Warner Brothers

Warner Brothers (b. Eichelbaums) movie executives; Harry (Morris) (1881–1958), born in Krasnashiltz, Poland; Albert (1884–1967), born in Baltimore, Md.; Samuel (1887–1927), born in Baltimore, Md.; Jack (Leonard) (1892–1978), born in London, Ontario, Canada. The parents immigrated to the U.S.A. in the mid-1880s. By 1903 the brothers and a sister had a nickelodeon in Newcastle, Pa., and then expanded into a movie distribution company; they moved into production with Perils of the Plains (1910) and in 1919 formed their own Hollywood production company, Warner Brothers Pictures (incorporated in 1923). Their firm grew slowly, but their gamble on the first sound feature movie with synchronized songs and dialogue, The Jazz Singer (1927), launched them as a major studio. Although Warner Brothers movies often had a relatively austere look, as the brothers were not especially noted for either financial extravagance or high style, they would produce some of the classic American films. During the 1930s the studio specialized in gangster films, musicals, and historical biographies; by the 1940s they were strong in adventure movies, melodramas, and mystery dramas. In the 1950s the company suffered from the loss of their theater chain (due to government action) and the growth of television, and by 1969 the surviving brother, Jack, had lost control.