JACK WARNER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Jack Warner was a Canadian American film executive, with a career that spanned forty five years – a duration surpassing any other Hollywood studio mogul. He was president, founder (along with brothers Harry, Albert, and Sam), and driving force of the major film studio Warner Brothers Pictures.
He was born Jacob Warner on August 2, 1892 in London, Ontario to a family of Jewish immigrants from Poland. The family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio in 1896, where he spent most of his youth. It was here that the Warner brothers took their first steps into the entertainment industry. After Sam took a job as a projectionist at a local amusement park, he convinced the family to buy a Model B Kinetoscope. The brothers screened a well used copy of “The Great Train Robbery” (1903) throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania before purchasing a small theater in New Castle, Pennsylvania. They called it the Cascade Movie Palace and maintained it until 1907, when they went into film distribution. In that year the Warner brothers formed the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement Company, which proved profitable until Thomas Edison’s Motion Pictures Patent Company (also referred to as the Edison Trust) was invented, which charged distributors exorbitant fees. They sold their company to General Film Company in 1909, earning a total of $52,000.
In 1910 the brothers combined their resources and went into film production. In 1912 they lent support to independent filmmaker Carl Laemmle’s Independent Motion Picture Company, which opposed the control of the Edison Trust. The same year, Jack found a job in New York as a film splicer and helped brother Sam produce the film “Dante’s Inferno” (1912). Although the film was successful, Harry was concerned about the economic threats that the Edison’s Trust posed, and subsequently broke apart from Laemmle. He then sent Jack off to San Francisco to open a film exchange. In 1916 Jack married his first wife, Irma Solomon, with whom he had one child. A year later, he established another film exchange company in Los Angeles.
In 1918 the brothers purchased the film rights for the bestelling novel that condemned German wartime atrocities, titled “My Four Years in Germany”. The film was a commercial and critical success, enabling the brothers to set up a studio in California. Jack was assigned as co-head of production along with elder brother Sam, and together they began securing scripts and storylines, devising ways to reduce production costs, and managing production.
The popular serial “The Tiger’s Claw” (1919) trailed “My Four Years in Germany”. However, they were unsuccessful in promoting “Open Your Eyes” (1919), a propagandistic melodrama warning of the dangers of venereal disease. It also featured Jack in his only acting role. Between 1920 and 1922, the studio produced about six feature length films. In 1922 the company moved to a larger studio in Hollywood, officially becoming Warner Bros.
In 1923 they discovered German Shepherd Rin Tin Tin, who made his debut in “Where the North Begins”. He became the studio’s first star. Slowly they began building up their stock of actors and the output of features each year. By 1925 Warner Bros. was heading thirty motion pictures. Jack’s importance in the studio was also increasing throughout the 1920s, as his responsibilities grew and he started making decisions about who would work on what.
In 1925 the studio expanded by acquiring the Brookylyn-based theater company Vitagraph. As well, Warner Bros. signed an agreement with Western Electric to use the newly created Vitaphone technology, which allowed for sound to be added. The company released “Don Juan” in 1926 using the technology, but it didn’t fare well. In 1927 they put out “The Jazz Singer”, the first movie to feature sound that also contained dialogue. It was the most expensive picture they had released to date, but the innovation ended up changing the film industry and pushing Warner Bros. to the top of their competition.
Unfortunately, Sam died of pneumonia just before the premiere of the film, leaving Jack as the sole head of production. It also left him feeling inconsolable, as Sam was Jack’s favorite brother.
With the success of “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson, the company was able to obtain a better studio and bigger stars. While Hollywood’s five major studios tried to prevent the spread of talkies, Warner Bros. faced the opposition head on, producing twelve talking pictures in 1928 alone. The next year, the newly formed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (which Jack was one of the thirty six founders of) recognized the studio for “revolutionizing the industry with sound”. However, despite its new financial prosperity, Jack kept a tight grip on Warner Bros. costs.
Therefore, the studio remained virtually unaffected by the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and produced a number of films ranging from musical, to comedy, to biopic. They were most well known for their social dramas though, whose production was typically supported by Jack. These included the gangster films “Little Caesar” (1931) starring Edward G. Robinson and “The Public Enemy” (1931) starring James Cagney, as well as the controversial “I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang” (1932) starring Paul Muni. During this time, Jack also recruited a number of stars. They included big names such Edward G. Robinson, Paul Muni, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, and Errol Flynn.
