Jack L. Warner: Last of the Hollywood Empire Builders (Titans of Fortune) eBook: Daniel Alef: Kindle Store
(Jack Warner epitomized the great Hollywood studio chief. ...)
Jack Warner epitomized the great Hollywood studio chief. He was admired as much as he was feared, engaged in battles with some of Hollywood's greatest legends from Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney to Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis. Under his tutelage Warner Bros. gave us some of the most memorable and iconic movies, including The Jazz Singer, Casablanca, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Damn Yankees and My Fair Lady. Warner was an astute businessman and a prodigious gambler; his footfalls known equally well in the casinos of Monte Carlo as they were in Hollywood. Jack Warner's story as told by award-winning author Daniel Alef, is the story--the history--of Hollywood and the evolution of motion pictures and television, from the days of the Nickelodeon to the present. [A 2,332-word Titans of Fortune biographical profile]
Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio (Jewish Lives)
(Behind the scenes at the legendary Warner Brothers film s...)
Behind the scenes at the legendary Warner Brothers film studio, where four immigrant brothers transformed themselves into the moguls and masters of American fantasy Warner Bros charts the rise of an unpromising film studio from its shaky beginnings in the early twentieth century through its ascent to the pinnacle of Hollywood influence and popularity. The Warner Brothers—Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack—arrived in America as unschooled Jewish immigrants, yet they founded a studio that became the smartest, toughest, and most radical in all of Hollywood. David Thomson provides fascinating and original interpretations of Warner Brothers pictures from the pioneering talkie The Jazz Singer through black-and-white musicals, gangster movies, and such dramatic romances as Casablanca, East of Eden, and Bonnie and Clyde. He recounts the storied exploits of the studio’s larger-than-life stars, among them Al Jolson, James Cagney, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Doris Day, and Bugs Bunny. The Warner brothers’ cultural impact was so profound, Thomson writes, that their studio became “one of the enterprises that helped us see there might be an American dream out there.” Behind the scenes at the legendary Warner Brothers film studio, where four immigrant brothers transformed themselves into the moguls and masters of American fantasy Warner Bros charts the rise of an unpromising film studio from its shaky beginnings in the early twentieth century through its ascent to the pinnacle of Hollywood influence and popularity. The Warner Brothers—Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack—arrived in America as unschooled Jewish immigrants, yet they founded a studio that became the smartest, toughest, and most radical in all of Hollywood. David Thomson provides fascinating and original interpretations of Warner Brothers pictures from the pioneering talkie The Jazz Singer through black-and-white musicals, gangster movies, and such dramatic romances as Casablanca, East of Eden, and Bonnie and Clyde. He recounts the storied exploits of the studio’s larger-than-life stars, among them Al Jolson, James Cagney, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Doris Day, and Bugs Bunny. The Warner brothers’ cultural impact was so profound, Thomson writes, that their studio became “one of the enterprises that helped us see there might be an American dream out there.”
(The BROTHERS WARNER, formerly titled "Hollywood Be Thy Na...)
The BROTHERS WARNER, formerly titled "Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story”, is the definitive family biography and intimate portrait of the four legendary Warner brothers. It unfolds and is told through the eyes of Harry Warner’s granddaughter, Cass Warner Sperling and in the voices of others who knew them.
Jack Warner, in full Jack Leonard Warner was an American motion-picture producer, best known of the four brothers—Harry (1881–1958), Albert (1884–1967), Samuel (1888–1927), and Jack—who founded Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., which became one of Hollywood’s Big Five studios.
Background
Jack Warner was born in London, Ontario, in 1892. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland who spoke mainly Yiddish. Jack was the fifth surviving son of Benjamin Warner a cobbler from Krasnosielc, Poland (then located in the "Russian" part of Poland known as Congress Kingdom), and his wife, the former Pearl Leah Eichelbaum. Following their marriage in 1876, the couple had three children in Poland, one of whom died at a young age. One of the surviving children was Jack's eldest brother, Hirsch (later Harry). The Warner family had occupied a "hostile world", where the "night-riding of cossacks, the burning of houses, and the raping of women were part of life's burden for the Jews of the 'shtetl'". In 1888, in search of a better future for his family and himself, Benjamin made his way to Hamburg, Germany, and then took a ship to America. The Warner surname was perhaps originally "Wonsal" or "Wonskolaser" Upon arriving in New York City, Benjamin introduced himself as "Benjamin Warner", and the surname "Warner" remained with him for the rest of his life. Pearl Warner and the couple's two children joined him in Baltimore, Maryland, less than a year later. In Baltimore, the couple had five more children, including Abraham (later known as Albert) and Sam Warner.
