Jack L. Warner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner (August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978), born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian-American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some 45 years, its duration surpassing that of any other of the seminal Hollywood studio moguls.

As co-head of production at Warner Bros. Studios, he worked with his brother, Sam Warner, to procure the technology for the film industry's first talking picture. After Sam's death, Jack clashed with his surviving older brothers, Harry and Albert Warner. He assumed exclusive control of the film production company in the 1950s, when he secretly purchased his brothers' shares in the business after convincing them to participate in a joint sale of stocks.

Although Warner was feared by many of his employees and inspired ridicule with his uneven attempts at humor, he earned respect for his shrewd instincts and tough-mindedness. He recruited many of Warner Bros.' top stars and promoted the hard-edged social dramas for which the studio became known. Given to decisiveness, Warner once commented, "If I'm right fifty-one percent of the time, I'm ahead of the game."

Throughout his career, he was viewed as a contradictory and enigmatic figure. Although he was a staunch Republican, Warner encouraged film projects that promoted the agenda of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. He opposed European fascism and criticized Nazi Germany well before America's involvement in World War II. An opponent of Communism, after the war Warner appeared as a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee, voluntarily naming screenwriters who had been fired as suspected Communists or sympathizers. Despite his controversial public image, Warner remained a force in the motion picture industry until his retirement in the early 1970s.

Casablanca

8.2

My Fair Lady

7.5

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

8.0

The Big Sleep

7.6

Arsenic and Old Lace

7.6

The Adventures of Robin Hood

7.5

To Have and Have Not

7.5

Mildred Pierce

7.6

Dark Passage

7.3

Angels with Dirty Faces

7.5

A Star Is Born

7.1

Captain Blood

7.2

The Letter

7.3

Yankee Doodle Dandy

7.1

Christmas in Connecticut

7.0

Dark Victory

7.0

They Drive by Night

6.9

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

6.3

'G' Men

6.5

Objective, Burma!

6.8

The Man Who Came to Dinner

6.9

Possessed

6.8

1776

6.8

The Charge of the Light Brigade

6.5

The Two Mrs. Carrolls

6.6

Camelot

6.2

Conflict

6.5

Life with Father

6.5

Destination Tokyo

6.7

Passage to Marseille

6.6

Humoresque

7.1

The Return of Doctor X

5.9

Air Force

6.4

Mr. Skeffington

6.7

Black Legion

6.6

Each Dawn I Die

6.8

Action in the North Atlantic

7.1

Beyond the Forest

6.8

Kid Galahad

7.0

The Mask of Dimitrios

7.0

Dangerous

6.7

Santa Fe Trail

5.7

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse

7.2

Bullets or Ballots

6.6

A Stolen Life

6.4

The Story of Louis Pasteur

6.8

The Verdict

6.6

Watch on the Rhine

6.7

Deception

6.5

A Midsummer Night's Dream

6.5

A Slight Case of Murder

6.1

The Dawn Patrol

6.8

Three Strangers

6.4

Between Two Worlds

7.0

The Corn Is Green

7.1

Thank Your Lucky Stars

6.1

Edge of Darkness

6.1

Virginia City

6.1

Old Acquaintance

6.9

City for Conquest

6.8

They Made Me a Criminal

6.3

Confessions of a Nazi Spy

6.1

Cry Wolf

5.9

They Won't Forget

5.7

Nancy Drew... Reporter

6.2

Silver River

5.9

The Oklahoma Kid

5.9

Bordertown

5.9

Hollywood Canteen

7.3

Background to Danger

6.6

Jimmy the Gent

6.2

The Fighting 69th

5.4

The Man I Love

6.2

Knute Rockne All American

6.0

Battle Cry

5.7

Invisible Stripes

6.2

Black Fury

6.4

This Is the Army

5.7

Nora Prentiss

6.1

The Constant Nymph

5.8

The Woman in White

5.5

Uncertain Glory

6.6

Nobody Lives Forever

6.2

Juarez

6.5

Deep Valley

5.8

The Hard Way

6.6

The Horn Blows at Midnight

5.8

Here Comes the Navy

5.8

Crime School

6.3

My Reputation

7.1

The Unfaithful

6.0

Parachute Jumper

6.1

San Antonio

5.7

Gold Diggers of 1937

5.8

Northern Pursuit

5.9

Mission to Moscow

5.2

It All Came True

5.8

Danger Signal

5.8

That Certain Woman

5.7

Never Say Goodbye

6.3

Confession

6.1

The Green Pastures

6.3

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase

6.8

So Big!

