Their only bankable movie star was the four-legged hero Rin Tin Tin. But in April 1923, four visionary brothers from Youngstown, Ohio officially incorporated their new motion picture company, which would eventually grow into the media empire Warner Bros. By the end of the decade, Warner Bros. hit it big with the sound of The Jazz Singer, the gangster personas of Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney, the kaleidoscopic escapism of Busby Berkeley, and their lurid melodramas of taboo and defiance. Their legendary films became a microcosm of America’s cultural and social history, mirroring – often challenging – the values and attitudes of the period in which they were produced.
The colorful 85-year legacy of Warner Bros. is documented in an unprecedented series, You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story, a presentation of AMERICAN MASTERS. The five-hour film is a Lorac production in partnership with Warner Bros. Entertainment and premieres nationally, September 23, 24 and 25, 2008 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). Award-winning filmmaker and film critic Richard Schickel is the director, writer and producer. Clint Eastwood is the executive producer and narrator.
“I think it’s wonderful and fitting that Richard Schickel, who produced his first big series The Men Who Made the Movies for public television in 1973, is returning to public television with this project – the epic and historic and thoroughly juicy Warner Bros. story,” says Susan Lacy, Creator and Executive Producer of AMERICAN MASTERS, a five-time winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Primetime Non-Fiction Series.
The film is the centerpiece of a year-long celebration of the studio’s 85th anniversary. A companion book of the same title, written by Schickel and George Perry with an introduction by Eastwood, will be published worldwide this September by Running Press.
Through movie clips, rare archival interviews, newly photographed material, and insightful on-camera discussions with talent such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, George Clooney, Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Sidney Lumet, Jack Nicholson, and many others, You Must Remember This gives us the history of 20th century America on the big screen. Each episode focuses on a specific period in the studio’s momentous history: the silent movie days and the development of sound, the Depression, World War II, the advent of television, the onset of new technologies, and the broadening and diversification of media companies in recent years.
In the 1930s and ‘40s Warner Bros showed the country holding itself together under terrible economic and societal pressures, then celebrating its triumphs over evil in the war years. Film classics such as The Maltese Falcon, Key Largo, Casablanca, Now, Voyager, Mildred Pearce, and To Have and Have Not portrayed the era with palpable realism.
Throughout the 1950s, ‘60s and into the ‘70s, the studio fought the looming threat of television with new technologies, new sensibilities and the launching of a new breed of movie star. You Must Remember This tells the studio’s story from Cinerama and Eastman Color to Bonnie and Clyde and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and through some of Hollywood’s most magnificent stars – John Wayne, James Dean, Warren Beatty, Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, and Jane Fonda.
By the next decade, Warner Bros. was again the hottest, most adventurous studio in town, right back where it had been in the 1930s and ‘40s. Breaking new ground with the music documentary Woodstock and Oscar-winning films such as All The President’s Men, Dog Day Afternoon, The Exorcist, and Batman, the studio moved toward the 21st century, capturing the imagination of a new generation of audiences. From Dirty Harry to Harry Potter, Warner Bros. created a string of blockbuster productions that thrilled spectators around the world while the excitement of The Fugitive, the complexities of Reversal of Fortune and the edginess of The Matrix also led the way to a new Hollywood establishment that includes Clint Eastwood, George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
Part One: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 9pm ET
You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet (1923-1935)
Episode One introduces the four brothers and the characters and films that established their studio’s success.
Good War, Uneasy Peace (1935-1950)
Warner Bros. becomes home to celebrated stars Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and more. The studio – like the world – faces the twin catastrophes of the Depression and World War II, as well as the blacklists and political witch-hunts.
Part Two: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 9pm ET
A New Reality (1950-1970)
TV arrives. Warner Bros. fights back with new technology (CinemaScope, 3-D, Eastman Color) and new stars (girl-next-door Doris Day and teen icon James Dean). The studio releases breakthrough films like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Bonnie and Clyde.
Woodstock Notions (1970-1989)
What the ’60s start, the ’70s bring to flower. The film Woodstock signals a new era, while new talent (including Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick) and management spark a return to taking chances and setting trends.
