Why Barney Balaban & Sam Katz most important exhibitors?
"Location, architecture, service, stage shows, and air conditioning made the movie palace into an American institution." (p. 55) - higher prices - merged in 1925 with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players to become Paramount's Publix chain, "the world's largest, most profitable, and most imitated." (p. 55)
- Location (trolley to subrubs, e.g., Central Park thater in North Lawndale on Chicago far west side)
- Building (steel shell, mixed styles, electric signs, stained glass, arch on facade, stircase, columned lobby, elegant, dignified, luxurious, modern)
- Services (40 ushers in red uniforms and white gloves, playground, art galleries, smoking rooms, afternoon tea shows)
- Stage Shows ("pure presentation" on themes of the day, organist Jesse Crawford)
- Air Conditioning (praised for healthy "pure" air)
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