#MovietimeInManhattan #LetterstothePeachy @WBD When it says it is a first national picture what does that mean really please?

Dear Peachy,

When I watched The Maltese Falcon at your recommendation, I saw this.

When it says it is a first national picture what does that mean really please?

Thanks

A Cinephile Reader

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We asked Warner Brothers Discovery, and they say:

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Please see the below answer courtesy of our studio historian.

First National Pictures was a major film studio in the silent era.

After the success of THE JAZZ SINGER and WB’s introduction of sound to the film industry, it raised the status of WB from a relatively new start-up company to being a major industry leader. As such, the Warner brothers used their financial clout to acquire a majority interest in FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES in 1928, and began moving their studio operation from their Sunset Boulevard headquarters to the new studios that FIRST NATIONAL had opened in Burbank. By 1929, WB purchased the outstanding shares of FIRST NATIONAL and completely owned that company. The official Warner Bros. headquarters were now fully functional out of our Burbank lot. For legal and anti-trust reasons, WB released certain films under the FIRST NATIONAL PICTUURES banner for several years thereafter, but after 1936 or so, there were no films release only under that name. Thereafter, all WB features always had a little notation in the middle of opening credits that read “ A Warner Bros.-First National Picture”. This process continued into the 1960s.