Benjamin Warner's decision to move to Canada in the early 1890s was inspired by a friend's advice that he could make an excellent living bartering tin wares with trappers in exchange for furs. Their sons Jack and David were born in Ontario. After two arduous years in Canada, Benjamin and Pearl Warner returned to Baltimore, bringing along their growing family. Two more children, Sadie and Milton, were added to the household there. In 1896, the family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, following the lead of Harry Warner, who established a shoe repair shop in the heart of the emerging industrial town. Benjamin worked with his son Harry in the shoe repair shop until he secured a loan to open a meat counter and grocery store in the city's downtown area.
Education
Jack spent much of his youth in Youngstown. He observed in his autobiography that his experiences there molded his sensibilities. Warner wrote: "J. Edgar Hoover told me that Youngstown in those days was one of the toughest cities in America, and a gathering place for Sicilian thugs active in the Mafia. There was a murder or two almost every Saturday night in our neighborhood, and knives and brass knuckles were standard equipment for the young hotheads on the prowl." Warner claimed that he briefly belonged to a street gang based at Westlake's Crossing, a notorious neighborhood located just west of the city's downtown area. Meanwhile, he received his first taste of show business in the burgeoning steel town, singing at local theaters and forming a brief business partnership with another aspiring "song-and-dance man". During his brief career in vaudeville, he officially changed his name to Jack Leonard Warner. Jack's older brother Sam disapproved of these youthful pursuits. "Get out front where they pay the actors," Sam Warner advised Jack. "That's where the money is."
Career
Warner's elder brothers, including the eldest Harry as well as Sam and Albert, entered the movie exhibition business while Warner was a teenager. In 1906, these four Warner brothers and their sister Rose, moved to New Castle, Pennsylvania where they ran a movie theater. Jack continued to exercise his desire to entertain by singing between movies as a "chaser" to rid the theater of its audience between films. In 1907, the Warner clan moved into distribution with its Duquesne Amusement Supply Company, which rented films to theaters. They were forced to sell the business in 1910 because Thomas Edison, the inventor of many technical aspects of film production, held many patents through which he tried to control the burgeoning film industry. The Warners temporarily turned to movie making. Warner and his brother Sam went to St. Louis to make a film, The Perils of the Plains which was of poor quality and did not do well at the box office. After Edison's trust was legally broken, the Warners returned to distribution temporarily and then, in 1912, tried to get production started again. Warner represented the family's interests in San Francisco at the time.
World War I broke out and Warner and his brother Sam served in the Air Corps. During this time, Warner appeared in his only lead role in a military training film on the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases. By 1917, their efforts were concentrated on production, away from distribution. Warner moved to Los Angeles to start up a studio and worked as head of production for the new studio. The Warners' first hit was 1918's My Four Years in Germany. In 1920, Warner produced a 15-episode serial. Between 1920 and 1922, Warner produced about six feature-length films.
In 1922, the Warners moved into a bigger studio, and the company officially became known as Warner Bros. in 1923, with Warner serving as head of production. The studio's earliest star was a dog named Rin Tin Tin. Warner Bros. slowly built up their stock of actors and the number of features the company released each year. By 1925, Warner was at the head of 30 features. Warner's importance in the studio grew throughout the 1920s as his responsibilities increased and he was making day-to-day decisions about who would work on what pictures. The studio however was not making much of a profit, though they had the theaters to show their pictures. In fact, Warner Bros. was deeply in the red.
To salvage the company, Warner Bros. became the first studio to take a chance on a new technology: sound. This was a risky proposition in 1925, when they first announced their intentions. First, Warner Bros. tried Vitaphone, which allowed for a synchronized soundtrack and special effects, but no dialogue. In 1926, the company released Don Juan in this format, but it did not do well. Audiences were already used to orchestras accompanying silent films. In 1927, the Warners made a bigger gamble by putting out The Jazz Singer, the first movie to feature sound which included dialogue. The Jazz Singer was the most expensive movie Warner Bros. made up until that time, but the risk paid off because their innovation changed the industry. Warner Bros. became a major studio, and had a huge jump on their competition. Unfortunately for the family, Sam Warner died the night before the premiere. Sam was Warner's favorite brother, the buffer between Jack and his eldest brother, Harry.
With the success of The Jazz Singer, Warner Bros. was able to acquire a better studio and bigger stars. In the 1930s, Warner oversaw plant operations and the studio. As the Warner representative on the lot, he was officially the vice president and chief of production. He made most of the artistic and financial decisions, and was highly concerned with keeping the movies under budget. One way he accomplished this was by focusing on one star (usually male) in each picture. Richard Schikel of Fortune wrote, "Efficiency was an obsession with crude, shrewd Jack Warner, who supervised production while his brother attended to more boring matters, like distribution and finance. Jack was known to prowl the lot looking for lights that had been left on unnecessarily."
