Starting in the late 1930s and continuing during the WWII years, the two main unions operating in Hollywood—the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IASTE) and the Confederation of Studio Unions (CSU)—slowly headed toward heated conflict. One of the most violent confrontations took place out front of Warner Bros. in Burbank in October 1945, as captured here in this dramatic photo taken at the studio’s main gate on Olive Ave. Between the water cannons, the tear-gas bombs, and the overturned cars, that day turned into one of the studio’s darkest and most divisive.

This is a photo I took myself while we were still locked down due to the Covid pandemic, on November 1, 2020.