Is there a contingency out there that’s still adores the old Hollywood studio system?

If so, I ardently hope that those of you with access to PBS** caught the amazing 3-part series on Warner Bros. over the last three nights, titled “You Must Remember This.” I was completely absorbed in the final episode last night in which there was no shortage of celebrities on display, be it Clint Eastwood or George Clooney. The degree of adulation they share for Warner Bros. attests to the enduring myth of the studio’s grandeur.

This "American Experience” series itself is a swan song to a system that is on its way out. Once upon a time, impressive production houses such as Warner controlled every aspect of film production, from teaching future stars how to act, tap dance, and sing, to pushing movies straight to the screen.

They were megalomaniacs who made the lives of their creative talent miserable and yet, these fellows were the ultimate risk-takers in uncharted territory. Think about it: Talkies in the early 1900s? Big business? You must be mad. They had vision but I doubt even they were aware in 1923 how their legacy would carry over to the movie and television industry in 2008.

I usually associate the "American Experience" specials with profiles on American presidents and have gotten sucked into biographies of the Kennedy clan, Jimmy Carter, and FDR. When I saw "You Must Remember This" on the PBS schedule, I wiped my slate clean for this weekend so I can get lost in the stories I never tire of hearing about how these scrappy immigrant entrepreneurs built a mammoth media identity out of sheer chutzpah.

** the Public Broadcasting Service for U.S. television audiences only.

For more information on this series, please visit:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/warner-bros/you-must-remember-this/281/