GRAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 155, 21 September 1927, Page 14

GRAND

“BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT” “Bardelys the Magnificent” is now being shown to crowded houses at the Grand Theatre. Of all the stories written by Rafael Sabatini none found greater favour with the public than “Bardelys the Magnificent.” Telling of the swashbuckling age of chivalry when men fought on the drop of a glove, and a. woman’s love was a precious thing indeed, it carries that universal appeal which hall-marks really good romances. The success of the picture in England and in America has been most marked. The “Westminster Gazette,” London, writes as follows:—“John Gilbert has a role that will be an everlasting delight to his constantly increasing number of admirers. If Rafael Sabatini, the author, had personally chosen the hero for the filming of his stirring romance, he could not have made a happier selection. His portrayal of the dashing Bardelys stands as the most active and colourful of Gilbert’s career. He swims raging rivers on horseback, engages in fierce encounters with hordes of strenuous and determined enemies, polevaults over a line of charging spearsmen, scales walls of dizzying height, and reveals himself as the most agile acrobat of the screen. ‘Bardelys the Magnificent’ is the greatest Sabatini picture yet given to the screen, greater even than the author’s previous success, ‘The Sea Hawk.’ ” Conspicuous in a cast of 5,000 persons stand Karl Dane, Roy D’Arcy, George K. Arthur, Arthur Lubin, John S. Murray, Lionel Belmore and Eleanor Boardman.