In 1935, Jack left his first wife for another woman, Ann Page. They married a year later, and remained together until his death.
Into the 1940's, he tried increasing his power in the studio, as his involvement in production had greatly diminished, but was met with an increasing number of problems with his studio employees and film stars. He worked people far too hard, and expected too much out of them. He frequently clashed with actors, causing one to even flee the country once to secure release from her contract.
During World War II, Jack supported the war effort by joining the Army Air Force. Warner Bros. also contributed to the war effort. At the advice of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the studio produced a film adaptation of “Mission to Moscow” (1943) to increase public support for the military alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union. They produced additional wartime films, releasing more pictures about the war than any other studio.
In 1956, Jack, Harry, and Albert announced that they were going to put Warner Bros. on the market. However, Jack had secretly set up a syndicate that bought control of the company. He then anointed himself as studio president, causing his brothers to never talk to him again.
In 1958, shortly after Harry had died, Jack got in a serious car accident. He went into a coma for over a week, and took months to recover. He still managed, however, to keep pace with the changes in the industry and was highly involved in the production of Warner Bros.’ successes. In 1965 he won an Oscar for Best Picture for the film version of the hit Broadway musical “My Fair Lady” (1964).
In 1966, Jack sold his studio for $32 million to Seven Arts Productions, but retained his position as studio head until 1969. He remained active as an independent producer until the early 1960s, his final projects being the “Dirty Little Billy” (1972), an account of Billy the Kid’s life and career, and “1776” (1972), a film version of the Broadway musical comedy by the same name.
Jack Warner fell on a tennis court in 1974, leaving him injured for the remainder of his life. In 1977 and 1978 he suffered from strokes. On September 8, 1978 he passed away from edema in his Los Angeles home. For his achievements in the film industry he has acquired an Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy Awards, a Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Golden Globes, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is additionally honored on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto, which recognizes Canadian achievement in several fields.
Filmography
1972 Dirty Little Billy
1972 1776
1967 Camelot
1964 My Fair Lady
1963 PT 109
1962 About Time
1962 The John Glenn Story
1962 Red Nightmare
1960 The Thread of Life
1958 Gateways to the Mind
1955 Battle Cry
1954 A Star Is Born
1949 Beyond the Forest
1949 Night Unto Night
1948 Silver River
1948 June Bride
1948 The Woman in White
1948 Winter Meeting
1948 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948 The Friendship Train
