Essay Instructions: I have started the paper...below are 2 intro's and brainstorming thoughts..hope this helps. Paper is supposed to be research with more of a personal essay in which you write about the process of doing research. What did you start out looking for? where did you look? what did you find? and what did it tell you?
Have you ever wondered what went on behind the scenes at the Warner Brothers Studio? Or how the company came to be? I know I have! Did you know that WB was started by four Jewish brothers who stayed in business together until their deaths? I did not. As you can imagine brothers Harry, Sam, Jack and Albert (Abe) Warner were not always on the same page. Running a very successful family business together can be interesting, which is why I choose the Warner Brothers Studio to research. When researching Harry, Sam, Jack and Albert I knew there would be tons to speak about as these four men are quite fascinating.
In the early years, the brothers worked a vast variety of jobs from singing, selling soap and repairing shoes not quite the American Dream. Starting from the bottom and working their way to the top of the entertainment industry. Founded in 1918, after years showing films in multiple theaters they owed in Pennsylvania and Ohio WB’s revenue as of 2007 was $11.7 billion dollars!
From WWI and II, to the Roaring Twenties, to sound, to the Great Depression, to gangster films Warner Brothers mastered all genres of film. This is what made them different from their competition. There is just something about the films that come out of their studio that made them special and remember-able. They are a part of American film history and continue to create movies to this very day.
• When it was time to select a topic for our research paper and student presentations I was very anxious to see what I would end up writing about…
• I have a strong love for movies especially film noir
• I love the twenties and the women’s dress, headdresses, shoes etc…I like the cheesy love lines in the older films such like when Stanley says to Stella at the end of A Street Car Named Desire “Come in here Stella…” “Hey Stella, Steelllaaa!” (This was a Warner Brothers Studio Film…)
• I didn’t know what to choose for my topic…I love so many facts, actors, actresses, films etc. form this era I didn’t know how I was going to decide! It was actually when I met with my Professor for a one-on-on that I came up with the idea to research the Warner Brothers Studio. I realized that all my favorite movies, actors etc from this era have either worked at Warner Brothers or the film was filmed there.
• WWI & WWII and the role of women…
• Warner then entered a whole other world in the 1930’s Cartoons…this was brilliant! Today Warner Bros. are responsible for one of the best Batman movies ever Batman Returns (1992). Who knows if they didn’t take on the role of Looney tunes would this have happened?
A Warner Bros. studio 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 within 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.
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 1930's 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.
