Jezebel38 Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 I'm doing a little research of films titles circa 1932-1933, and wanted to know if anyone here knows specifically when it was that First National merged with Warner Brothers. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 According to the "Film Encylopedia" by Ephraim Katz, Warner Bros. bought First National and Vitagraph in 1925. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezebel38 Posted December 20, 2007 Author Share Posted December 20, 2007 scsu1975 - thanks for looking that up, but I guess I'm still wondering why on openning credits on some pre-codes from 1932, like Three on a Match, you get the First National logo only, and then later in 1933, like Babyface, you get the Warner Brothers logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Good question. After the acquisition, First National still existed as an entity for awhile before the name disappeared. Wikipedia.org says Warners acquired First National in Septembr 1928, so that is at odds with Katz' book. It also says for decades afterwards, most Warner Bros. films had the label "A Warner Brothers-First National Picture." So I guess we need to find out when First National ceased to exist. Maybe somebody knows the answer to that one. Message was edited by: scsu1975 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danthemoviefan Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 "Warner Brothers-First National" appears in the copyright line on the print of My Fair Lady (1964), which is the latest film I've ever seen with a mention of First National. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineSage_jr Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 It's the same thing that exists today at a studio like disney: some films go out under the Disney banner; others are Touchstone Pictures, and yet others are Hollywood Pictures. In the case of Warner's, some films on their schedule were deemed more suitable for release under the parent company's name, others as First National (and, until the early 1930s, some as Vitaphone). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbeckuaf Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I just wanted to thank everyone who responded with great info in this thread, for this was a question I've often had as well! Thank ya!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jezebel38 Posted December 20, 2007 Author Share Posted December 20, 2007 CinesageJr - that makes sense. I was noticing a trend of the more racy precodes being released with the First National logo - perhaps that division of WB was for the more low-budget quickies (60-70 minutes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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