Warner Bros HistoryEssay Preview: Warner Bros HistoryReport this essayWarner Bros. studios was the brain child of brothers Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack L. Warner. Harry, Albert, and Sam began in the exhibition business in 1903 after acquiring a projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania and Ohio. In 1904 they founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company and with in a few years they distributed pictures across a four-state area. In 1918 the brothers opened Warner Bros. Studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood California. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert handled the finances and distribution. In 1932 they formally incorporated as Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
The Brothers’ first studio was the Brooklyn, New York studio of John C. Warner, Jr., Jr., who died in 1956. That’s when he decided to move to Los Angeles, where he lived for a quarter of his life, and began acting. This was a very unusual partnership and that very year the Warner Bros. branch at the corner of East 23rd Street and East 42nd Street opened under that name. The new studio was named “Warner Bros. Studio,” after Harry, Albert, and Jack A. Warner. When Harry and Albert joined George D. and Barbara A. Warner at the time, the name was based not only on the production company, but also on the name of its director. The Warner Bros. studio, which had a studio in London, London, and New York, was not officially called Warner Bros. Studio on its first day. But Harry and Albert also operated the studio at the time, and at this time they opened Warner Bros. Studio on Sunset Boulevard. During its time in New York and Los Angeles, Warner Bros. was one of the leading motion picture studios in the world, although its production was mainly directed by Harry, Albert, and Jack. In its first three years of existence it produced only one film, “Wonderstruck,” about a young California woman named Eliza Stone. Despite its obvious quality, it was also dominated by a number of smaller and more minor productions, often with its own cast of actors, often starring other people in recurring roles or in the same roles that they had been portrayed by the studio’s other big names. The “Wonderstruck” film was one of the first and most successful movie pictures directed by Harry “Boy Meets World” Warner, Jr. The Warner Bros. production company had a record of producing over two dozen films a year, which was about 4/4 its production costs per director. But by the middle of the 20th Century it was in a very precarious situation. The division that had operated in New York and later, Los Angeles was collapsing in on itself, which meant that both Harry and Albert’s studio had to rely more heavily on other studios operating in other countries. The brothers left the company in 1942 and moved to the New York studios. That’s when George, Albert, and Jack A. Warner had the best chance of winning over the audience for their third movie, “Wonderstruck,” which they called “The Wizard of Oz.” The movie, “Wonderstruck,” is the only feature produced by the Warner Bros. branch. This is very impressive since it is directed by the movie’s script writer, Oscar-winning theater director Robert Culp. The script is directed by Harry C. Warner, Sr., but it did not make it onto the final theater run. But Harry and Albert’s studio had better things going for it than being able to show the children a screenwriter’s book at the box office. In 1938
The Brothers’ first studio was the Brooklyn, New York studio of John C. Warner, Jr., Jr., who died in 1956. That’s when he decided to move to Los Angeles, where he lived for a quarter of his life, and began acting. This was a very unusual partnership and that very year the Warner Bros. branch at the corner of East 23rd Street and East 42nd Street opened under that name. The new studio was named “Warner Bros. Studio,” after Harry, Albert, and Jack A. Warner. When Harry and Albert joined George D. and Barbara A. Warner at the time, the name was based not only on the production company, but also on the name of its director. The Warner Bros. studio, which had a studio in London, London, and New York, was not officially called Warner Bros. Studio on its first day. But Harry and Albert also operated the studio at the time, and at this time they opened Warner Bros. Studio on Sunset Boulevard. During its time in New York and Los Angeles, Warner Bros. was one of the leading motion picture studios in the world, although its production was mainly directed by Harry, Albert, and Jack. In its first three years of existence it produced only one film, “Wonderstruck,” about a young California woman named Eliza Stone. Despite its obvious quality, it was also dominated by a number of smaller and more minor productions, often with its own cast of actors, often starring other people in recurring roles or in the same roles that they had been portrayed by the studio’s other big names. The “Wonderstruck” film was one of the first and most successful movie pictures directed by Harry “Boy Meets World” Warner, Jr. The Warner Bros. production company had a record of producing over two dozen films a year, which was about 4/4 its production costs per director. But by the middle of the 20th Century it was in a very precarious situation. The division that had operated in New York and later, Los Angeles was collapsing in on itself, which meant that both Harry and Albert’s studio had to rely more heavily on other studios operating in other countries. The brothers left the company in 1942 and moved to the New York studios. That’s when George, Albert, and Jack A. Warner had the best chance of winning over the audience for their third movie, “Wonderstruck,” which they called “The Wizard of Oz.” The movie, “Wonderstruck,” is the only feature produced by the Warner Bros. branch. This is very impressive since it is directed by the movie’s script writer, Oscar-winning theater director Robert Culp. The script is directed by Harry C. Warner, Sr., but it did not make it onto the final theater run. But Harry and Albert’s studio had better things going for it than being able to show the children a screenwriter’s book at the box office. In 1938
Rin Tin Tin, a German Shepard dog, is credited for turning the fledgling studio in a success and was so popular that he stared in 26 films. As the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan. With this money the brothers were able to plunge into radio, a nation-wide distribution system, and were even able to build theaters.
In October of 1927, Warner Bros. revolutionized the movie business with the success of the fist “talkie” The Jazz Singer. The early 1930s at Warner Bros. was the era of the gangster dramas, musical extravaganzas, as well as the birth of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, and Sylvester and Tweety.
Warner Bros. continued to prosper and today they are one the largest producers of film and television entertainment that includes several subsidiary companies such as: WB Television, Warner Home Movies, Turner Entertainment and Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, inc. to name a few.