Warner Bros. today celebrates its centennial milestone as April 4, 2023, marks 100 years of its iconic contribution to film and television.
Its rich heritage stretches back to the four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, born to Polish-Jewish immigrants, who founded the studio in 1923 and became mavericks of the film industry. They not only created some of Hollywood’s greatest movies and film stars, but they also were pioneers behind the innovative technology of the Vitaphone that synchronized sound and put them in the forefront as major players in Hollywood.
Related: Warner Bros. Top-Secret Archives: Treasure Trove Of Film Memorabilia From ‘The Matrix’, ‘Batman’, ‘My Fair Lady’ & Dozens More
Sam Warner spearheaded the movement by applying the technology with sound effects and music, but no dialogue, in the 1926 film Don Juan, and then in two scenes from one of the first “talkies,” 1927’s The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, that featured...
Its rich heritage stretches back to the four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, born to Polish-Jewish immigrants, who founded the studio in 1923 and became mavericks of the film industry. They not only created some of Hollywood’s greatest movies and film stars, but they also were pioneers behind the innovative technology of the Vitaphone that synchronized sound and put them in the forefront as major players in Hollywood.
Related: Warner Bros. Top-Secret Archives: Treasure Trove Of Film Memorabilia From ‘The Matrix’, ‘Batman’, ‘My Fair Lady’ & Dozens More
Sam Warner spearheaded the movement by applying the technology with sound effects and music, but no dialogue, in the 1926 film Don Juan, and then in two scenes from one of the first “talkies,” 1927’s The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, that featured...
- 4/4/2023
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
By Jacob Oller
The city that never sleeps and the least sleepy genre are a match made in heaven. he early musicals were similar to the early animations: raucous, irreverent, and intensely urban. New York City was a haven for both. From Lights of New York to The Broadway Melody, the stage musical’s home became home to the […]
The article Dreamers and Dreams: New York and the Early Musical Film appeared first on Film School Rejects.
The city that never sleeps and the least sleepy genre are a match made in heaven. he early musicals were similar to the early animations: raucous, irreverent, and intensely urban. New York City was a haven for both. From Lights of New York to The Broadway Melody, the stage musical’s home became home to the […]
The article Dreamers and Dreams: New York and the Early Musical Film appeared first on Film School Rejects.
- 12/18/2017
- by Jacob Oller
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Hal Roach looks on as technicians install Vitaphone equipment in his studio screening room, ca. 1928. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) 'A Century of Sound': Q&A with former UCLA Preservation Officer Robert Gitt about the evolution of film sound technology Long before multi-track Dolby stereo and digital sound technology, there were the Kinetophone and the Vitaphone systems – not to mention organ and piano players at movie houses. Much of that is discussed in A Century of Sound, which chronicles the evolution of film sound from the late 19th century to the mid-1970s. A Century of Sound has been split into two parts, with a third installment currently in the planning stages. They are: Vol. 1, “The Beginning, 1876-1932,” which came out on DVD in 2007. Vol. 2, “The Sound of Movies: 1933-1975,” which came out on Blu-ray in 2015. The third installment will bring the presentation into the 21st century.
- 1/26/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Robert Redford movies: TCM shows 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,' 'The Sting' They don't make movie stars like they used to, back in the days of Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, and Harry Cohn. That's what nostalgists have been bitching about for the last four or five decades; never mind the fact that movie stars have remained as big as ever despite the demise of the old studio system and the spectacular rise of television more than sixty years ago. This month of January 2015, Turner Classic Movies will be honoring one such post-studio era superstar: Robert Redford. Beginning this Monday evening, January 6, TCM will be presenting 15 Robert Redford movies. Tonight's entries include Redford's two biggest blockbusters, both directed by George Roy Hill and co-starring Paul Newman: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which turned Redford, already in his early 30s, into a major film star to rival Rudolph Valentino,...
- 1/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Drew Barrymore half-sister Jessica Barrymore found dead near San Diego (photo: Jessica Barrymore) Drew Barrymore’s half-sister Jessica Barrymore was found dead in her car early Tuesday, July 29, 2014, in National City, located between San Diego and Chula Vista in Southern California. Jessica Barrymore (née Brahma [Jessica] Blyth Barrymore) would have turned 48 on Thursday, July 31. According to a witness, Jessica Barrymore, who worked at a Petco store, was found reclined in the driver’s seat, with a drink between her legs. White pills were seen scattered on the passenger seat. Despite online rags reporting either that Drew Barrymore’s half-sister committed suicide or died from a drug overdose, the official cause of death hasn’t been announced. As per the Los Angeles Times, an autopsy will be performed in the next few days. In a statement published in the gossip magazine People, Drew Barrymore, 39, said she had "only met her [sister Jessica] briefly." Their father was John Drew Barrymore,...
- 7/31/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Author Susan Orlean, whose book The Orchid Thief became — more or less — director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's all but unwatchable Adaptation (Meryl Streep played Orlean), has another book out, Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, published last September. Today, Deadline's Mike Fleming wrote a piece in which he explains that Orlean "discovered that the true Best Actor winner in the first Oscars in 1929 was the German Shepherd, not the German silent film actor Emil Jannings, who walked away with the prize." A quote from Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend found in The Hollywood Reporter reads: "According to Hollywood legend, Rinty received the most votes for best actor. But members of the Academy, anxious to establish the awards were serious and important, decided that giving an Oscar to a dog did not serve that end." I haven't read Orlean's book, so...
- 1/4/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.