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118-404: The film was a major success for Warner Bros. and one of Davis' most important early pictures. She had recently filed a lawsuit against the studio, partly because of the inferior quality of roles that she was expected to play. Although she lost the lawsuit, she garnered considerable press coverage, and Marked Woman was her first film upon returning to Hollywood. She was reported to be pleased with

236-768: A lithograph company. After establishing Warner Bros. Music, Harry appointed his son, Lewis, to manage the company. By 1931, the studio began to feel the effects of the Great Depression, reportedly losing $ 8 million, and an additional $ 14 million the following year. In 1931, Warner Bros. Music head Lewis Warner died from an infected wisdom tooth . Around that time, Zanuck hired screenwriter Wilson Mizner , who had little respect for authority and found it difficult to work with Jack, but became an asset. As time passed, Warner became more tolerant of Mizner and helped invest in Mizner's Brown Derby restaurant. Mizner died of

354-421: A "gangster studio". The studio's first gangster film, Little Caesar , was a great box office success and Edward G. Robinson starred in many of the subsequent Warner gangster films. The studio's next effort, The Public Enemy , made James Cagney arguably the studio's new top star, and Warner Bros. made more gangster films. "Movie for movie, Warners was the most reliable source of entertainment through

472-485: A Bosko clone. By the end of World War II, a new Schlesinger production team, including directors Friz Freleng (started in 1934), Tex Avery (started in 1935), Frank Tashlin (started in 1936), Bob Clampett (started in 1937), Chuck Jones (started in 1938), and Robert McKimson (started in 1946), was formed. Schlesinger's staff developed a fast-paced, irreverent style that made their cartoons globally popular. In 1935, Avery directed Porky Pig cartoons that established

590-406: A book and find out anything you want to know. Curtiz never gave second-hand treatment to an assignment once it was accepted. He went ahead and graced plot and character with fluid camera movement, exquisite lighting, and a lightning-fast pace. Even if a script was truly poor and the leading players were real amateurs, Curtiz glossed over inadequacies so well that an audience often failed to recognize

708-422: A cash settlement. Nevertheless, Cagney left the studio to establish an independent film company with his brother Bill. The Cagneys released their films though Grand National Films ; however, they were not able to get good financing and ran out of money after their third film. Cagney then agreed to return to Warner Bros., after Jack agreed to a contract guaranteeing Cagney would be treated to his own terms. After

826-579: A chance and produce their own costume drama. Until then, it was a genre in which Warners' had assumed they could never succeed, owing to its higher production budgets during the years of the Great Depression . However, in March 1935, Warners announced it would produce Captain Blood (1935), a swashbuckler action drama based on the novel by Rafael Sabatini , and directed by Curtiz. It would star

944-400: A cross onto her cheek. Her resolve to testify against Vanning is only strengthened. Aware that they can only be free from Vanning if they stand against him, the other women also agree to testify. They implicate Vanning, breaking up his vice ring. As Graham is congratulated by the press, the five girls walk off into the foggy night. Despite a disclaimer at the start of the film that asserts that

1062-540: A dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation. Rin Tin Tin's third film was the feature Where the North Begins , which was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $ 1,000 per week. Rin Tin Tin became the studio's top star. Jack nicknamed him "The Mortgage Lifter" and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanuck 's career. Zanuck eventually became

1180-707: A few films each year under the First National name until 1938. For thirty years, certain Warner productions were identified (mainly for tax purposes) as 'A Warner Bros.–First National Picture.' In the latter part of 1929, Jack Warner hired George Arliss to star in Disraeli , which was a success. Arliss won an Academy Award for Best Actor and went on to star in nine more movies for the studio. In 1930, Harry acquired more theaters in Atlantic City , despite

1298-416: A foreigner, could make American films, he told them, "human beings are the same all over the world. Human emotions are international." He treated his first films in the U.S. as learning experiences: The only things that are different in different parts of the world are customs ... But those customs are easy to find out if you can read and investigate. Downtown there is a fine public library. There you can open

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1416-405: A gaudy New York night club and renames it Club Intimate. He exploits and mistreats the club's bar girls —Mary, Gabby, Emmy Lou, Florrie, and Estelle—in order to ensure their loyalty and obedience. As part of her job, Mary entices a man into betting and losing more money than he can afford. On the way home, he confides in her that he does not have the money to repay the gambling debt. He feels that it

1534-729: A given name common in the Americas) became Albert Warner. Jack, the youngest brother, was born in London, Ontario , during the family's two-year residency in Canada. The three elder brothers began in the movie theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania and Ohio . In the beginning, Sam and Albert Warner invested $ 150 to present Life of an American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery . They opened their first theater,

1652-460: A heart attack on April 3, 1933. By 1932, musicals were declining in popularity, and the studio was forced to cut musical numbers from many productions and advertise them as straight comedies. The public had begun to associate musicals with color, and thus studios began to abandon its use. Warner Bros. had a contract with Technicolor to produce two more pictures in that process. As a result, the first horror films in color were produced and released by

1770-575: A major loan. With this new money, the Warners bought the pioneer Vitagraph Company which had a nationwide distribution system. In 1925, Warners' also experimented in radio, establishing a successful radio station, KFWB , in Los Angeles. Warner Bros. was a pioneer of films with synchronized sound (then known as "talking pictures" or "talkies"). In 1925, at Sam's urging, Warner's agreed to add this feature to their productions. By February 1926,

