho meandering private of '.'What Price Glory." • "The Aucitonoer" is a humorous'story of' tho New York Ghetto, exquisitely natural, and full of the laughs and tears that... make . life. Marian Nixon and Gareth Hughes play the juvenile leads in this delightful little drama. The Concert Orchestra; under Mr Ernest Jamieson, will play tho .following, musical programme: Overture, "Euryauthe" (Weber), "Symphony" (Hadyn), "Tho Eroica" (L. van Beethoven), "Ballet Music" (Mozart), "Tho Flying Dutchman" (Wagner), "Nautical Scenes" (Fletcher), "Gems from Sullivan" _ (Higgs), "Minuet" (Paderewski), "Adelaide" (Beethoven), "Colonel Bogey" (Alford), "A Lane in' Spain," "Let's All Go Down to Alice's House" ■ (N.- Amos). The box plans aro now open at The Bristol Piano Company, whero seats may be .reserved.