myBurbank Talks
myBurbank Talks
Down the Rabbit Hole: History of Warner Bros.
Ever wondered how American westerns captured the imagination of British audiences, or how a family of immigrants revolutionized Hollywood? Our special guest, Graham Hill, grew up in England, mesmerized by Warner Brothers TV shows like "Cheyenne" and "Maverick." His journey led him to the heart of the American film industry, where he witnessed firsthand the transformation of the Warner Brothers lot from an open-access playground to a fortified bastion of creativity. Join us as Graham shares his unique perspective, shedding light on the allure of American culture and the studio's evolving security measures.
Step back in time with us to explore the fascinating dynamics among the Warner siblings—Harry, Jack, Sam, and Albert—and their pioneering contributions to film, including their groundbreaking work with sound via Vitaphone. You'll hear personal anecdotes about working at Warner Brothers, discover the artistry behind hand-painted billboards, and reminisce about beloved productions like "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and "The Dukes of Hazzard." We also delve into the legendary Warner Brothers Water Tower, its various logos, and the myths surrounding this iconic landmark, along with behind-the-scenes tales of collaboration and camaraderie.
From the notorious fires that reshaped Warner Brothers and Columbia Ranch to the ingenious reuse of sets for classic films and TV shows, this episode covers it all. Uncover how Warner Brothers influenced the construction of the 134 freeway and the evolution of Burbank's media landscape. We also venture into the world of animation, tracing its evolution from hand-drawn masterpieces to today's CGI wonders. With captivating stories about iconic sets, memorable celebrity encounters, and the rich heritage of Warner Brothers Studios, this episode is a treasure trove for film enthusiasts and history buffs alike. Tune in for an engaging conversation that brings the past and present of Warner Brothers to life.
It's time for another edition of Down the Rabbit Hole, where the staff of my Burbank Talks, discusses topics from Burbank's past or dives deep into the history of the city. Now let's see what's on the agenda today as we join our show.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody. Craig Schubert here with you once again, and along with, of course, ross Benson as they say tally-ally ho, we're doing a show absolutely uh, we're back to our down the rabbit hole series again and, uh, that rabbit hole. We started that with our, with our um restaurants, and uh, we've done two parts already. In fact we're we have a third part we're working on. Now. The ones ones we forgot and there were quite a few actually- and that list continues to grow.
Speaker 3:It continues to grow.
Speaker 2:So we will be back with that one. But today we are going to talk about the history of the Warner Brothers lot, and so much it's an iconic Burbank facility. So much has gone on here over the years, so many things that you probably do not know happened that we will touch on. And our guest today is Graham Hill. Graham, how you doing.
Speaker 4:Pleasure to be here, fine, thank you.
Speaker 2:Well, we're glad to have you here. There's a lot we can talk about. Let's talk about you. I mean, give us your background a little bit, you know, and how you've studied, the history of the studios and everything else, and tell us a little about yourself, you know, coming from England, the whole thing.
Speaker 4:Well, in England we got Warner Brothers television shows, the westerns that came over in the 1950s with Cheyenne and Maverick. They were on British television and we only had two channels for the whole country. So you know, on the BBC there was no commercials, in the ITV stations they'd have small commercials. But back then American shows were always popular and Warner Brothers was distinct in the fact that it mentioned the studio at the start of its shows. Shows like Cheyenne, maverick, sugarfoot 77, sunset Strip, these were all hits. But they'd always start the show from the entertainment capital of the world, produced for television by Warner Brothers, with the logo right up front.
Speaker 2:Being in England, did you understand always the terminology used in American stuff? Yeah, Was there anything that was like I don't understand what they mean here, or because I mean I don't think you really had westerns.
Speaker 4:well, the american shows at the production value. They had big music scores, they utilized the studio system, they had the back lots and they were exciting shows. They weren't dramatic acting like on the british television but they were adventurous and when you grow up in post-war britain you know it sounded exciting, it looked exciting don't pick on british shows that I used to love the thunderbirds when I was a kid well, jerry anderson yeah that lou grade, who was associated with the it channels. He was the man that gave you the Saint, the Avengers Right.
Speaker 2:A lot of good shows that came over here. That's right. Don't sell England short on that.
Speaker 4:No, but in the 50s it wasn't that organized like that and the American shows dominated particularly Western.
Speaker 3:You say it's just so weird how things have changed because Warner Brothers now has a division in England.
Speaker 4:Well, they had a British base from the 1930s at Teddington Studios. Oh, is that where it was? Yeah, Warner Brothers. The British government would tax the American companies unless they poured money back into British productions, so they always had that. Plus, it was a conduit for British actors to come to Hollywood.
Speaker 3:MGM had a big studio in england and, as you know, as we know it, I've been around 69 years, 68 years, and a lot has changed quite a bit, yeah from what it originally was. I mean, I grew up and I remember there were no fences, there were no uh walls, no ivy around, everything it was was after 9-11. They made that place look like a fortress.
Speaker 3:You know, in fact, on Olive, across from what used to be Taco Bell Producers 4, that is that big building at Hollywood Way and the entrance there, gate 4, you could walk across the parking lot and go to Taco Bell. And then they put up the wall and at one time it was right, like the ranch, what they call the ranch Ivy, and the greens guys, when they were slow on set, they were out there cutting the ivy to make it look good. And now you look at this place and a lot of people, I don't think, realize if you're not in the industry or if you haven't been on the lot. There's, a lot goes on.
Speaker 3:It's a city within a city yeah you know, it has its own fire department. It has its own first aid station its own, it has its own fire department. It has its own first aid station, its own security force, its own electrical plant. I mean just all the things.
Speaker 4:But that was a given for any studio. They all had that. Right. Universal had the best facility by having 400 acres to play with.
Speaker 2:What brought you over here, across the pond, to America? What was the motivation to have you move over to America?
Speaker 4:In 1976, when I came to America, the British film industry was in total decline. You remember the Benny Hill television show, television show, the movie studios Elstree, emi, oram Wood. They were producing softcore porn, basically on major stages and these were shown in the big theaters. There's only two chains the Odeon chain, the Gorman Odeon, and then there's the ABC chain. But when I left Elstree Studios, which were doing those kind of movies, star Wars was being constructed at Elstree in 1976. And, like I say, they came there because the talent was cheaper, the production costs were way cheaper. But the fact is it was the American productions that really gave the shot in the arm to the British industry. And now Britain is building sound stages, just like they are here, and it's not with movie companies, it's with, you know, banker money. But Warner Brothers has its big studio there at Leavesden which was an old Rolls-Royce factory that they converted and they did the Harry Potter films there and they're doing big productions and so on and that's what when you say Harry Potter?
Speaker 3:I've attended a couple of things on the lot that they've talked about and people don't realize. Yeah, harry potter is. Most of their production is done over there that's it.
Speaker 4:It's a lot cheaper. See the british actors. You know there's a difference between dramatic actors, real actors, and movie stars. See, this is it. British actor has saved many a film in american movies.
Speaker 2:It's like and you know it. What's funny? A lot of times you don't know they're British actors until you hear them in an interview and all of a sudden, the English actor. Well, they can adjust their accents Right but it's funny how Americans aren't very good at having a British accent.
Speaker 4:No, they can't do it the opposite way.
Speaker 3:That blew me away. I forget what show I was watching and the guy has a regular you know voice, american voice. And then I saw him on Kelly or one of the talk shows and he had his, his regular English accent and how he does. I think it was 911.
Speaker 4:He's the was one of the firemen and how he can do that it it just it kind of blew me away because they try, like some countries, produce athletes, they produce actors, they go to school, the college, and they can do the accents, any accent kind of they have a discipline. Say that the american actors don't have that discipline.