1888-546: A mascot to Warner Bros., its various divisions, and Six Flags (which Time Warner once owned). The success of the compilation film The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie in 1979, featuring the archived film of these characters, prompted Warner Bros. to organize Warner Bros. Animation as a new production division to restart production of original material. According to Warner's autobiography, prior to US entry in World War II , Philip Kauffman, Warner Bros. German sales head,

2006-413: A month-long strike. In retaliation, Warner—during his 1947 testimony before Congress about Mission to Moscow —accused multiple employees of ties to Communists. By the end of 1947, the studio reached a record net profit of $ 22   million (equivalent to $ 300 million in 2023). Warner acquired Pathé News from RKO in 1947. On January 5, 1948, Warner offered the first color newsreel , covering

2124-703: A near-violent confrontation between Curtiz and star Errol Flynn , which led to the U.S. Congress and the ASPCA to enact legislation and policy to prevent cruelty to animals on the sets of movies. Curtiz helped popularize the classic swashbuckler , with films such as Captain Blood (1935) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). He directed many other dramas which are considered classics: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Sea Wolf (1941), Casablanca (1942), and Mildred Pierce (1945). He directed leading musicals, including Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), This Is

2242-428: A net profit of $ 674,158.00. By 1936, contracts of musical and silent stars were not renewed, instead being replaced by tough-talking, working-class types who better fit these pictures. As a result, Dorothy Mackaill , Dolores del Río , Bebe Daniels , Frank Fay , Winnie Lightner , Bernice Claire , Alexander Gray, Alice White , and Jack Mulhall that had characterized the urban, modern, and sophisticated attitude of

2360-451: A place he had never been about American underworld figures he had never met. To gain some direct experience about the subject, Curtiz convinced the Los Angeles sheriff to let him spend a week in jail. "When I came out, I knew what I needed for the picture." Curtiz firmly believed that investigating the background of every story should be done first and done thoroughly before starting a film. He said that whenever someone asked him how he,

2478-486: A popular book by former ambassador James W. Gerard , was released. On April 4, 1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint, they formally incorporated as Warner Bros. Pictures, Incorporated . (As late as the 1960s, Warner Bros. claimed 1905 as its founding date.) The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwood 's 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers , from theatrical impresario David Belasco . However, Rin Tin Tin ,

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2596-431: A result of losses from the Great Depression, and Harry refused to restore it as the company recovered. Zanuck established his own company. Harry thereafter raised salaries for studio employees. In 1933, Warner was able to link up with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst 's Cosmopolitan Films. Hearst had previously worked with MGM, but ended the association after a dispute with head producer Irving Thalberg over

2714-425: A result of their financial problems, Warner Bros. took the next step and released The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson . This movie, which includes little sound dialogue, but did feature sound segments of Jolson singing, was a sensation. It signaled the beginning of the era of "talking pictures" and the twilight of the silent era. However, Sam died the night before the opening, preventing the brothers from attending

2832-458: A result, Harry Warner—while speaking at a convention of 1,500 independent exhibitors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin—was able to convince the filmmakers to spend $ 500,000 in newspaper advertising, and Harry saw this as an opportunity to establish theaters in places such as New York City and Los Angeles. As the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street , and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged

2950-628: A sequence shot from the perspective of a bullet in motion. The film was the first of eight Curtiz films to have Dolores Costello as its star. Warner Bros. had Curtiz direct three other mediocre stories to be sure he could take on larger projects, during which time he was able to familiarize himself with their methods and work with the technicians, including cameramen, whom he would use in subsequent productions. As biographer James C. Robertson explains, "In each case, Curtiz strove valiantly, but unsuccessfully to revitalize unconvincing scripts through spectacular camera work and strong central performances,

3068-524: A shallow substance until it was hungry for another film a half-hour later. – Author William Meyer Although the language barrier made communicating with the casts and crews a hardship, he continued to invest time in preparation. Before he directed his first Western, for example, he spent three weeks reading about the histories of Texas and the lives of its important men. He found it necessary to continue such intensive studying of American culture and habits in preparation for most other film genres. But he

3186-539: A similar epic that had been planned, Noah's Ark (1928). By the time Curtiz accepted Warner's offer, he was already a prolific director, having made 64 films in countries including Hungary, Austria, and Denmark. Curtiz arrived in the United States in the summer of 1926, and began directing at Warner Bros. under the anglicised name Michael Curtiz. During what became a 28-year period at Warner Bros., he directed 86 films, including his best work. Although he

3304-485: A then unknown extra, Errol Flynn , alongside the little-known Olivia de Havilland . The film was a major success with positive critical reviews. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture , and though not nominated, Curtiz received the second-highest number of votes for Best Director , solely from write-in votes. It also made stars of both Flynn and de Havilland, and it elevated Curtiz to being

3422-518: A top producer and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jack's right-hand man and executive producer , with responsibilities including day-to-day film production. More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director; Harry Rapf left the studio to join Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . Lubitsch's film The Marriage Circle was the studio's most successful film of 1924, and was on The New York Times best list for that year. Despite

3540-515: A top star and signed him to a new contract, tripling his salary. In 1936, Harry's daughter Doris read a copy of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind and was interested in making a film adaptation. Doris offered Mitchell $ 50,000 for screen rights. Jack vetoed the deal, realizing it would be an expensive production. Major Paramount star George Raft also eventually proved to be a problem for Jack. Warner had signed him in 1939, finally bringing

3658-686: A top star. Following High Sierra and after Raft had once again turned the part down, Bogart was given the leading role in John Huston 's successful 1941 remake of the studio's 1931 pre-Code film, The Maltese Falcon , based upon the Dashiell Hammett novel. Warner's cartoon unit had its roots in the independent Harman and Ising studio. From 1930 to 1933, Walt Disney Studios alumni Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising produced musical cartoons for Leon Schlesinger , who sold them to Warner. Harman and Ising introduced their character Bosko in

