Banner Pictures Corporation
| Sam Katzman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
July 7, 1901 New York City |
| Died | August 4, 1973 (aged 72) Hollywood |
| Occupation | Film producer and director |
| Years active | 1933–1973 |
Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had proportionally high returns for the studios and his financial backers.
Born to a Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry and moved from prop boy to assistant director at Fox Films. He would learn all aspects of filmmaking and was a Hollywood producer for more than 40 years.
After working as a producer of Bob Steele westerns at A. W. Hackel's Supreme Pictures, Katzman started his own studios, Victory Pictures and Puritan Pictures, in 1935. From 1935–40 Victory produced two serials and 30 features, including Western film series starring Tom Tyler and Tim McCoy. Puritan ceased production in 1937.
In 1940 Katzman moved to Monogram Pictures and produced, under the names Banner Productions, Clover Productions and Four Leaf Productions, the East Side Kids features of the 1940s and several films starring Bela Lugosi.
In 1945 he moved to Columbia Pictures, where he made Superman serial of 1948, the Jungle Jim series of the late 1940s to mid-1950s—acquiring the nickname "Jungle Sam"—a variety of second features, including many filmed in 3D, and a string of rock-'n'-roll musicals in the 1950s. His best known films are probably Earth vs. the Flying Saucers and The Werewolf (1956).
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