FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD give-a-way to celebrate 90 years of Warner Bros.

As you know, 2013 marks the 90th anniversary of Warner Bros. (WB), the “working class studio” that gave us the gritty presence of Cagney, the force of Davis and the inimitable style of Bogie.  Although I’ve already dedicated a post to the studio’s history in The Culture at Warner Bros., which I posted in 2012, I couldn’t let this year end without a special celebratory post, which happens to include a great give-a-way.

So, in tribute to Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner, the studio they built and its grand legacy, I post a pictorial of iconic WB images in appreciation for quality in entertainment – on behalf of the cinephiles they helped create.

 

Here is a mere sampling of the iconic images from 90 years of Warner Bros. entertainment:

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In addition, I know you’ll enjoy taking a look at a list of Warner Bros. facts, “90 Things We Bet You Didn’t Know About Warner Bros.” published by The American Film Institute to commemorate the WB anniversary.  And, it’s definitely worth reiterating, in case you missed the news, that Warner Bros. kicked off the ANNIVERSARY celebration with the release of several special edition films sets in January.  I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the Best of Warner Bros. 50-film Collection bluray set, which I reviewed earlier this year.  And my friend Laura of Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings reviewed the 100-film DVD collection, which you can read here.  If you want to earn major points this holiday season you may want to consider taking a look at these.  Just sayin’.

The folks at Warner Bros. continue to produce a hugely popular product – do The Dark Knight Trilogy and Harry Potter Series ring any bells?  However, from a classic film fan’s perspective, the legacy is best served by ensuring we have access to the films that set the standard and that is being done by Warner Archive, the “arm” of WB that not only makes rare and hard to find classics available for purchase, but also offers an ever-growing list through their streaming service, Warner Archive Instant, which was introduced in April of this year.  Through the Archive you can access productions dating back to the 1920s, many of which have been restored.  I must mention, however, that Warner Archive offers much more than “old” films.  It has a vast array of contemporary films too along with decades worth of television series.  To give you an inkling of the variety available for streaming, I have watched all the films that co-starred Joan Crawford and Clark Gable from the pre-code era on through several of the Hammer Horror films starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.  Although the latter are not contemporary, I am well on my way to the 21st Century with Warner Archive Instant.

Anyway – to the business at hand – in honor and in celebration of all that is offered through the Archive, a Warner Archive community was formed on Kumbuya, a forum on which fans can share content, commentary, images and even participate in chats on their favorite subjects.  Take a look at it here.  You’ll note I post to the page regularly and – in order to help celebrate the WB anniversary – I reached out to the Kumbuya team and they agreed to a fantastic give-a-way honoring the legacy of Warner Bros. as perpetuated by Warner Archive.  I chose the give-a-ways myself so I’m really excited about this! 

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain’t heard nothing yet”

One of the most famous lines in movie history was an ad-lib by Al Jolson who starred in Alan Crosland’s historic, The Jazz Singer in 1927.  That film, which was intended to have only synchronized music, not speech, paved the way by pushing the envelope and eventually lead to one of the most interesting and entertaining eras in motion pictures – early talkies or…the pre-code era.  Since WB was at the forefront of “talking pictures,” I thought it appropriate to celebrate the legacy with give-a-ways honoring the pre-code era during which characters often said exactly what they wanted, much to the chagrin of “decent” folks everywhere  Those characters were often indecent.  They had illicit affairs, drank too much, hung out with shady types, went without “appropriate” undergarments.  And those were the women!  And now you too can add debauchery and indecency to your film collection!

Here’s all you have to do:

1.  Choose two of the seven Warner Archive Pre-Code sets you would like to own:  The Forbidden Hollywood Collections (images shown below)

2.  Join the  Warner Archive community on Kumbuya

3.  Post a brief comment in the community indicating your choices with a brief explanation as to why you chose the two you chose.  (Note that comments left on this blog will not count as entries)

4.  Share your comments as often as you like on FaceBook and Twitter tagging @OhKumbuya on each share.  The more you share, the more chances you have to win.  You can enter until December 31, 2013.  The winner will be chosen at random by the Kumbuya team based on the criteria mentioned and announced on the Warner Archive Community on January 7, 2014.

(Please note this give-a-way offer is only available to those with U.S. addresses.)

Here are the seven volumes available – choose any two:  The Forbidden Hollywood Collection:

I must say “THANKS” to the Kumbuya team for allowing me to spread debauchery and indecency across the land – and Good luck to all!

Aurora