Speaker 3:So much, I guess I was just watching again a talk show, a daytime talk show, and they were talking to the actor about that. I mean it takes work to read a whole script and do it in character. The British actors.
Speaker 4:When they come over they get kind of corrupted by the big money and the star treatment. See, they're used to doing plays and coming out of stock small companies. Y'all do shakespeare there see, and they come out here and there's no going back. They've seen. They've seen how good it is. Well, they get spoiled. This is it. It's like Richard Harris when he came over it tastes the lifestyle.
Speaker 2:That's right, and it doesn't rain here that much.
Speaker 4:You take an actor like Rex Harrison. Rex Harrison came over one of the first wave of British actors and he comes to America and then they ask him to do some dubbing. The sound wasn't recorded right on location and so that would be extra, that would be after his normal salary. So he would come in at Fox and he would start a session to dub and then he'd start coughing and then that's it. That's a wrap. We can't use you today, you know, but he gets paid for the day, and then they go through the same thing. This was happening on Cleopatra See. It was already overboard with production costs, and so he cashed in on that.
Speaker 3:And, as you say, you know, now with voiceover and with the, you know, I remember when I worked at Warner Brothers, like the ADR building and stages yeah, I mean for full productions they would have a full orchestra and you walk in when they're in the middle of doing a score and you go and they don't do it in order. That's what's kind of funny is, they'll do pieces and then it's it's all bits and pieces.
Speaker 4:It depends how the editing's going. Uh, back in the classic era of warner brothers, you'd have them do the max steiner big movies. The orchestra comes in and at the end of the day they do the animation music the same orchestra. But they all were well-trained that they worked as an assembly line.
Speaker 2:Let's get back to Warner Brothers a little bit here, because I think we're we are straight. We could probably straight like this all day long.
Speaker 3:There's just so much going on. That rabbit hole just took a left turn. That's it At.
Speaker 2:Albuquerque. Let's talk about the early history of Warner Brothers and how it formed, how the brothers came to being and everything else. What's your recollection about that?
Speaker 4:Well, when you talk of Warner Brothers, you know the four Warner Brothers. It was five actually, but one of them didn't want to become a studio guy, but Harry no senior member of the family, the oldest it was a 15 year gap between him and the youngest, Jack Warner and they were basically the Warner Brothers. They were complete opposites and they were basically the Warner Brothers. They were complete opposites. Harry ran New York and the financing and Jack was doing the production, but the studio was indifferent. They got into the theater business first and they lucked out with the jazz singer, but Sam Warner, who died just before the premiere of the picture, he was the one that got him into sound with Vitaphone. But Vitaphone wasn't the adopted, it was a clumsy. You had to play a separate disc of the projector, so that wasn't going to work. And Fox had movie tone which was sound on film, so they dominated. But anyway, albert Warner was the accountant of the family. He was like a mediator between Jack and Harry and, like I say, the temperaments were complete opposites.
Speaker 3:Well, I bet I had heard that when I worked there Jack was still around and not here at the lot. But yeah, they had a contentious relationship.
Speaker 4:It was a movie in itself. The two brothers you talk about, Betty Davis and Joan Crawford that was nothing compared to them?
Speaker 2:Did they get their financing from their father?
Speaker 4:Well, they got financing from the banks. They had a banker called motley flint and I think I believe he died in england during world war ii uh supervising the british studio. But they were. They would be on the verge of bankruptcy throughout the 1930s but harry was good at putting on a good show. They set up up when they came out to the West Coast. They set up on Sunset Boulevard in Bronson and the studio was very crude looking but to impress the bankers they designed a facade on the front of the stages like a colonnade building. That looked very impressive and that's where they bring all the uh very thin building, by the way.
Speaker 3:Basically a facade well, you know I don't want to ruin anybody's dreams of when you're watching a show or a movie, but it's now, it's digital. But I mean, years ago you could take that facade and we witnessed it when we saw the billboards that are out here, that are, you know, people come out here from back east and they stand along Olive Avenue with these huge billboards. You know that they promote the different shows on In the studio business. Don't blink, because it could be a different front of a stage and two minutes, five minutes later, it could be a street scene. I mean.
Speaker 4:Well, those billboards that you saw were hand-painted in the 70s and years ago they didn't have any billboards on the side of the studio. It just said Home of Warner Brothers. We used to watch them paint them all the time. They painted those things in the heat of the day and they draw it out in pencil.
Speaker 3:Well, in fact you are correct, because years ago, when I was a firefighter there, those were done in the craft building and they would literally they're huge I mean we're talking huge and there was a slit in the floor and they would. Your dad used to do that on the garage door here. Take graphite and you know, over the design Right, and then he would paint it in and that's the same thing. He'd use a projector.
Speaker 2:And that's what they did.
Speaker 4:It's a lot. Well, those paintings were so good you thought they were photographs that they would. Now they use photograph. They don't do it hand painting but, like I say, when you had scarecrow and mrs king and you had the dukes of hazard painted on the sides of the walls, well it's funny.
Speaker 3:We went to school with a guy by the name of mitch haddad who, uh, was a studio photographer and the two and a half men and, um, one of the other shows. He was the photographer and it was the. It was on the billboard out here for years and I always drove by and go, wow, good old mitch, that's his artwork and he remembers shooting it. He was the. You know, like I said, the photographer on⁄2 Men great show he said to work on, but when he composed the picture it was different and it was outside, of you know, the stage here for years.
Speaker 4:Well, you've got to remember. The Burbank Council must have okayed it because they had a billboard ordinance, didn't they?
Speaker 3:They still do. They still do. And in fact, warner Brothers was the first and it's funny a lot of people don't remember. This is a rabbit hole, but there was what was called building 119 and the triangle building was across from copper penny and that triangle building it had its own building number and on the side coming in from hollywood, um, malpaso productions, when eastwood would be up there, yeah, and that was part of his contract with water brothers. His show comes out, he gets, he gets and he gets a seat every day, yep, and, and malpaso productions, right outside stage five. They would look out, walk out and there's their show always being. But then they tore that down and then they made it a triangle. But I remember cars being launched out of there. What show was that? There was some show that they did all sorts of crazy things.
Speaker 4:Well, years ago, I think early 50s, 52, there's a doris day picture called it's a great feeling, and in that they show that triangle and they show the warner brothers lot, they show the people. It's an insider joke. You see all these cameos ronald reagan, joan crawford imitating mildred pierce, edward g robinson, because they were all under their seven-year contract. So it Reagan, joan Crawford imitating Mildred Pierce, edward G Robinson, because they were all under their seven-year contract, so it was just another job for them. If you watch that movie, it's out on DVD. Well, I find that very interesting.
Speaker 4:It's like a time capsule. It shows you the lot driving through Gate 2.
Speaker 3:Well, some of the shows you watch today, the Circle Drive which was in some of the shows you watch today, the circle drive which was in front of the Warner brothers building. Um, they use that in a ton of shows, but gate to what used to be, gate to uh, what was that? That's a olive and Franklin, I believe it was. It was the original street. That really hasn't changed much.
Speaker 2:Let's talk. Let's talk about gate to then, um, um, it's had a lot of iconic scenes there and it's had some unfortunate incidents back in the 40s. That's right. Talk about the strike back in the 40s.
Speaker 4:The strike in 1945, october of 45, because during the war strikes were forbidden in the country. But it was basically the IATSC had a stranglehold on the movie industry. Because basically the IATSE had a stranglehold on the movie industry. They controlled all the unions and mobsters controlled where the theaters were located. So if the studios didn't pay some blackmail money to them, they could put a stink bomb into a theater and clear it out and ruin business. They also, the mobsters, were also deducting money from the unions. The union members were unaware of it but they, if they wanted to work back then and back then getting a job in the union, what was like a godsend.