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3776-545: A top studio in Hollywood , but this changed after 1935 as other studios, notably MGM, quickly overshadowed the prestige and glamor that previously characterized Warner Bros. However, in the late 1930s, Bette Davis became the studio's top draw and was even dubbed as "The Fifth Warner Brother". In 1935, Cagney sued Jack Warner for breach of contract. Cagney claimed Warner had forced him to star in more films than his contract required. Cagney eventually dropped his lawsuit after

3894-533: A unique visual style which was strongly influenced by German Expressionism , with high crane shots and unusual camera angles. The film also showed that Curtiz was fond of including romantic melodrama "against events of vast historical importance, for driving his characters to crises and forcing them to make moral decisions," according to Rosenzweig. He offered Curtiz a contract to be a director at his new film studio in Hollywood, Warner Bros. , where he would direct

4012-460: A very successful musical under the direction of Lloyd Bacon. Warner assigned Bacon to "more expensive productions including Footlight Parade , Wonder Bar , Broadway Gondolier " (which he also starred in), and Gold Diggers that saved the company from bankruptcy. In the wake of 42nd Street 's success, the studio produced profitable musicals. These starred Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and were mostly directed by Busby Berkeley . In 1935,

4130-473: A while, but then returned to join another group of travelling players for a few more years. They played Ibsen and Shakespeare in various languages, depending on what country they were in. They performed throughout Europe, including France, Hungary, Italy, and Germany, and he eventually learned five languages. He had various responsibilities: We had to do everything—make bill posters, print programmes, set scenery, mend wardrobe, sometimes even arrange chairs in

4248-463: A year. I never turned down a single story. That was my schooling. I worked hard on every one of them. That is how you learn. – Michael Curtiz Learning English quickly was an immediate hurdle, however, since he had no free time. When Jack Warner gave him the film to direct, Curtiz recalls, "I could not speak one word of English." It was a romantic story about jail life and gangsters in Chicago,

4366-424: Is all a game, but Mary warns him that he is in real danger and must leave town immediately. She is distressed, but not surprised, to learn soon after that the man has been murdered by two of Vanning's henchmen. District Attorney David Graham brings Vanning to trial, feeling that he has a strong case. Mary testifies against them, but Vanning has an airtight alibi concocted for them, and further damages her reputation, so

4484-663: The Cascade , in New Castle, Pennsylvania , in 1903. When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners and arranged to save it. The owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance. In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh -based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company, to distribute films. In 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase . By

4602-585: The Poverty Row section of Hollywood, and acquire a much larger studio lot in Burbank . They expanded by acquiring the Stanley Corporation, a major theater chain. This gave them a share in rival First National Pictures , of which Stanley owned one-third. In a bidding war with William Fox , Warner Bros. bought more First National shares on September 13, 1928; Jack also appointed Zanuck as

4720-818: The Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl Game . In 1948, Bette Davis, still their top actress and now hostile to Jack, was a big problem for Harry after she and others left the studio after completing the film Beyond the Forest . Warner was a party to the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. antitrust case of the 1940s. This action, brought by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission , claimed

4838-522: The Warner Bros. Television Group . Bugs Bunny , a character created for the Looney Tunes series, is the company's official mascot. The company's name originated from the founding Warner brothers (born Wonsal, Woron, and Wonskolaser before Anglicization): Harry , Albert , Sam , and Jack Warner. Harry, Albert and Sam emigrated as young children with their Polish-Jewish mother to

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4956-480: The box office and the studio's net loss increased. During this time, Harry and six other movie studio figures were indicted for conspiracy to violate the Sherman Antitrust Act , through an attempt to gain a monopoly over St Louis movie theaters. In 1935, Harry was put on trial; after a mistrial, Harry sold the company's movie theaters and the case was never reopened. 1935 also saw the studio make

5074-464: The 1920s gave way to James Cagney , Joan Blondell , Edward G. Robinson , Warren William and Barbara Stanwyck , who would be more acceptable to the common man. The studio was one of the most prolific producers of Pre-Code pictures and had a lot of trouble with the censors once they started clamping down on what they considered indecency (around 1934). As a result, Warner Bros. turned to historical pictures from around 1935 to avoid confrontations with

5192-412: The 1930s, Curtiz directed at least four films each year. The most obvious aspect of Curtiz's directorial signature is his expressionistic visual style, and its most obvious feature is its unusual camera angles and carefully detailed, crowded, complex compositions, full of mirrors and reflections, smoke and fog, and physical objects, furniture, foliage, bars, and windows, that stand between the camera and

5310-527: The 1940s. Warner Bros. purchased the rights from a Liberty series on Luciano but was forced to make alterations to the story because of censorship concerns, such as changing the women's profession from that of prostitute to nightclub hostess. Because the Motion Picture Production Code prohibited plots involving brothels or prostitution, the prostitutes in the original Liberty series were changed to nightclub hostesses in

5428-544: The Army (1943), and White Christmas (1954), and he made comedies, with Life with Father (1947) and We're No Angels (1955). Curtiz was born Manó Kaminer to a Jewish family in Budapest in 1886, where his father was a carpenter and his mother an opera singer. In 1905, he Magyarised his name to Mihály Kertész. Curtiz had a lower middle class upbringing. He recalled during an interview that his family's home