Warner's penchant for thrift aside, Warner Bros. was amazingly successful in the 1930s. The company had a reputation for being intelligent, making socially aware films that have transcended time. Their film stars included James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Muni, and Edward G. Robinson. As Warner Bros. thrived, Warner became a prominent social figure. Yet he was regarded as undignified and coarse when compared with the other studio heads. He became a fixture on the gossip pages, mostly for his personal life.
In 1916, Warner met and married Irma Solomon while living in San Francisco. Together they had a son, Jack Warner, Jr. Over the course of his marriage, Warner had many affairs, including one in the 1930s with a sometimes actress named Ann Paige that lasted for three years. Warner eventually divorced his wife and married Paige in 1936. Together, they had a daughter named Barbara. The Warner family, especially Harry, did not approve of Warner's second wife, which deepened the already cavernous rift. Harry Warner treated his brother badly, in a very controlling way. Warner's niece Betty Warner Sheinbaum told Stein of The New Yorker, "Jack was constantly rebelling, and everything he did was just shocking to my father. He treated Jack as if he were a bad little boy, and they were constantly at odds. It wasn't that their relationship deteriorated-it was just always bad." For his part, Warner lied to his brothers, except for Sam when he was alive, and cheated them on deals.
In the 1940s, Warner tried to increase his power in the studio and Hollywood, but faced increasing problems within his studios employees and its stars. Warner worked people hard, expecting much from them. His stubbornness in labor negotiations ended up costing the studio money. Such unnecessary outlays did not extend to Warner Bros. films. The studio developed a new film style called film noir, in part because it was cost effective to shoot everything in fog so that whole sets would not have to be built. Warner Bros. also produced star vehicles, among them 1943's Casablanca.
During World War II, Warner again supported the war effort. He joined the Army Air Force and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. The Warner Bros. studio also cooperated with the war effort. Warner was extremely patriotic, and very afraid of Communism. In the late 1940s, Warner testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee investigating Communist activity in Hollywood. Warner Bros. had made what could be read as a pro-Russian film at the request of President Roosevelt when the Russians were still American allies. After the war ended, Warner Bros. had to defend the fact that they had made the film. Warner said that he wanted to send Communists back to Russia, and would contribute to any fund that would remove them from the United States. Warner also gave the Committee several names of people he believed were Communists, but later had to retract them. Warner Bros. went on to make one of the first anti-fascist films, Confessions of a Nazi Spy.
In the 1950s, the fight between Warner and his brother Harry reached its peak. In 1956, Warner deceived his brother into selling off the studio. In fact, Warner had arranged a deal to sell both of their shares after the initial buyout was complete. Jack Warner put himself in charge of Warner Bros. as studio president. At the time, he was spending half the year gambling in the south of France. Warner's relationship with his wife Ann was also problematic. Though she was the only person he trusted, he treated her poorly, having many affairs. They lived separate lives. However, Warner did not divorce her because he was afraid that she might get half of the studio. Betty Warner Sheinbaum told Stein of The New Yorker, "The sad thing was that Jack didn't have friends. He had yes-men. He loved people who lived like kings. But although he sought out society, he always seemed so uneasy and defensive when he was in it."
In 1958, Harry Warner suddenly died. Within days, Warner was involved in a serious car accident in the Cap d'Antibes, France. Authorities believed Warner probably fell asleep at the wheel and lost control of his car. He was in a coma for nearly a week and full recovery took months. His family believed he was going to die. When Warner later learned Jack Warner, Jr., had said something to this effect to the press, he broke off the relationship with his son for the rest of his life. In 1966, at the age of 74, Warner sold his studio for $32 million to Seven Arts productions, a holding company. Warner retained his position as the head of the studio until 1969 when he finally retired.
Though Warner had retired from the studio, he did not retire from the entertainment industry, but instead branched out into theater and independent film production. First, he financed a Broadway musical Jimmy which totally failed and cost him $1.5 million. Then Warner produced two independent movies in 1972, Dirty Little Billy and 1776, both of which fared poorly at the box office. In 1974, Warner took a fall on a tennis court which left him injured for the rest of his life. Warner suffered a stroke in 1977 and another the next year. He died from edema on September 9, 1978 in his Los Angeles home. As Leah Rozen wrote in People Weekly, "Jack Warner wasn't the brightest, the smoothest or the best of Hollywood's founding studio moguls, but he was the one who lasted the longest."
(Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul: Debbie Reynolds, Efrem Zi...)
Politics
An "ardent Republican", Jack Warner nevertheless supported Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal in the early 1930s. Later in the decade, he made common cause with opponents of Nazi Germany, overlooking ideological differences with those who held leftist political views. In 1947, however, Warner served as a "friendly witness" for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), thereby lending support to allegations of a "Red" infiltration of Hollywood. Warner felt that Communists were responsible for the studio's month-long strike that occurred in the fall of 1946, and on his own initiative, he provided the names of a dozen screenwriters who were dismissed because of suspected Communist sympathies, a move that effectively destroyed their careers. Former studio employees named by Warner included Alvah Bessie, Howard Koch, Ring Lardner Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Robert Rossen, Dalton Trumbo, Clifford Odets, and Irwin Shaw. As one biographer observed, Warner "was furious when Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Paul Henreid and John Huston joined other members of the stellar Committee for the First Amendment in a flight to Washington to preach against the threat to free expression". Lester D. Friedman noted that Warner's response to the HUAC hearings was similar to other Jewish studio heads who "feared that a blanket equation of Communists with Jews would destroy them and their industry".
Warner publicly supported Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential election and paid for full-page ads in The New York Times "to proclaim why Nixon should be elected". In the wake of Nixon's loss to John F. Kennedy, however, the studio head made arrangements to attend a fundraiser at the Los Angeles Palladium in honor of the president-elect. Several weeks later, Warner received a phone call from the new chief executive's father, Joseph P. Kennedy, and within a short time, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights for Robert Donovan's book, PT 109, a bestseller concerning John Kennedy's exploits during World War II. "I don't think President Kennedy would object to my friendship with Dick Nixon," Warner said later. "I would have voted for both of them if I could. You might think this is a form of fence-straddling, but I love everybody." In the late 1960s, he emerged as an outspoken proponent of the Vietnam War.
Personality
Physical Characteristics:
In the late 1950s, Warner was almost killed in a car accident that left him in a coma for several days. On August 5, 1958, after an evening of baccarat at the Palm Beach Casino in Cannes, Warner's Alfa Romeo roadster swerved into the path of a coal truck on a stretch of road located near the seaside villa of Prince Aly Khan. Warner was thrown from the car, which burst into flames upon impact. Shortly after the accident, his son, Jack Jr., joined other family members in France, where the unconscious studio head was hospitalized. In an interview with reporters, Jack Jr. suggested that his father was dying. Then, during a visit to his father's hospital room, the young man offended Ann Warner, whom he largely blamed for his parents' divorce. When Warner regained consciousness, he was enraged by reports of his son's behavior, and their "tenuous" relationship came to an end. On December 30, 1958, Jack Jr. was informed, by Jack Sr.'s lawyer Arnold Grant, that the elder Warner had released him from the company. When he attempted to report for work, studio guards denied him entry. The two men never achieved a reconciliation, and Jack Jr. is not mentioned in his father's 1964 autobiography.
Connections
On October 14, 1914, Warner married Irma Claire Salomon, the daughter of Sam Salomon and Bertha Franklin Salomon from one of San Francisco's pioneer Jewish families. Irma Warner gave birth to the couple's only child, Jack M. Warner on March 27, 1916. Jack Warner named the child after himself, disregarding an Ashkenazi Jewish custom that children should not be named after living relatives. Although his son bore a different middle initial, he "has been called Junior all his life". The marriage ended in 1935, when Warner left his wife for another woman, Ann Page. Warner and Ann had a daughter named Barbara. Irma Warner sued her husband for divorce on the grounds of desertion. Jack's older brother, Harry, reflected the Warner family feelings about the marriage when he exclaimed, "Thank God our mother didn't live to see this". Warner married Ann after the divorce. The Warners, who took Irma's side in the affair, refused to accept Ann as a family member. In the wake of this falling out, Jack's relationship with his son, Jack Warner Jr., also became strained.
Warner made no pretense of faithfulness to his wife, Ann, and kept a series of mistresses throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The most enduring of these "girlfriends" was an aspiring actress named Jackie Park, who bore a "startling" resemblance to Warner's second wife. The relationship was in its fourth year when Ann Warner pressed her husband to terminate the affair. Although Ann did once have an affair with studio actor Eddie Albert in 1941, she was much more devoted to the marriage by contrast. In the 1960s, she insisted that, despite his reputation for ruthlessness, Jack Warner had a softer side. In a note to author Dean Jennings, who assisted Warner on his 1964 autobiography, My First Hundred Years in Hollywood, Ann Warner wrote: "He is extremely sensitive, but there are few who know that because he covers it with a cloak."