Warner bro studios

Amarante

Wed, Jan 10 2018, 1:36 pm

There are some permanent exhibits but this is more of a behind the scenes tour so some of what you see will depend on production schedules for that day.

I am not sure seeing particular movies would be helpful but it would be helpful perhaps to read a history of Hollywood. There are some very interesting books - some focusing specifically on Warner Brothers and others giving an overall of how Hollywood came to be the epicenter of the motion picture industry.

A book I found to be fascinating in terms of Hollywood cultural history is An Empire of Their Own: How The Jews Invented Hollywood by Neal Gabler. As you probably know almost all of the studios were run by Jewish immigrants and what is fascinating is that much of the myth of America was created by the sensibilities of the first Jewish moguls - Andy Hardy; gangsters, westerns - none of that is really "America" - it is the myth of America. Each of the studios to some extent had a very different type of sensibility - and in the early days Pre WW II when there truly was the "studio system", the moguls controlled much of what was being produced. Warner Brothers; Louis B Mayer (MGM); Goldwyn (nee Goldfish LOL); Samuel Fox. Warner Brothers was famous for its gangster movies; Universal for its horror movies; MGM for its family and escapist type of films.

At any rate, the book is a fascinating read - especially if one is taking one of the behind the scene tours at WB.