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The Warner Brothers, like many other movie moguls, started out with the one reeler, The Great Train Robbery and the Edison Kinetoscope. The four brothers Harry, Sam, Jack, and Albert progressed on the run of success, and started to produce their own films in an abandoned foundry in St. Louis. By 1919, after the First World War, they built their own studio, the Warner Brothers West Coast Studio which the four brothers had their own input in. Harry was the great businessman, Albert the treasurer, whilst Sam and Jack involved themselves in the artistic side. With the 1920's, the Big Five Studios securely in place, and the development of the star system, Warner Brothers were beginning to struggle. They were heavily in debt, and something was needed to rescue them. When Sam discovered sound perhaps things were to change. During the period of the 1920's many people in Hollywood had tried to create a sychronised sound machine. The Edison Kinetoscope was one of the earliest. Harry saw a sound demonstration using this machine in about 1905, and it was a feeble effort. Then in 1921 D. W. Griffith invited Harry to another sound experience, in the movie Dream Street. Many were trying sound but so far it was a costly venture and not a successful one. The inventor, Lee De Forest, was inventing a sychronised mechanism where the sound was recorded directly onto the narrow margin of film near the sprocket holes. This was well sychronised but had a flaw, if the film got scratched then the sound made static noises. Harry and Hollywood were both cautious, as so many other inventors were unsuccessful in creating a sychronised and clear sound demonstration. Harry said at the time, "All the major motion picture concerns have dismissed sound as foolish." (1) Hollywood also faced the problem that with silent movies their films could go out worldwide. With sound they could only be seen by the English speaking population, figures from Hollywood Be Thy Name, show only five percent of the world spoke English. Hollywood said this would deprive ninety-five percent of a potential audience. Though with hindsight this was not a problem, as with the opening of The Jazz Singer, only a small number of theatres were fitted with sound, however people still went to see it as they were so excited, still watching it as a silent movie. Hollywood, including the Warner Brothers, were cautious about sound as it would be a very costly venture, and the sound demonstrations of the early 1920's were not showing favourable results. Why the Warner Brothers changed their minds about sound, and what made them reconsider, was the man Sam Warner. Major Nathan Levinson, a representative of Western Electric and Bell Telephone Laboratories, invited Sam to a sound demonstration. Nathan Levinson had helped Warner Brothers with their radio station a year before. The sound machine that had been invented at Bell Laboratories was a sound-on-disc mechanism. It worked by recording onto a 16 inch, 33 1/3 revolution-per-minute wax disc, which played from the centre out. Then, for synchronisation with the film, this was linked by a series of gears to the projector. Sam was impressed by the demonstration he saw even though it was just a man saying "Ch-ch-cheese c-c-crisps". However, the clarity and the synchronisation were better than anything, which had been tried by either Edison or Lee De Forest. Sam now faced the problem of convincing Harry, whose feelings about sound were clear. He hoaxed him to the Bell labs and Harry was impressed by the demonstration and agreed to work alongside Western Electric and Bell Laboratories to create sound in the movies. Harry was still cautious about talkies and only agreed to make musicals. Harry said we would use sound "...only as musical accompaniment" and added "We could ultimately develop sound to the point where people ask for talking pictures"(2). The brothers met, signed the deal, and decided to name the sound-on-disc mechanism Vitaphone, which meant, "living voice". The brothers set to work on making a musical, Sam was put to work on making sound pictures, whilst Jack remained developing silent movies with the help of Zanuck. Harry looked for funding for the Warner Brothers new venture. The first film Warner Brothers make with the development of musical incorporated in the film was Don Juan. There was a great deal of effort put into making the sound perfect. As soon as the deal was signed with Western Electric and Bell, Sam set out to equip the studios for sound. This caused him many problems as the sound from outside could be heard, and as a result they hung rugs on the walls to block out the noise. They could also hear the camera noise on the recording, so this meant they had to enclose the cameras and the cameramen in a cubicle. This was agonising for the cameramen as the cubicle got incredibly hot. Noise from the crew was heard, therefore they had to remain completely silent, and Sam made them walk around with nothing on their feet. However in the Brooklyn Studios there was one major problem, and this eventually forced them to move. The underground ran under the studio, and every few minutes there was a rumble. The Warner Brothers solution; they moved to the Manhattan Opera House, and began recording. This still did not rule out all the background noise on the recording, so Sam was forced to hire a technician. This final noise was the lights, so production was further delayed whilst new high-powered incandescent lights were