The Brothers Warner

Sorry, but I just do not buy the whole Saint Harry versus Dragon Jack thrust of this documentary. There are simply too many specks of sanctimony that peek through the whitewash job on Harry Warner (like his paying off his gentile sister in law, after his brother died, so he could raise her kid Jewish) while the dirt on Jack is a bit too all pervasive, with only a grudging admission, at the film's end, that he might have been a talented producer as well as a world class vulgarian.

However, there is no denying that this doc is entertaining. Sibling rivalry is something to which the vast majority of us can relate and when it is presented, as it is here, in all its show biz luridness, with lots of stabbings in the back, mistresses, wives, aneurisms, strokes and tragic deaths, it makes for a fun hour and forty five.

Did I mention that the director is Harry's grand daughter? Give it a B minus.

Cass Warner Sperling, granddaughter of Harry Warner, took on the subject of Warner Brothers Studio and the brothers behind it and has made an excellent documentary. She goes into the history of the family, from its emigration from Russia, the kinds of jobs they could get, and the family finally entering the nickelodeon business. Sperling tells the story with a lot of warmth and a nice lack of formality.

The brothers were as different as any four people could be - the outlandish Jack, the good businessman Harry, the kind-hearted Sam, and the quiet Albert - but the main characters are Jack and Harry.

Naturally, since this is done by a family member, the emphasis is on the positive aspects of the studio - the risk-taking to get into sound, the tough social topics the studio tackled, their work against Naziism before World War II, and their wartime contributions. The difficulties with Sam Warner's widow, Lina Basquette, are soft-pedaled. It is noted that Sam's and Lina's child was taken from her and raised by the Warners. If that strikes people as odd, it's because it's not mentioned how much power and influence the family wielded against an actress. What also isn't mentioned is that the Warners had Lina blacklisted, and she never met her daughter until she reached adulthood.

Another thing left out is exactly how Sam Warner acquired Vitaphone, but it's possible that Cass Warner doesn't know the story. The anti-Semitism was rampant in Hollywood in the '20s, and in fact, Joseph Kennedy was one of the people determined to get the Jews out of the film-making business. Therefore, when Sam, who was a big redheaded guy, went to meet the Vitaphone people, he asked Lina to wear her Catholic cross. Unaware that Sam was Jewish, Warner Brothers was able to acquire Vitaphone.

No words are minced regarding Jack's ultimate betrayal of brother Harry and his whole family, a very shocking and sad page in the family scrapbook.

Some of the people interviewed include Lina Basquette, George Segal, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Debbie Reynolds, Roy Disney, Sherry Lansing, film historian Jeanine Basinger, Dennis Hopper, Tab Hunter, and ex-staff members at Warner Brothers - all very good and insightful.

Jack Warner used to call Raoul Walsh into his office and moan to him that he needed him to direct a film. Who's in it? Walsh would ask, and Warner would answer, "some bum." That's probably what he thought of his actors in general; unfortunately, he seemed to view his family the same way. A fascinating story and highly recommended.

Today the Warner name is just one component in a complicated corporate entanglement that the multimedia era made possible. One of the first and many things that we learn in this documentary is that the Warner Brothers film empire really started like a corner-of-the-street family affair, with the four sons of an East-European Jewish immigrant opening a cinema in Pennsylvania, with an blanket as improvised screen and borrowed chairs, with the wife of one of them playing the piano and nickel entry ticket price. Then when movies became hard to obtain the brothers decided to start making their own, and when the Edison monopoly chased them from the East Coast to California history began.

The four brothers built an empire American style, one of the most successful enterprises in one of the most successful American industry of the 20th century. Yet, their path was not smooth, their life was milestoned by happiness and tragedies as well, and they were no saints. Grand-daughter Cass Warner's film has both the qualities of bringing a lot of information backed-up by original film sequences, and of bringing a personal touch, with interviews of the members of the family, as well as important people in the industry, and film and communication experts. I appreciated the participation of descendants and representatives from the competitor studios like Disney or Paramount who did not hesitate to participate in this homage documentary. All parts are well dosed and the balanced mix takes us through six decades of movie making in parallel with the American history, actually part of the American history of the 20th century.

The documentary is informative, good, and human, and seldom falls into the trap of the blind adoration of its subject. The story of the brothers Warner and of Warner Brothers the corporation is the material for a great feature film, yet to be made in the future. With a bit of luck it will add a few Oscars near the Warner Brothers name.

Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner are brothers who created one of the biggest Hollywood studios. The Jewish brothers immigrated from Europe with their parents. None of them were allowed to have an education and the kids all worked. Soon, they are working the nickelodeons in New York City on the road to building the iconic entertainment name.

Cass Warner is the filmmaker and the granddaughter of Harry. Jack is the youngest, the last survivor, and the most famous. It's very compelling to learn about the brothers. It's fun to see a few recognizable faces who talk about the old times with the Warners. I'm not expecting too many deep dark secrets with a family member behind the camera, but there is some juicy family dysfunction. There are moments of interest depending on the viewer. I like the cartoons. Most of the company stuff isn't much to me. The war years including pre-war and post-war are very interesting. The big drama is the family drama. It's interesting to have Jack Warner seeing himself as the James Dean characters. I never considered that. All in all, this is very informative and we finally have a name.

Cass Warner, producer of this film, is actually the granddaughter of Harry Warner, one of the four original Warner Brothers. This documentary is not a retread of "You Must Remember This", the documentary which focused on the studio. This is the story of the four Warner Brothers themselves, starting back in the 19th century and their ventures into the entertainment industry that predate the forming of Warner Brothers the company by twenty years. It goes forward past the time that they exited the running of Warner Brothers the company and talks about the lives of the brothers themselves. Although Ms. Warner is a descendant, she doesn't get overly sentimental about her subject nor does she try to smooth over the real problems that the brothers had in their own private lives and with each other. The book by the same name has much more detail, of course, but this is still a very fascinating documentary for those interested in film history.