Part Three: Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 9pm ET
The Big Tent (1980-Present)
Tent-pole films. Weekend grosses. Megabudgets. The ’80s usher in modern moviemaking and marketing. Box-office smashes Superman, Batman and The Matrix become franchises. The Harry Potter series enthralls the world. Clint Eastwood creates a succession of Oscar®-winning instant classics. And studio collaborations with George Clooney and more new talents pave the way to a future as fabled as the past.
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Test your Warner Brothers movie knowledge. Take the Warner Brothers Movie Quiz online. Take the quiz and enter for a chance to win the companion book – “You Must Remember This: The Warner Brothers Story”:
http://www.thirteen.org/artsandculture/take-the-warner-bros-movie-quiz
I know American Masters:Warner Bros. will be broadcast Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. Is it also being repeated in full Saturday afternoon?
Doesn’t the fact that WB is a co-producer of this film call its editorial integrity into question? Or am I mis-understanding their role as “partner”?
yes i thinks WB is co-producer of this film
ayka.net
elizabeth,
It’s a history of the studio/company, not an investigative journalism-style documentary. I don’t think it requires, or even aspires to, editorial standards and objective viewpoints.
I would like to review You Must Remember for my column in The Canadian Jewish News. Can you send me the DVD series?
I love the movie “Marriage Circle”. Also “Baby Face”. What a wonderful documentary! Thank you PBS. Funny, insightful commentary: “We’re going to get laid and you can all share in it”.
Will the series You Must Remember this be available to purchase on DVD?
This documentary is cut from an earlier Richard Schickel documentary that ired on PBS in the early 1970’s; ans was narrated by John Cassavettes. I’m glad to see it returned in some form; I liked it then and liked part one.
after seeing part one I really enjoyed it although I felt that it was somewhat superficial in a lot of eras, but still it was enjoyable and having my favorite modern actor/director narrating it was icing on the cake, mind you I would have loved to see Clint acting with Cagney and other past tough guys, but I digress, is this going to be available on DVD? thanks.
When will this be on again??? DOES ANYONE KNOW?
I have an anecdote about Jack Warner, When I was about 6 or 7 years old (1955-1956) my Dad worked for a Appliance Store in Glaendale, California a place called Feldmans Appliance on Colorado Blvd. One day he came home with what was one of the first Color Televisions. It was an RCA Victor, He was suppose to deliver it the next day to Jack warner at his Residence. I forget where that was, But he knew what was going to be on TV that night so he brought the TV in the house for safe keeping. So we hooked it up and We watched the Wizard of Oz knowing full well what reaction us kids would have when it turned from black and white to Color because all we were used to was Black and White and never saw the Movie at the show. I’ll never forget it as long as I live. It was great.
Thanks Jack I watched your TV before you did!!!
Wonderful program.
The interview segments with Bill Wellman (which appear to have been made by Brownlow and Gill), Hal Wallis, Cagney, etc. are worth the price of a DVD alone. I especially appreciated the generous sequences from Pre-Code (1933) Warners films, incl. “Heroes for Sale”, “Baby Face”, and “Wild Boys of the Road”; fine examples of Wellman’s early Vitaphone work at Warners…..excellent samplers for film students and the amateur film historian.
A must, please, for issuance on DVD.
Terry Quong
Postscript to previous comments:
If there is one area in which to fault this initial episode, it is that appeared to go over very lightly the impact that sound (Talking Pictures) had on the industry; that Warners had formed a joint venture called The Vitaphone Corp. with Western Electric to bring sound eventually to mainstream, feature length motion pictures; out of the novelty/short subject and the Fox Movietone period. Features like “The Jazz Singer” and “The Singing Fool”, doomed the silent picture. This has already been gone over at length in the final episode of Brownlow and Gill’s “Hollywood”, but it deserves another, more recent look. Warner’s appears to have been the only major studio to have made a serious gamble with sound.
