Jack L. Warner

Production

Jack L. Warner

Born 1892-08-02 · London, Ontario, Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner (August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978), born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian-American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some 45 years, its duration surpassing that of any other of the seminal Hollywood studio moguls. As co-head of production at Warner Bros. Studios, he worked with his brother, Sam Warner, to procure the technology for the film industry's first talking picture. After Sam's death, Jack clashed with his surviving older brothers, Harry and Albert Warner. He assumed exclusive control of the film production company in the 1950s, when he secretly purchased his brothers' shares in the business after convincing them to participate in a joint sale of stocks. Although Warner was feared by many of his employees and inspired ridicule with his uneven attempts at humor, he earned respect for his shrewd instincts and tough-mindedness. He recruited many of Warner Bros.' top stars and promoted the hard-edged social dramas for which the studio became known. Given to decisiveness, Warner once commented, "If I'm right fifty-one percent of the time, I'm ahead of the game." Throughout his career, he was viewed as a contradictory and enigmatic figure. Although he was a staunch Republican, Warner encouraged film projects that promoted the agenda of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. He opposed European fascism and criticized Nazi Germany well before America's involvement in World War II. An opponent of Communism, after the war Warner appeared as a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee, voluntarily naming screenwriters who had been fired as suspected Communists or sympathizers. Despite his controversial public image, Warner remained a force in the motion picture industry until his retirement in the early 1970s.

Acting credits

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies poster
8.0

Based on the first centenary of the largest exporter of films in the world, that is Hollywood, is the story told by its protagonists, actors and writers and other people who made life in this business, interspersing images of famous movies.

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

1995

Audrey poster
7.1

An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).

Audrey

2020

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards poster
6.3

This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel and more, with host Bob Hope.

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

1940

Tab Hunter Confidential poster
7.3

Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. But throughout his years of stardom, Tab had a secret. Tab Hunter was gay, and spent his Hollywood years in a precarious closet that repeatedly threatened to implode and destroy him. Tab Hunter himself shares first hand, for the first time, what it was like to be a studio manufactured movie star during the Golden Age of Hollywood and the consequences of being someone totally different from his studio manufactured image.

Tab Hunter Confidential

2015

Sid & Judy poster
7.4

Explore the dramatic career and personal struggles of the talented and tragically short-lived entertainer Judy Garland through rare concert footage, never-heard-before voice recordings and personal photos.

Sid & Judy

2019

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage poster
7.0

Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

1983

The Adventures of Errol Flynn poster
7.7

A documentary about the life of Errol Flynn, with recollections from friends and family.

The Adventures of Errol Flynn

2005

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year poster
7.5

This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

2009

A Star Is Born World Premiere poster
8.0

Live television broadcast of the world premiere. Described by various participants as the biggest world premiere in memory, even bigger than the Academy Awards.

A Star Is Born World Premiere

1954

Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' poster
7.4

An overview of the making of John Huston's 1948 classic "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."

Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'

2003

Show-Business at War poster
7.0

A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.

Show-Business at War

1943

The 42nd Street Special poster
5.6

As part of a publicity campaign for the film 42nd Street (1933), Warner Bros. Pictures, with the assistance of the General Electric Corporation, assembled a 7-car gold- and silver-plated train they called "The 42nd. Street Special". With numerous Warner Bros. contract stars as passengers, the train made a tour across the USA. It was scheduled to make stops in more than 100 cities, ending in Washington, D.C. for the March 1933 inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This short film records the send-off for this trip from Los Angeles' Santa Fe Station. Using a microphone set up on the rear platform of the last car, several people addressed the crowd attending the event. Those making remarks include performers, studio executives, and the mayor of Los Angeles.

The 42nd Street Special

1933

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story poster
6.6

Combining unprecedented access to Davis' vast personal archives with original interviews, this documentary reveals a startling portrait of one of Hollywood's most gifted and enigmatic stars.

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story

2006

The Voice That Thrilled the World poster
6.0

This short traces the history of sound in the movies, beginning with French scientist Leon Scott's experiments in 1857. Featured are snippets from early sound pictures.

The Voice That Thrilled the World

1943

42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage poster
6.0

Making-of documentary about the 1933 musical, 42nd Street.

42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage

2006

A Dream Comes True poster
6.3

A promotional short to hype the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935).

A Dream Comes True

1935

The Western: A Lost TV Special poster
NR

A 1958 TV special celebrating westerns featuring John Wayne, John Ford, Gary Cooper, Gene Autry, Gabby Hayes and more.

The Western: A Lost TV Special

1958

Okay for Sound poster
6.7

This short was released in connection with the 20th anniversary of Warner Brothers' first exhibition of the Vitaphone sound-on-film process on 6 August 1926. The film highlights Thomas A. Edison and Alexander Graham Bell's efforts that contributed to sound movies and acknowledges the work of Lee De Forest. Brief excerpts from the August 1926 exhibition follow. Clips are then shown from a number of Warner Brothers features, four from the 1920s, the remainder from 1946/47.

Okay for Sound

1946

Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul poster
6.7

An insider's account of Jack Warner, a founding father of the American film industry. This feature length documentary provides the rags to riches story of the man whose studio - Warner Bros - created many of Hollywood's most classic films. Includes extensive interviews with family members and friends, film clips, rare home movies and unique location footage.

Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul

1993

A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green' poster
6.5

This promotional short film for "Soylent Green" (1973) begins by showing clips of films that depicted what the future might be like beyond Earth. The narrator then discusses the origin of the idea depicted in "Soylent Green." Director Richard Fleischer and star Charlton Heston discuss how an upcoming crowd scene will be filmed. Then we see what happens when the crowd riots because there is not enough food available to be distributed to everyone. "Soylent Green" was Edward G. Robinson's 101st (and, as it turned out, his last) feature film. During a break in filming, the cast and crew hold a ceremony celebrating the first film of his "second hundred," and Robinson makes appreciative remarks to the crowd. Studio head Jack L. Warner and friend George Burns are among those in attendance.