Speaker 3:You know it was well, it's funny you say that. And um, if you look, look back at the history when warner brothers has a bad year, I don't know how they have a big fire, you know well, that's down.
Speaker 2:We have to down the line here, so I didn't even see that, but you know it's like, like I say, the unions.
Speaker 4:Uh, a good union was trying to be formed and they herb sorrell was the head of it he was branded a communist because he had a socialist background. But the studios back then they didn't want another union coming forth, they'd already organized the set painters and they organized the Disney animators.
Speaker 3:And I know the strike of 40,. What was it? 45. 45. That was the most violent and we have a picture I believe we're going to put in insert in here. They brought in the longshoremen, they weren't fooling around.
Speaker 4:No, they brought in agitators, they brought in the heavy muscle, the team screws.
Speaker 2:You told me privately before they had machine guns.
Speaker 4:They had machine guns. The studio put machine gun posts to intimidate people and then they turned the fire hoses on the people.
Speaker 3:People got injured and what gets me is that entrance, Gate 2, where the employees walk in or you drive in Same end, yeah. It has never changed from many years ago.
Speaker 4:It's the same as blazing saddles when you saw it running out the gate there and again.
Speaker 3:You know, let's. I know we're down the rabbit hole, but people, you know some people in burbank probably drive past that three times a day, four times a day, maybe going to over the hill, as we call it. But that studio, you know, that gate, is famous it hasn't changed.
Speaker 4:In fact, like I say, there's documentaries people can see online of them building the stages and that Remember. Warner Brothers Studio was basically the first national studio. First National was an organized theater circuit but they went bankrupt and they built their studio like six stages in 1926. And then by late 28, warner Brothers fresh from its money from the jazz singer. They bought the property and then they expanded it. But they had there was a lot of land around that lot back then.
Speaker 3:Quick flashback, when we're talking about these huge billboards, I remember when Disney wanted to do the same billboards and the Rancho people didn't want the billboards put up because they didn't want the added cars driving by and looking at the billboards. Now their stages over at Disney are set back quite a bit compared to here. But it's kind of funny because Burbank did have an ordinance and I remember a city councilman I drove by it coming here today Nickelodeon, you know, had SpongeBob lurched over a building. I remember the councilman brought up at city council meeting whose dumb idea is that. I mean, why are we allowing that, not realizing we're the media capital of the world, you know, I mean every studio is here.
Speaker 4:You bring up a point, but it doesn't bring a lot of money into Burbank. That's the Costco.
Speaker 2:Well, that's true, I mean. It does not. The students themselves do not. It's all the ancillary, you know, it's the prop houses, it's the editing places it's the caterers.
Speaker 4:But it doesn't need to advertise, it doesn't need to put up the billboards. People are driving to work. You know they didn't need it for 50 years. It's for tourism, yeah, it's for tourism, and that's it.
Speaker 3:And now what they have found is Warner Brothers is what they call a rental studio. They all are. Yeah, you know, and that's why they're building the ranch how they are. They're going to have 58 total stages when the Ranch 16 are done the largest amount of stages under one company, I know. And they don't even, they won't even own them. They're the leasing agent for jeff worth um. But that's that's how warner brothers is. If you work on a show, on a warner show, you rent their lights. Their lighting company is not even on the lot, it's up it's up by the post office, exactly yeah right behind the uh, the main post office.
Speaker 4:Most people don't know that, because the land's getting too valuable for stuff like that to be on the lot.
Speaker 3:Well, I had a friend, that property building most people don't know. When you go past gate two, that large building on the left is the property building and they they term. They got rid of all the employees and they've now sold off all that property and you can rent it from a local prop house yeah, you got to look at the movie industry and see that it's a very complex business.
Speaker 4:The studios never use their own money to finance and the finance. No two pictures are financed the same way.
Speaker 2:Well, to this day, they said the first Batman movie never made a profit, even though it made hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars.
Speaker 4:It's like Universal saying to James Garner your show Rock for Files never made a dime anywhere, but it was seen in 250 countries and he took him to court.
Speaker 2:Well so did the writer of Batman, and they proved in court how it never made any money, because they rented everything to themselves and then they charged interest to themselves.
Speaker 4:That's right, that's what they call. Hollywood accounting See this is it About three sets of books?
Speaker 2:Let's move on from Gate 2, which is iconic in itself, to probably the most iconic thing that's at Warner Brothers by far. Identify the Warner Brothers as the Warner Brothers Water Tower Right. Tell us about the Water Tower, warner Brothers.
Speaker 4:Well, the Water Tower was like most factory plants, they all had water towers. Water tower was like most factory plants, they all had water towers and, like I say, it was basically for fire control getting the water.
Speaker 3:And the irony is that the water tower never gave a drop of water to any fire. Well, I was a fireman there and it's called a water tower, but you're right, there's not water in it when it started to rust and, you know, every couple years they would go in and fix it. We have seen countless different logos that Warner Brothers has had, but, like you said, that iconic. There's people that come up Hollywood Way and see that you know Warner Brothers Water Tower and it blows them away. I mean right here in Burbank, and that's why they'll never take it.
Speaker 4:It's the Hollywood sign for them. See, that's what it is, it's advertising it's got and unfortunately, the classic Warner brothers shield the yellow shield was the best logo Right and the AT&T logo looked pretty bad when they redesigned the Warner Brothers tower there, that you know.
Speaker 3:That looked very generic, the Warner Brothers shield well, people don't again if you're not in this industry, in that business, when they go up there and paint that, I mean mean there's guys up in Cherry Pickers. That water tower I forget the exact height, I was told what it was and how many gallons of water that tower held at one time. Like I said, I was a fireman there. There is a hydrant right underneath the water tower which you would actually hook to if there was a fire over in there, but you wouldn't get. You wouldn't get water from the water tower.
Speaker 4:But people think the water tower is for dumping water on the sets for movies, but no, it never was. See that that's another irony of the studio.
Speaker 2:See, it's basically their flag that they're flying right well, and they've kept it all these years because they know it's iconic.
Speaker 4:Yeah, see, and it doesn't take up much space. So it's like you know it's their flagpole.
Speaker 3:But I do recall being out there for one of the openings of one of the Batman shows and they made sure that that water tower was in the background, how they set the shot up Well, they've decorated it for Supergirl, and that haven't they.
Speaker 4:There are Anything they're trying to plug at that moment. That's the thing they. They light it up to do all sorts of things they put the banner on it and it's like I told you. It's unique. The average studios don't do it that way at all.
Speaker 3:Well, disney has a water tower with a mickey mouse on it, but yeah, but that's you know. But let's look back again. That rabbit hole the studio had back in the 70s and 80s. They were also homes of columbia pictures, laura marr. They had the office buildings on the lot. They filmed most of the commercials at the ranch for you Scream, jens, I remember.
Speaker 4:You'll also remember that Irwin Allen, who'd been a 20th century Fox guy, his production he'd done the Poseidon Adventure. He did all those television shows Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, when he did the Towering Inferno. That's when Fox and Warner brothers came together to make that picture. Uh, fox supplied paul newman they were going to do two separate fire skyscraper movies and then they got the idea just to do one and collaborate. That was one of the first joint productions of two major studios well, you know, I'll tell you a secret.
Speaker 3:I uh, when I was a fireman there, um back. If you're not on that lot, that lot's huge. Once you're on it back all the way to california street, um is where publicity used to be their publicity building and they used to keep the beehives for the swarm and I remember they had a set watch that would sit and watch those bees back there.
Speaker 3:That building the fire department was the security for that building. I walked into that building because you couldn't ride a bike out there. We had a fire truck or a pickup truck and we drove out there. I walked in that building, it was being burglarized and, um, I I'm not sure where that's coming from, but uh, there you go.