Terry Quong
I write movie reviews for another website and believe me, I’m no stranger to Warner Brothers. I even visited the Warner brothers studio when I was with the Media workshop in 1998. I even sat though the tapping of “Movie Stars” for the WB. I admire Warner Brothers very much. This year, I saw “the Dark Knight.” (I even saw it twice) It was the best movie of the year so far. a lot of Warner brothers made my top 10 movies in the past. Warner Brothers is my favorite studio. I watch most the Warner Brothers movie on Turner Classic Movies. Warner Brothers has a very strong influence on me. One of my favorite movies of all time is “Casablanca.” it had a big influence on me.
Saw Part One last night. How can you do a documentary about golden age Warner Brothers films without once mentioning the contribution of such music composers as Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Max Steiner? And with all those clips of commentary by critics, historians and present-day film-makers, why didn’t Mr. Shickel interview Joan Leslie, the actress who actually appeared in so many films under discussion, including SERGEANT YORK, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY and HOLLYWOOD CANTEEN?
Please add to my previous comment — if you deem my first one worthy of inclusion, that is — one more Joan Leslie movie featured in the documentary but without a Joan Leslie interview: I forgot about HIGH SIERRA. That makes four.
Wonderful program, took me back to film studies classes and “saturday afternoon at the movies”..any one in SF remember channel 44 way back then? As to the comments about this program scratching the surface or being light in areas…considering the overwhelming content available and the multitude of people and the influences they had on film, this packed about as much as it could into a neat two hour program without creating mental overload and its dreaded reaction…channel changing. I was rivited and satyed up past bed-time even though I’d seen almost all the films and many clips and heard an awful lot of commentary on those years of film in school. I havent checked the schedule tho they are bound to replay this…let’s hope over a holiday weekend when we can hunker down for a marathon
Part one was very interesting and am looking forward to part 2! Hard to find pre-Hayes, early 30’s WB movies but film forum showed Baby Face (with Stanwyck)once…I think last yr. or so!!PBS show these please!
Nicely produced documentary, but I was more than a little annoyed in part 2 at the segment called “The Age of Authors” where they discuss directors like Ford, and Hitchcock but utterly fail to even mention the TRUE authors of the films, the screenwriters. How can you call ‘The Searchers’ “John Ford’s film” without mentioning writer Frank Nugent, basing his script on the novel by Alan Le May. THOSE are the “authors” of the film. They wrote the story, the dialogue, the characters. John Ford was a director and a great one. But let’s remember what the heck the word ‘author’ means, and give credit to the real American Masters who’s creative work had so much to do with making these memorable movie moments.
Another good night of the documentary. For some reason, I’m goofy about 30’s movies, but tonight I got to see parts of “Giant”, “East of Eden” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?” Fay grabbing Warren Beatty’s big gun in “Bonnie and Clyde”. I’m really enjoying this doc. Thanks again.
Oh! “McCabe and Mrs. Miller”! I haven’t seen that in years. And Clint Eastwood! And the heartbreaking “Cool Hand Luke”. And the nightmare of “Clockwork Orange”. And Yikes…”Deliverance”. Ouch.
My family is a branch of the Warners. I’m Don Warner Saklad. During the early age of New York Theaters and the building of theaters across the county my grandmother gave a loan to her cousin for the Warner Theater in Toronto.
I saw Part 2 tonight. I didn’t catch the name of the early CinemaScope film that was very artistically composed. One shot was of a tall, thin doorway with walls on the rest of the screen. Anyone know it?
Love this program, makes me want watch all those great movies again.
They didn’t even mention Joan Blondell, their biggest star in the early 30’s who made several movies with Jimmy Cagney
American Masters…wow, I needed to go to bed but I was completely mesmerized by this series…I have a whole new appreciation of what the movie industry was all about as well as the intricate details and observations from directors, actors and all who were involved. I look forward to a repeat performance…can I buy this series at some point? Thank you for a stunning production.
That’s a great story, James. That should be included in the program.
Although absent from the program, the blurb at the top of this page mentions Cinerama. As far as I know, WB missed out on Cinerama and opted for CinemaScope instead. Maybe that’s what they meant.
I’m a big Warner Bros. buff and enjoyed the first part, but found a lot of factual mistakes. For instance, Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn never had a romantic relationship off-screen; she has said publicly many times that she was attracted to him, but would not have a relationship because of his rakish lifestyle and casual attitude toward his career. Some of the other material was taken out of chronological order, too, which I found disorienting.
