LYRIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 363, 25 May 1928, Page 15

LYRIC

“TWELVE MILES OUT” John Gilbert is a human storehouse of surprises for the film audiences of the world. He Ims just unloaded another item m his bag of tricks—to give theatredom one of the biggest surprises in many a month, in “Twelve Miles Out,” his latest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture, now playing at the Lyric Theatre. He mixes thrills and battles, sensations and romance, in a blend of 100 per cent, screen entertainment that had last night’s audience alternately gasping in amazement or enahanted by the sheer beauty of the romance that underlies the incessant excitement of the strange plot. The very first scenes of the picture make the audience gasp, and thrills and sensations crowd every other instant. John Gilbert is first seen as a daredevil motor-cycle rider of a whirl of death concession on an amusement pier. After he loses the girl to Red McCue, a notorious bootlegger, he joins the rum-running fleet as the owner of a speed-boat smuggling spirits ashore. The audience gets another lot of thrills from his chases by Customs officers. He is nearly caught once, and to save complications takes a certain cultured lady aboard his boat, and she falls in love with him. From th€:n on the story is a thrilling encounter with bootleggers;, but

still through it all • | runs a beautiful love story, i Joan Crawford makes a charming

heroine, and contributes one of the finest pieces of acting in her rather meteoric career. Ernest Torrence delights in unusual roles, and as McCue, the big rumrunner, he gives a remarkable portrayal of a nature in which viciousness is mixed with a queer brand of whimsical humour. The supporting picture is “One Round Hogan,” a thrilling boxing story starring Monte Blue. A special matinee will be given tomorrow afternoon at 2.30 p.m.