5.8

Cain and Mabel

6.2

The Conspirators

6.1

Outward Bound

5.9

Whiplash

4.9

Four's a Crowd

5.1

Hotel Berlin

6.1

Pillow to Post

5.5

Pride of the Marines

6.5

Castle on the Hudson

6.8

The Adventurous Blonde

5.4

Devotion

6.0

The Man with Two Faces

6.5

Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter

6.0

Shadow of a Woman

4.2

Escape Me Never

4.7

The Golden Arrow

6.1

The Sisters

6.1

June Bride

7.2

Hollywood Hotel

5.4

Hi, Nellie!

6.5

The Adventures of Mark Twain

6.6

No Time for Comedy

5.4

Dirty Little Billy

4.9

Espionage Agent

5.9

Housewife

7.6

West of Shanghai

5.4

Gold Is Where You Find It

6.9

Daughters Courageous

6.2

Winning Your Wings

5.7

China Clipper

5.6

Torrid Zone

6.3

Another Dawn

6.2

Men Are Such Fools

5.6

Two Against the World

5.8

Night Unto Night

5.1

Underground

6.1

Blondes at Work

6.1

Four Wives

5.1

The Man Who Played God

7.4

The Case of the Black Cat

6.6

Indianapolis Speedway

5.0

Mystery House

4.9

Green Light

6.3

Flowing Gold

7.0

The Working Man

6.6

My Wild Irish Rose

6.0

Winter Meeting

6.5

Fly Away Baby

6.1

Torchy Blane in Panama

5.3

California Mail

4.8

Give Me Your Heart

6.0

Tear Gas Squad

4.8

Dark Hazard

5.4

Ready, Willing and Able

5.2

The St. Louis Kid

5.8

Jailbreak

6.4

Boy Meets Girl

6.2

Fugitive in the Sky

6.0

Torchy Gets Her Man

5.9

Murder in the Air

4.6

Code of the Secret Service

3.5

Torchy Runs for Mayor

5.8

Make Your Own Bed

5.8

In Our Time

6.4

Fools for Scandal

6.2

Honeymoon for Three

5.8

The Go-Getter

5.8

Shine on Harvest Moon

6.0

Tovarich

6.2

Bengal Tiger

4.5

Of Human Bondage

6.0

An Angel from Texas

4.8

Torchy Blane.. Playing with Dynamite

6.0

Murder in the Big House

6.5

Janie

5.5

Roughly Speaking

6.8

Always a Bride

4.5

River's End

6.0

Back in Circulation

5.3

Cinderella Jones

3.3

Slim

6.3

Once a Doctor

6.3

Public Wedding

5.7

Love Is on the Air

5.0

Smashing the Money Ring

5.0

On Dress Parade

6.3

Broadway Musketeers

4.3

Accidents Will Happen

6.0

Sweepstakes Winner

3.7

I Am an American

5.3

Hearts Divided

5.0

Gambling on the High Seas

4.7

Colleen

5.3

Money and the Woman

4.3

The Merry Frinks

3.7

Waterfront

6.3

The Adventures of Jane Arden

5.7

Love and Learn

5.5

The Shining Future

4.0

Draegerman Courage

6.5

Talent Scout

6.0

Torchy Blane in Chinatown

6.0

Private Detective

6.0

Missing Witnesses

5.5

Law of the Tropics

6.0

Janie Gets Married

6.0

The Littlest Diplomat

2.5

A Fugitive from Justice

3.5

Breakdowns of 1938

5.0

No Place to Go

6.0

The Cherokee Strip

6.0

That Man's Here Again

5.0

Penrod's Double Trouble

6.0

Love Begins at Twenty

6.0

Over the Wall

5.0

Penrod and His Twin Brother

5.0

The Terror

6.0

Stallion Road

5.0

Murder by an Aristocrat

3.0

Miss Pacific Fleet

4.0

The Big Noise

5.0

The United States Service Bands

2.0

Trailin' West

0.0

Melody for Two

0.0

The Friendship Train

0.0

About Time

0.0

Escape in the Desert

0.0