A Look at the World of 'Soylent Green'

1973

Open Your Eyes poster
5.3

A propagandistic melodrama recounting the dangers and horrors of venereal disease.

Open Your Eyes

1919

Behind the camera

The Adventures of Robin Hood poster
7.5

Robin Hood fights nobly for justice against the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne while striving to win the hand of the beautiful Maid Marian.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

1938

My Fair Lady poster
7.5

A snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.

My Fair Lady

1964

Arsenic and Old Lace poster
7.6

Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!

Arsenic and Old Lace

1944

Gold Diggers of 1933 poster
7.2

When all Broadway shows are shut down during the Depression, a trio of desperate showgirls scheme to bilk a repugnant high society man of his money to keep their show going.

Gold Diggers of 1933

1933

Battle Cry poster
5.8

The dramatic story of US Marines in training, in combat, and in love, during World War II. The story centers on a major who guides the raw recruits from their training to combat.

Battle Cry

1955

No Time for Comedy poster
5.3

An aspiring playwright finds himself an overnight Broadway success.

No Time for Comedy

1940

Housewife poster
7.3

Nan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of business, he finally gets a client. Former girlfriend Patricia Berkeley writes a very successful commercial for the client and neats up their old romance. Wife and girlfriend struggle over Bill.

Housewife

1934

Santa Fe Trail poster
5.8

As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.

Santa Fe Trail

1940

Camelot poster
6.2

The plot of his illegitimate son Mordred to gain the throne, and Guinevere's growing attachment to Sir Lancelot, threatens to topple King Arthur and destroy his "round table" of knights.

Camelot

1967

1776 poster
6.9

Colonial representatives gather in Philadelphia with the aim of establishing a set of governmental rules for the burgeoning United States. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams charge Thomas Jefferson with the task of writing a statement announcing the new country's emancipation from British rule.

1776

1972

Disraeli poster
5.2

Prime Minister of Great Britain Benjamin Disraeli outwits the subterfuge of the Russians and chicanery at home in order to secure the purchase of the Suez Canal.

Disraeli

1929

The Man Who Came to Dinner poster
7.0

An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in indefinitely with a Midwestern family.

The Man Who Came to Dinner

1941

Dirty Little Billy poster
5.0

Clearly influenced by the darker, more sinister style of spaghetti westerns, Dirty Little Billy offers a unique insight into the beginnings of the notorious outlaw Billy The Kid.

Dirty Little Billy

1972

Nora Prentiss poster
6.2

Quiet, organised Dr. Talbot meets nightclub singer Nora Prentiss when she is slightly hurt in a street accident. Despite her misgivings, they become heavily involved, and Talbot finds himself faced with the choice of leaving Nora or divorcing his wife. When a patient expires in his office, a third option seems to present itself.

Nora Prentiss

1947

The Working Man poster
6.5

A successful shoe manufacturer named John Reeves goes on vacation and meets the grown children of his recently deceased and much-respected competitor; they're on the verge of losing the family legacy through their careless behavior. Reeves takes it upon himself to save his rival's company by teaching the heirs a lesson in business.

The Working Man

1933

Winning Your Wings poster
6.0

Winning Your Wings is a 1942 short American World War II recruitment film produced by Warner Bros. Studios for the US Army Air Forces, starring Jimmy Stewart. It was aimed at young men who were thinking about joining the Air Force.

Winning Your Wings

1942

The Shining Future poster
4.0

Documentary short film intended to drum up support for the Fifth War Loan Campaign. It shows a happy family in the future of 1960 enjoying the prosperity and advantages made possible by the successful prosecution of the war, and how the sacrifices of 1944 have made the world a better place.

The Shining Future

1944

This Is the Army poster
5.7

In WW I dancer Jerry Jones stages an all-soldier show on Broadway, called Yip Yip Yaphank. Wounded in the War, he becomes a producer. In WW II his son Johnny Jones, who was before his fathers assistant, gets the order to stage a knew all-soldier show, called THIS IS THE ARMY. But in his pesonal life he has problems, because he refuses to marry his fiancée until the war is over.

This Is the Army

1943

So Big! poster
5.8

A farmer's widow takes on the land and her late husband's tempestuous son.

So Big!

1932

Outward Bound poster
6.0

A group of strangers find themselves aboard an unmanned ship, surrounded by fog and uncertain of their destination. As they attempt to make sense of their situation, the group of passengers discover a commonality that changes their perception of the nature of their journey. The film was later remade, with some changes, as Between Two Worlds (1944).

Outward Bound

1930

The Gay Old Bird poster
8.0

A maid is forced to take the place of the lady of the house when she is temporarily incapacitated.

The Gay Old Bird

1927

Wolf's Clothing poster
10.0

Barry Baline, a guard at a subway station, has worked at his job for six years without a day off. One New Year's Eve he's told that he won't be needed until the next morning, so he decides to go out for a night on the town. As it turns out, however, his "celebrating" is short-lived--he is knocked down by a large, luxurious car driven by a man wearing expensive evening clothes. Complications ensue.

Wolf's Clothing

1927

The Littlest Diplomat poster
4.4

Young Sybil visits her grandfather, a British Colonel stationed at a garrison in India, and she helps negotiate a diplomatic truce between him and the local natives.

The Littlest Diplomat

1937

About Time poster
10.0

An entry in the Bell Science animated film series, on the nature of time.

About Time

1962