When we think about old Hollywood, we remember all the lovable rogues who created 20th century storytelling – Goldwyn, Mayer, Zanuck, Selznick, Cohn, and, of course, Warner.

Jack Warner – with his three brothers – started a film production company almost exactly century ago. Jack Warner was an early advocate for a green and sustainable film industry.

No, seriously. He was.

In 1955, after walking around the lot after hours (then, studio heads worked on – and physically inspected – the content factories they were responsible for), Jack Warner dictated an angry memo ordering all departments to stop wasting electricity.

Then, as now, sustainability meant savings. Here’s the memo in full:

March 23rd. 1955
To: E. de Patie – T.C Wright – E. Stacey
B. Matthews

There should be an immediate complete checkup on lights being turned off throughout the entire plant when they are not necessary.

About 5.30 last night the basement of the Dining Room was lit up and no one was there. The George Stevens bungalow was completely illuminated as late as 8:00 last night but no one made any effort to turn the lights off.

This must be happening on the stages, in the laboratory and everywhere else on the set. It is not necessary for us to be spending money for lights and power when they are not being used.

See to it that instructions are issued to turn off all lights when they are not being used. You know what I mean as I have been telling you this for twenty years but somehow or other, it just doesn’t seem to happen.

Jack Warner

Bye-bye Bugs

Warner Bros. Discovery is up for sale this week, with Paramount Skydance the principle suitor. At this writing, WBD has coyly rejected Paramount Skydance’s initial offers. Rumors that the Netflix was interested in acquiring just the Warner Bros film library, have been denied by the streamer. Apple and Amazon (who swallowed up MGM in 2022) are also said to be circling.

Warner Bros. Discovery owns HBO, CNN, Discovery Channel, TBS, Cartoon Network, DC Comics, Bleacher Report, Turner Classic Movies, etc etc etc – everything from Bugs Bunny to Batman to Bogart.

In the coming weeks that treasure house of content will be put into the care of someone else. My bet is that it will end up being that kindly old tech billionaire, and serial divorcee, Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, alongside his producer son David, at Paramount Skydance.

Bankrolled by papa Larry, David Ellison’s Skydance took over Paramount in August. If/when the new Paramount Skydance absorbs WBD, the company will have a breathtaking proportion of global popular culture in its back pocket. It will also run two of the most important TV news sources in North America, CBS and CNN. 

The American President has also approached the Ellisons to take over TikTok in the US.

Politics & media consolidation, BFF

When Vladimir Putin took the Russian presidency in 2000, one of his first priorities was to capture the media space. State broadcasters were put in their place. Media assets were handed off to friendly oligarchs. Foreign media outlet were given as much financial support as required to get them onside. 

We can get dismayed when we see the stories that meant so much to us, that raised some of us, handed off to people with the goal – seemingly – of collecting and consolidating influence. But it’s good to remember that studio heads have been ruthless gangsters since the very beginning of cinema. The content that means so much to us is not always in the most gentle hands.

Back in the day, the fledgling Warner Bros. made its bones with gangster movies. Humphrey Bogart played plenty of bad guys before becoming America’s everyman hero. And those old studio heads, Jack Warner very much included, were generally not people you would want to have in your house after dark. 

Jack Warner was happy to be a friendly witness for HUAC (House Unamerican Affairs Committee) to distance his studio from any hint of leftist leanings.

“Ideological termites have burrowed into many American industries, organisations, and societies,” he began his testimony. “Wherever they may be, I say let us dig them out and get rid of them.”

Later Warner proudly named writers he had dismissed for “communist” leanings , including Alvah Bessie, Ring Lardner Jr, Clifford Odets, Robert Rossen, and Dalton Trumbo.

Atta boy, Jack. Hope they all remembered to turn out the lights when they left.

Media moguls are a dangerous lot. That’s why it’s probably not a good idea to give any one of them too much power over what is so important to so many people.