Speaker 3:Um, I walked in that building and, uh, there were two guys burglarizing it at the time, throwing typewriters over the fence. We were not armed. I remember having a radio on my side and a flashlight and when I unsnapped my holster for my radio to call for help, they thought I had a gun and they kept yelling don't shoot, don't shoot. One of them hit off into the jungle and the other one jumped the fence and when the police got there they found two dozen typew. One jumped the fence and when the police got there, they found two dozen typewriters out the fence. But I remember that literally having the life scared out of me walking into that building and we checked it every night and every weekend and I had checked it a thousand times before and to have two guys. You meet somebody in the you know carrying out a typewriter, but uh, a lot of different things went on over there.
Speaker 2:Of course we had crimes there. But let's go back and talk about the fires. Yeah, well, of course the water towers were designed for it. It was never used. Well, the lot had fires.
Speaker 4:Well, that's it. You've got to remember that those things were basically just warden telegraph poles holding it up, just warden telegraph poles holding it up, and so you know that they were so ramshackled and you got electric cables running all over the place.
Speaker 3:But uh well, the big fire in the on the walton set um, after it was investigated, was a john or fire. Um, he did start. Uh, they, they proved that he was. He was on the lot, he was there when it was being extinguished and that was a fire that I was literally Tell people who John Orr was. John Orr was a Glendale fire captain, fire investigator who was an arsonist, and he went in and started the Walton Set Fire fire. I remember being a fireman there and I got um dehydrated and got carted out and taken to saint joe's for a smoke inhalation but um, that destroyed the walton set. Years later, like I said they, they went back and looked at pictures and they had john or there and they put two and two together. He was on the lot and that that's who started that fire. Do you remember when that was? Oh, I could look, it's in his book. There's a couple of books that have it. What years were?
Speaker 2:you working there?
Speaker 3:Oh, back in the mid-'80s Okay.
Speaker 2:What about some other fires? Have we got other fires in the past? There too?
Speaker 4:Well, in the 1930s mid-30s they had a major back lot fire.
Speaker 3:But uh, the fires always seem to be convenient because they always replaced them pretty quickly with new sets and new permanent buildings well, that's funny because over at the ranch the big fire, as some of us called it there was a community fair going on. That I remember being there. Um, it was a two-day event, they'd open it up to the public and it was a chamber of commerce uh event and they had rides and everything else and um, a fire broke out, uh two in the morning. Um, it was finally determined. My best friend, glenn duke, who was an Arsene investigator, was the investigator on that and found it was electrical short, that they were overloading from these Ferris wheels and all. But that fire destroyed a good part of the ranch. I remember one of the other fires at the ranch was the Western Set, the High Noon Street. I grew up on Toluca Park Drive, which is right on the backside, that's where that yield sign is on pass, and I remember that fire and the LA City came in because it was so far.
Speaker 4:They had the biggest fires when Columbia was there, right right See, when they had the whole block, right you know where the Save-On and the supermarket that was all theirs that was, that was the first to be sold off that corner, yep and it's fun living in this area of warner brothers.
Speaker 3:You know when we talk about it. I went from being a fireman, um, I went to work for save on. I opened that store as an employee. It turned out I left there years later as a manager. But I remember that whole corner and then you had Alpha Beta that's right.
Speaker 4:Then you had Lincoln Savings next to that. That's right. Pizza Hut. And then you had a jewelry store there, garland Jewelers. See, that's it, that area, like you say that Columbia Ranch was well used because Columbia didn't have any room for a back lot in Hollywood.
Speaker 3:Well, and I say to people today, with the development that's being done currently, I say to merchants and to people in Burbank, those people that are working on those stages during Christmas and they need a little this or a little, that they're going to run into Magnolia Park. They're going to go into that CVS, you know, very convenient. I remember prior to the Starbucks's there, I think it was a Del Taco. It was a couple of things. There was Carl's Jr and Del Taco. That lot has been. They have a name for it. I forget it's a studio type name.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, it was very convenient, Like I told you it's. And back then a lot of the studio people lived in the neighborhood. Well, exactly, they weren't commuting to Palmdale and Santa Clarita.
Speaker 3:See, and they rode their bikes. That was a big thing On the lot and that's where.
Speaker 4:Warner Brothers. They started that they had a bicycle business.
Speaker 2:We should also tell people who may not be listening to other parts of the country that the ranch is about a half a mile away from the Warner Brothers lot. They're not next to each other, they're about a half mile distance.
Speaker 4:But folks don't realize that the Warner Ranch was in Calabasas. Yes, that was a 2 000 acre ranch. That's where dodge city was shot, where doris day did movies there. The juarez sot was there. In fact paramount used it for starleg 17. Uh, harry warner had his own private horse ranch where Woodland Hills is. That's why they call Warner Center. But it's got nothing to do with movie making. That was Harry Warner's property at Woodland Hills. But the Warner Ranch Calabasas was wide open then and before the freeway was built across from that you had Lasky Mesa. Before the freeway was built across from that you had Lasky Mesa. That was a vast wilderness area that was used in the charge of the light brigade.
Speaker 3:Well, you know it's funny because I remember working at Savon Drugs and I registered one which was on the east end and this guy came up by the name of John Wayne and he bought a pack of cigarettes and something else and I helped him and you know that voice and I'll never forget. You tell those cigarettes are going to kill him someday. Well, that's what did kill him. But uh, working there, see that in the radiation from utah.
Speaker 3:Well, cecil b the demille, I remember when he brought pictures into the photo counter to be processed, you know, and and well, in fact that happened all the time in places in Burbank. It still does. Just the other day somebody was asking where is now? You know you can see celebrities. They're all over there. Priscilla's, bob's uh, there's places down it depends what you call a celebrity anymore.
Speaker 2:Now, Bob's, there's places downtown. Well, it depends what you call a celebrity anymore. Now they seem to be bigger on YouTube than they are on television. That's not us. We're not the celebrities.
Speaker 3:Well, you know let's go back to the Water Tower. Craig and I remember when Warner Boulevard was a through street and they had condos, they had apartments Before they annexed it.
Speaker 2:The city of Burbank gave them all of Warner Boulevard.
Speaker 4:Well, paramount got the same from LA City when they annexed in Western Costume was off of Bell Rose and the apartment building that was all. See, they had the clout to do that.
Speaker 2:Warner Boulevard used to go all the way from Clybourne straight, all the way down to California Street.
Speaker 4:See, that's right.
Speaker 3:See, and there was also besides.
Speaker 4:And you haven't even mentioned the NBC property.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a whole different podcast. So yeah, Well, what about Warner Brothers? Records? I was going to say, you know, look at the businesses that were on Olive and apartments that then Warner Brothers then annexed also, and our favorite little drugstore that was on Warner and Olive. There the greatest first ever chocolate soda I ever had was right there.
Speaker 4:And then you had Chantney's across the street from NBC Right. That was a famous restaurant. That was a famous restaurant.
Speaker 2:Oh, a famous restaurant. You should listen to our restaurant show. We talk about them all and their history.
Speaker 3:But Warner Brothers on that lot, if you're not in the industry and you look back. That's why we're kind of doing this podcast.
Speaker 4:Well you get back to Irwin Allen. Irwin Allen left Fox because of the prophets of tarry inferno. They shortchanged him. He came over to the warner lot burbank studios and he never had another hit again.
Speaker 3:He did the swarm, he did tv movies and they were never the same well, it's funny that you say back in those days, um, the burbank studios tbs. When I worked there in fact I, when I retired, when I left there, I still have my fire department badge that says the burbank studios tbs and um, it was a totally different. It was was, you know.
