First National Pictures

Background
First National was an association of independent theater owners in the United States that expanded from exhibiting movies to distributing them, and eventually to producing them as a movie studio. It later merged with Warner Bros. Pictures. In July 1936, stockholders of First National Pictures, Inc. (primarily Warner Bros.) voted to dissolve the corporation and distribute its assets among the stockholders, in line with a new tax law which provided for tax-free consolidations between corporations. From 1941 to 1958, most Warner Bros. films bore the combined trademarks "A Warner Bros.-First National Picture". In 2002, Warner Bros. sold the name's rights to Ryan Kugler of Distribution Video & Audio (DV&A), a company specializing in acquiring excess inventory and close-out properties.

1st Logo (1921-1924)


Nickname: "The Silent Chained World"

Logo: We see, on a black or dark brown background, the words "The End" in yellowish-white, and below it is the First National Pictures logo, consisting of a chained globe. Underneath is the words "A FIRST NATIONAL ATTRACTION", also in yellowish-white.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Beyond rare.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1924-1931)


Nicknames: "The Chained Globe", "First National Chains", "Looks Like Earth's Trapped"

Logo: On a dark gold background, we see a dark yellow chained globe design (featuring North America), and over it is the words "THE END" in an ugly light gold Copperplate font. Then the words "THE END" fades to "A FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE" in a light gold Times New Roman font.

Variant: Later on, there is a version of the logo in grayscale. The chained globe looks like a model, with the text "FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES" on it. The words "A First National Picture" are above it.

FX/SFX: The words "THE END" fading into the company name.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. It was seen on The Lost World (1925) and the cartoon Stomach Problems (1927).

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1931-1936)


Nicknames: "The Chained World", "Vitaphone Chains"

Logo: The words "FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES, INC." appear, and below that "& THE VITAPHONE CORP." appears in a much smaller font, with the "VITAPHONE" using "electric" style letters. Below that is a very small silhouette of North America surrounded with a circle of chains, and inside the continent is "FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES", very small; and in script, "Present". Behind it there is the drawing of a flag, "waving" so it looks like it is in 3 sections. On the first one, "FIRST NATIONAL" appears, followed by the electric-letter "VITAPHONE" logo on the second section, and on the third and last section, "PICTURES".

Closing Title: The closing variation has "The End" instead of "Present".

Trivia: The same layout of this logo was used by Warner Bros. Pictures from 1929 to 1936 for their feature films and animated shorts.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening of the movie.

Availability: Very rare. Seen rarely on TCM.

Editor's Note: None.

4th logo (December 1, 1934)


Nickname: "Zooming Chained Globe"

Logo: Same as the 1934 Warner Bros. Pictures logo, but replaced with 1921-1936 First National Pictures logo.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1934 Warner Bros. Pictures logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1934 Warner Bros. Pictures logo.

Availability: Only seen on "Flirtation Walk".

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1935-1937)
Nickname: "Zooming F-N Shield"

Logo: Same as the 1935 Warner Bros. Pictures logo, but the inside of the shield contains the jagged letters "F-N".

FX/SFX: Same as the 1935 Warner Bros. Pictures logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1935 Warner Bros. Pictures logo.

Availability: It's seen on films from the period and occasionally seen on TCM.

Editor's Note: None.

(Late 1930s-1940s?)
Nickname: "The British Shield"

Logo: On a grey background, we see a shield. Under the top the letters was W and B and circle inside was two continents, North America and the United Kingdom and under was the text "FIRST NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the movie.

Availability: It's seen on films from the period and occasionally seen on TCM.

Editor's Note: None.