godfather of the talking screen." The studio's net profit was now over $14,000,000.00. During this time, Warner soon also grew tired of the Hollywood atmosphere and acquired a twenty-two acre ranch in Mount Vernon, New York. Once Warner returned to New York, he and Albert found work together once again. The Great Depression Following Albert's advice, Jack and Harry Warner acquired three Paramount stars (William Powell, Kay Francis and Ruth Chatterton) for salaries doubled from their previous ones. This move proved to be a success, and stockholders maintained confidence in the Warners. The first year of the Great Depression, 1930, did not damage the studio badly, and Warner was even able to acquire more theaters for the studio in Atlantic City. During this time, Warner was also engaged in a lawsuit with a Boston stockholder who accused him of trying use money from the studio's profitable businesses to try to purchase his vast 300 shares of stock about declare monopoly. The company would, however, suffer a minor financial blow during the year after Motley Flint, the longtime banker for the studio, and by now also a close friend of the Warners, was murdered by an angry investor. In the latter part of 1929, much to Harry's dismay, younger brother Jack would hire sixty-one-year-old actor George Arliss to star in the studio's film Disraeli. To Warner's surprise, the film Disraeli would go to be a success at the box office, and Warner was convinced to make Arliss a top star for the studio as well. During the Depression era, the studio also produced a series of gangster films; Warner Bros. soon became known as "gangster studio." The studio's first gangster film Little Caesar was a great success at the box office. Following Little Caesar, the studio agreed to cast Edward Robinson in a wave of gangster pictures. The studio's second gangster film, The Public Enemy, would also make James Cagney arguably the studio's new top star, and the Warners were now further convinced to make more gangster films as well. Another gangster film the studio released during the Depression era was the critically acclaimed I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. The film made Paul Muni a top studio star, and also got audiences in the United States to question the legal system as well. However, they would begin to feel the effects of the Depression in 1931. As ticket