After the success of the film Noah’s Ark (1928), Harry made Michael Curtiz the main director of the Burbank studio[45] . Mort Blumenstock, screenwriter at First National, also becomes one of the main screenwriters at the Warner studio in New York[46] . Towards the end of 1929, the Warner brothers gained complete control of First National when Harry obtained the last third of the shares, then at Fox Film[41] . The United States Department of Justice grants the purchase only if First National remains a separate company[47] . When the Great Depression hit, Warner requested—and obtained—permission to combine the two studios; soon after, Warner Bros. is transferred to First National studios in Burbank. Although the companies merged, the Justice Department asked Warner to produce and distribute a few films each year under the First National label until 1939. For thirty years, several Warner Bros. Pictures are identified as “A Warner Bros. and First National[48] “.