Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. was an American entertainment company active from 1967 until 1969.
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Industry | Film Television Music |
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Genre | Entertainment |
Fate | Acquired by Kinney National Company and rebranded as Warner Bros. Inc. |
Predecessor | Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. Seven Arts Productions |
Successor | Warner Bros. Inc. Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Records Inc. |
Founded | July 15, 1967[1] |
Defunct | December 16, 1969[2] |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Jack L. Warner Kenneth Hyman |
Parent | Independent (1967–1969) Kinney National Company (1969) |
Subsidiaries | Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Television Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records Seven Arts Productions |
History
Seven Arts Productions acquired Jack L. Warner's controlling interest in Warner Bros. Pictures for $32 million[3][4][5] in November 1966. The merger between two companies was completed by July 1967, and the combined company was named Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.
The acquisition included the black and white Looney Tunes (plus the non-Harman and Ising Merrie Melodies) library, Warner Bros. Records (which was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Records), and Reprise Records. Later that same year, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts purchased Atlantic Records. Those record labels were combined in 1971 with two other acquisitions (Elektra Records and its sister label Nonesuch Records) in a new holding company, Warner-Elektra-Atlantic, under the direction of Mo Ostin[6] and Joe Smith.
The head of production was Kenneth Hyman, son of Seven Arts co-founder Eliot Hyman. The first film of production and distribution was Reflections in a Golden Eye. Cool Hand Luke was the final film produced by Warner Bros. Pictures before and after changing its name.
Acquisition by Kinney
From January 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was acquired by Kinney National Company, and, in August that year, Ted Ashley became a chairman of the film studio. On December 16, 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was rebranded as Warner Bros. Inc.
Warner Bros.-Seven Arts subsequently went defunct. The final film was Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, which was released in February 1970. The studio's next film, Woodstock, which was released in March, was credited as a Warner Bros. production, and this credit would be applied to all other productions from the studio afterward with Warner Bros. reestablished as a major film studio. However, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts used its brand for the film The Phynx, which was released in May 1970 as the creator.
After acquisitions of WB, and due to a financial scandal[7] over its parking operations, Kinney National spun off its non-entertainment assets in September 1971 as National Kinney Corporation, and changed its name to Warner Communications Inc. on February 10, 1972.
Filmography
- The Shuttered Room (1967)
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Camelot (1967)
- Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
- Wait Until Dark (1967)
- Cool Hand Luke (1967)
- The Cats (1968)
- Firecreek (1968)
- Countdown (1968)
- Norman Normal (1968)
- Bye Bye Braverman (1968)
- Kona Coast (1968)
- Chubasco (1968)
- Petulia (1968)
- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
- The Green Berets (1968)
- Assignment to Kill (1968)
- I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968)
- Rachel, Rachel (1968)
- Finian's Rainbow (1968)
- Bullitt (1968)
- Sweet November (1968)
- The Sea Gull (1968)
- The Sergeant (1968)
- Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968); with Hammer Films
- The Picasso Summer (1969)
- The Big Bounce (1969)
- 2000 Years Later (1969)
- The Wild Bunch (1969)
- The Learning Tree (1969)
- The Rain People (1969)
- The Valley of Gwangi (1969); with Hammer Films
- The Great Bank Robbery (1969)
- Moon Zero Two (1969); with Hammer Films
- Once You Kiss a Stranger (1969)
- The Sweet Body of Deborah (1969)
- The Arrangement (1969)
- The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970); with David Paradine Productions and London Weekend Television
- Crescendo (1970)
- Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970)
- Start the Revolution Without Me (1970)
- Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1970); with Hammer Films
See also
- List of record labels
- Kinney National Company
- Kinney Parking Company
- National Kinney Corporation
- Warner Communications
References
- "cn-0439.pdf" (PDF). www.justice.gov. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- "Warner Bros. Drops Name of Seven Arts". Valley Times. 16 December 1969. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
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(help) - Warner Sperling, Cass (Director) (2008). The Brothers Warner (DVD film documentary). Warner Sisters, Inc. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016.
- "Company History". warnerbros.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- "Warner Brothers Records Story". bsnpubs.com. 23 April 2004. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- "Mo Ostin Biography". rockhall.com. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
- "List of corporate scandals". Financial Analyses. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2015.