Turner Classic Movies is devoting the entire month of April to celebrating the 100th anniversary of its landlord, Warner Bros. with hundreds of films from every decade of the studio, plus a variety of interstitials, documentaries, shorts, and Looney Tunes cartoons, as well as interviews with stars and directors focusing on the cinematic achievements of the storied movie factory.
Viewers got a taste of the anniversary doings with a tribute reel of highlights of the first 100 years of WB on this year’s Oscar show a few days ago. However that reel was nearly as much about the studio’s own home grown output as it w as about some classics it acquired ownership to through various transactions with the likes of MGM, New Line Cinema, and others. Thus Oscar viewers saw such MGM movies as The Wizard Of Oz, Singin’ In The Rain, Ben-Hur,
and 2001, along with NL behemoths like the Lord Of The Rings and Austin Powers franchises stirred in the same pot as actual Warners “product” as Superman, Batman, Casablanca, Rebel Without A Cause, Unforgiven, and other familiar titles generated in-house by the legendary Burbank studio. While certainly slick, impressive, and stirring, the short tribute did draw criticism for including movies the studio did not actually make.
Perusing the entire 24/7 lineup of April’s programming devoted to WB’s first 100 years, TCM ( a very smart and valuable cable channel that actually came about when Ted Turner bought up much of the MGM classic library in order to get his hands on his favorite Gone With The Wind among other assets) has assembled what I would call as pure and varied a collection of genuine Warner cinematic achievements as possible even if it is, out of necessity, really only a drop in the bucket of those 100 years.
Additionally throughout April, TCM will premiere the restorations and remasters of ten iconic Warner Bros. films with introductions from some major filmmakers and film experts as part of the network’s multi-year partnership with The Film Foundation, which is committed to funding education and restoration of classic films. Those particular titles being shown on TCM are as follows with several of these films also available for streaming in the Classics Curated by TCM hub on sister streamer HBO Max:
• East Of Eden (1955) – a 4k restoration introduced by filmmakers Wes Anderson and Joanna Hogg
• Rio Bravo (1959) – a 4k restoration introduced by filmmaker Martin Scorsese (and as previously reported on Report Door getting its World Premiere on Opening Night of the TCM Classic Film Festival April 13)
• Land Of The Pharoahs (1955) – a Blu-ray HD Remaster introduced by Martin Scorsese
• A Lion Is In The Streets (1953) – a Blu-ray HD Remaster introduced by Daphne Dentz and Robyn
Sklaren from the Warner Bros. Discovery Library
• Rachel, Rachel (1968) – a Blu-ray HD Remaster introduced by filmmaker and actor Ethan Hawke
• Safe In Hell (1931) – a Blu-ray HD Remaster introduced by filmmaker Alexander Payne
• Storm Warning (1951) – a Blu-ray HD Remaster introduced by Martin Scorsese
• The Strawberry Blonde (1941) – a Blu-ray HD Remaster introduced by Wes Anderson
• Helen Of Troy (1956) – a Blu-ray HD Remaster
• One Way Passage (1932) – a Blu-ray HD Remaster
Warner Bros. 2023
“Warner Bros.’ history is TCM history. Where would this network be without films like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, or A Star Is Born? We are thrilled to be honoring the studio that has given us so many iconic films since 1923,” said Pola Changnon, general manager of TCM. “In addition to this wide swath of films, we are programming a tapestry of trailers, archival interviews and more that will further highlight the studio’s legacy, so much of which can’t be found anywhere but on TCM.”
Warner Bros. 2023
Programming throughout the month will be organized thematically and showcase the breadth of the studio’s films from classic to current, with categories including “Warner Joins a Gang,” “Warner Goes to School,” “Warner Raises a Family,” “Warner Turns to Crime,” and more. TCM premieres will include documentaries such as Jack L. Warner (1993), TCM Originals like Jet Jockeys In Love: The Making Of Chain Lightning, and iconic films like Full Metal Jacket (1987), plus Best Picture Oscar Winners Million Dollar Baby (2004), and Argo (2012).
Unlike the tribute spot shown on the Academy Awards, The only non generated Warners film I spotted on the complete schedule is a showing of the 1956 Best Picture Oscar winner Around The World In 80 Days which was attributed to Todd-United Artists on its release, but in 1983 wound up in the Warners library in an acquisition from the Late producer Michael Todd’s widow Elizabeth Taylor. Although the studio put out a restored DVD version in 2004, it remains one of the only Best Picture winners still not even on Blu Ray. It would be nice to see this all-star spectacle given the 4K restoration treatment , at least on video.
TCM says fans can engage with the network in a variety of ways, including a Letterboxd list highlighting the programming, social posts featuring rare photos from the Warner Bros. archives, more than a dozen articles on TCM.com highlighting the significance of the programming, and a Film 101 YouTube video chronicling the history of the gangster movie at Warner Bros.
They also tout another extension of TCM’s WB100 celebration, the upcoming auctions through TCM’s partnership with Julien’s including The April “Hollywood: Classic & Contemporary” auction that will feature hundreds of pieces of Hollywood history, including such items from private collections of WB films as seven prop wands from the Harry Potter franchise, a production-used clapperboard from Superman (1978), the original WB opening title panel from My Fair Lady (1964), Christian Bale’s Batman Cowl from Batman Begins (2005), and a Darryl Zanuck script from The Jazz Singer (1927). There will also be another auction in August with the focus on “Hollywood Legends”.
In addition, this May will mark the release of “Warner Bros.: 100 Years of Storytelling”, a book chronicling the centennial history of the studio, written by Mark Vieira. It is published by Running Press in partnership with TCM and Warner Bros.,
Click here for the April TCM programming schedule.