MPAA

Chicago Theatre
Goes TV in
June
With its own television production staff
available/ B&K use of video points trend.
CHICAGO—The Chicago Theatre will go big-screen
TV June 16 and will become the first theatre in the
country to utilize virtually all phases of the infant television
industry. Equipment for big-screen television—
the Paramount teletranscription system which flashes the
telecast on the screen within 60 seconds—has already
been installed.
The Chicago Theatre is the second in the country to
install the teletranscription system—the Paramount in
New York being the first—but because the Balaban and
Katz house is directly associated with the company's
own TV production crews the circuit is expected to embark
on a much more ambitious adaptation of the new
form of communications to motion picture exhibition.
On opening night, B&K will present the initial telecast
of a specially-prepared, star-studded show from the
Chicago Theatre stage. John Balaban, circuit executive
and manager of WBKB, at a press conference this week
announced that television would be installed in B&K
houses and that the stage shows at the Chicago Theatre
would be available for sponsored commercial telecasts.
The circuit is planning a great many innovations in
adapting the motion picture theatre for television, he
said. For example, he said, the circuit would like to
make arrangements to carry the important Notre D^me
football games, the Kentucky Derby and other sports
events of great interest to the Chicago area.
On June 16, WBKB will celebrate its eighth anniversary.
It was Chicago's first television station and one
of the first to begin regular telecasting in
the counti-y. On that date, the station also
will officially begin operation of the latest
type RCA five-bay super-turnstile transmitter
atop the American National Bank
bu Iding. Seven hundred feet tall, the tower
will be the highest point in Chicago, more
Here is the step-by-step process of putting- the telecast on the screen
via the Paramount system: (1) The "picture is taken off the tube." Carl
Maurer, Paramount engineer, demonstrates the Ackley camera, focuses on
a special Idnescope tube on which the TV image appears; (2) Threading the
Ackley camera with its electronic shutter; (3) From the camera, the exposed
film begins its long trip through teletranscription—three more processes to
go; (4) The large drying cylinder through which wet film passes and is hot
air-dried in 10 seconds; (5) Developed, dried, the film passes to projection
room, distance of 30 feet. If it is being transcribed for later use, it winds
onto standard reels; (6) Film reaches the projection room, still untouched by
human hands—a high-quality 35mni print containing both sight and sound
ready to be fed into the projection machine.
than twice as high as the station's present
transmitter atop the State-Lake Theatre
build ng.
Balaban said that big-screen video will be
a regular feature at the theatre. Because
the WBKB staff is one of the most experi-
How Video Will Be Relayed to Chicago Theatre
enced in the country and the station itself
is part of the circuit, the Chicago Theatre
will have a video advantage over all other
theatres in the area. Nor is there any other
theatre which, at the moment, can install bigscreen
television and have virtually its own
crew available for telecasting of important
local events. The Wometco circuit in Miami
now operates its own video station but as
yet none of its theatres has Installed bigscreen
TV.
Film stars and civic leaders will participate
in the premiere, Balaban said. They will be
interviewed at the entrance to the theatre
and, by the time they reach the auditorium,
will be able to see themselves on the screen
via the teletranscription system.
The WBKB-Chicago Theatre operation imdoubtedly
wiU be watched closely by exhibitors
throughout the country, particularly circuit
executives who have the facilities and
financial resources to undertake a joint television
production and exhibition project such
as Balaban is forging here. Much of the
experimentation in this area of entertainment
will be by B&K and developments here will
point up national trends in the anticipated
marriage of motion pictures and television.
AT THE LEFT:
The WBKB-Chicago Theatre television setup:
The television camera picks up an event,
transmits it via microwave to the tower atop
the State-Lake Theatre, to the new transmitter
on the American National Bank building
and finally to the Chicago Theatre to be
film-recorded, carried to the projection room
and flashed on the screen.
14 BOXOFFICE :: May 28, 1949