Warner Bros Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Warner Bros - Research Paper Example Although Warner Bros. is presently a highly successful company, it has experienced various difficulties in the past considering that its initiation was never smooth sailing. Being the only company alongside MGM amongst the Big Five to evade financial collapse throughout the Depression, it was adverse to MGM in a number of ways. Whereas MGM had remained deluxe during the Depression, Warners managed to survive through siphoning off approximately one-quarter of its total assets during early 1930s and by establishing a mentality that was ruthlessly cost-efficient, as well as factory-oriented mass-production. That symbolized stretched budgets on all features, a more re-organized studio operation, reduction in contract personnel, together with a highly formulaic, as well as routinized tackling of its films and filmmaking. This resulted in Warners splitting its output almost evenly between the A-class star vehicles and a steady output of B pictures. Warners B picture could not be mistaken f or anything else; furthermore, in most cases, Warners often allocated their mid-range stars such as Ann Sheridan and Humphrey Bogart unto low-budget jobs, thereby promptly suspending them if they attempted to balk (Gino, Simone, Lars, Florian 13). Warners happened to be the only family-run studio amongst the Big Five, with the company president Harry M. Warner who was the elder sibling, perceived as the most cost-conscious amongst the Big Five chief executives. On the other hand, the younger brother, i.e. Jack Warner, managed the studio-factory; while filmmaking operations were under the supervision of two longtime studio executives with Hal B. Wallis overseeing the production of all A-class pictures, whereas Bryan Foy controlled Warners’ B-picture production. Although Wallis turned out to be an able administrator who was certainly competent as a creative executive, he was not as competent as Darryl Zanuck, who was his predecessor at production chief at Warners, who ascended through the screenwriting positions to executive status. Wallis depended on a staff of associate producers, who did not have the capability of receiving screen credit until 1942 yet wielded extensive authority over A-class production at Warners. A number of them notably Henry Blanke, Mark Hellinger, Robert Lord and Jerry Wald were either former directors or writers, thereby getting close involvement in all phases of production. Apart from that, Warners had a staff of competent, effectual directors, such as Michael Curtiz, William Keighley, William Dieterle, Raoul Walsh and Lloyd Bacon. A small number of them had considerable power over particular star genre formulations, for instance Curtiz on the Flynn vehicles and Lloyd Bacon on Cagney’s action pictures (Sandler 34). Warners’ strategy of depending on half-dozen star genre formulas for its A-class pictures started to change in the prewar era due to various reasons. In late 1939, Paul Muni departed from the company so as to seek freelance status thereby letting Edward G. Robinson to be in charge as resident biopic star whereas the studio brass re-evaluated their commitment to the genre. In the meantime, there was the dropping of musical production owing to the defection of Busby Berkeley to MGM. Moreover, Warners responded to the even more competitive market by modifying its formulas, as well as by