5546-499: The B's". Foy was able to garnish arguably more profits than any other B-film producer at the time. During Foy's time at the studio, however, Warner fired him seven different times. During 1936, The Story of Louis Pasteur proved a box office success and star Paul Muni won the Oscar for Best Actor in March 1937. The studio's 1937 film The Life of Emile Zola gave the studio the first of its seven Best Picture Oscars . In 1937,

5664-520: The Breen office. In 1936, following the success of The Petrified Forest , Jack signed Humphrey Bogart to a studio contract. Warner, however, did not think Bogart was star material, and cast Bogart in infrequent roles as a villain opposite either James Cagney or Edward Robinson over the next five years. After Hal B. Wallis succeeded Zanuck in 1933, and the Hays Code began to be enforced in 1935,

5782-759: The Flame (1930), Song of the West (1930), The Life of the Party (1930), Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930), Under a Texas Moon (1930), Bride of the Regiment (1930), Viennese Nights (1931), Woman Hungry (1931), Kiss Me Again (1931), 50 Million Frenchmen (1931) and Manhattan Parade (1932). In addition to these, scores of features were released with Technicolor sequences, as well as numerous Technicolor Specials short subjects . The majority of these color films were musicals. In 1929, Warner Bros. bought

5900-590: The Red Sea. Shot in Vienna with a cast of 5,000, it had for its theme the love story of an Israelite maiden and an Egyptian prince. Paramount Pictures in the U.S. bought the rights to the film to compete with Cecil B. DeMille 's The Ten Commandments . However, The Moon of Israel caught the attention of Jack and Harry Warner , and Harry went to Europe in 1926 just to meet Curtiz and watch him work as director. The Warners were impressed that Curtiz had developed

6018-687: The St. Louis-based theater chain Skouras Brothers Enterprises . Following this takeover, Spyros Skouras , the driving force of the chain, became general manager of the Warner Brothers Theater Circuit in America. He worked successfully in that post for two years and turned its losses into profits. Harry produced an adaptation of a Cole Porter musical titled Fifty Million Frenchmen . Through First National,

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6136-647: The United States from Krasnosielc , Poland (then part of Congress Poland within the Russian Empire ), in October 1889, a year after their father emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Baltimore , Maryland . As in many other immigrant families, the elder Wonsal children gradually acquired anglicized versions of their Yiddish -sounding names: Szmuel Wonsal became Samuel Warner (nicknamed "Sam"), Hirsz Wonsal became Harry Warner, and Aaron Wonsal (although born with

6254-539: The army for a year, before he was wounded fighting on the Russian front. Curtiz wrote of that period: The intoxicating joy of life was interrupted, the world had gone mad ... We were taught to kill. I was drafted into the Emperor's Army ... After that, many things happened: destruction, thousands forever silenced, crippled or sent to anonymous graves. Then came the collapse [of Austria-Hungary]. Fate had spared me. He

6372-503: The auditoriums. Sometimes we travelled in trains, sometimes in stage coaches, sometimes on horseback. Sometimes we played in town halls, sometimes in little restaurants with no scenery at all. Sometimes we gave shows out of doors. Those strolling actors were the kindest-hearted people I have ever known. They would do anything for each other. He worked as Mihály Kertész at the National Hungarian Theater in 1912. and

6490-526: The beginning of every showing of Don Juan across the country) in 1926. Many film production companies questioned the necessity. Don Juan did not recoup its production cost and Lubitsch left for MGM. By April 1927, the Big Five studios (First National, Paramount, MGM, Universal Pictures , and Producers Distributing) had ruined Warners, and Western Electric renewed Warner's Vitaphone contract with terms that allowed other film companies to test sound. As

6608-420: The beginning of the Great Depression. In July 1930, the studio's banker, Motley Flint, was murdered by a disgruntled investor in another company. Harry acquired a string of music publishers (including M. Witmark & Sons , Remick Music Corp. , and T.B. Harms, Inc. ) to form Warner Bros. Music. In April 1930, Warner Bros. acquired Brunswick Records . Harry obtained radio companies, foreign sound patents and

6726-424: The biblical flood, and the other a World War I-era romance. It was the first epic film attempted by Warner Bros., and in handing production over to Curtiz, they were hoping to assure its success. The climactic flood sequence was considered "spectacular" at the time, observed historian Richard Schickel , while biographer James C. Robertson said it was "one of the most spectacular incidents in film history." Its cast

6844-401: The brothers acquired the studio in 1928. Thanks to the success of The Jazz Singer , the studio was cash-rich. Jolson's next film for the company, The Singing Fool was also a success. With the success of these first talkies ( The Jazz Singer , Lights of New York , The Singing Fool and The Terror ), Warner Bros. became a top studio and the brothers were now able to move out from

6962-439: The career of Lucy Doraine , who went on to become an international star, along with that of Lili Damita , who later married Errol Flynn . I was laid in the aisles by Curtiz's camera work ... [by] shots and angles that were pure genius. – Jack L. Warner , after watching Moon of Israel The Moon of Israel (1924) was a spectacle of the enslavement of the children of Israel and their miraculous deliverance by way of

7080-400: The cellar of his family home when he was 8 years old, where he and five of his friends re-enacted plays. They set up the stage, with scenery and props, and Curtiz directed them. After he graduated from college at age 19, he took a job as an actor with a travelling theatre company, where he began working as one their travelling players . From that job, he became a pantomimist with a circus for

