MAORILAND PICTURES.

Shannon News, 3 April 1928, Page 3

MAORILAND PICTURES.

WEDNESDAY — “CONVOY,” A TALE OF THE SEA.

“Convoy,” Robert Kane’s milliondollar picture of the Navy at war, into which has been woven one of the most dramatic romances seen op the local screen in many months, will be shown on Wednesday at the Maoriland Theatre. A tremendous spectacle of the sea, a war picture that has caught the spirit of sacrifice and courage and tragedy along with the adventuresome romance," Convoy ” well merits the enthusiastic endorsements it has received. This great epic, which was four months in the making, and into which were poured the efforts of more than 30,000 actors and extras, is in many respects a film history of the navies during the war. It is the first picture to present an accurate account of the all-important service of the ships and sailors “Over There,” and its accuracy is guaranteed in the fact that the Navy Departments co-operated in the producing of it. The film recalls “The Bridge of Ships,” which the British Navy built to France, and across which were ushered 2,000,000 men without a single casualty;, the origination of the famous convoy] system. .Interwoven with the graphic tale of action is an equally dramatic theme of a girl’s sacrifice in uncovering the methods of communication between the German, secret service agents at the outbreak of the war. “Convoy” shows, for the first time, just how these spieß operated, and tells a talc from real life of the apprehension of their ehief.

CLASSIC NOVEL FILMED.

“THE SCARLET LETTER” ON THURSDAY AND’ FRIDAY.

In every land where books circulate Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel, “The Scarlet Letter,” has been read and enjoyed. Now in every country where motion pictures are shown the characters who endeared themselves to countless booklovers will walk on to the silver sheet and live again one of the greatest love romances ever written. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s epic, “Th ; e Scarlet Letter,” which will be shown at the Maoriland Theatre for a special season of two nights, commencing on Thursday, is one of the most startling and dramatic screen productions of recent times. The producers wisely chose Lillian Gish, famous for “The Birth of a Nation,” “The White Sister,” “Romola” and other triumphs, to play the part of Hester Prynne, the heroine. Superbly directed and magnificently acted is this story of a girl who loved unquestionably and with every fibre of her being. Starkly gripping is the manner in which the grim habits and customs of the early Puritans have been reconstructed for the screen. Splendid indeed is the work of Lars Hanson, a Swedish film discovery, in the difficult role of the Reverend Dimmesdale, the clergyman lover of the heroine. More than adequate are Karl Dane and Henry Walthall in their respective roles, but it is to Lillian Gish that the memory instinctively returns.