COSY THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 January 1939, Page 2

COSY THEATRE

“WEST OF SHANGHAI.” In “West of Shanghai,” at the Cosy Theatre tonight Boris Karloff is not the 'sort of fellow he has been in other pictures. He is no monster, going around eating little children. Instead he is a Chinese bandit —the “best dang daring man in all China,” to quote the character he plays. But he has to die, nevertheless. Karloff was shot at the Warner ranch near Calabassas. There a huge set, representing a town in North China, had been built. In the centre of the town was a courtyard, and there Mr Karloff was shot. The shooting of Karloff in “West of Shanghai,” marks the nineteenth time he has been killed in pictures. Sometimes they throw him in a well. Sometimes they shoot him with silver bullets in the light of the moon. Sometimes they drive a stick through his heart to make sure he stays in his coffin. The picture is full of thrills.

The additional attraction is “Sergeant Murphy.” Ronald Reagan, a handsome newcomer from the radio ranks, plays the part of Danny Murphy, who loved his horse so well. Mary Maguire, 18-year-old Australian, is the Colonel’s daughter, with whom Reagan falls in love. Donald Crisp, always grand in military parts, is the Colonel himself. There are many gripping scenes of cavalry charges and artillery tactics; beauty is introduced in some Santa Barbara horse show sequences, and the height of thrills comes along with a reproduction of the Grand National Steeplechase. This was made on the Santa Anita track near Hollywood.