David Zaslav went office-furniture shopping when he moved into the executive building on the Warner Bros. lot last year. The new CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery had Jack L. Warner’s large dark-wood d…
went office-furniture shopping when he moved into the executive building on the Warner Bros. lot last year. The new CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery had Jack L. Warner’s large dark-wood desk pulled out of storage for his use. He also found a leather legal pad holder once clutched by another of his predecessors at the storied studio: Steven J. Ross.
But the 12,500 movies and 2,400 TV programs in the vault aren’t the only elements of the past guiding Warner Bros.’ future. From its earliest days, the studio built by four brothers who ran nickelodeons and silent movie theaters in Pennsylvania and Ohio has had a distinct profile to its storytelling and an ethos on how to wield its influence. Where MGM offered lavish escap- ism, flowing gowns and tuxedos, Warner Bros.
The brothers had a lot of experience by the time they raised the iconic WB shield logo on the West Coast as Warner Bros. Pictures. The foursome had been active in the “amusements” business and distribution of silent features and shorts since the late 1900s. They moved into producing their own movies soon after. The efforts of the brothers Warner began to gain traction — and notice in the pages of— around 1917 and ’18 with silents such as “Are Passions Inherited?” and “My Four Years in Germany.
“The family had two extraordinary visionaries in Sam and Harry,” says Cass Warner, who is Harry’s granddaughter. “They saw the potential of putting movies together with music and sound.” Harry Warner in particular was deeply patriotic, idealistic and observant of his Jewish faith. At his direction, the studio produced issue-oriented movies such as “The Black Legion,” which took on the Ku Klux Klan, and historical dramas such as 1937’s “The Life of Emile Zola,” which bagged WB’s first best picture Oscar. “Confessions of a Nazi Spy” in 1939 was one of Hollywood’s first efforts to address the rising tide of fascism in Germany. Around that time, Warner Bros.
Cass Warner has high praise for Zaslav and his team, who connected with her early on after clos- ing the deal with AT&T to acquire WarnerMedia in April 2022.
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