The Bell Laboratory Science Series - The Warner Films

The Warner Films

The television ratings for these specials and the critical response to them were important to AT&T and to N. W. Ayer, which was apparently dissatisfied with The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays and Unchained Goddess. Capra had also become unhappy with the working relationship with his sponsors. The fifth through the eight films in the series were produced by Warner Brothers Pictures. The first screen in the credits for these films is "Produced under the personal supervision of Jack L. Warner". Owen Crump was the producer for the four films, and directed three of them, but (unlike Capra) he did not write the screenplays. Crump retained Frank Baxter as the host for the four films, but he dispensed with the Dr. Research/Mr. Writer pairing of the Capra films.

Geoff Alexander and Rick Prelinger have written, "From the perspective of overall cohesion, writing, and set design, Crump's Bell series films are superior to those of Capra. Crump did not overtly proselytize, relied less on animated characters interacting with Dr. Baxter, and utilized the set design as almost a character in itself, as exemplified by William Kuehl's sound stage set for Gateways to the Mind, and his madcap carnival-like set for Alphabet Conspiracy." See the screenshot for one example of Kuehl's work. Marcel LaFollette has commented that, while the "spiritual tone" of the Capra films wasn't present the Warner films, "overt appeals to religion also appeared in the four created by Warner Brothers".

Ellis W. Carter was the cinematographer for three of the films; Mark Davis was credited for Thread of Life. The first two Warner films were edited by the Warner Bros. veteran Fred MacDowell, who died in 1960. Frank P. Keller returned to edit the third and fourth films.