Speaker 4:Well, that Irwin Allen building became the first Warner Brothers or the Burbank Studios tour building, right when he left the lot because of not getting any hits. That's it. It's a funny thing. Yeah, the studios are connected by different things.
Speaker 2:We talked about a couple of different things. What about all the iconic things that were shot on that lot? Give us a rundown of some of the iconic movies over the years that have been shot on that lot.
Speaker 4:You can take the biggest sets like Camelot. When they built that massive castle set and that was readapted for Lost Horizon, which bombed Camelot in fact most musicals in the 1960s bombed. The timing was off. You'd get a hit like the Sound of Music at Fox and then Hello Dolly at Fox bombs Because they were all coming out during Vietnam. You know, paramount, darling Lily, paint your Wagon tremendous flops. And Lost Horizon was a Ross Hunter picture. He gave Universal Airport a big hit, saved them but it was a flop.
Speaker 2:I'll take it back to our Warner Brothers movies, though I'm not too worried about a fair amount of Universal flops Well in Hollywood, people using your sets.
Speaker 4:Kung Fu used the old Camelot set to do their show.
Speaker 3:I didn't know that Most people don't realize when they do a show and they paint a backdrop or all the sets they used to store those out. Yeah, the scene doc.
Speaker 4:The scene doc was along Forest Lawn Drive, facing that.
Speaker 3:They would keep them for years. And again, if they redid a movie or had to do anything or a director liked something that was in another show, they'd rent that backdrop and so forth. And it's kind of funny because years later I happen to know a gentleman here in Burbank that owns quite a few of these um, oh, rental places, uh, public storage, but it wasn't called public storage. His number one client was the studios, because he would call it. He used to rent air. They would put sets in there, they the best paying client, and they, those sets, would be in there the best paying client, and those sets would be in there for years if the show wasn't being repeated and the studio forgot all about it.
Speaker 4:see that they were paying for it. But I tell you what, though? I gave Craig a clip from Hooper, the Burt Reynolds picture, and that's another inside look at Warner Brothers then, and you see the scene document, driving through it and smashing up the car.
Speaker 3:I love watching. I don't watch a lot of TV, I don't have time to, but when I do and you see them walking down, you know Avenue D and I recognize. You know, recognize New York Street. There's a commercial right now being and there's snow on it and I go. That's New York Street. You know they can change it so quickly, but it's just amazing.
Speaker 2:Now, what are some of the movies shot on New York Street? What are some of the short movies from New York Street? Well, you've got.
Speaker 4:Midwest Street. Midwest Street, bonnie and Clyde, one of the banks they hit, okay. And that was also the street that they set up the parking meters for Cool Hand Luke. Now, they shot that on location but for some reason they didn't use that. They redid it on the lot with the parking meters. It was also where, you know, the Music man Okay, big use of that Midwestern Street and the Shootist it was all reconfigured for John Wayne's the Shootist.
Speaker 3:Well, it's funny. You know 1941, the first one with the airplane that was done. I worked that show. I got oh so much overtime that was a columbia universal production right on the water. But they built a ramp for that airplane that was literally pulled by people yeah to go up that ramp and crash and it still gets me, blows me away. They painted that whole set, they brought in lighting, they brought in stuff and then, when the show wrapped, they brought in 10, 10s of those uh, about 10 of those big dumpsters. That's right you know roll-off dumpsters it all got trashed.
Speaker 4:The studios always throw away a piece of wood if it's got a nail in it. They won't take the nail out, they throw the whole thing away. I tell you, on 1941 they used the ballroom in burbank. There was a ballroom uh located and they used that for a ballroom in the picture they show the outside of it or just the inside.
Speaker 3:I think just the inside well, what's scary is, if you look back at the original 1941 the um graffiti all over the street scenes, the city bus that they used had graffiti that's today. I mean, did they, you know that was shot? What 30 years ago?
Speaker 2:kind of like blade runner blade runner shot 40 odd years ago.
Speaker 4:It was a bomb, they couldn't give it away. It was, like I say, universal. We had all the miniatures, the Santa Monica wheel, that was all done on stage 12.
Speaker 3:Well, and I don't think people realize the largest stage at Warner Brothers is people that work on the lot is stage 16. Which used to be stage 7, seven, and they put two together and it had a. You could take the stage floor out and they could put a tank in there and fill it full of water and do boat scenes. Yeah, and they use that. When you talk about miniatures, again we're giving tv secrets away. That's the. That's not the whole idea of the show. I had no idea about that. When you see an airplane crash into a building, well, they're not going to go crash a building on Sunset Boulevard. They build a miniature and it's all modified and they do it on stage 60, and I worked tons of hours. I remember falling asleep standing up on stage 16.
Speaker 4:Well, I was there on the time machine. There you go, where they dug the floor out. They put a lagoon in there with a cave and they couldn't give that movie away. Which time machine movie was that? This is the bad one, the one that was made in 2000. It's not the MGM.
Speaker 4:There are a number of time machine movies, I know. But the thing is though people, a lot of the guides sometimes say this is this, was the buzz done for busby berkeley know that the stage was raised for marion davis and william randolph hearst was was the know? He's the one who paid for it.
Speaker 3:So, people, when you drive over, come over Barham and you see the largest building on that lot With the logo on it Exactly, that is stage 16. So, which is?
Speaker 2:that now? Is that the one they used for the talk shows?
Speaker 3:No, that's stage five, stage five. Okay, that's right out front here. Yeah.
Speaker 4:They used. The Goonies was shot on it. Uh, anything big, okay, poseidon was shot on it, and then they changed the second floor.
Speaker 3:That's where security offices were. Uh were on the ground floor bank of america. They had a branch right. They're on the lot um they had. They were across the street, exactly for your main branch. But what was funny is, the second floor were production offices. And finally, oh, who's the tall, red-headed talk show host, conan Conan. That's where his production offices were.
Speaker 2:That's where he was for his TBS show, his late night show.
Speaker 4:See what complicates things is. Warner's has changed the numbers on its stages several times and it complicates the history.
Speaker 2:It was five and now it's 16. Is that the only two numbers?
Speaker 4:No, it was seven, and then it became there were other stages that were changed, right, see, it's funny how they lay it out that way. But Randolph Hearst had his own company, cosmopolitan Pictures, and the Warner Brothers were. This guy's got big money so we let him do his own way and he paid for the stage being raised just because Marion Davis had to have the biggest stage in Hollywood. Okay, and Cain and Mabel with Clark Gable, he was on loan out from MGM. They made the first picture there. And Busby Berkeley, just, you know he made his pictures there because it was there to use, but they didn't do it for him.
Speaker 4:Warners weren't going to pay for that, you know, they had a sucker and a hearse to pay for it, you know. And so that's how things are. And, like I say, marion davis, I think she only made one picture after that and retired. But uh, yeah, warner's, when someone builds a good set on the back lot, you know it's going to stand up and be reused. If, if they can, a lot of people don't realize um, back in the back lot, you know it's going to stand up and be reused if, if they can, a lot of people don't realize.
Speaker 3:Um, back in the back parking lot, you come in off a hollywood way. You make a left and right near the water tower. Um, clint eastwood wanted to fly his helicopter into the studio. They built a hillopad above ground and then the residents that live along california street got wind that there's a hillopad on the back lot and they said, uh-uh, not, we don't want, because they'll start using it as regular transportation. We don't want helicopters flying in and out of there at all hours. And the only person that could fly in to that was clint eastwood in his own helicopter. I only remember being used once or twice. I was on the back lot when they landed plenty of helicopters but, um, it's funny, uh, because you look back, friends uses a couple of streets out there. I recognize him.
