Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. is a major American entertainment company. It creates, produces, and distributes motion pictures, television programs, and other products for entertainment. Warner Bros. began as a motion-picture studio in the early 1900’s. It was founded in 1923 by the brothers Jack, Sam, Harry, and Albert Warner. Over the years, Warner Bros. expanded beyond the motion-picture industry.
In 1925, Warner Bros. formed Vitagraph Studios to produce sound films. In 1926, Warner Bros. introduced Vitaphone, a synchronized recorded soundtrack system, with the release of the silent picture Don Juan, starring the studio’s top star John Barrymore. The movie featured a synchronized musical soundtrack. In 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson. It featured synchronized song and dance numbers and dialogue. In 1928, all 10 “talkies” were made by Warner Bros. Within two years of the release of The Jazz Singer, “talkies” replaced silent movies.
In the early sound era, Warner Bros. distributed the classic gangster pictures Little Caesar, starring Edward G. Robinson, and The Public Enemy, starring James Cagney (both 1931); and the social protest picture I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), starring Paul Muni. The studio also produced a number of musicals in the 1930’s. Many of these, such as 42nd Street (1933), were known for their extravagant dance sequences choreographed by Busby Berkeley.
Warner Bros. also operated the industry’s leading animation unit during the 1930’s and 1940’s. Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and Bob Clampett produced cartoons featuring such popular characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. One of the studio’s biggest stars during the 1940’s was Humphrey Bogart, who appeared in such film noir classics as The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca(1942), To Have and Have Not (1944), and The Big Sleep (1946).
Successful Warner Bros. releases of the 1950’s and 1960’s included A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), based on the play by Tennessee Williams; the musicals The Music Man (1962) and My Fair Lady(1964); the controversial modern drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966); the realistic crime film Bonnie and Clyde (1967); and the ultraviolent Western The Wild Bunch (1969).
Popular films released by Warner Bros. since the 1970’s include the “Superman” series of films, which began in 1978; the “Batman” series, which began in 1989; and the “Harry Potter” series (2001-2011).
In 1967, the Warners sold the studio to Seven Arts, a Canadian production company. Over the years, control and ownership of Warner Bros. have changed a number of times. Today, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. is controlled by the company Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
