A REMARKABLE BAND.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20281, 16 April 1934, Page 3

A REMARKABLE BAND.

Tom Katz Earns Rounds of Applause. An enthusiastic audience greeted the Tom Katz Saxophone Band when it Save its first programme at the Theatre Royal on Saturday. All prejudices against the instrument went by the board, and even those familiar with it received a surprise. The demand for encores had to remain unsatisfied, but it was not the fault of the audience that more was not heard of this talented combination. There was freshness and novelty, too, in the performance. Their entertainment was excellent and the antics of the musicians good for any number of laughs. Every member of the band, six in all, showed himself to be a master of the instrument he played, and the leading of Tom Katz was a triumph of control and originality, all of which went to make up one of the most entertaining vaudeville novelties yet seen in the city. From jazz tunes the band proceeded to classical numbers, and from bagpipes representations to full orchestral effects ' with a delightful fluency and expression. A variety of melodies, consisting of plantation lullabies, military marches and old-time ballads found a place in the repertoire. The main picture, with the provocative title of “ They Call It Sin,” combines drama, comedy and music in such judicious proportions as to make it one that has appeal for every type ot audience. It is a tale of youth and romance in the colourful setting of Xew \ ork, its musical shows and night clubs. The originality of the story material is in itself a great achievement. A plot of unusual merit has been worked into just the type of film that one had almost given up for lost. Loretta \ oung and George Brent take the leading roles' and capture the imagination of one and all with superb acting, backed by intelligent direction. Briefly the story concerns a voung girl who comes to the city to perfect her musical studies and to find the man with whom she had fallen in love. When she finally locates him he is safely en gaged in the meantime, and, ultimately, married.