Samuel Louis Warner (born Szmuel Wonsal, August 10, 1887 – October 5, 1927) was an American film producer who was the co-founder and chief executive officer of Warner Bros. He established the studio along with his brothers Harry, Albert, and Jack L. Warner. Sam Warner is credited with procuring the technology that enabled Warner Bros. to produce the film industry's first feature-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer.Thomas (1990), pp. 52–62. He died in 1927, on the day before the film's enormously successful premiere.
Early years
Samuel "Wonsal"Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: or "Wonskolaser",According to Bette-Ann Warner, a second cousin to the Warner brothers, in The Brothers Warner, 2008 documentary written and directed by Cass Warner, viewed on Turner Classic Movies March 8, 2010. Bette-Anne Warner's grandfather was a brother of the Warner brothers' father. was born in the village of Krasnosielc, Poland (then part of Congress Poland within the Russian Empire).Doug Sinclair, "The Family of Benjamin and Pearl Leah (Eichelbaum) Warner: Early Primary Records," (2008), published at Doug Sinclair's Archives (http://dougsinclairsarchives.com/benjaminwarnerfamily.htm) He was one of eleven children born to Benjamin, a shoe maker born in Krasnosielc, and Pearl Leah (née Eichelbaum), both Polish Jews. He had ten siblings. His sisters were Cecilia (1877–1881), Anna (1878–1958), Rose (1890–1955), Fannie (1891–1984) and Sadie (1895–1959). His brothers were Hirsz Mojżesz ((1881–1958), and later known as "Harry"), Abraham ((1884–1967), later known as "Albert" or "Abe"), Jacob ((1892–1978), later known as "Jack"), David (1893–1939) and Milton (1896–1915).
The family immigrated to Baltimore, Maryland in October 1889 on the steamship Hermann from Bremen, Germany. Their father had preceded them, immigrating to Baltimore in 1888, and following his trade in shoes and shoe repair. He changed the family name to Warner, which was used thereafter. As in many Jewish immigrant families, some of the children gradually acquired anglicized versions of their Yiddish-sounding names. Szmuel became Samuel, nicknamed Sam.
In Baltimore, Benjamin Warner struggled to make enough money to provide for his growing family. Following the advice of a friend, Benjamin relocated the family to Canada, where he attempted to make a living by bartering tin wares to trappers in exchange for furs. After two arduous years in Canada, Benjamin and his family returned to Baltimore.Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 23–24. In 1896, the family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, following the lead of Harry Warner, who established a shoe repair shop in the heart of the emerging industrial town.Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 24–25. Benjamin worked with his son Harry in the shoe repair shop until he secured a loan to open a meat counter and grocery store in the city's downtown area.Thomas (1990), pp. 12–13.Thomas (1990), p. 12. As a child, Warner found himself trying to find work through a range of various odd jobs.Thomas (1990), pp. 15–16.
Career
Early business ventures Samuel Warner was the first member of his family to move into the entertainment industry. In the early 1900s, he formed a business partnership with another Youngstown resident and "took over" the city's Old Grand Opera House, which he used as a venue for "cheap vaudeville and photoplays". The venture failed after one summer. Warner then secured a job as a projectionist at Idora Park, a local amusement park.Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 49. He persuaded the family of the new medium's possibilities and negotiated the purchase of a Model B Kinetoscope from a projectionist who was "down on his luck".Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 50. The purchase price was $1,000. Warner's interest in film came after seeing Thomas Edison's The Great Train Robbery while working as an employee at Cedar Point Pleasure Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. During this time, Albert agreed to join Samuel and together the two displayed showings of The Great Train Robbery at carnivals throughout the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania;Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 32. Sam Warner would run the film projector and Albert would sell tickets.
In 1905, Harry Warner agreed to join his two brothers and sold his Youngstown bicycle shop.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 33. Through the money Harry made by selling the bicycle shop, the three brothers were now able to purchase a building in New Castle, Pennsylvania;Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 34. The brothers named their new theater The Cascade Movie Palace.Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 54–55. The Cascade Movie Palace was so successful that the brothers were able to purchase a second theater in New Castle. This makeshift theatre, called the Bijou, was furnished with chairs borrowed from a local undertaker. They maintained the theater until moving into film distribution in 1907.Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 55–57. That year, the Warner brothers established the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement Company, and the three brothers rented an office in the Bakewell building in downtown Pittsburgh. Harry then sent Sam Warner to New York to purchase, and ship, films for their Pittsburgh exchange company, while he and Albert remained in Pittsburgh to run the business.
