Editing First National Pictures (section)

== Acquisition by Warner Bros. ==
[[File:First National Pictures advertisement in The Film Daily, Jan-Jun 1926 (page 1216 crop).jpg|thumb|352x352px|First National Pictures advertisement in [[The Film Daily]], 1926]]
The financial success of ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'' and ''[[The Singing Fool]]'' enabled [[Warner Bros.]] to purchase a majority interest in First National in September 1928. Warner Bros. held 42,000 shares of [[common stock]] out of 72,000 outstanding shares while [[Fox Film|Fox Pictures]] held 21,000 shares; 12,000 shares were publicly held.<ref>"Warner Buys First National", ''The Wall Street Journal'', September 27, 1928, p.&nbsp;3.</ref> Warner Bros. acquired access to First National's affiliated chain of theatres, while First National acquired access to [[Vitaphone]] sound equipment. Warner Bros. and First National continued to operate as separate entities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 1960 |title=In the Matter of the Appeal of WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC. |url=https://ota.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2022/01/69-sbe-0020.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025235826/https://ota.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2022/01/69-sbe-0020.pdf |archive-date=October 25, 2022 }}</ref>

On November 4, 1929, Fox sold its interest in First National to Warner Bros. for $10 million.<ref>"Fox Holdings in First National Pictures Sold", ''[[The Washington Post]]'', November 4, 1929, p.&nbsp;3.</ref><ref name="Hirschhorn">{{cite book |last=Hirschhorn |first=Clive |title=The Warner Bros. Story  |year=1979 |location=New York |publisher=Crown Publishers  |isbn=0-517-53834-2}}</ref>{{Rp|66}} The First National studio in Burbank became the official home of Warner Bros.–First National Pictures. Thereafter, First National Pictures became a trade name for the distribution of a designated segment of Warner Bros. product. 45 of the 86 Warner Bros. feature films released in 1929 were branded as First National Pictures.<ref name="Hirschhorn"/>{{Rp|66}} Half of the 60 feature films Warner Bros. announced for release in 1933–1934 were to be First National Pictures.<ref name="NYT 1933-34 Releases">{{cite news |date=August 2, 1933 |title=Warners to Issue 60 Feature Films |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/08/02/archives/warners-to-issue-60-feature-films-half-will-be-produced-by-first.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2015-12-27 }}</ref>

Although both studios produced "A" and [[B movies (Hollywood Golden Age)|"B" budget]] pictures, generally the prestige productions, costume dramas, and musicals were made by Warner Bros., while First National specialized in modern comedies, dramas, and crime stories. Short subjects were made by yet another affiliated company, The Vitaphone Corporation (which took its name from the sound process).

In July 1936, stockholders of First National Pictures, Inc. (primarily Warner Bros.) voted to dissolve the corporation and distribute its assets among the stockholders in line with a new tax law which provided for tax-free consolidations between corporations.<ref>"Film Concern Dissolves", ''The New York Times'', July 12, 1936, p. F1.</ref> Although the 1939 release, ''[[Confessions of a Nazi Spy]],'' was released as a First National Picture.

From 1929 to 1958, most Warner Bros. films and promotional posters bore the trademark and copyright credits "A Warner Bros.–First National Picture" in their opening and closing sequences.<ref>''American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures'', volumes F4 and F5.</ref>