You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story - Part 1
- Episode aired Sep 23, 2008
- TV-14
- 3h 48m
Documentary about the first 85 years of Warner Bros. Studios, with scenes from hundreds of films that reflect the values, morals and attitudes of several generations, especially in the Unite... Read allDocumentary about the first 85 years of Warner Bros. Studios, with scenes from hundreds of films that reflect the values, morals and attitudes of several generations, especially in the United States.Documentary about the first 85 years of Warner Bros. Studios, with scenes from hundreds of films that reflect the values, morals and attitudes of several generations, especially in the United States.
Photos
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- Director
- Writer
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe original version, the short version, was broadcast on PBS in 2008, and ran ninety minutes in one episode. The later version, the long version, was broadcast on PBS in 2012, and ran two hundred twenty-eight minutes in (four) fifty-seven minute episodes.
- Quotes
Self - Author of 'Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend': Jack Warner wrote that Rin Tin Tin was the best leading man that Warner Bros. ever had. He never had a bad day, He never made a bad movie. He never made unreasonable demands. His family life was above reproach. Remember, these were silent films. Dogs were on the same level as human actors, all of them were mute. So you could have a story in which the dog was as capable of communicating as the people were.
- ConnectionsFeatures My Four Years in Germany (1918)
The selection reflects the director's personal tastes. On the one hand, the inclusion of such off-beat pictures like STORM WARNING and THE BEAST OF 20,000 FATHOMS and interesting flops like NOAH'S ARK and THE SILVER CHALICE are a definite plus. On the other hand, Schickel's preference for monochrome in Part 1 gives the false impression that Warners did not shoot in Technicolor prior to THE ADVENTURES IN ROBIN HOOD, while the studio was, in fact, a major leader in that process starting in 1929. As expected, the emphasis is on features and not short subjects; although a few early Vitaphone shorts of the '20s, Joe McDoakes and Bugs Bunny do get some recognition. Praise must also be given to the restoration quality of the sequences, making one wish Warner Home Video would hurry up and get many of these great films on DVD as soon as possible.
The basic "problem", as indicated in previous reviews on this site, is the overemphasis on the studio's crime dramas. The Busby-Berkeley sequences are too short and, apart from the demanded inclusion of YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, there is little fun and music until the arrival of Doris Day in Part 2. Excluding A STAR IS BORN (a serious and depressing musical that would fit quite well with the many social commentaries that DID make the cut), we zip through the late '50s/'60s like lightning (obviously skipping MUSIC MAN) in order to focus more on the then-shocking scenes of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, DELIVERANCE and THE EXORCIST. There's little question that the 70s were more productive at Warner's than other studios (i.e. MGM), but the overall tone (as represented in these clips) is quite sadistic. The arrival of DRIVING MISS DAISY couldn't come soon enough.
It is wonderful that both the producers and PBS took on this subject. (The companion book is quite good.) Unfortunately, it could use some of the "fun factor" of previous anthologies like Hollywood THE GOLDEN YEARS (RKO), MGM: WHEN THE LION ROARS and 20TH CENTURY FOX: THE FIRST 50 YEARS & THE BLOCKBUSTER YEARS. I remember once thinking Patrick Stewart's coverage of MGM was a bit hammy and over-the-top. This series could certainly use him to lighten the load, as clarified when I re-watched that series on DVD last month.
- jlewis77-1
- Mar 18, 2009
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- Warner Bros.: Una Historia Para El Recuerdo
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