COSY THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 December 1939, Page 2

COSY THEATRE

‘■THE GANG SHOW.” A refreshing novel production adapted from the Annual Scouts “Gang Show,” starring Ralph Reader, and Gina Malo will come to the Cosy Theatre tonight. The leader of a local scout troop tires of his humble clerking job, his ambitions soaring in the direction of the theatre. Rebuffed by the usual agents he decides to utilise his showmanship by putting on a Boy Scout show to secure funds for a clubroom. Thrown out of the theatre where they are rehearsing the amateur performers find themselves with a show and nowhere to stage it. Rescue is at hand when a girl left in charge of a new playhouse while her impressario boss hits the high spots in Paris, is let down by a defaulting opera company. Taking a chance she allows the boys to present their show in the house with the result that it becomes a terrific hit. For sheer spontaneity, “The Gang Show” would be heard to beat, and the lads enter with gusto into the proceeding, putting over song, dance and comedy interludes with the skill of veteran entertainers. One of the most amusing sequences is a ballet burlesque, which is a riot. Female impersonations are an added joy to the performance, some of the “girls” having to be seen to be believed. Ralph Reader, the presiding genius behind the film, reveals a magnetic screen personality, his diverting audacity creating much amusement. Gino Malo makes a charming heroine and Percy Walsh turns in a neat impressario study. The associate feature, “Call of the Yukon,” is a thrilling featurisation of John Oliver Curwood’s great story of the mighty north and features Richard Arlen, Beverly Roberts and Lyle Talbot. Also screening is the 7th chapter of the great serial “The Lone Ranger."