The Warner Brothers

De: Chris Yogerst

Narrado por: Daniel Henning

Warner Bros. Studio is best known as a media conglomerate with a broad range of intellectual property, spanning movies, TV shows, and streaming content. Despite popular interest in the origins of this empire, the core of the Warner Bros. saga cannot be found in its commercial successes. It is the story of four brothers—Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack—whose vision for Hollywood helped shape the world of entertainment.

In The Warner Brothers, Chris Yogerst follows the siblings from their family's humble origins in Poland, through their young adulthood in the American Midwest, to the height of fame and fortune in Hollywood. With unwavering resolve, the brothers soldiered on against the backdrop of an America reeling from the aftereffects of domestic and global conflict. The Great Depression would not sink the brothers, who churned out competitive films that engaged audiences and kept their operations afloat. During World War II, they used their platform to push beyond the limits of the Production Code and create important films about real-world issues, openly criticizing radicalism and the evils of the Nazi regime. At every major cultural turning point in their lifetime, the Warners held a front-row seat. Paying close attention to the brothers' identities as cultural and economic outsiders, Yogerst chronicles how the Warners built a global filmmaking powerhouse.

©2023 The University Press of Kentucky (P)2023 Tantor

Wonder boys

History of a Polish immigrant family that they came extremely successful while creating Hollywood. Would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the history of Hollywood.

Late 50s, Early 60s

As a kid, growing up, I was inspired by watching many of Warner Brother's television shows. 77 Sunset Strip was my favorite show. Warner Bros. was the first major studio to endeavor into the medium, which started in 1955 under the supervision of W.T.Orr and many of those shows started many careers such as James Garner, Troy Donahue, Connie Steven's and Clint Walker who had their own shows. Clint Eastwood and Jack
Nicholson were also under contract. I wish the book covered more about Orr and WB TV Division.

Wish this were juicier

The story of the Warner Bros remains an interesting part of Hollywood canon. This book may have been easier to read on paper than to listen to, however, because so much of the text consists of long lists of titles and dates, which makes for some monotonous stretches. Reader does a serviceable job of differentiating between voices without resorting to cartoonish mimicry (except for when he is literally doing Looney Tunes impressions). Overall I just sort of… longed for more.

A fun read with a solid performance

This was a change up for me with my usual titles, and I am glad for it. The author does a fantastic job talking through the timelines and painting a picture of the family dynamic during Hollywood’s Golden Age. It was fascinating to note how seriously the Warners took their civic duty and worked for the good of the nation. The same censorship battles from nearly a century ago are equally relevant. The narration was on point and I look forward to seeking more titles that are available.

Nostalgic memories

Nice overview of Warner Bros. A few wrong dates and some political bias. My father signed with WB in 1929 and made 62 movies with various studios winning the Box Office Award in 1936. So there are many other ways that the WB story could be told, but overall this is an important though slightly flawed history.