The second night I found disappointing because of what the studio has become and also because of the absence of women. Lots of stuff about action pictures and Clint, but where are the women? It’s a sad comment on our “feminist” era that no modern counterparts of Bette, Olivia and Joan were portrayed.
I have seen 2 parts so far. I can’t beleive how good PBS is and how crummy the networks are!
Though I loved what I’ve seen so far, I agree with all the comments about what’s missing – the writers, the composers, all critical parts of what made WB as compelling as it was for many of us. Boy, the “dark” aspect of their films is a big part of the film memories of my childhood. In my hometown, the WB films were always shown in the Wednesday-Thursday slot at the State Theatre, sort of a grim chaser after the all color singing, dancing MGM fantasia that played Sunday-Tuesday. All the “missing pieces” in this production speaks to is: more, we want more, and possibly we will get it at some point. If indeed this documentary is already in part an amalgam of earlier works and interviews by various dedicated film historians and critics, then it could become part of a somewhat longer work in the future that includes some of the tasty elements that weren’t included. But so far it’s terrific, despite the gaps, and yes please a DVD.
Linda Gregory
While this is in many ways an excellent look at WB, it is hardly definitive. I have nothing against Clint Eastwood, but the second episode turned into a virtual ‘American Masters’ within an ‘American Masters’: Clint’s version of Warner Bros. Yes, he made a lot of money for them, and yes, he co-produced and narrated this docu, but did it have to become such a vanity project? I suspect he’ll be back in Part 3, big time.
An earlier commentator noted there was no reference to the WB Music Dept., and this is unforgivable, to my mind. Jack L. wanted wall-to-wall music in his films, and it was a big deal to have Korngold on the lot. Max Steiner was as much a part of WB as Bogart – or Eastwood have been. Richard Schickel certainly knows this. Also, not one cameraman was named. If you’re going to document a studio, you’ve got to mention a lot of names. And yes, as someone else brought up, the writer’s were equally ignored. Typical!
Incredibly, ‘A Star is Born’ (1954) was not even mentioned. At least Scorsese was allowed a few seconds to praise the remarkable ‘The Silver Chalice’ from the same year. That’s the first time I’ve heard anyone appreciate it.
I know you can’t please us all, but such a superficial documentary can only be praised so far.
Adam T:
The CinemaScope picture was ‘The Silver Chalice’, which is shamefully not available on DVD. One of the most interesting epics to come out of Hollywood, a genuine curiosity, which showed how ‘moderne’ WB was, with a very fine score by the great Franz Waxman.
#33 Ed Sullivan:
Yes, WB went the CinemaScope route, though Jack L. tried to compete with a WarnerSuperScope process, but had to give in to 20th-Fox. Jack did manage to flaunt WarnerColor for awhile in the mid-50s.
so when can I buy the box set DVD (blu ray), I would hope?
Adam T.(#29) – I have the same question. I thought it might be “The Robe”, but the production company was 20th Century Fox, not WB. Can somebody let us know? Thanks.
This series is awesome, but regretfully we living in certain areas of the right coast weren’t able to see part II. Will it air again?
Do you plan to re-run the series on Warner Brothers?
Brant (#41) Check out my message, #38.
I enjoyed part one very. I am a big fan of movies from the 30’s and 40’s, especially the ones made at Warner Bros. I just don’t understand why John Garfield, on of their biggest stars from the late 30’s and early 40’s wasn’t spotlighted. He was the movies first anti-hero because of his performance in his first movie, “Four Daughters.” It was a very sad omission for me.
How does this one-hour segment airing on Thursday 9/25 at 8p – # 2108 The Brothers Warner, An American Masters Presentation – fit in to the other three parts. Is it a fourth part or an overview?
For Adam T (message #29) and the others like me who were blown away by the futuristic sets, that was The Silver Chalice. Paul Newman’s first leading role.
I too, would like to know if you plan to rerun this series again?
Hope this comes out on DVD sometime in the near future. I missed most of it, and I want to see some parts again. Thanks for a great documentary!