7198-604: The character as the studio's first animated star. In addition to Porky, Daffy Duck (who debuted in 1937's Porky's Duck Hunt ), Elmer Fudd ( Elmer's Candid Camera , 1940), Bugs Bunny ( A Wild Hare , 1940), and Tweety ( A Tale of Two Kitties , 1942) would achieve star power. By 1942, the Schlesinger studio had surpassed Walt Disney Studios as the most successful producer of animated shorts. Warner Bros. bought Schlesinger's cartoon unit in 1944 and renamed it Warner Bros. Cartoons . However, senior management treated

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7316-639: The company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation , television , and video games , and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios , as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). The company is known for its film studio division, the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group , which includes Warner Bros. Pictures , New Line Cinema , Warner Bros. Pictures Animation , Castle Rock Entertainment , DC Studios , and

7434-462: The company's remaining one-third share from Fox. The Justice Department agreed to allow the purchase if First National was maintained as a separate company. When the Great Depression hit, Warner asked for and got permission to merge the two studios. Soon afterward Warner Bros. moved to the First National lot in Burbank. Though the companies merged, the Justice Department required Warner to release

7552-689: The count's film studio, Sascha Films . Curtiz later wrote that at Sascha, he "learned the basic laws of film art, which, in those days, had progressed further in Vienna than anywhere else." Among the films he directed were Biblical epics such as Sodom und Gomorrha (1922) and Die Sklavenkönigin (1924) (titled Moon of Israel in the U.S.). He also made Red Heels (1925) and The Golden Butterfly (1926), and once directed 14-year-old Greta Garbo in Sweden. During this period, he tended to specialize in directing two kinds of films, either sophisticated light comedies or historical spectaculars. He launched

7670-476: The end of the war, in 1919, the new communist government nationalized the film industry, so he decided to return to Vienna to direct films there. Curtiz briefly worked at UFA GmbH , a German film company, where he learned to direct large groups of costumed extras, along with using complicated plots, rapid pacing, and romantic themes. His career truly started due to his work for Count Alexander Kolowrat (known as Sascha), with whom he made at least 21 films for

7788-519: The entire city. Dewey used the testimony of numerous call girls and madams to convict Luciano of running one of the largest prostitution rings in American history. Hollywood studios produced several films about Dewey's exploits, with Marked Woman among the most prominent. Humphrey Bogart's character David Graham is based on Dewey, who went on to twice become the Republican presidential nominee in

7906-698: The feature Don Juan starring John Barrymore . The film was silent, but it featured a large number of Vitaphone shorts at the beginning. To hype Don Juan ' s release, Harry acquired the large Piccadilly Theater in Manhattan , New York City , and renamed it Warners' Theatre. Don Juan premiered at the Warners' Theatre in New York on August 6, 1926. Throughout the early history of film distribution, theater owners hired orchestras to attend film showings, where they provided soundtracks . Through Vitaphone, Warner Bros. produced eight shorts (which were played at

8024-456: The film and was impressed enough by Tracy's acting that he hired him on to MGM's roster of stars. Curtiz's American career did not really take off until 1935. In the early 1930s, Warner Bros. was struggling to compete with the larger MGM, which was releasing costume dramas such as Queen Christina (1933) with Greta Garbo , Treasure Island (1934) with Wallace Beery , and The Count of Monte Cristo (1934). Warner Bros. decided to take

8142-667: The film—sued the studio for displaying "vicious, untrue and false attacks" against him in the film. After appearing in the Warner's film The Man Who Played God , Bette Davis became a top star. In 1933, relief for the studio came after Franklin D. Roosevelt became president and began the New Deal . This economic rebound allowed Warner Bros. to again become profitable. The same year, Zanuck quit. Harry Warner's relationship with Zanuck had become strained after Harry strongly opposed allowing Zanuck's film Baby Face to step outside Hays Code boundaries. The studio reduced his salary as

8260-476: The first Looney Tunes cartoon, Sinkin' in the Bathtub , and created a sister series, Merrie Melodies , in 1931. Harman and Ising broke away from Schlesinger in 1933 due to a contractual dispute, taking Bosko with them to MGM. As a result, Schlesinger started his own studio, Leon Schlesinger Productions , which continued with Merrie Melodies while starting production on Looney Tunes starring Buddy ,

8378-423: The first time, and he made stars of Errol Flynn , Olivia de Havilland , and Bette Davis . He himself was nominated five times, and won twice, once for Best Short Subject for Sons of Liberty and once as Best Director for Casablanca . Curtiz was among those who introduced to Hollywood a visual style using artistic lighting, extensive and fluid camera movement, high crane shots, and unusual camera angles. He

8496-453: The five integrated studio-theater chain combinations restrained competition. The Supreme Court heard the case in 1948, and ruled for the government. As a result, Warner and four other major studios were forced to separate production from the exhibition. In 1949, the studio's net profit was only $ 10   million (equivalent to $ 128.06 million in 2023). Warner Bros. had two semi-independent production companies that released films through

8614-455: The governments of England and the United States. By the middle of 1943, however, audiences had tired of war films, but Warner continued to produce them, losing money. In honor of the studio's contributions to the cause, the Navy named a Liberty ship after the brothers' father, Benjamin Warner. Harry christened the ship. By the time the war ended, $ 20 million in war bonds were purchased through

8732-669: The human characters and seem to surround and entrap them. – Biographer Sidney Rosenzweig Although unusual projects for Warner Bros., Curtiz directed two horror films for the studio, Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), both in early Technicolor , with numerous atmospheric scenes filmed on the studio's back lot. Another breakthrough film was 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), starring then little-known actors Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis in one of their earliest films. MGM head Louis B. Mayer saw