manufactured, which were much quieter. Recording and filming was agonising for the crew and Sam Warner. Sam and the crew made a number of one reeler short which were to be used in-between silent films. Then, Sam encouraged Harry to let him make a feature film; this was to be Don Juan. The film Don Juan opened at the Warner Theatre on Broadway New York on August 6th 1926. The theatre was sold out, the film had a number of Vitaphone shorts to start and an introduction by Will Hays the President of the MPPDA. Other movie moguls attended the premiere, Nick Schenck, Adolph Zukor, William Fox, and Lewis Selznick. In Hollywood Be Thy Name, the movie moguls were said to believe that they were going to see a crackpot idea that would break Warner Brothers. Will Hays and his 'shadow speech' opened the premiere, the film was received well by the audience and everything had gone well for the Brothers. With the success of Don Juan the Warner Brothers started searching for a new feature film that would perhaps have taken sound that one step further. Harry was still cautious and easing the audience into liking sound. As Jack Warner says in his biography, there was a successful play on in Manhattan called The Jazz Singer, the original story by Samson Raphaelson. The story was about a Cantors son, who leaves the ghetto for Broadway, returning on the Day of Atonement, when his Father is dying, the play ends with him singing in the synagogue. Harry bought the rights of the play for $50,000, and the actor George Jessel to play the lead in the feature movie for $30,000. Many historians to the lives of the Warner Brothers, especially Sam, have compared the play's story. Leaving their parents to find the big wide world, when Sam married Lina Basquette, the brothers tried to act as typical Americans, and not Jewish immigrants. The making of The Jazz Singer was as tiring and as agonising as Don Juan. When George Jessel found out that Vitaphone was involved he demanded more money, and the story of how he lost the part, has been told in may different ways. Not just by secondary sources, but Jessel and Jack Warner also depict the event differently, all that we need to know is Jessel lost the part. Jack screen tested an actor who was filming for Warner. Although he decided he was a good actor, Jack discovered he could not sing. Then Jack decided to approach Eddie Cantor, who refused the part, "Because there's only one man in the world who can do it and that's Jessel"(3). With the refusal of Eddie Cantor, Jack decided to approach Al Jolson. He sent a New York Executive, to ask Jolson how much he wanted to be in The Jazz Singer. Al Jolson asked for $75,000 for the part, it was agreed, and when the contract was signed Warner Brothers agreed to pay him one third in cash, and the rest at $6,250 a week until the full amount was paid. Al Jolson was more expensive than Jessel, but perhaps Jack thought he was worth it, and in the end it paid off for Warner Brothers. The film was set, and as production progressed Sam discovered that Jolson's acting was not of a high standard, but hoped his charisma would shine through. The hard work and long hours causing Sam to suffer serious sinus headaches and his health began to deteriorate during the filming of The Jazz Singer. The Warner Brothers intended The Jazz Singer to be purely a musical, and it was only by chance that this changed, "The Jazz Singer qualified as a talking picture only because of a freak accident"(4). During recording Al Jolson, a theatre actor, broke out with the words, "You ain't heard nothin' yet, folks listen to this...", just like he would have done on the stage. Therefore the feature film The Jazz Singer became the first motion picture to have talking sound. With this Sam decided to keep the lines, and another talking part was written to go between the choruses of 'Blue Skies', a conversation between the Cantor and his Mother. The premiere was again to be in New York, and was set for October 6th 1927. This was probably the most important day of their lives. Due to the death of Sam from a cerebral hemorrhage, only twenty four hours before, none of the brothers could be present. The filming of The Jazz Singer had made Sam terribly ill, and he was taken to hospital, where the doctors operated twice, but were unable to save him. He was never to see the success of all his efforts, and the glorious reception it received by the American public. The film was a huge success, and the Warner Brothers continued from strength to strength in the next few years. The development of sound at Warner Brothers came at a very bad time for them. Sam knew the company was heavily in debt, and the banks were on their back. Even from their early years at the time of Nickelodeons, the four brothers had invested huge amounts of money. This caused them, at times, to be on the verge of bankruptcy. The Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank and their vice-president Flint were heavy investors in Warner Brothers. Sam was aware of the bad timing for Warner Brothers, which made it harder for him to convince Harry that sound was a viable option. In the mid 1920's, when Warner Brothers were closing the Vitagraph deal, loans had to be paid back, and the banks were making demands on Harry. The Brothers could invest into sound it could not pay off, or it could recover them from this situation they found themselves in, during the 1920's. Their first musical Don Juan cost Warner Brothers a huge amount, the Vitaphone shorts that opened the premiere