Fall on PBS: Famous Faces and More

The tale of one of the biggest Hollywood studios started with a dog.

In 1923, when the Warner brothers decided to incorporate their new motion picture company, their only bankable star was heroic German shepherd Rin Tin Tin, said "American Masters" creator Susan Lacy.

"Jack Warner was later quoted that [the dog] was his favorite movie star, because he didn't talk back," Lacy said.

"You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story" (Sept. 23, 24 and 25 at 9 p.m.), produced in partnership with Warner Brothers Entertainment for "American Masters," chronicles the story of American cinema. The five-hour, three-part series, narrated by Clint Eastwood, kicks off several major PBS presentations this fall.

The documentary is filled with anecdotes, including some about the cantankerous Jack Warner. The studio mogul battled with such luminaries as Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis over their scripts, said Gregory Orr, Warner's grandson.

"At some point in a conversation, often he would turn to them and say, 'Whose name is on the water tower?'" Orr said.

With his brothers, Jack Warner "created an institution which interesting people could come to and battle and make their art," Orr said. "And he kept the keys."

"Yankee Doodle Dandy" and "High Sierra" actress Joan Leslie, 88, said she signed her first studio contract as a teenager and made memorable films with screen legends Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda and James Cagney.

"I met this wonderful-looking creature, this Gary Cooper, and didn't know what to say," Leslie said of their first encounter on the stage of "Sergeant York."

"He referred to me as Gracie, my part in the picture. So we called each other Alvin and Gracie all the way through the picture. I never called him Gary. I thought that would be very presumptuous on my part."

The "American Masters" presentation serves as a springboard for an aggressive slate of new PBS programs in the next few months.

John Boland, chief content officer for PBS, said in addition to comprehensive election coverage by the network, he's particularly pleased with the rebranding of "Masterpiece" into three separate categories that air at various times throughout the year: "Mystery!" airs in the summer, "Classic" in the winter and spring and "Contemporary" in the fall.