Their business, however, proved lucrative until the advent of Thomas Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company (also known as the Edison Trust), which charged distributors exorbitant fees.Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 65–66. In 1909, the brothers sold the Cascade Theater for $40,000, and decided to open a second film exchange in Norfolk, Virginia;Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 42 through this Norfolk company, younger brother Jacob (known as "Jack,") following Sam's advice, officially joined his three brothers' business and was sent to Norfolk by older brother Harry to serve as Warner's assistant. In 1910, the Warners would sell the family business, to the General Film Company, for "$10,000 in cash, $12,000 in preferred stock, and payments over a four-year period for a total of $52,000".Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 45-46
Formation of Warner Bros. In 1910, the Warner brothers pooled their resources and moved into film production.Warner and Jennings (1964), p. 73. After they sold their business,Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 46 the brothers lent their support to filmmaker Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures Company, which challenged the monopolistic control of the Edison Trust;Thomas (1990), p. 29. the brothers served as distributors for Laemmle's films in Pittsburgh. In 1912, Sam would help the brothers earn a $1,500 profit with his film Dante's Inferno.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 47-48 In the wake of this success, Harry Warner, seeing Edison's monopoly threat grow, decided to break with Laemmle and had the brothers start their own film production company, Warner Features.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 51 After this occurred, Harry Warner, who now had an office in New York with brother Albert,Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 54 sent Sam and Jack to establish film exchanges in Los Angeles and San Francisco; Sam would run the company's Los Angeles division while Jack ran the company's San Francisco division. The brothers were soon poised to exploit the expanding California movie market. 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 semi autobiographical account by Ambassador James W. Gerard that condemned German wartime atrocities.Thomas (1990), pp. 34–35. Profits from the success of My Four Years in Germany gave the four brothers the opportunity to establish a studio in the area near Hollywood.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 66 In the new Hollywood studio, Warner became co-head of production along with his younger brother, Jack.Warner and Jennings (1964), pp. 100–101. In this capacity, the two brothers secured new scripts and storylines, managed film production, and looked for ways to reduce production costs.
Between 1919 and 1920, the studio was not profitable.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 71 During this time, banker Motley H. Flint—who, unlike most bankers at the time, was not antisemitic—Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 72 helped the Warners pay off their debts. The brothers then decided to relocate their production studio from Culver City to Sunset Boulevard.Thomas (1990), pp. 38. The studio would also rebound in 1921, after the success of the studio's film Why Girls Leave Home.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 73 With the film's success, director Harry Rapf was appointed the studio's new head producer. On April 4, 1923, following the studio's successful film Where the North Begins,Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 76 Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. was officially established.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 77
One of the new company's first big stars would be the dog Rin Tin Tin.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 81 By directing Rin Tin Tin, newcomer director Daryl Zanuck's career would be greatly advanced. In addition to Rin Tin Tin, the studio was also able to gain more success with German film director Ernst Lubitsch, whose first film with the studio, The Marriage Circle, reached the New York Times Ten Best Films List of 1924.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 83 The film was also the studio's most financially successful film of the year and helped establish Lubitsch as the studio's top director.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 82 The Warners were also able to add another film to the New York Times Ten Best Films List with Beau Brummel.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 84 Despite the studio's success, the Warners were unable to compete with Paramount, Universal, and First National (The Big Three), and were soon threatened to be bought out by the end of 1924.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), Hollywood Be Thy Name p. 84-85, Prima Publishing, ISN:1559583436
During this time, Harry Warner would provide more relief for the studio after he was able to purchase Brooklyn's Vitagraph Studios.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), Hollywood Be Thy Name p. 86, Prima Publishing, ISN:1559583436 In 1925, Sam Warner had also acquired a radio station, KFWB.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 89. After acquiring the radio station, Sam decided to make an attempt to use synchronized sound in future Warner Bros. Pictures.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 90. After a visit to Western Electric's Bell Laboratories headquarters,Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 92. Sam Warner urged his brother, Harry, to sign an agreement with Western Electric to develop a series of "talking" shorts using the newly upgraded sound-on-film technology, a sound-on-disc system for motion pictures.Thomas (1990), 52–55; Harry Warner, however, objected to using synchronized sound in the studio's films.Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 94.
By February 1926, the studio had suffered a net loss of $333,413. Harry Warner ultimately agreed to use synchronized sound in Warner Bros. shorts if it was used only for background music. Harry Warner then made a visit to Western Electric's Bell Laboratories in New York and was impressed. One problem confronting the Warners though was that the high-ups at Western Electric were antisemitic. Sam Warner, however, was able to convince the high-ups to sign with the studio after his wife Lina, who was not Jewish, wore a gold cross at a dinner they attended with the Western Electric brass. Harry Warner then signed a partnership agreement with Western Electric to use Bell Laboratories to test the sound-on-film process. Warner and younger brother Jack then decided to take a big step forward and make Don Juan.