Editing Jack L. Warner (section)

===Formation of Warner Bros.===
The Warner brothers pooled their resources and moved into film production in 1910.<ref name="Warner73">Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 73.</ref> In 1912, they supported filmmaker [[Carl Laemmle]]'s [[Independent Motion Picture Company]], which challenged the [[monopoly]] of the Edison Trust. That same year, Jack acquired a job as a film splicer in New York,<ref name="sperling47">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 47.</ref> where he assisted Sam with the production of ''Dante's Inferno''.<ref name="sperling48">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 48.</ref> Despite the film's [[box office]] success, Harry still feared competition from the Edison Trust. He subsequently broke with Laemmle and sent Jack to establish a film exchange in [[San Francisco]], while Sam did the same in [[Los Angeles]].<ref name="sperling54">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 54.</ref> The brothers were soon poised to exploit the expanding [[California]] movie market.<ref name="thomas29">Thomas (1990), p. 29.</ref>

In 1917, Jack was sent to Los Angeles to open another film exchange company.<ref name="sperling59">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 59.</ref> Their first opportunity to produce a major film came in 1918, when they purchased the film rights for ''My Four Years in Germany'', a bestselling novel depicting German wartime atrocities, and the [[My Four Years in Germany|film adaptation]] became a commercial and critical success.<ref name="thomas34-35">Thomas (1990), pp. 34–35.</ref> The four brothers established a studio,<ref name="sperling65">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 65–66.</ref> with Jack and Sam as co-heads of production.<ref name="sperling100">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 100–101.</ref> As producers, the two solicited new [[screenplay|scripts]] and story lines, secured film sets and equipment, and found ways to reduce production costs.<ref name="thomas34-35" />

[[File:Hollywood-Studios-1922.jpg|right|thumb|Hollywood movie studios, 1922]]
In 1919, the fledgling [[Warner Bros.|Warner Bros. Studios]] followed up the success of ''My Four Years in Germany'' with a popular [[serial film|serial]] titled ''The Tiger's Claw''. That same year, the studio was less successful in its efforts to promote ''[[Open Your Eyes (1919 film)|Open Your Eyes]]'', a film on the dangers of [[venereal disease]] that featured Jack's sole screen appearance.<ref name="thomas37">Thomas (1990), p. 37.</ref> During this period, the studio earned few profits,<ref name="sperling713">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 71–73.</ref> in 1920 the Warners secured a bank loan to settle their business debts.<ref name="sperling713"/> Shortly thereafter, they relocated the film studio from [[Culver City, California]], to [[Hollywood, California|Hollywood]], where they purchased a lot on the corner of [[Sunset Boulevard]] and Bronson Avenue,<ref name="thomas38">Thomas (1990), p. 38.</ref> known today as Sunset Bronson Studios. The new location and upgraded facilities did not significantly improve the studio's image, which remained defined by its low-budget comedies and racy films on declining morality.<ref name="thomas39">Thomas (1990), p. 39.</ref>

In 1923, the studio discovered a trained [[German Shepherd Dog|German Shepherd]] named [[Rin Tin Tin]]. The canine made his debut in ''[[Where the North Begins]]'', a film about an abandoned pup who is raised by wolves and befriends a fur trapper.<ref name="thomas42">Thomas (1990), p. 42.</ref> According to one biographer, Jack's initial doubts about the project were quelled when he met Rin Tin Tin, "who seemed to display more intelligence than some of the Warner comics."<ref name="thomas42"/> Rin Tin Tin proved to be the studio's most important commercial asset until the introduction of sound.<ref name="behlmer4">Behlmer (1985), p. 4.</ref> Screenwriter [[Darryl F. Zanuck]] produced several scripts for Rin Tin Tin vehicles and, during one year, wrote more than half of the studio's features.<ref name="thomas45">Thomas (1990), p. 45.</ref> From 1928 to 1933, Zanuck served as Jack's right-hand man and [[executive producer]], with responsibilities including day-to-day production of films.<ref name="behlmerxii">Behlmer (1985), p. xii.</ref> Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and other projects, Warner Bros. was still a poor cousin to  Hollywood's "Big Three" – [[Paramount Studios|Paramount]], [[Universal Pictures|Universal]], and [[First National Pictures|First National]] studios.<ref name="nytimes14">{{cite news|title=Theatre Owners Open War on Hays|newspaper=New York Times|page=14|date=May 12, 1925}}</ref>

In 1925, the studio expanded its operations and acquired the [[Brooklyn, New York|Brooklyn]]-based theater company [[Vitagraph Studios|Vitagraph]].<ref>Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 86</ref> Later that year, Sam urged Harry to sign with [[Western Electric]] to develop a series of talking short films using the new [[Vitaphone]] technology.<ref name="thomas52-55">Thomas (1990), 52–55.</ref>

Sam died of [[pneumonia]] in 1927, just before the premiere of the first feature-length talking picture, ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'',<ref name="vindy-10-05-27">
{{cite news
  | title = Warner, Movie Magnate, Dies: Sam Warner, Former Youngstown Man, Rose from Obscurity to Leader in Field
  | work = The Youngstown Daily Vindicator
  | date = October 5, 1927
}}</ref> and Jack became sole head of production.<ref name="Warner180-181">Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 180–181.</ref> Sam's death left Jack inconsolable:  "Throughout his life, Jack had been warmed by Sam's sunshiny optimism, his thirst for excitement, his inventive mind, his gambling nature. Sam had also served as a buffer between Jack and his stern eldest brother, Harry."<ref name="thomas62">Thomas (1990), p. 62.</ref> Without his brother and co-producer, Jack ran the Warner Bros. [[Burbank, California|Burbank]] studio with an iron hand, and became increasingly demanding and harsh with his employees.<ref name="jewishmag.com">{{cite web | url = http://www.jewishmag.com/75mag/hollywood/hollywood.htm | title = Jews in Hollywood | publisher = Jewishmag.com | access-date = August 24, 2008 | archive-date = January 7, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080107115340/http://www.jewishmag.com/75mag/hollywood/hollywood.htm | url-status = live }}</ref>

As the family grieved over Sam's sudden passing, the success of ''The Jazz Singer'' helped establish Warner Bros. as a major studio. From an investment of only $500,000 in the film, the studio reaped $3&nbsp;million in profits.<ref name="sperling142">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 142–145</ref> Hollywood's other five major studios, which controlled most of the nation's movie theaters, initially attempted to block the growth of "talking pictures".<ref name="Thomas63">Thomas (1990), p. 63.</ref> In the teeth of this opposition, Warner Bros. produced twelve "talkies" in 1928 alone.<ref name="Thomas63"/> The following year, the newly formed [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] recognized Warner Bros. for "revolutionizing the industry with sound".<ref name="Thomas66">Thomas (1990), p. 66.</ref>

Despite Warner Bros.' new prosperity, Jack kept a tight rein on costs. He placed the studio's directors on a quota system and decreed a flat, low-key lighting style to smooth out the defects of cheap film sets.