8850-530: The injuries from the script and asked him bandage her accordingly. When she returned to the studio, a guard at the gate saw her bandages and called executive producer Hal B. Wallis to tell him that Davis had been in an accident. Warner Bros. rereleased Marked Woman in 1947. Writing for Night and Day in 1937, Graham Greene offered a positive review, noting that as a noir film "it's been done before, of course, [...] but it has never been done better than in some of these scenes." Greene praised Ciannelli, who

8968-449: The jury rules they were innocent. Graham believes that Mary lied to him, and she leaves fearing Vanning's retribution. Mary's younger sister Betty visits for a football game. Unaware of the dangerous situation that she has entered, Betty attends a party at Vanning's club with Mary's roommate Emmy Lou. She meets Vanning's friend Bob Crandall, and after dancing with him, returns to the women's apartment. Mary admonishes her to not to go back to

9086-429: The manager of First National Pictures. In 1928, Warner Bros. released Lights of New York , the first all-talking feature. Due to its success, the movie industry converted entirely to sound almost overnight. By the end of 1929, all the major studios were exclusively making sound films. In 1929, First National Pictures released their first film with Warner Bros., Noah's Ark . Despite its expensive budget, Noah's Ark

9204-636: The most noteworthy features of all those films." On a visit to Hollywood in 1927, Ilya Tolstoy , Leo Tolstoy 's son, who had been a friend of Curtiz in Europe, wanted him to direct several films based on his father's novels. He chose Curtiz because he already knew the locale and its people. During this period, Warner Bros. began experimenting with talking films. They assigned two part-talking pictures for Curtiz to direct: Tenderloin (1928) and Noah's Ark (1928), both of which also starred Costello. Noah's Ark included two parallel stories, one recounting

9322-480: The most profitable film that year, also winning three Academy Awards and being nominated for Best Picture. It is in Rotten Tomatoes ' list of Top 100 Movies. That being their third Curtiz film together, Flynn and de Havilland continued to star in other hugely successful films under his direction, including The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), also co-starring Bette Davis. Davis starred in

9440-427: The party, but Betty does it anyway. At the party Betty meets Crandall again, and he tries to get her to go with him. She resists, but Vanning is enraged and slaps her, causing her to tumble down a flight of stairs to her death. Vanning disposes of her corpse in the river. Mary is panicked that Betty hasn't returned from the party, and threatens to testify against Vanning, but his thugs beat her and scar her face, cutting

9558-426: The premiere. Jack became sole head of production. Sam's death also had a great effect on Jack's emotional state, as Sam was arguably Jack's inspiration and favorite brother. In the years to come, Jack kept the studio under tight control. Firing employees was common. Among those whom Jack fired were Rin Tin Tin (in 1929) and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (in 1933), the latter having served as First National's top star since

9676-503: The revival was affected by Berkeley's arrest for killing three people while driving drunk. By the end of the year, people again tired of Warner Bros. musicals, and the studio — after the huge profits made by 1935 film Captain Blood  — shifted its focus to Errol Flynn swashbucklers . With the collapse of the market for musicals, Warner Bros., under Zanuck, turned to more socially realistic storylines. Because of its many films about gangsters, Warner Bros. soon became known as

9794-584: The screenplay. Vanning's racket became illegal gambling rather than running a prostitution ring, and the crime became a murder. Marked Woman entered production on December 9, 1936 at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank under the working title The Men Behind . Director Michael Curtiz substituted for Lloyd Bacon while Bacon was on his honeymoon. Bette Davis was unhappy with the minimal bandaging that had been used for her hospital-room scene, so on her lunch break she drove to her personal doctor, described

9912-401: The script and the dramatic possibilities that it afforded her. Jack L. Warner was said to be equally pleased by the public's reaction in favor of Davis, which he predicted would increase the appeal and profitability of her films. Costars Humphrey Bogart and Mayo Methot met on the set of Marked Woman and were married in 1938. The notorious underworld czar Johnny Vanning becomes the owner of

10030-622: The silent era and numerous others during Hollywood's Golden Age , when the studio system was prevalent. Curtiz was already a well-known director in Europe when Warner Bros. invited him to Hollywood in 1926, when he was 39 years of age. He had already directed 64 films in Europe, and soon helped Warner Bros. become the fastest-growing movie studio. He directed 102 films during his Hollywood career, mostly at Warners, where he directed ten actors to Oscar nominations. James Cagney and Joan Crawford won their only Academy Awards under Curtiz's direction. He put Doris Day and John Garfield on screen for

10148-476: The story is fictitious, Marked Woman is loosely based on the real-life crime-fighting exploits of Thomas E. Dewey , a Manhattan district attorney who became a national celebrity in the 1930s because of his fight against organized crime in New York City. Dewey indicted and convicted several prominent gangsters, and his greatest achievement was the conviction of Lucky Luciano , the organized crime boss of

10266-576: The studio hired Midwestern radio announcer Ronald Reagan , who would eventually become the President of the United States . Although Reagan was initially a B-film actor, Warner Bros. was impressed by his performance in the final scene of Knute Rockne, All American , and agreed to pair him with Flynn in Santa Fe Trail (1940). Reagan then returned to B-films. After his performance in the studio's 1942 Kings Row , Warner decided to make Reagan

10384-411: The studio reported a net loss of $ 333,413. After a long period denying Sam's request for sound, Harry agreed to change, as long as the studio's use of synchronized sound was for background music purposes only. The Warners signed a contract with the sound engineer company Western Electric and established Vitaphone . In 1926, Vitaphone began making films with music and effects tracks, most notably, in

