Identity Crisis

PBS just showed a lengthy documentary on Warner Bros. It was interesting to see all those movies shoot by, but as the history of a studio, any such documentary has a problem.

From the 20s through the 40s, studios like Warner Bros had an identity. They had a group of writers, directors and actors, all run by the same front office. But by the 50s and beyond, with their vertical integration broken up, and TV cutting their audience in half, films often feel like a bunch of independent contractors getting together, and the studio hardly matters.

When I think of films from the 30s, I can usually name the studio. But when I think of movies I like from later years, the studio is usually just a name that appears for a few seconds at the beginning of the film.