Speaker 4:You know what the show that people will recognize is the Walton's House, set right by the jungle, and they don't know. Right behind that house is a real street, right on top of it, california Street. It's just the facade. They just have a wire. The jungle used to be a little bit bigger than it is now. That little jungle area was used in so many pictures.
Speaker 2:Well, I recall, and then you remember which pictures you remember it being used in.
Speaker 4:I've seen them use it on TV, but never the use that it had on the Waltons and before that in movies.
Speaker 3:Movies used it all the time Most people don't realize the facade of the Waltons, and then they would have the full stage, they'd have a stage.
Speaker 4:Right, they'd have the interior set the interior and they would do that.
Speaker 3:I remember well, Craig, fantasy Island. I remember they had their own stage. When you know Tattoo and Purvey and all that. The Deplane, deplane.
Speaker 4:Well, the plane was over at the ranch, but the facade of the yeah, well, they built a replica of the Queen Anne Cottage out, you know, from the Arboretum, right, yeah, la Arboretum was their main, but even that got expensive to go over there, so they built a miniature one. Plus, they used stock footage. Right, they use their stock footage and Warners were king at doing that, I can tell you. Getting back to what got me interested when you used to watch Cheyenne or Maverick, they would have whole sequences taken from their Warner Brothers Westerns and they just fit the actor, james Garner, whoever, and he just reacts to what the footage has already been done.
Speaker 4:But Warners also had the original costumes so they could literally wear the costume of the guy that they're matching in the shot. Plus, they had the props and the sets from the movies. This was a technique that made the warner's tv shows look so impressive, because in fact rail walsh tried to soothe warner brothers. He said I shot the movie colorado and you're using whole scenes from that movie. But of course he didn't have a chance of winning, you know well, Well, it's funny because we talk about the jungle.
Speaker 3:It was also there was Western Street back there, and so forth. I still look at some pictures, you know, and I recognize the Barham Hills over here. The Hollywood Hills has a backdrop.
Speaker 4:And they got to be careful not to get the power lines. This is what. But you wouldn't notice that the public wouldn't be seeing that, See. They didn't know what the configuration of the lot was. They're lucky that they never had any skyscrapers around Right, See. And MGM was lucky with its back lot because they had the Baldwin Hills.
Speaker 3:And I don't think a lot of people realize how much has gotten filmed at Warner Brothers but also how iconic it is. And to this day they are, I'm told, numerous. They're backed up for rental space on different stages already. There's shows that will come out in three, four years, but they've already rented state uh stage space.
Speaker 4:So warner brothers isn't going anywhere, they just keep building, absolutely but you see, another reason for the stages is the fact they're not. They don't need the back lots.
Speaker 3:They can put up the blue screen, green screen well, and they can cgi a lot of stuff in there well, I just said to craig, last week I was watching a spectrum commercial uh, done over at the ranch. I remember the ranch quite well, I worked it for many years uh, so I spent many hours there right around the pool and it was shot recently. A spectrum wasn't around you know many years, you know tons of years ago, and I recognized those houses. It was again, leave it to beaver and um you may find none.
Speaker 4:You had to be witched house you had.
Speaker 3:There was a beaver universal yeah, okay, well, but fine, none was at the ranch, and so forth.
Speaker 4:Well you remember when Lakeside Apartments was all part of the ranch I grew up.
Speaker 3:I rode my bike over those mounds of dirt.
Speaker 4:That's it.
Speaker 3:See, when they put the Ventura Freeway through, you know that's another subject I think I told you when we had a pre-meeting. I was growing up back then and come 5 o'clock my mother used to tell me, go play on the freeway, I'd take my bike and I'd drive down to the 134, ride my bike over and I'd get on those big land movers like they were real. I remember 1962 is when they put in the 134, and Vons, gilbert's, dana Drugs, you know, I could tell all those shops, in fact, the secret that most people don't realize and we could break it right here. You brought it up, craig, when they designed the 134, it goes.
Speaker 2:When they put the 134 extension in for the 101, warner Brothers fought it. They said you can't put a freeway that close to the studio or we're going to hear nothing but noise all the time from trucks and cars. So Caltrans and the state they talked them into lowering the freeway between Pass Avenue and Buena Vista, basically to underground, so that the noise would not carry toward Warner Brothers. So if anybody wants to know why it goes low there and the bridges go over it there instead of under, it's because of Warner Brothers' influence back then.
Speaker 4:But they could have counted that argument with Paramount right in the heart of Hollywood, right off of Melrose Avenue. Their Western Street was 200 feet from Melrose and that's where so many Westerns were shot. In fact they had an entrance right by Paramount that came out by the Nicodell Restaurant so they would go there for lunch. Literally they had a hitching post by the restaurant. They would come off the Bonanza set and see that's right in the heart of Hollywood.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, but now I think they're looking at the long-term and traffic and if they can influence it, they would. That's how their thinking was.
Speaker 4:But funny enough, most films now are dubbed Because you know you never get the perfect conditions and dubbing you get the purest sound. Like I say, universal had the same problem when they shot the Virginian next to the Hollywood Freeway.
Speaker 2:Well, let's bring that up. Let's talk about special effects you know and the Warner Brothers used, and also things such as the Wilhelm scream.
Speaker 4:Yeah, but most people wouldn't even know what the Wilhelm scream was.
Speaker 2:I didn't know when we first brought it up.
Speaker 4:So tell us all about that. It's when an actor yells out, ah, you know, it's like when he's been shot or hit by an arrow and obviously the studio doesn't want to have to go out and hire someone to do that each time, so they reuse. And the Wilhelm scream was first used by warner brothers and I think it was um, an alan, uh, a gary cooper picture. It was supposed to be shot in florida, uh, and it was. It was one of the people on patrol that gets shot and he yells that out.
Speaker 4:In fact it was uh, shep woolley, actress and country singer. Shep woolley was the one that recorded the yell and they've used it at least 200 times by different studios, even used in star wars. And in fact, uh, the academy award-winning sound designer, ben burt. He did a, he did a mini documentary on the Wilhelm scream. If you look at, if you google it on the internet, you'll see the movies it's been in and it's just a quick few seconds, but it's one of those trivial things that people you know should notice what about other special effects that they used over the years in studios?
Speaker 2:and I, you said you said once that they didn't use uh squibs when they did shooting.
Speaker 4:No, in fact. Uh, there's a famous photo you can see that on on youtube of james cagney ducking behind in public enemy. And they used a real marksman with a machine gun, a thompsonachine gun, and he's firing into the corner of the building. But you see, Cagney gets plenty of time to duck. But after he saw it on screen he said I'm never going to risk that again. But the photo speaks for itself.
Speaker 2:But you said they used a real gun, didn't they? They used the real bullets.
Speaker 3:They didn't have squibs back then, see well, some of the uh I have been, in fact, whenever there was an open flame or gunfire, whatever, they had to have a fireman on set yeah, I used gas jets and um I so I worked on many, many and I'll never forget a couple of them got out of control, um, that's if the wind comes up.
Speaker 3:Well, I did. You know effects guys are, so some effects guys will take it to the limit. And I'll never forget I covered a burbank fire department graduation at their training tower once. They called over to warner brothers and they got one of the good you know special pyros and on the top of the burbank tower, a fire tower, graduating classes out there. Well, this guy hit the switch. He he didn't tell everybody that he put 10, 10 gallons of gasoline up there. Well, they put out a fireball. There's a school right across street. The principal came over and said what the heck was that?
Speaker 4:and some of the, some of the effects that are used now and used back in the day is is just amazing well, if you look at warner brothers gunshots it's very distinctive decades they use the same sound and fox uses a different sound. Their guns you could always tell the warner brothers was always the most famous, it was almost the most uh we are.
Speaker 3:We are totally ruining everybody. That's gonna go.
