"You Must Remember This"

From the heroic antics of Rin Tin Tin, to Al Jolson breaking the sound barrier on the screen, to Bogart and Bergman parting in Casablanca, to the Looney Tunes “Merry Melodies”, the Warner Brothers Studio has seen it all. It has survived the beginnings of the film industry to be one of three of the “Big Five” studios of Hollywood’s Golden Age still producing films today.

PBS has just done a wonderful program on their American Master’s series, entitled “You Must Remember This”, chronicling the rise of the Warner Brothers Studios and all of its many contributions to film. Expertly narrated by Clint Eastwood with commentary by biographers, historians, directors, and actors involved with the studio, the program follows Warner Brother’s from its creation by a group of four Polish-Jewish immigrants, through its history of pushing the boundaries of what a Hollywood film can and should do, and on to its current films. Currently, PBS has the program posted on its website and you can watch short segments of it individually on a variety of topics.

American Masters covers Warner Brothers’ transition into “talkies”, its fighting back against the production codes, its advocating of the working man and fights against fascism worldwide, and all of the risks the studio has taken over the years. Known for taking incredible risks with content and development, Warner Brothers has trudged ahead in the film world. The studio has been home to such legends in the film industry as Darryl F. Zanuck, John Barrymore, Dick Powell, Errol Flynn, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia de Havilland, Humphrey Bogart, Vivien Leigh, Joan Crawford, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, and of course the Warners themselves.

I highly recommend logging on to PBS and checking out this program. It is masterfully done, being of public broadcasting quality and all, and really goes behind the movies that made the studio.