Editing Jack L. Warner (section)

===Depression era===
The studio emerged relatively unscathed from the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]] and produced a broad range of films, including "backstage [[musical film|musical]]s," "crusading [[biopic]]s," "[[swashbuckler]]s," and "women's pictures." As Thomas Schatz observed, this repertoire was "a means of stabilizing marketing and sales, of bringing efficiency and economy into the production of some fifty feature films per year, and of distinguishing Warners' collective output from that of its competitors".<ref name="schatz1988">Schatz (1988), p. 7.</ref> Warner Bros. became best known, however, for its hard-hitting social dramas, whose production Jack tended to support. These included gangster classics such as ''[[Little Caesar (film)|Little Caesar]]'' and ''[[The Public Enemy]]'' as well as the critically acclaimed ''[[I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang]]'', starring [[Paul Muni]].<ref name="thomas77">Thomas (1990), p. 77.</ref> Some of these films reflected a surprising (albeit temporary) shift in Jack's political outlook. By 1932, despite his longstanding association with the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], he openly supported [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] presidential candidate [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], staging a "Motion Picture and Electrical Parade Sports Pageant" at the [[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]] in Roosevelt's honor. This development foreshadowed an "era in which Warner would recruit the most [[New Deal]]-ish (often simultaneously the most [[left-wing]]) writers".<ref name="bw59"/>

[[File:James cagney promo photo.jpg|thumb|left|upright|James Cagney made 38 films with Warner Bros., cementing its position as a major studio<ref>{{cite web|title=James Cagney|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/26868%7C77446/James-Cagney/|website=Turner Classic Movies|publisher=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=June 2, 2017|archive-date=May 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523043116/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/26868%7C77446/James-Cagney/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
During this period, Jack took an active role in recruiting talent. To furnish Warner Bros. with much needed "star power", he raided contract players from rival studios, in some cases offering to double their salaries. This strategy yielded three leading stars from Paramount – [[William Powell]], [[Kay Francis]], and [[Ruth Chatterton]].<ref name="thomas75-76">Thomas (1990), pp. 75–76.</ref> In 1929, Jack persuaded British stage and screen actor [[George Arliss]] to play the title role in a [[Disraeli (1929 film)|remake]] of the 1921 [[United Artists]] film ''[[Disraeli (1921 film)|Disraeli]]'', which turned out to be a box-office hit.<ref name="thomas76-77">Thomas (1990), pp. 76–77.</ref> Then, in 1930, he spotted future stars [[James Cagney]], [[Joan Blondell]], and [[Frank McHugh]] in the cast of a New York play called ''Penny Arcade''.<ref name="Thomas79-80">Thomas (1990), pp. 79–80.</ref> Although Cagney turned out to be Jack's greatest prize, he was also the studio executive's biggest professional headache.<ref name="Thomas80-81">Thomas (1990), pp. 80–81.</ref> During their frequent arguments, Cagney would scream the Yiddish obscenities he learned as a boy in [[Yorkville, Manhattan|Yorkville]], New York City.<ref name="Thomas81">Thomas (1990), p. 81.</ref><ref name="behlmer63">Behlmer (1985), p. 63.</ref> According to a 1937 [[Fortune (magazine)|''Fortune'' magazine]] article, Jack's most intense contract disputes involved Cagney, "who got sick of being typed as a girl-hitting mick and of making five pictures a year instead of four."<ref name="behlmer63" />

Zanuck resigned during a contract dispute with Harry Warner in 1933.<ref name="behlmer12">Behlmer (1985), p. 12.</ref> According to a 1933 letter that Jack wrote to [[Will H. Hays]], then president of the [[Motion Picture Association of America|Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America]], Zanuck had demanded more pay and "indicated his desire to raise the salaries of the actors and personnel in the motion pictures we were producing".<ref name="behlmer12"/> That year, Zanuck established [[Twentieth Century Pictures]], which merged with [[Fox Film Corporation]] in 1935.<ref name="behlmer13">Behlmer (1985), p. 13.</ref> A longtime Warner Bros. producer, [[Hal B. Wallis]], took over as executive producer.<ref name="thomas88">Thomas (1990), p. 88.</ref> Jack, however, denied Wallis the sweeping powers enjoyed by Zanuck, and the result was a decentralization of creative and administrative control that often created confusion at the studio.<ref name="schatz199-200">Schatz (1988), pp. 199–200.</ref> Under the new system, each picture was assigned a supervisor usually plucked from the ranks of the studio's [[screenwriter]]s.<ref name="schatz200">Schatz (1988), p. 200.</ref> Although Warner Bros. maintained a high rate of production throughout the 1930s, some pictures showed an uneven quality that reflected "not only the difficulty of shifting to a supervisory system but also the consequences of dispersing authority into the creative ranks".<ref name="schatz200"/>

Meanwhile, Jack's role in production became somewhat limited. After acquiring a creative property, he often had little to do with a film's production until it was ready for preview.<ref name="schatz212">Schatz (1988), p. 212.</ref> Nevertheless, he could be heavy-handed with employees and "merciless in his firings."<ref name="thomas4" /> Film director [[Gottfried Reinhardt]] claimed that Jack "derived pleasure" from humiliating subordinates.<ref name="thomas209">Thomas (1990), p. 209.</ref> "[[Harry Cohn]] was a sonofabitch," Reinhardt said, "but he did it for business; he was not a sadist. [[Louis B. Mayer|Mayer]] could be a monster, but he was not mean for the sake of meanness. Jack was."<ref name="thomas209"/>

Jack's management style frustrated many studio employees. Comedian [[Jack Benny]], who once worked at Warner Bros., quipped, "Jack Warner would rather tell a bad joke than make a good movie".<ref name="thomas156">Thomas (1990), p. 156.</ref> Jack frequently clashed with actors and supposedly banned them from the studio's executive dining room, with the explanation, "I don't need to look at actors when I eat."<ref name="david52">David (1981), p. 52.</ref>

[[File:Bette Davis - Errol Flynn.jpg|thumb|upright|Bette Davis and Errol Flynn in Warner Bros.' ''[[The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex]]'']]
The studio executive did, however, win the affection of a few film personalities. Among these was [[Bette Davis]], one of the studio's leading stars, who once fled to England to secure release from her contract.<ref name="sperling219">Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), pp. 219–221.</ref> In later years, Davis defended Jack against rumors of sexual impropriety when she wrote: "No lecherous boss was he! His sins lay elsewhere. He was the father. The power. The glory. And he was in business to make money."<ref name="vindy-yo-09-11-78"/> Davis revealed that, after the birth of her child, Jack's attitude toward her became warm and protective. "We became father and child, no question about it." she said. "He told me I didn't have to come back to work until I really felt like it. He was a thoughtful man. Not many nice things were said about him."<ref name="thomas4" /> Warner also earned the gratitude and affection of [[Errol Flynn]]. In 1935, the studio head personally selected Flynn for the title role of ''[[Captain Blood (1935 film)|Captain Blood]]'', even though he was an unknown actor at the time.<ref name="thomas111">Thomas (1990), p. 111.</ref> In 1936, following the success of another costume epic, ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936 film)|The Charge of the Light Brigade]]'', Jack tore up Flynn's contract and signed him to a long-term deal that doubled his weekly salary.<ref name="schatz209-210">Schatz (1988), pp. 209–210.</ref>