John W. Warner Papers

ca. 1946-1986
Manuscript Collection #519
Portions of this collection are digitized (11 items)
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Creator(s)
Warner, John W.
Physical description
1.5 Cubic Feet, 1 document case, 4 film reels, consisting of correspondence, legal papers, post cards, a 45 rpm record, scripts, newpaper clipping, financial records, stock book, photographs, 16 mm film reels, and 35 mm film reels.
Preferred Citation
John W. Warner Papers (#519), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Repository
ECU Manuscript Collection
Access
This collection is open for research. Original audiovisual media and digital files are unavailable for use. Please contact Special Collections for access copies.

The John W. Warner Papers (1947-1986) document the career of filmmaker and entrepreneur John W. Warner, with a primary focus on the creation, financing, distribution, and later rediscovery of the independent film Pitch A Boogie Woogie. Dating chiefly from 1946 to 1958, with additional materials from 1986, the collection includes correspondence, legal and financial records, promotional materials, memorabilia, scripts, photographs, and audiovisual media that illuminate the business and creative challenges of independent filmmaking in the mid twentieth century. Supplementary materials reflect Warner's broader professional activities in North Carolina, including television production and local theater operations. Together, the papers provide insight into regional film production, film exhibition and promotion, and the processes through which a largely forgotten work was reclaimed and recontextualized by scholars and the public decades later.

Biographical/historical information

"Pitch a Boogie Woogie," released by Lord-Warner Pictures, Inc., in 1948, was the first movie made by a production company based in North Carolina. The film, which had an all-black cast of mostly local Greenville, N.C., performers, enjoyed success in the Carolinas, but was never shown outside that area. Lord-Warner dissolved in 1949 and John Warner went to work for a local TV station. His brother William Lord, who changed his name from Warner in the 1920s, returned to New York.

Scope and arrangement

The John W. Warner Papers document the professional, financial, and creative activities of John W. Warner, with particular emphasis on the production, promotion, distribution, and later rediscovery of the independent film Pitch A Boogie Woogie. The collection spans primarily from 1946 to 1958, with a significant concentration of material dating from 1947 to 1949 and a smaller body of materials from 1986 related to the film's rediscovery.

Correspondence in the collection consists of letters dating from 1947 to 1948, including communications from John Warner and Sam Underwood to the Guaranty Bank and Trust Company regarding loans, as well as a letter from the Marvel Distributing Corporation offering to purchase camera equipment. Legal and financial documentation includes records relating to the incorporation of Lord-Warner Pictures, Inc. in 1947, promissory notes, deeds of trust, a bill of sale for film negatives and prints, agreements between managers and performers, banking records, and insurance policies for camera equipment issued by regional and national insurance agencies.

Memorabilia associated with the rediscovery of Pitch A Boogie Woogie in 1986 documents the film's renewed public and scholarly attention. These materials include postcards reproducing posters and still images from the film, a postcard of William Lord, a soundtrack recording, background information on individuals involved in the film's production, script transcripts, promotional newsletters, and a proclamation by North Carolina Governor James Martin declaring "Pitch A Boogie Woogie Week."

Miscellaneous materials further contextualize Warner's filmmaking and business activities. These include a receipt documenting the shipment of a film copy to the Library of Congress in 1948, a common stock certificate for Lord-Warner Pictures, Inc., bills for equipment and storage dating from 1947 and 1952, and an original screenplay titled Integration authored by John Warner. Photocopies of newspaper clippings document contemporary reviews and advertisements for the film as well as press coverage of its rediscovery in 1986.

The collection also contains audiovisual materials that extend beyond Pitch A Boogie Woogie. These include a 16 mm color film with sound documenting Hurricane Helene produced for WNCT-TV in 1958 and a 35 mm silent film depicting West Greenville, North Carolina, showing local businesses, possibly intended for use as promotional content in Warner's theater operations.

The papers are arranged in three boxes. Box 1 contains paper-based materials, photographic reproductions, and small-format audiovisual items arranged by subject and document type, reflecting original functional groupings where discernible. Boxes 2 and 3 house moving image materials arranged by format and content.

Administrative information
Custodial History

October 8, 1986, 28 items; Papers (1947-1949) of Greenville, N.C., film maker, including legal records for Lord-Warner Pictures, Inc., correspondence, photographs, scripts, and soundtrack recording from "Pitch a Boogie Woogie." Gift of Mrs. Shirley W. Taylor, Jacksonville, Florida

June 10, 2010, (processed addition 1), 2 items, 0.50 cubic feet; Motion Picture Films (ca 1946-1986) by John Warner including his 16 mm color film with sound of Hurricane Helene for WNCT-TV, Greenville, North Carolina; also, his 35 mm silent film of West Greenville, N.C. Businesses that he possibly intended for use as commercials in his theatre on Albemarle Avenue. Motion Picture Films and Cases, 2 reels. Gift of Alex Albright.

January 12, 2026, (unprocessed addition 2), 2 film reels, 0.50 cubic feet; 16 mm copy and 35 mm access copy of silent film "Pitch a Boogie Woogie," with an all-black cast of mostly local Greenville, N.C., performers, released by Lord-Warner Pictures, Inc., in 1948, promotional poster for the film (ca. 1947-1949), and stock Book for Lord-Warner Pictures, Inc., and two individual stock certificates. Gift of Alex Albright

Source of acquisition

Gift of Shirley W. Taylor

Gift of Alex Albright

Processing information

Processed by M. Cherry, January 1988

Processed by Patrick Cash, January 2026

Encoded by Apex Data Services

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Metadata Rights Declaration
Key terms
Personal Names
Lord, William, -1981
Warner, John W.
Corporate Names
Lord-Warner Pictures
Topical
Motion pictures--North Carolina--Greenville
Titles
Pitch a boogie woogie (Motion picture)
Container list
Box 1 Folder d John Warner's insurance policies (1946-1949) with Phoenix Insurance Company, Hartford, CT, & the Globe & Republic Insurance Company, Philadelphia, PA & Moseley Brothers, Inc., Loans, Real Estate, Insurance, Greenville, NC & Godfrey P. Oakley Ins. Agency, Greenville, NC. Printed forms & typescript. 3 items. 13 p
Box 1 Folder e William Lord's Guaranty Bank and Trust Company, Greenville, NC Check Register, Blank checks & Deposit slips (1 Nov. 1947-30 Dec. 1948) 1 vol. 33 p. used of 112 p. & 13 loose p. 14 items. 126 p
Box 1 Folder f Pitch A Boogie Woogie Advertising Photographs (Reproductions) and Promotional Poster (ca. 1947-1949)
Box 1 Folder g Stock Book for Lord-Warner Pictures, Inc., and two individual stock certificates, 1947
Box 2 16 mm color film with sound of Hurricane Helene for WNCT-TV, 1958
Box 3 35 mm silent film of West Greenville, North Carolina. The film includes shows of local businesses that John Warner possibly intended for use as commercials in his theatre, undated
Box 4 35 mm access copy of silent film "Pitch a Boogie Woogie," with an all-black cast of mostly local Greenville, N.C., performers, released by Lord-Warner Pictures, Inc., in 1948.
Box 5 16 mm copy of silent film "Pitch a Boogie Woogie," with an all-black cast of mostly local Greenville, N.C., performers, released by Lord-Warner Pictures, Inc., in 1948.