LYRIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 586, 12 February 1929, Page 15

LYRIC

“THE CRIMSON CITY" A teeming city of the China coast — “The House of a Thousand Daggers”— Nan Toy a slave there—Gregory a refugee from English justice—“ Dagger” Foo a slave driver—Bland, influential and hypocritical—an English girl—these are some of the characters which play their parts in the thrilling melodrama which is being presented to record crowds at the Lyric Theatre, in “The Crimson City.” Myrna Loy, as Nan Toy the Chinese slave girl, gives one of those unforgettable performances which have made her the best interpreter of Oriental roles on the screen to-day. Real Orientals such as Sojin and Anna May Wong add to the realism of the fantastic picture.

Though unlike it in atmosphere and in action, too, the outcome of the story is not unlike that of “Madame Butterfly.” The Chinese girl has sacrificed everything for the white man. who at last, when exonerated of the crime of which he has been accused, is glad to return to England with the white girl, leaving Nan Toy to her fate. “The Crimson City” creates the perfect illusion—it is moving and tender and colourful as well as brutally idealistic. An uproarious seagoing farce, “Sailor Izzy Murphy,” starring George Jessel, is the second f-eature.