10502-467: The studio since 1935. The court ruled in de Havilland's favor and she left the studio in favor of RKO Radio Pictures, and, eventually, Paramount. Through de Havilland's victory, many of the studio's longtime actors were now freed from their contracts, and Harry decided to terminate the studio's suspension policy. The same year, Jack signed newly released MGM actress Joan Crawford , a former top star who found her career fading. Crawford's first role with

10620-587: The studio was 1944's Hollywood Canteen . Her first starring role at the studio, in the title role as Mildred Pierce (1945), revived her career and earned her an Oscar for Best Actress. In the post-war years, Warner Bros. prospered greatly and continued to create new stars, including Lauren Bacall and Doris Day . By 1946, company payroll reached $ 600,000 a week and net profit topped $ 19.4   million (equivalent to $ 303.1 million in 2023). Jack Warner continued to refuse to meet Screen Actors Guild salary demands. In September 1946, employees engaged in

10738-399: The studio was forced to abandon this realistic approach in order to produce more moralistic, idealized pictures. The studio's historical dramas, melodramas (or "women's pictures"), swashbucklers, and adaptations of best-sellers, with stars like Bette Davis , Olivia de Havilland , Paul Muni , and Errol Flynn , avoided the censors. In 1936, Bette Davis, by now arguably the studio's top star,

10856-669: The studio's leading director. Curtiz continued the successful genre of adventure films starring Flynn (often with de Havilland) that included The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), a depiction of the British Light Brigade during the Crimean War . The film, another Oscar winner, was a greater success at the box-office than Captain Blood . It was followed by The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, co-directed with William Keighley whom Curtiz replaced),

10974-408: The studio's profit increased substantially. After the success of the studio's 1929 First National film Noah's Ark , Harry agreed to make Michael Curtiz a major director at the Burbank studio. Mort Blumenstock, a First National screenwriter, became a top writer at the brothers' New York headquarters. In the third quarter, Warner Bros. gained complete control of First National, when Harry purchased

11092-457: The studio's top gangster stars after appearing in the successful film, which convinced audiences to question the American legal system. By January 1933, the film's protagonist Robert Elliot Burns—still imprisoned in New Jersey—and other chain gang prisoners nationwide appealed and were released. In January 1933, Georgia chain gang warden J. Harold Hardy—who was also made into a character in

11210-1049: The studio, the Red Cross collected 5,200 pints of blood plasma from studio employees and 763 of the studio's employees served in the armed forces, including Harry Warner's son-in-law Milton Sperling and Jack's son Jack Warner Jr. Following a dispute over ownership of Casablanca 's Oscar for Best Picture, Wallis resigned. After Casablanca made Bogart a top star, Bogart's relationship with Jack deteriorated. In 1943, Olivia de Havilland (whom Warner frequently loaned to other studios) sued Warner for breach of contract. De Havilland had refused to portray famed abolitionist Elizabeth Blackwell in an upcoming film for Columbia Pictures . Warner responded by sending 150 telegrams to different film production companies, warning them not to hire her for any role. Afterwards, de Havilland discovered employment contracts in California could only last seven years ; de Havilland had been under contract with

11328-415: The studio. One of these was Sperling 's United States Pictures . Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz ( / k ɜːr ˈ t iː z / ; born Manó Kaminer ; from 1905 Mihály Kertész ; Hungarian : Kertész Mihály ; December 24, 1886 – April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from

11446-623: The studio: Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). In the latter part of 1931, Harry Warner rented the Teddington Studios in London, England. The studio focused on making " quota quickies " for the domestic British market and Irving Asher was appointed as the studio's head producer. In 1934, Harry officially purchased the Teddington Studios. In February 1933, Warner Bros. produced 42nd Street ,

11564-410: The success of Yankee Doodle Dandy at the box office, Cagney again questioned if the studio would meet his salary demand and again quit to form his own film production and distribution company with Bill. Another employee with whom Warner had troubles was studio producer Bryan Foy . In 1936, Wallis hired Foy as a producer for the studio's low budget B movies leading to his nickname "the keeper of

11682-698: The success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warner's remained a lesser studio. Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel . The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a long-term contract; like The Marriage Circle , Beau Brummel was named one of the ten best films of the year by the Times . By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywood's most successful independent studio, where it competed with "The Big Three" Studios ( First National , Paramount Pictures , and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)). As

11800-459: The third top 1930s gangster actor into the Warners fold, knowing that he could carry any gangster picture when either Robinson or Cagney were on suspension. Raft had difficulty working with Bogart and refused to co-star with him. Eventually, Warner agreed to release Raft from his contract in 1943. After Raft had turned the role down, the studio gave Bogart the role of "Mad Dog" Roy Earle in the 1941 film High Sierra , which helped establish him as

11918-476: The thirties and forties, even though it was clearly the most budget-conscious of them all." — Film historian Andrew Sarris in "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet.": The American Talking Film History & Memory, 1927–1949 . Another gangster film the studio produced was the critically acclaimed I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang , based on a true story and starring Paul Muni , joining Cagney and Robinson as one of

12036-472: The time of World War I , they had begun producing films; in the early 1920s they acquired their first studio facilities on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now-controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, My Four Years in Germany , based on

12154-610: The treatment of Hearst's longstanding mistress, actress Marion Davies , who was struggling for box office success. Through his partnership with Hearst, Warner signed Davies to a studio contract. Hearst's company and Davies' films, however, did not increase the studio's profits. In 1934, the studio lost over $ 2.5 million, of which $ 500,000 was the result of a 1934 fire at the Burbank studio, destroying 20 years' worth of early Vitagraph, Warner Bros. and First National films. The following year, Hearst's film adaption of William Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) failed at