Speaker 2:That's right movie, I think, if you're, you're listening or watching this video, you're, you're probably interested in this kind of stuff, and then you, well, we're talking about basic effects.
Speaker 4:Everything today is cgi'd in right and so you don't have that kind of romantic part of how they did these things. You know a special effects guy. When he retires he has what he calls after decades in the business. He has a cookbook and that book is precious. He'll sell that to a new guy and he'll say this is what you need to get so many ounces of this to get this explosion. And that was a tradition passed on. You know, from my son.
Speaker 3:Currently he works on america's got talent and they use a ton of pyro and I visited, I'll tell you they film in la city or in pasadena. There are tons of firemen around those special effects guys, because you got public, you got you know actors and and all that and their watch pretty close it's. You know, I know we. We've all watched the news about the.
Speaker 3:Uh, the um, marlon brando, not marlon brando, but uh, the movie that was done and accidental death, that was alex baldwin alex baldwin, and you know, uh, effects guys, it's, it's funny, there's a pre-plan and I have, uh, we've covered the effects guys. They come up to burbank every about every two years. They go up to, uh, the landing pad and they have 100 effects people and they go over the rules and things and they they talk about you know how to make it safe, well, well, that's it.
Speaker 4:You see, his production was shot on the cheap. He was breaking all the rules, see, and people were walking off the set. They wouldn't be associated with it. You have to you hire good people and they're professional and they have a reputation to maintain. They're not going to go cheap.
Speaker 3:Oh, when you cut corners.
Speaker 4:Well, it's like you don't have to put real bullets in the guns if you're going to use a fake sound.
Speaker 2:They said now you don't need to put anything in the gun that they can have the flash and the sound that can be put on later see the guns can be inert and that's why people don't realize.
Speaker 3:You know, I know there is a slew of people that are up in arms or were up in arms when they tore the ranch down. But they don't realize now, with cgi, with what you can do out of a computer, what you can do with your phone, your samsung phone, but it's totally. They don't need the swimming pool, they don't need. They're going to put it on a green screen.
Speaker 2:And that's why they had to make these new sound stages because the other ones were so old and they didn't have the electrical power and everything else that now they're able to make these inside screens inside that make it look like the entire scenery of a shot, and the technology they have with the cameras will follow that and everything else.
Speaker 4:You look at an actor now. He's got ping pong balls all sewn into a latex thing because it's all going to be replaced.
Speaker 2:With a special effects costume or something that's right.
Speaker 4:So you bring in a name actor, then you you cover his face up and you put all this stuff on him. It could be anybody, you know. In fact, the old-fashioned movies work because the effects were look real. Today, the cgi is over the top, it's just way over the top.
Speaker 4:You know, you think I got to meet a guy called ad flowers. He was. He was the dean of special effects man. He did the towering inferno. He did torah, torah, 20 000 leagues under the sea and he learned from the business. You know, and he was, he could think things out. You know, today he wouldn't be employed you see.
Speaker 2:Well, let's go to the next version of what that is, and that'd be animation, yeah. So what about the history of animation at Warner Brothers on the lot out there? I mean, Looney Tunes is out there, now DC Comics is located.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, that's it, DC Comics when they brought them out from New York. They have their own buildings here and they brought out tons of people that I don't think a lot of people realize. Dc Comics is a big, big thing still.
Speaker 2:Well, how about the old days of Looney Tunes, though Bugs Bunny and all?
Speaker 4:that.
Speaker 3:Well, Looney.
Speaker 2:Tunes were basically made for adults. Okay, looney Tunes basically made for adults. Okay, was that made at the?
Speaker 4:Warner Brothers lot. No, they were done at the Sunset lot. Okay, that was the animation. The original Termite Terrace was on the back of the property. Then they moved onto the lot at Warner's in Burbank after they sold the Sunset to Paramount. That's where KTLA started.
Speaker 3:When you say animation in the city of Burbank we have a ton of animation studios and that's the big. I said to my granddaughters we're watching some show they were watching the other day the credits were 20 minutes at three, four, five hundred people and I said people don't realize now what it takes?
Speaker 4:yeah, but a lot of that is subcontracted overseas. Right see, hannah barbara, you know, used to be the king of animation, like I say, right by the hollywood freeway I bet ross's favorite line have a dab of dew.
Speaker 2:He says it all the time.
Speaker 4:This is it. It's Hanna-Barbera took over. You know when, when Bill Hanna and um, when they left MGM with the Tom and Jerry cartoons, they were forced into making them cheaper and it never looked the same as the classic Academy award winning ones, you know, uh, but the animation now is all computerized. No one's doing anything with a pen.
Speaker 3:It's, it's funny. Well, it's nice. I will say that the nickelodeon being here in burbank, they moved from hollywood there to burbank here and have a big building across from community chevrolet. They've taken students from Burbank High and Burroughs and I happen to be we've shot stories, we've done stories on these kids that go from high school to working at Nickelodeon and now they are full-time animators working on shows. I mean to see that when Craig and I were in school we were given a 60 millimeter camera and that was the film days. But now what the kids are graduating and um, I will say nickelodeon is a great partner in this city. They um computers they give to the schools and the relationship um is fantastic.
Speaker 2:So it, oh, there's some results for you Say the magic word, and technology starts talking to you. Well, let's, let's move on here, because animation is not probably what really Warner Brothers brothers well, warner brothers at its own, warner brothers at at the animation that.
Speaker 4:That, uh, that really entertained you right. There's was the inside jokes with bogs. Bunny was probably the biggest grossing star for warner brothers, when you think about it. Okay, harry's been used and reused and Mel Blanc is the man that did it. See, you don't have that today. I mean, you can computerize the voices and, like I say, the animation and the insider jokes, and you saw them making fun of Warner.
Speaker 2:Brothers all the time. Seth MacFarlane, because he would probably argue with you about that. What's that Seth MacFarlane about voices? He would probably argue with you about that. What's that Seth MacFarlane about voices and about relevance today? Yeah, he does. I guess you know Family Guy and animation like that.
Speaker 3:And he does all the voices. I don't think a lot of people realize some of these, like Seth MacFarlane, that's a big thing Going into a studio and I just heard the other day I was watching a talk show and they were talking it is so different working on a set versus going into a studio and watching something on a screen, you know, and then talking to it.
Speaker 2:Trying to go in a t-shirt and shorts and do their work instead of having to get on costume and everything else, right? So, before we wrap up here, any trivia about Warner Brothers that you think people would be interested to hear, any trivia thoughts or anything else, things that stand out to you.
Speaker 4:Well, you could talk about the betrayal of Jack Warner and Harry Warner in 1956, when they all agreed to retire and sell their shares. And then Jack, who was leading the parade on that, he double-crosses Harry andbert and buys back his shares in league with a bank and even though they got paid off very well, it was the betrayal, the fact that they were all going to retire and jack just wanted to become chairman. He wanted to have harry warner's job and that gave him a stroke there and I think a year or so later Harry died and he and his wife went to you know said it was Jack that really killed him. A few weeks after, after that betrayal, jack was vacationing in France and then he has the big traffic accident there. That puts him in the hospital for quite a while and then when he comes back to the studio they put up the big banner welcome back, jack. You know, uh, jl warner, like walt disney, had a genius for using other people's genius. If it was just, if it was another business, he was starved to death without the brothers. They handed it to him on a plate, the studio, and he had the best talent. But even they were double-crossed.
Speaker 4:Daryl Zanuck was the first to go. He was the man that gave them their biggest hits, starting out Rin Tin Tin writing and producing those. And then Hal Wallace, who was the legendary producer at Warner's. He gave him Casablanca and Hal left because everybody in Hollywood knew that Hal produced the movie Casablanca. But when the Academy Award it was Jack Warner who jumped up to the stage first and accepted the Oscar and totally humiliated Hal Wallace. And then he goes over to Paramount and becomes a big producer there.
