Publication Date: Friday Apr 17, 1998

Yes, they were real brothers

From releasing the "Jazz Singer," the world's first "talkie," in 1927 to topping basically every critic's list with 1997's "L.A. Confidential," Warner Bros. has entertained the public for the past 75 years like no other studio. Warner Bros. has been at the forefront of the motion picture industry since the four Warner brothers--Albert, Sam, Harry and Jack--incorporated their fledgling movie company in 1923. For 75 years, WB has held the top slot in market share more often than any other studio.

Besides leading the Hollywood studio pack at the box office, Warner Bros. has been a pioneer in the film business. During its three-quarter-century history, the studio brought sound to movies, introduced the first four-legged superstar (Rin Tin Tin), revitalized the movie musical, created the gangster-picture era and produced a number of socially significant films that drew national attention to social ills of the times.

The brothers got their start in the film business as traveling exhibitors, moving from city to city with their portable projector. From there, they bought a single theater in Pennsylvania, then a chain of theaters, and finally, a distribution and exhibition business. In search of more profits, the brothers eventually decided to get into movie production.

In 1922, the Warner Bros. West Coast studios was born when the brothers purchased $25,000 in property at 5842 Sunset Blvd. (The studio would later move to Burbank.) "The Jazz Singer" made "pictures that talk" a reality and brought the studio to the forefront of the Hollywood community.

WB's contract actors were some of the biggest names of Hollywood's golden age: Bette Davis, James Cagney, Paul Muni, Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and Errol Flynn. Flipping to the other side of the camera, Warner could count Hal Willis, Darryl F. Zanuck, Busby Berkeley, Michael Curtiz, William Wellman, Howard Hawks and Mervyn LeRoy as members of their regular directing stable.

Warner ushered in the tough-guys/gangster approach with Humphrey Bogart in "Little Caesar" and James Cagney in "The Public Enemy" in the 1930s. The studio issued a number of films ("Casablanca," "The Maltese Falcon," "The Searchers") that stand as undisputed classics in the 1940s and 1950s. WB pushed the boundaries of traditional filmmaking in the 1960s with such flicks as "Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Wild Bunch." The 1970s and 1980s saw the company continue to offer a diversity of programming that flew from comedies ("Blazing Saddles") to cop thrillers ("Dirty Harry") and from horror pics ("The Exorcist") to period pieces ("Dangerous Liaisons").

In 1989, Warner Communications, Inc., merged with Time Inc. to become Time Warner, one of the world's largest communications and entertainment companies. Besides first-run films, the conglomerate is involved in basically every aspect of the entertainment business from television to home video, from theme parks to retail stores, from records to animation.



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