Warner Bros. Inc.

Warner Bros. Inc.

U.S. film studio. Beginning in Pennsylvania as movie distributors and theatre owners in 1903, the four Warner brothers started producing their own films in 1913 and moved to Hollywood in 1917. They founded Warner Brothers Pictures Inc. in 1923, with Harry Warner (b. 1881—d. 1958) as president in New York, Albert Warner (b. 1884—d. 1967) as treasurer, and Sam Warner (b. 1888—d. 1927) and Jack Warner (b. 1892—d. 1978) as studio managers in Hollywood. In the mid 1920s they helped develop the important Vitaphone sound process. With the release of The Jazz Singer (1927), the first feature film with synchronized music and dialogue, the studio's success was assured. Warner Brothers went on to produce gangster films starring James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson, adventure movies with Errol Flynn, and mystery dramas with Humphrey Bogart. After his brothers retired, Jack became president (1956–72). See also AOL Time Warner Inc.