Speaker 4:But JL was always flamboyant. You know, james Garner used to had a story when an actor would or a producer would play up, they'd be invited or they'd be told to see Jack in his office and to end an argument he'd always point to the water tower and say whose name's on the water tower. That was his big and that was true. Now I found out a lot about Warners from Dick Mason. He started out at the mailroom at Warner Brothers and it was Dick that was asked to start the tour during the Burbank studio period. They were looking for some money. They were so desperate for income and Universal was doing so well with their tour they could never compete with that that's funny because most people don't realize.
Speaker 3:And again you drive down Olive or make that turn at Hollowed Way in Olive the tour office was that tiny.
Speaker 4:It was $2. It was $2 for the tour. It was a couple hours. They had no advertising budget, it was all word of mouth. They might get some free advertising in the travel magazines, but it slowly built up well you know now.
Speaker 3:I remember many years ago, before the tour office kind of, when they decided to rebuild it, got its own parking structure, its own everything over there. The the couch from friends is on the lot now but um in um wonder woman, the city bronze wonder woman is in front of the tour office, where anybody. If you're in burbank on warner boulevard, you don't need to go into the tour. You don't need to go into the tour, you don't need to pay for the tour, you can go on the tour. But I've been told by one of our reporters, ashley Erickson, she goes over there all the time. You can go in the gift shop and not buy Because you can buy.
Speaker 2:yeah, there'd be money on a gift shop.
Speaker 3:But you don't have to go on the tour, which is quite expensive.
Speaker 4:But they closed their stores, didn't they? The Warner Brothers?
Speaker 3:stores that were in the shopping malls.
Speaker 4:And Disney is not doing good either. So yeah, the tour started off very small and then it grew and then Paramount started their tour. What people don't realize is that, even though 20th Century Fox had a tour given by Gray Line Tours and Gray Line was the one that started the Universal tour it was Gray Line buses that would drive on the lot. The whole idea for Universal was to keep the commissary going, so they'd all end up. They'd do a quick run around in the bus and they'd end up at the commissary. Warners took a different approach. They wanted to make it a more industrial tour, which is a real studio tour. Universal is basically a studio with a theme park, a theme park with a studio attached.
Speaker 3:Well, it's funny you say that because when I worked there back in the days, the tour you were on a golf cart. There was a tour guide driving it and you could only fit three people. Now they have these massive trams that go around, but back in the day I remember when I was a fireman there people would pay good money to go on the tour but you got a real tour yeah, you got whatever was going on on that day, right, but you weren't allowed to see the filming on a stage, obviously.
Speaker 4:But you'd see the stage door open again.
Speaker 3:I don't think people realize those secrets. It's kind of like you know, nasa and so forth, people on shows, you know, nowadays they write contracts that you can't say anything, non-disclosures, you know. But I remember working on shows and people don't realize when they film on the street in Burbank which I passed today, two film locations, most of the time they won't say what production it is.
Speaker 4:No, they don't want the people to know they used to advertise on the side of the trucks. They'd say Rockford Files, NBC or.
Speaker 3:Window Placard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they'd have that. One of my people here at the house worked on Star Trek, but because you say Star Trek, it's going to bring everybody, so they called it Royal Flush. So you worked on Royal Flush, you didn't work on Star Trek. So they just changed the name during production so that they know what it is. But the people in the outside, oh, royal, what's that? Oh, I don't know Some movie I don't know about it, you know.
Speaker 3:Well, you know a quick flashback when you say that, working on what I for many years working on, when I for many years warner's had their own development lab.
Speaker 4:I mean where they, you know, pictures, research, the oldest studios at their research department archives but I mean processing film and so forth.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they used to be able to buy what was called 5247 and what it was was if when they did a shoot with film they would have extra 30 feet to end feet of leader and they would sell that off for 10 cents, 20 cents. And there was a company here in burbank and down on, uh, highland that would process 5247 and you would get slides out of it, negatives, prints all out of movie film and you go buy a loader and load your own film.
Speaker 4:I remember saving tons of money I think it was a camera store on coenga in hollywood. Mel mel pierce yeah, he was there for the longest time, yeah, so Mel Pierce. Yeah, he was there for the longest time.
Speaker 3:So well that you know it's uh when you, you think about it.
Speaker 4:all these different things connect, If you, if you're saying that it happens all the time.
Speaker 3:Well, and like we've talked here for you know a good hour and just amazing people that aren't in the in the industry, or you go and you watch a movie or whatever and realize 90% of it is done in your backyard. You know, you drive by down Olive, and you go wow, all that was filmed right there. Kind of blows you away.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Well. I think this has been a great show. I think, you know, think people get a little understanding of what we have here in Burbank and just one of our gems in Burbank, of course, we have now the Burbank Studios, which was NBC. We have Disney here, we have Nickelodeon, we have major sound stages.
Speaker 4:It gets complicated when you talk about the NBC the Burbank Studios. That's why these things touch on each other. You know the history.
Speaker 2:That's why we're here to kind of let people know this is what is going on. We're going to come back and talk about.
Speaker 3:NBC in the future. I think when you talk about that, craig, you know the other day I'm driving up Hollywood Way next to that MGM sphere, right, and you everybody sees it on tv or if you're in vegas, all that production, all that r&d, research and development is done right here in burbank. That's what that facility is for, right, they have square footage over on the old NBC lot MGM Studios, and that was another studio that people you know. We dropped the names Warner Brothers and Nickelodeon and Disney. Now we've got to add in their MGM.
Speaker 4:See what confuses people is that Warner Brothers when they bought out, you know, mgm and they've got the biggest library, they've got the RKO library. And to the public they think it's all been Warner Brothers all this time. See, they think Ben-Hur was made by Warner. You see, it's kind of complicated. It's so much, you know. People only know about recent history of any studio.
Speaker 2:And the sad part is that Warner Brothers doesn't make movies anymore. They're basically just distribution and rental. That's all they are. That's all they do. They don't make. They make deals. Yeah, they make deals. There it's funny.
Speaker 3:You say that because I, after I left the studio, I was involved in something and I was with an attorney and he said when you drive by the Circle, drive those aren't studio executives, those are all attorneys in there.
Speaker 4:Plus the fact the executives have a revolving door. They're at Paramount one year, then they're at Warner's and there's no continuity of leadership. See, that's like free agency in sports. This is why it takes decades to get a movie made. You get everything going with the executives and then the minute you're about to start the picture, he's fired and a new guy comes in and he doesn't want anything that the old guy locates.
Speaker 2:Well, that's what Paramount's going through right now. I guess Guy Dance bought Paramount and now all the Paramount deals are up in the air, and now it's going to be a whole new studio there. This is it the more things change, the more they stay the same. It's more of a rabbit hole than anything. Yes, it is.
Speaker 3:Well, like you just said, down that rabbit hole, and we got to travel down that rabbit hole today. Yes, we did. And I'll tell you, graham, your knowledge of you, brought out with with you, uh, you know, from uh, england and so forth it. It was a pleasure having you, uh, do this podcast with us, grateful to be here. I think it's uh some of the background and then we're going to do other.
Speaker 2:Yes, we said the rabbit hole actually is a very large hole it's become a black hole.
Speaker 3:Well, and, and people don't realize, this little community is Burbank, 17.1 square miles, known as the media capital of the world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and as we speak, warner Brothers, history is being remade already, every day, this is it Anyhow well for Graham Hill and, of course, for Ross Benson, greg Sherwood saying thank you very much for listening and please continue to support our channel and we will talk to you next time.
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