1947 My Wild Irish Rose
1947 Escape Me Never
1947 That Hagen Girl
1947 Dark Passage
1947 Life with Father
1947 Deep Valley
1947 Possessed
1947 Cry Wolf
1947 The Unfaithful
1947 Stallion Road
1947 Nora Prentiss
1947 The Man I Love
1947 The Two Mrs. Carrolls
1946 The Verdict
1946 Never Say Goodbye
1946 Three Strangers
1946 The Time, the Place and the Girl
1946 Humoresque
1946 The Beast with Five Fingers
1946 Nobody Lives Forever
1946 Deception
1946 Shadow of a Woman
1946 The Big Sleep
1946 A Stolen Life
1946 Of Human Bondage
1946 Night and Day
1946 One More Tomorrow
1946 Devotion
1946 My Reputation
1945 Pride of the Marines
1945 San Antonio
1945 Saratoga Trunk
1945 Danger Signal
1945 Confidential Agent
1945 Mildred Pierce
1945 Christmas in Connecticut
1945 Conflict
1945 Pillow to Post
1945 Escape in the Desert
1945 The Horn Blows at Midnight
1945 The Corn Is Green
1945 Hotel Berlin
1945 Roughly Speaking
1945 Objective, Burma!
1944 Hollywood Canteen
1944 The Conspirators
1944 To Have and Have Not
1944 Arsenic and Old Lace
1944 Make Your Own Bed
1944 Mr. Skeffington
1944 Between Two Worlds
1944 Road to Victory
1944 The Adventures of Mark Twain
1944 Shine on Harvest Moon
1944 Passage to Marseille
1944 I Am an American
1944 The Shining Future
1944 The Mask of Dimitrios
1944 Uncertain Glory
1944 In Our Time
1943 Destination Tokyo
1943 Old Acquaintance
1943 Murder on the Waterfront
1943 Watch on the Rhine
1943 This Is the Army
1943 Background to Danger
1943 The Constant Nymph
1943 Action in the North Atlantic
1943 Mission to Moscow
1943 Edge of Darkness
1943 Air Force
1943 The United States Service Bands
1943 Northern Pursuit
1943 Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943 The Hard Way
1942 Casablanca
1942 Yankee Doodle Dandy
1942 Winning Your Wings
1942 Murder in the Big House
1942 The Man Who Came to Dinner
1941 Law of the Tropics
1941 High Sierra
1941 Honeymoon for Three
1941 Four Mothers
1941 Bad Men of Missouri
1941 Underground
1941 The Sea Wolf
1940 Santa Fe Trail
1940 The Letter
1940 South of Suez
1940 A Dispatch from Reuter's
1940 Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940 Knute Rockne All American
1940 City for Conquest
1940 Money and the Woman
1940 Ladies Must Live
1940 They Drive by Night
1940 My Love Came Back
1940 All This, and Heaven Too
1940 The Sea Hawk
1940 The Man Who Talked Too Much
1940 Brother Orchid
1940 Flight Angels
1940 Torrid Zone
1940 Saturday's Children
1940 An Angel from Texas
1940 'Til We Meet Again
1940 Virginia City
1940 Three Cheers for the Irish
1940 Castle on the Hudson
1940 Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet
1940 The Fighting 69th
1940 Brother Rat and a Baby
1940 Lady with Red Hair
1940 Always a Bride
1940 East of the River
1940 No Time for Comedy
1940 Flowing Gold
1940 River's End
1940 Gambling on the High Seas
1940 A Fugitive from Justice
1940 Murder in the Air
1940 Tear Gas Squad
1940 King of the Lumberjacks
1940 It All Came True
1940 Granny Get Your Gun
1940 British Intelligence
1939 Private Detective
1939 The Return of Doctor X
1939 Kid Nightingale
1939 Dead End Kids at Military School
1939 Smashing the Money Ring
1939 No Place to Go
1939 Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
1939 Everybody's Hobby
1939 The Angels Wash Their Faces
1939 Torchy Blane.. Playing with Dynamite
1939 The Cowboy Quarterback
1939 Waterfront
1939 Indianapolis Speedway
1939 Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter
1939 Code of the Secret Service
1939 Sweepstakes Winner
1939 Torchy Runs for Mayor
1939 Confessions of a Nazi Spy
1939 Women in the Wind
1939 The Man Who Dared
1939 You Can't Get Away with Murder
1939 The Adventures of Jane Arden
1939 Secret Service of the Air
1939 The Oklahoma Kid
1939 Blackwell's Island
1939 Nancy Drew... Reporter
1939 Wings of the Navy
1939 Torchy Blane in Chinatown
1939 Invisible Stripes
1939 Four Wives
1939 A Child Is Born
1939 We Are Not Alone
1939 The Roaring Twenties
1939 On Your Toes
1939 Essex and Elizabeth