I’ve watched this series over the past few nights and just want to express my delight with the overall series. I read through the criticisms and agree with some of the omissions, though. Also tonite’s rather longish look at contemporary WB films seems to me to have really been a mistake and resulted in really strange imbalances — such as the very long piece on, and by, George Clooney. Clooney has been and is important, to be sure. So are so many others, though. And expending this much time, and inflating his influence this much … even defining 2000 era WB movies in terms of whether or not they are “for George Clooney” … seems just plain weird. And inexplicable. Unless, of course, the inclusion of this segment was governed in part as a medium for political views geared toward the upcoming US presidential election. Using a WB documentary as a vehicle for this purpose leaves me just shaking my head and wondering if this lengthy “Clooney segment” won’t seem very strange indeed to viewers of this WB documentary in later years. Yet there were good things even in this segment … I enjoyed, for example, the comments on “Mystic River.” For me, though, the really strong points of the WB series were the delightful first 2 parts, with their examination of the early and middle period WB films. I also enjoyed deeply the truly moving portrait of the Warner Brothers themselves that I just watched tonite. What wonderful movies they brought us. My very favorite remains Casablanca. But there were so many. In any event, thanks to all who put together this documentary appreciation of Warner Brothers. You have reminded me of how very deeply grateful I am for the wonderful things brought to us by WB over the years. Thanks … and Yes, I will remember this.
Will part 1 be aired again? if so when?
My parents were amused at the fact that the Warners’ first full-scale movie theater was in New Castle, PA. We’re from western Pennsylvania. I wonder if there’s a historical marker at the site of the theater, or if the theater still exists.
Overall I enjoyed these programs. Although they are mostly just a collection of clips from various films with commentary and little story arc, they are always fascinating.
I am upset about two things however. The bleeping of some of the dialogue in the films was annoying and insulted the intelligence of the audience. As I received them, only one (episode two) was in widescreen. The other two were not. It makes sense that the first episode would not be because most of the films shown were shot in 4:3 but why episode three?
Gee I sure would love to see a list of all the movies that were run as clips in this documentary, cuz I’d like to rent a bunch now and watch them!
I was thinking how wonderful the whole Warner Brothers series was until I saw that shot of Studio 20 movies shot there, including “A Star is Born” and “Johnny Belinda.” I also noticed that Capra’s Meet John doe was distributed by Warners. They all deserved more mention in the series.
Superficial. Five minutes on the silent era and almost nothing on the background of the brothers. The narrator said they were from Ohio or Pennsylvania or somewhere and didn’t seem to know. The rest mainly revolved around the big stars. That’s one way to do it, but it skips over a lot of history. Really, it’s just a commercial for WB DVDs. You can produce this but you can’t do “Matinee at the Bijou”???
I really love the way that it has all come together.
Were some of the most violent clips from movies used in this documentary or is it my imagination.
Just watched the entire program series, aired on the Madison PBS station this afternoon; saw it in “parts” earlier this week…I’ve loved many of the movies/writers/actors, but was completely overwhelmed by the violence chosen to serve as representative of the studio, and even more so by the sexism inherent in this series’ production. I really expected more after a lifetime of watching and donating to PBS: I understand the male directors and studio execs, but the narrarator, all those who offered commentary (save a Warner daughter or aged star or two), by far most of the stars featured, etc. were all men. Very weird. And what was up with the George Clooney segment? Who cares? I gave it a fair chance and remain disappointed. Really opened my eyes regarding the film industry’s continued sexism. Sad.
This documentary was a complete load of crap. The part that left me the most irritated was when guys like Ted Ashley are congratulating themselves for being “bold” and “violent” in the early 70’s, yet they completely ignored the fact that they censored and buried one of their own films for showing too much violence and nudity, Ken Russell’s “The Devils” (1971). They didn’t even mention this shameful event in passing. They still refuse to release it on DVD today. This documentary is just WB stroking themselves and trying to advertise their DVDs. Shame on PBS for taking part in such shameless marketing.
