Today In History

In 1903, the four brothers Albert, Sam, Harry, and Jack Warner began in the film business as traveling exhibitors, moving throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania with their portable projector. By 1907, they were operating the Cascade Theatre in New Castle, Pennsylvania, with Albert and Harry selling tickets, Sam ran the hand-crank projector while Jack sang “illustrated” songs during the intermissions to sister Rose's piano accompaniment. Within the year, they had opened two more theaters in New Castle. They soon realized that the large profits from movies would come not just from distribution and exhibition, but also from production, and they moved to California and established a small production base in Culver City. Their first full-scale picture, My Four Years in Germany, premiered in 1918 and grossed an amazing (for that time) $1.5 million. Later that year, they purchased property at 5842 Sunset Boulevard for $25,000, and the Warner Bros. West Coast Studios was born. They incorporated their fledgling movie company on April 4, 1923, and in 1924, they created the world's first “four-legged superstar,” Rin Tin Tin. In 1927 they released the world’s first “talkie,” The Jazz Singer, and set a tone of innovation and influence that would become synonymous with the name Warner Brothers.