1939 Espionage Agent
1939 The Old Maid
1939 Each Dawn I Die
1939 Hell's Kitchen
1939 Daughters Courageous
1939 Naughty But Nice
1939 Juarez
1939 Dark Victory
1939 They Made Me a Criminal
1939 King of the Underworld
1938 Going Places
1938 The Dawn Patrol
1938 Heart of the North
1938 Comet Over Broadway
1938 Angels with Dirty Faces
1938 Torchy Gets Her Man
1938 Hard to Get
1938 Brother Rat
1938 Girls on Probation
1938 The Sisters
1938 Broadway Musketeers
1938 Garden of the Moon
1938 Secrets of an Actress
1938 Boy Meets Girl
1938 Four's a Crowd
1938 Penrod's Double Trouble
1938 The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
1938 Racket Busters
1938 Cowboy from Brooklyn
1938 My Bill
1938 Men Are Such Fools
1938 Mystery House
1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood
1938 Crime School
1938 The Beloved Brat
1938 Women Are Like That
1938 Torchy Blane in Panama
1938 Accidents Will Happen
1938 Over the Wall
1938 Fools for Scandal
1938 He Couldn't Say No
1938 A Slight Case of Murder
1938 Penrod and His Twin Brother
1938 Daredevil Drivers
1938 Gold Is Where You Find It
1938 Blondes at Work
1938 White Banners
1938 The Invisible Menace
1938 Swing Your Lady
1938 The Patient in Room 18
1938 Breakdowns of 1938
1938 Sergeant Murphy
1937 Marked Woman
1937 Tovarich
1937 Hollywood Hotel
1937 She Loved a Fireman
1937 Sh! The Octopus
1937 First Lady
1937 Submarine D-1
1937 The Adventurous Blonde
1937 West of Shanghai
1937 Love Is on the Air
1937 Back in Circulation
1937 That Certain Woman
1937 Prairie Thunder
1937 Wine, Women and Horses
1937 Varsity Show
1937 The Footloose Heiress
1937 Confession
1937 Dance Charlie Dance
1937 The Devil's Saddle Legion
1937 San Quentin
1937 Talent Scout
1937 The Life of Emile Zola
1937 They Won't Forget
1937 Marry the Girl
1937 Empty Holsters
1937 Public Wedding
1937 The Singing Marine
1937 Ever Since Eve
1937 Slim
1937 Fly Away Baby
1937 Another Dawn
1937 Kid Galahad
1937 The Go Getter
1937 Draegerman Courage
1937 The Cherokee Strip
1937 The Prince and the Pauper
1937 Melody for Two
1937 Mountain Justice
1937 Call It a Day
1937 That Man's Here Again
1937 Ready, Willing and Able
1937 Her Husband's Secretary
1937 The Great O'Malley
1937 Green Light
1937 Once a Doctor
1937 Black Legion
1937 God's Country and the Woman
1937 Guns of the Pecos
1937 Smart Blonde
1936 Gold Diggers of 1937
1936 Sing Me a Love Song
1936 King of Hockey
1936 Fugitive in the Sky
1936 Three Men on a Horse
1936 California Mail
1936 The Captain's Kid
1936 The Case of the Black Cat
1936 Here Comes Carter
1936 The Charge of the Light Brigade
1936 Cain and Mabel
1936 Give Me Your Heart
1936 Trailin' West
1936 Love Begins at Twenty
1936 The Case of the Velvet Claws
1936 China Clipper
1936 Jailbreak
1936 Anthony Adverse
1936 Bengal Tiger
1936 The Green Pastures
1936 Two Against the World
1936 The Big Noise
1936 Hearts Divided
1936 Murder by an Aristocrat
1936 Bullets or Ballots
1936 The Golden Arrow
1936 Sons o' Guns
1936 Times Square Playboy
1936 The Singing Kid
1936 Snowed Under
1936 Brides Are Like That
1936 Colleen
1936 Boulder Dam
1936 The Story of Louis Pasteur
1936 Ceiling Zero
1935 Dangerous
1935 Captain Blood
1935 Miss Pacific Fleet
1935 Stars Over Broadway
1935 A Midsummer Night's Dream
1935 'G' Men
1935 Black Fury
1935 The Florentine Dagger
1935 A Night at the Ritz
1935 Devil Dogs of the Air
1935 Bordertown
1934 The St. Louis Kid
1934 I Sell Anything
1934 Madame Du Barry
1934 Housewife
1934 The Man with Two Faces
1934 Here Comes the Navy
1934 Dr. Monica
1934 The Merry Frinks
1934 La buenaventura
1934 A Very Honorable Guy
1934 Upperworld
1934 Jimmy the Gent
1934 Dark Hazard
1934 Hi, Nellie!
1933 Gold Diggers of 1933
1933 The Working Man
1933 Parachute Jumper
1932 The Cabin in the Cotton
1932 So Big!
1932 The Man Who Played God
1930 Outward Bound
1929 Sonny Boy
1928 Five and Ten Cent Annie
1922 A Dangerous Adventure
1921 Cleaned and Dry
1920 The Lost City
1919 Open Your Eyes
1918 My Four Years in Germany
