Warner Bros: The Making of an American Movie Studio (Jewish Lives)

Readers looking for a tell-all or expose' will be disappointed. This story is written by a film-critic and -historian. It reads as if it could be used as a supplemental text in a film-history course (and it probably is, somewhere). If this is the sort of thing you seek, you'll love it.BUT! Also note the title: it is *Warner Bros*, not *Warner Brothers*. The former is the name of the studio, the latter (minus one capital letter) would apply to the brothers themselves. As such, the family story is there as a backdrop, not as the story itself. Engaging and fascinating in what it seeks to be, the book sketches a brief history of the studio with most of the key figures you expect: Flynn, Bogart, Davis, and even Blondell.On the minus side, if there is one, the focus is on the "pure" Warner years: the sale of the studio in 1967 to Seven Arts is covered in little more than a sentence. The branching into television rates almost half a page (was Clint Walker *really* "the man who saved a studio?" Look on IMDB and see for yourself). No... This book is about Warner Bros in its glory days, and little else. On that level it succeeds quite well. I would love to have read more... Because I *still* hear in my "mind's ear" anytime I want: "From the entertainment capital of the world, produced for television by *Warner Brothers*..."Within the boundaries the author set for himself and his work, this book is highly recommended. Expose'-seekers will be disappointed.

David Thompson knows how to write. He has written a very entertaining book about four Jewish immigrant brothers from Youngstown, Ohio who make it in Hollywood and America. The book is a fitting edition to Yale’s Jewish Lives series, despite it being a biography of a movie studio rather than an individual.As with most of the early movie studios Warner Brothers evolves from operating theaters to running a major studio in Hollywood. Along the way we witness the sibling rivalry among the bothers mostly pitting the oldest, Harry against the youngest, Jack. Harry stays true to his religion and his wife, not so much for Jack. Ultimately Jack wins and sells the company out from the other brothers in the 1950s and then buys it back to become its sole owner. Harry dies of a stroke shortly thereafter.The real guts of the book is how Warner’s evolved from making Rin Tin Tin movies in the early 1920s, to pioneering sound with Al Jolson’s “Jazz Singer.” From there we go on to the realistic gangster movies that brought us such stars as Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney. Warner’s also brings us the great Busby Berkeley song and dance spectaculars. In “Gold Diggers of 1933” Joan Blondell sings one of the two great anthems of the 1930’s, “My Forgotten Man.” The other anthem was “Brother Can You Spare a Dime.” So if you add to the gangster movies, “Gold Diggers”, “I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang,” and “Petrified Forest” you get a real flavor of America in the 1930s. Because this is in the Jewish Lives series Thompson highlights the rolls of such Jewish actors as Edward G. Robinson, Paul Muni, Peter Lorre and Lauren Bacall.Of course no book on Warner Brothers would be complete without a full discussion of “Casablanca,” the best movie ever made that starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and was directed by the Hungarian Jew Michael Curtiz. In a few short pages he takes us into the inside of making that movie.There is much more in book with vignettes on Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, HowardHawkes and Joan Crawford. My one minor quibble with the book is that Thompson throws in a few gratuitous comments about Donald Trump. Nevertheless it is a very enjoyable read.

Film and film business enthusiasts will find much of interest here, and an intriguing case is made for the outsized influence a single studio had in both capturing and shaping the culture and aspirations of America during much of the 1900's. But the writing style is reader-unfriendly and there is an over abundance of material that is really off the topic and extraneous to the "making of the studio." The author is clearly knowledgeable on his subject, but single paragraphs or passages often meander and careen uncomfortably from an unnecessarily detailed movie plot synopsis, to an historical fact, to his personal review/criticism; and then from out of this potpourri occasionally emerges a sweeping, sociological generalization. Not an "easy read" by any means, unfortunately.

It's interesting to read, but a bit heavy on the Jewish history rather than the film history. Still, it was published as part of the Jewish history in U.S., so should be no surprise. The gossippy parts of it were enjoyable. I bought this book based on the review in the Wall Street Journal. The review was better written than this book.

Excellent history and review of motion pictures in the United States with an obvious emphasis on the Warner Brothers. He occasionally touches upon the Jewish/European roots of the brothers and how this may have affected their mindsets in certain settings. Although this book is part of the Jewish Life series published by Yale University Press, it is a wonderful history of movies in America.

I was expecting more of an in-depth history and semi-biography of the brothers Warner and their studio. The book is more a thematic review of particular parts of the studio oeuvre. For example, a chapter that focuses on Bette Davis primarily is a critical assessment of her work at Warners. The book is highly readable, and I did learn a few things I did not know beforehand, but I would have preferred a different approach.

I got a copy as a gift then found that the pages on the right hand edge were rough cut and 7neven so returned it. I got another copy very quickly and found the same fault so returned it again. Returns easy but clearly books not looked at by printer before sending out or checked by Amazon. Plan to buy elsewhere. Book looks interesting but quality of production poor.

good value

Most enjoyable

Arrived on time, son likes the book

Shocking finish for a hardback book. Or even a phone book. How it left the production line I do not know...