12272-446: The unit with indifference, beginning with the installation as senior producer of Edward Selzer , whom the creative staff considered an interfering incompetent. Jack Warner had little regard for the company's short film product and reputedly was so ignorant about the studio's animation division that he was mistakenly convinced that the unit produced cartoons of Mickey Mouse , the flagship character of Walt Disney Productions . He sold off

12390-464: The unit's pre-August 1948 library for $ 3,000 each, which proved a shortsighted transaction in light of its eventual value. Warner Bros. Cartoons continued, with intermittent interruptions, until 1969 when it was dissolved as the parent company ceased its production of film shorts entirely. Characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety , Sylvester , and Porky Pig became central to the company's image in subsequent decades. Bugs in particular remains

12508-469: The war, eliminating its B Pictures unit in 1941. Bryan Foy joined Twentieth Century Fox. During the war era, the studio made Casablanca ; Now, Voyager ; Yankee Doodle Dandy (all 1942); This Is the Army , and Mission to Moscow (both 1943). The last of these films became controversial a few years afterwards. At the premieres of Yankee Doodle Dandy (in Los Angeles, New York, and London), audiences purchased $ 15.6 million in war bonds for

12626-579: Was a cramped apartment, where he had to share a small room with his two brothers and a sister. "Many times, we are hungry," he added. After graduating from high school, he studied at Markoszy University , followed by the Royal Academy of Theater and Art, in Budapest, before beginning his career. Curtiz became attracted to the theater when he was a child in Hungary. He built a little theatre in

12744-888: Was a member of the Hungarian fencing team at the Olympic Games in Stockholm. Kertész directed Hungary's first feature film, Today and Tomorrow ( Ma és holnap , 1912), in which he also had a leading role. He followed that with another film, The Last Bohemian ( Az utolsó bohém , also 1912). Curtiz began living in various cities in Europe to work on silent films in 1913. He first went to study at Nordisk studio in Denmark , which led to work as an actor and assistant director to August Blom on Denmark's first multireel feature film, Atlantis (1913). After World War I began in 1914, he returned to Hungary, where he served in

12862-519: Was able to "convey not only corruption but the sadness of corruption," but Green expressed disappointment with Davis' acting, which he claimed "plugs the emotions with dreadful abandonment." The film is ranked on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes at 100% based on reviews by five critics and with an average ranking of 6.5/10. Bette Davis won the Venice Film Festival 's Volpi Cup for Best Actress in 1937. Director Lloyd Bacon

12980-408: Was an experienced filmmaker, now aged 38, Warners assigned him to direct a number of average-quality films to break him in, the first being The Third Degree (1926). Curtiz's unique camerawork technique was used throughout, visible in dramatic camera angles, in a style which one critic assumed other directors would likely envy. When I first came here I was called on to direct six or seven pictures

13098-440: Was assigned to make fund-raising documentaries for the Red Cross in Hungary. In 1917, he was made director of production at Phoenix Films, the leading studio in Budapest, where he remained until he left Hungary. However, none of the films he directed there survive intact, and most are completely lost. By 1918, he had become one of Hungary's most important directors, having by then directed about 45 films. However, following

13216-521: Was made up of over 10,000 extras. However, the reissue of the film in 1957 cut an hour off the original time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. The story was an adaptation written by Bess Meredyth , who married Curtiz a few years later. The critical success of these films by Curtiz contributed to Warner Bros' becoming the fastest-growing studio in Hollywood. In 1930, Curtiz directed Mammy (1930), Al Jolson 's fourth film after being in Hollywood's first true talking picture , The Jazz Singer (1927). During

13334-596: Was murdered by the Nazis in Berlin in 1936. Harry produced the successful anti-German film The Life of Emile Zola (1937). After that, Harry supervised the production of more anti-German films, including Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940), which made King Philip II an equivalent of Hitler , Sergeant York , and You're In The Army Now (1941). Harry then decided to focus on producing war films. Warners' cut its film production in half during

13452-436: Was nominated for the 1937 Mussolini Cup. Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. , or abbreviated as WB , or WBEI ) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California , and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Founded in 1923 by four brothers, Harry , Albert , Sam , and Jack Warner ,

13570-498: Was profitable. In 1929, Warner Bros. released On with the Show! , the first all-color all-talking feature. This was followed by Gold Diggers of Broadway which would play in theaters until 1939. The success of these pictures caused a color revolution. Warner Bros. color films from 1929 to 1931 included The Show of Shows (1929), Sally (1929), Bright Lights (1930), Golden Dawn (1930), Hold Everything (1930), Song of

13688-561: Was quite satisfied being in Hollywood: It is splendid to work here in this country. One has everything at hand to work with. The director does not have to worry about anything except his ideas. He can concentrate on those with no worry about his production otherwise. The Third Degree (1926), available at the Library of Congress , made good use of Curtiz's experience in using moving cameras to create expressionistic scenes, such as

13806-447: Was unhappy with her roles. She traveled to England and tried to break her contract. Davis lost the lawsuit and returned to America. Although many of the studio's employees had problems with Jack Warner, they considered Albert and Harry fair. In the 1930s many actors and actresses who had characterized the realistic pre-Code era, but who were not suited to the new trend into moral and idealized pictures, disappeared. Warner Bros. remained

13924-473: Was versatile, and could handle any film genre: melodrama, comedy, love story, film noir , musical, war story, Western , horror, or historical epic. He always paid attention to the human-interest aspect of every story, stating that the "human and fundamental problems of real people" were the basis of all good drama. The death of 25 horses in The Charge of the Light Brigade under Curtiz's direction led to

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