STACK #222 April 2023

MOVIE FEATURE

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100 YEARS OF WARNER BROS. The iconic Hollywood studio celebrates its centenary this month. STACK 's resident film historian looks back at its founding siblings and formative years. Words Bob J P olish émigrés Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner, like virtually all of their fellow film pioneers, started out in the

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nickelodeon business based in NewYork. When the brothers decided to produce their own silent movies, Sam and Jack came west in 1919 and bought a ten-acre lot in the heart of Hollywood, where they erected a film studio. In April 1923, Warner Bros. Pictures was established as Hollywood’s only family-owned and-operated outfit. Harry and Albert would remain in NewYork to deal with financiers and distributors, whilst Sam and Jack were in charge of movie production. Their first bankable film commodity was a ‘dog’ who appeared in Where the North Begins , which introduced Rin Tin Tin to cinemagoers. The German shepherd became an instant success, spawning a number of movies and generating monster profits for the company. But WB's greatest accomplishment was the transition from silent films into sound. It was Sam who convinced his brothers that adding sound and dialogue to visuals was the future for filmmaking. Somewhat reluctantly the brothers gambled every dollar they had on the Vitaphone system, which recorded the sound on a separate wax disc. However, the stress of the many problems involved in introducing synchronised dialogue to visuals brought about the premature death of Sam, who passed away the night before The Jazz Singer , starring Al Jolson, successfully premiered in NewYork on October 6th 1927. An excited audience heard Jolson sing two songs and ad-lib a few lines of dialogue. More in memory of their late brother than belief that Sam’s bold new experiment was the right course to take, the three remaining siblings continued with what the media soon dubbed “the Talkies”. Their next production was the very first all talking motion picture entitled The Lights of New York . Without waiting for a report on the box-office returns, the brothers released Jolson’s follow up, The Singing Fool (1928). The results were phenomenal, returning a profit from both films of over US$4 million ($70 million today) when the price of a cinema ticket was just 25 cents. The Warner brothers had changed the movies

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TheWarner brothers Image credit ©Warner Bros.

forever, and the rush to produce all-talking pictures went into overdrive as the other major Hollywood studios raced to catch up. Over the following decades, WB Pictures became famous for their classic gangster movies, Busby Berkley musicals, Captain Blood and other swashbuckler adventures, Casablanca, and Looney Tunes. But more importantly the studio cultured a plethora of great movie stars like James Cagney, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Edward G. Robinson, Olivia De Havilland and Humphrey Bogart. Even though Jack's management style often frustrated and angered many of his stars, the studio won a number of Oscars for Best Picture/Actor/Actress. Harry and Albert retired in 1956, leaving Jack as the company's largest stockholder. He appointed himself its new president and also ventured into producing popular TV series like Cheyenne and 77 Sunset Strip . Then, in 1966, Jack shocked Hollywood when he announced that he was selling his stock to Seven Arts Productions but would continue as an independent producer for the company, producing the musicals My Fair Lady and Camelot , and Bonnie and Clyde (a film he loathed) in 1967. The new owners were respectful of the founder in residence but rarely consulted him, prompting Jack to officially retire in October 1969 stating, "Making movies was not fun anymore." Now, 100 years on, Warner Bros. remains one of the most successful major Hollywood studios – combined with New Line Cinema and DC Studios – producing popular franchises like Harry Potter and The Matrix . Long may that famous Warner Bros. shield logo shine on.

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18 APRIL 2023

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