put up the cost. They hired the New York Philharmonic Orchestra figures from Hollywood Be Thy Name which cost $110,000. With no other studios interested in sound, and only two Warner Theatres equipped, it was very hard for Warner to make a profit from the film. Because of the caution expressed by Hollywood, and the amount it cost to equip a theatre, figures from Hollywood Be Thy Name showed that to install speakers and projection it would cost between $16,000 and $25,000. In 1926 when Don Juan premiered the studio was in deep financial trouble. Hirschhorn in 1979 stated Warner Brothers showed a loss of $279,096 in 1926. Even the Brothers were unsure whether they would survive financially, as by 1927 they were still not running at a profit. Though they still invested heavily into The Jazz Singer, with Jolson's fee of $75,000, the film cost them $500.000. The Warner Brothers perhaps foolishly borrowed more money to buy Movietone, they were the Brothers only competition and buying it from Fox meant self preservation. The Brothers heavily invested into The Jazz Singer but it paid off. Figures from The Warner Brothers Story show that in 1928 The Jazz Singer made a net profit of $3,000,000. Warner Brothers continued as they had done before and began to borrow again, this time $100,000,000 to buy the Stanley Corporation of America, which were the largest theatre chain. This did ensure that Warner Brothers had nationwide production, enabled them to wire more theatres for sound. In favour of Warner Brothers, one has to spend to accumulate. Sound was not recognised by Hollywood, and no other studio was heavily investing. After The Jazz Singer Jolson and Warner Brothers made The Singing Fool, which was the biggest box-office money-spinner until Gone with the Wind was produced in 1939. So, with the Brothers seeing success from sound, figures from The Warner Brothers Story show that in 1929 their net profit was $7,271,805, an improvement on the previous years. The years of investment from Warner into sound and the efforts from Sam Warner were finally paying off. The Warner's continued their success until the mid 1940's, when in 1944 the studio was not nominated for an Oscar in Best Film for the first time. Sound does seem to be the miracle that made Warner Brothers, propelling them into the big league. Financially in the mid 1920's the studio was heavily in debt, and continued to borrow on the hope that Vitaphone would be a success. The feature The Jazz Singer made Warner Brothers a major studio, although it has to be remembered that this was just coincidence. Therefore, many historians have discussed whether it was sound that rescued Warner, Al Jolson, or perhaps even Sam Warner. The film was not one of outstanding quality, and has been heavily criticised by its critics, even though it revolutionised sound. The studio earned their success, they worked hard for the eventual reward, and as A. P. Waxman said, "Warner Brothers are successful because they earned their success. That is the whole story."(5) Sound helped Warner Brothers, they were right to invest into the idea and the new technology, when others in Hollywood held back. The success of The Jazz Singer not only secured Warner in Hollywood, but was revolutionary in the film industry. It was a turning point and things began to change. The rest of Hollywood followed in Warner Brothers success, by 1928 other companies began to produce talkies, and movie theatres were wired for sound. Warner Brothers changed the shape of the industry, and developed themselves into a major studio. "Warner Brothers flourished with their unexpected windfall and blossomed into one of the most powerful producing companies in Hollywood."(6) Warner Brothers continued their success. However, they were badly hit economically in the late 1920's along with the rest of Hollywood. Sound was a saviour for Warner Brothers, even after the loss of their brother, they had finally made it. Sam would have been proud of their achievements, and the revolution that changed Hollywood forever. FOOTNOTES 1) C. Warner Sperling, C. Millner, J. Warner Jr. - Hollywood Be Thy Name - page 92 2) C. Warner Sperling, C. Millner, J. Warner Jr. - Hollywood Be Thy Name - page 95 3) J. Warner - My First Hundred Years in Hollywood - page 176 4) J. Warner - My First Hundred Years in Hollywood - page177 5) T. Sennett - Warner Brothers Presents - page 26 6) R. Oberfirst - Al-Jolson: You Ain't Heard Nothin Yet - page 201 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1) G. Fernett - American Film Studios: An Historical Encyclopedia - McFarland and Company, Inc - 1998 2) M. Freedland - The Warner Brothers - Harrap London - 1983 3) C. Hirschhorn - The Warner Bros Story - Octopus Books - 1979 4) L. Mulvey - The Innovators 1920-1930 Now You Has Jazz - Sight and Sound - Volume 9 - Issue Number 5 - May 1999 5) R. Oberfirst - Al-Jolson: You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet! - A. S. Barnes and Co., Inc - 1980 6) R. Pickard - The Hollywood Studios - Frederick Muller Ltd. - 1978 7) T. Sennett - Warner Brothers Presents the Most Exciting Years - from The Jazz Singer to White Heat - Arlington House - 1971 8) J. Warner - My First Hundred Years in Hollywood - Random House - 1964 9) C. Warner Sperling, C. Millner, J. Warner Jr. - Hollywood Be Thy Name - The Warner Brothers Story - Prima Publishing - 1994 10) C. Wolfe - Vitaphone Shorts and The Jazz Singer - Wide Angle - Volume 12 - Issue Number 3 - July 1990 |
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