Would have been nice if you had broadcast Warner Bros. as you advertised. I can understand that the President’s speech at 9 PM on 9/24 was unpredictable, but when I reset my taping for Sat, 9/27 you had apparently altered the taping schedule for the final parts. Could you tell me when you plan to broadcast it again?
It turned into the Clint Eastwood show. Not much new to learn or interesting. A disappointment overall.
It was a great series…I hope American Masters will now have an incentive to profile the other studios: 20th-Fox,Columbia,Universal,Paramount,UA,MGM. I think they profiled RKO a few years ago, although it might not have been on the AM series, maybe it was Ken Burns?
After viewing “You Must Remember This”, I am interested in viewing ALL PRECODE WB movies from the 1930s. Is there a collection or a list, only a few precode movies were referenced on American Masters.
Will the Warner Bros. story be shown again on any of our local PBS stations? I get KlCS, KCET, KVCR
Loved “You Must Remember This” the Warner Bros. Story. Would like to have family watch it. Will it be shown again in the Jacksonville Fl or Pittsburgh Pa. market? Thank you
I always enjoy historical documentaries that focus on entertainment figures and institutions. I thoroughly enjoyed this program on the Warner Brothers.
Since I am a fan of animation, I was glad that that department did receive some attention. However, it was incomplete as two very important contributors to WB animation were not mentioned: the late Mel Blanc (who voiced almost all the characters over the years) and the late Carl Stalling (who led the specialized instrumentation the harmonized the animations).
When will “You Must Remember This” (all three parts) be shown again in the Daytona Beach, FL market? This will be great viewing for my students.
Everyone seems to want to know the same thing? When will the DVD come out and will it re-rerun…
Wow! Isn’t this a totally meaningless, useless, waste of time webpage for the show?!? Too bad the show’s producers, or those responsible for American Masters, could at least provide a list of the all the movies referenced in the program. After all, if they did that, then PBS could provide links to those that are available for purchase and I’m sure they could put a bit more money in the program fund — after all, it seems like public TV spends close to 9 weeks a year begging for our support. Beyond that, I wonder if the show’s producers even bother to read what people are saying — forget about all the requests for information, they don’t have enough time to do all that research since every PBS station basically decides what to air and when and how many times it will be repeated. But at least we have this space to say how much we liked the show so they can use our quotes when writing grant proposals.
This TERRIBLE DOCUMENTARY is just a collection of generic interviews and clips of the ENDINGS OF ALMOST EVERY FILM IT FEATURES!! It completely spoils all the movies if you haven’t seen them!!! Who was the terrible lazy editor of this documentary? I can’t believe Warner’s approved this documentary. RIDICULOUS.
We owe such a debt of gratitude to Richard Schickel for his efforts to chronicle the history of film. His efforts to capture the art and the artists on this program and the many features he has made for TCM and PBS programs provide us with a treasure chest of film gems and the memories that are a significant part of our lives. Thank you Mr Schickel – know how much you are appreciated for your achievements by those who love film as you do.
When’s the series gonna play again…….? Great….series……..we want more…….
can someone please please tell me how i can see this movie..cant find it anywhere and doenst seem to be re airing anywhere i can find ..i live in hamilton ontario canada and recieve the buffalo new york wned pbs station..any help at all would be appreciated
thanks
billie
When is the next time the series will be aired?
When is th nest time the series will be aired? Bill Bruno wants to know also.
I’m so sorry to have missed this series. Can you please tell me when it will be run again?
is there a list of masterpiece theatre series?
I keep searching for information as to when this fine documentary will be available for retail, could you enlighten please.
When will Warner Brothers: You must remember this
air again.
Thanks.
cheryl Seitz
Were they really from Ohio? Or, were there immigrants from Poland via Canada? Sure, they ended to be American, but let’s not commit factual inaccuracies. These boys were born in Poland and Canada.
AND “ENTER THE DRAGON”?
i watched the warner bros movie last night and particularly would like to find the quote when they read a postcard tht was handwritten by jack warner. it was quite deep philosophical and very beautiful even though he had a reputation of being dictatorial wher can i find that entry online or what book what biograhical note , or get it from the movie sound track thank you elizabeth e.