Balaban and Katz
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Balaban and Katz Theater Corporation, or B&K, was a theatre corporation which owned a chain of motion picture theaters in Chicago and surrounding areas. It was founded by Barney Balaban (later long-time President of Paramount Pictures), his six siblings, and Sam Katz.


History

Balaban and Katz Theatre corporation started in 1916 in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
by
A. J. Balaban Abraham Joseph Balaban, known as A. J. Balaban or Abe Balaban (April 20, 1889 – November 1, 1962), was an American showman whose particular influence on popular entertainment in the early 20th century led to enormous innovations in the American ...
and his brother-in-law Sam Katz (1892-1961). It held its first meeting as a Delaware corporation on January 21, 1925. It merged with
Lubliner and Trinz Lubliner may refer to: * Hugo Lubliner * Lubliner Sztyme {{disambiguation ...
in July 1925.
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...
, forerunner of
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
, bought a controlling interest in Balaban and Katz Corporation in 1926. It became a part of
United Paramount Theatres American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. (originally United Paramount Theatres, later the American Broadcasting Companies and ABC Television) was the post-merger parent company of the American Broadcasting Company and United Paramount Thea ...
in 1948 after Paramount was forced to sell off its theaters. The company also held at the Paramount Pictures-Theaters split in 1949: WBKB (TV), WIBK (FM), 25% of WSMB New Orleans, 50% of a company applying for an Atlanta AM license, 10% of another licensee apply for a license in Hot Springs, and television applications for Detroit, Boston, Tampa, and Des Moines. Balaban & Katz became a subsidiary of United Paramount Theatres, Inc. (UPT). UPT merged with
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...
in 1953. The company was officially dissolved as an Illinois corporation on July 31, 1970.


Theaters

Balaban and Katz chose to build their theaters (many designed by famous architects
Rapp and Rapp C. W. & George L. Rapp, commonly known as Rapp & Rapp, was an American architectural firm famed for the design of movie palaces and other theatres. Active from 1906 to 1965 and based in Chicago, the office designed over 400 theatres, inclu ...
) in rapidly growing outlying districts, convenient for the middle class population which provided the bulk of their patrons, as well as in downtown Chicago. The company is notable for being the first to offer air conditioning in its theaters and for including lavish stage shows. Balaban and Katz operated over a hundred theaters in the midwestern United States. There were more than 50 Chicago-area theaters operated by the Balaban and Katz company including: North: Belmont, Century/Diversey Theatre, Cine, Covent,
Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
, Howard, Lakeside, Northshore, Nortown, Pantheon,
Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...
, and Uptown. Northwest: Admiral, Alba, Belpark, Biltmore,
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
, Crystal, Drake, Gateway Theatre, Harding, Luna,
Portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
, Terminal, and Will Rogers. South, Maryland, Regal, Southtown, Tivoli, and Tower. West: Central Park, Iris, Manor, Marbro, Paradise, Senate, and State. Loop: Apollo,
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Garrick Garrick may refer to: * Garrick (name), for the name's origin and people with either the surname or given name, the most famous being: ** David Garrick (1717–1779), English actor * Garrick Club, a London gentlemen's club named in honour of David ...
,
Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...
, Roosevelt, and United Artists. Suburban Chicago: Berwyn, Coronet, La Grange, Park, Valencia (Evanston), and Varsity (Evanston). Waukegan: Academy Sam Katz, a vice president at Balaban and Katz, became president of The Publix theaters group, a division of Famous Players Lasky. Its secretary, Barney Balaban, eventually became president of
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. Beginning in 1939, Balaban and Katz, along with parent company Paramount, was involved in the early development of the television broadcasting industry. The company owned several experimental television licenses, and in 1943 began broadcasting over WBKB (now
WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Stre ...
), the first commercial television station in Chicago. Whenever Balaban and Katz decided that murals would become part of the interior design scheme, they would commission painter and muralist
Louis Grell Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ...
of Chicago to execute them. Grell painted murals inside the
Chicago Theater The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban an ...
, Gateway Theater, Uptown Theater and many Paramount Theaters across the midwest and America for Balaban and Katz. The trademark for the company is owned by a historical foundation called the Balaban and Katz Historical Foundation. The foundation was founded by descendants of the original Balaban brothers. Its collection of B and K corporate documents is located in New Jersey. Theatre Historical Society, in Elmhurst, Illinois, maintains an extensive collection of architectural blueprints and large-format pictures of many Balaban and Katz theaters. In 2006, a documentary, '' Uptown: Portrait of a Palace'', featured one of Balaban and Katz's most famous theaters, the Uptown. 2006 also saw the publication of a book on many of the B&K theatres, titled ''The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz'', written by David Balaban with a foreword by theater historian
Joseph DuciBella Joseph R. DuciBella A.S.I.D. (April 17, 1945 – June 29, 2007) was an interior designer, founding member of the Theatre Historical Society of America (1969), author, and noted architectural historian. Biography Born and raised on the West Side of ...
and published by Arcadia Publishing.


See also

* United Paramount / Plitt Theatres *
List of experimental television stations This page is a list of the experimental television stations before 1946. After 1945 (in the United States) the television frequencies were opened up to commercialization and regular broadcasts began. Regular broadcast television start dates vary wi ...


Notes


References

* Balaban, David. ''The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz'', Arcadia Publishing, 2006. *


External links

* *
Louis Grell Foundation

Castle Theater Collection
McLean County Museum of History {{DEFAULTSORT:Balaban And Katz 1916 establishments in Illinois Companies based in Chicago Companies disestablished in 1970 History of Chicago Mass media in Chicago Entertainment companies established in 1916 1970 disestablishments in Illinois Balaban family American Broadcasting Company Paramount Pictures