The Brothers Warner

Back in Hollywood's heyday - "Warner Bros." was, without question, one of Tinseltown's most prominent studios (in full operation) which, boastfully, employed some of the biggest stars during its "golden years".

This eye-opening, historically-relevant documentary certainly reveals a very vivid portrait of the 4 Warner brothers (Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack) where intense rivalry, rifts, money, and greed drove these 4 siblings to conduct business matters in a manner that the viewer must witness for themselves to get the full picture of what really went on behind closed doors.

This 94-minute presentation was produced and directed by Jack Warner's granddaughter, Cass Warner-Sperling.

This documentary is about the Warner Brothers and their studio. However, unlike other documentaries about film studios, this was more like a home movie in many ways--with one of the granddaughters of the original Warner Brothers narrating and talking with some family members about their recollections (in addition to all the film historians who comment). This gives it a rather intimate feel but also made you wonder how objective the production was. For example, I often find that autobiographies are FAR less interesting than biographies because they tend to tell the tale from a far from neutral point of view. Now I am NOT saying this film does this exactly. There is quite a bit of dirt in the film about the animosity between Jack and Harry--making Harry sound like a swell guy and Jack akin to Satan. But I did wonder about the film at times--especially concerning Harry Warner's adoption of his niece, Lina. What would a neutral party say about all this?

There were a lot of neat facts about the studio. I loved learning how the KKK sued Warner for their depiction in "Black Legion"! Or, how the studio was the first to refuse to sell movies in Germany and made the first anti-Nazi film from Hollywood--even when the nation was firmly in the isolationist camp. Interestingly, the film really didn't focus so much on the stars of the day--but more on the day to day behind the scenes events. I liked this, as if you want to see more about Cagney or Bette Davis, a documentary about them would make a lot more sense.

Overall, this is the sort of film that movie lovers like myself love--especially those who adore Hollywood during the classic years of the 1920s-40s. Fascinating--as it's filled with wonderful little stories and facts that film buffs will love. My only real problem with the film is that there is just too much material for a film that's just a bit over 90 minutes long. A mini-series would really due more justice to the history of this amazing studio.

Oddly, while the documentary was filled with a lot of film clips, some of them were of pretty poor quality--particularly the grainy and washed out one from "Giant". I am really not sure why this was the case.

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.

Brothers Warner, The (2008)

*** (out of 4)

Pretty good documentary takes a look at the four Warner brothers (Harry, Albert, Jack, Sam) who would end up building one of the greatest and most loved studios in the history of cinema. Although it would seem the family had a lot of great fortune, they were haunted by several early deaths and many ending up turning their backs on one another. If you're looking for a documentary about all the great films released by the studio then you're going to be disappointed because this documentary actually takes a look at the family and not so much the movies. There's several stuff dealing with the movies that gets talked about including the brothers desire to make "real" dramas and how they fought the code and other studios to make a warning about Germany (CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY). I think fans of the history behind this studio will enjoy this doc the most as we get to see a lot of great photos of the boys as well as some video footage. There's quite a bit of talk from the relatives of the Warner's and we have a relative directing the film but don't let that worry you because there's quite a bit of brutal honesty here. Dennis Hopper, Debbie Reynolds, Norman Lear, George Segal, Angie Dickinson, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. and Tab Hunter are just a few of the people who are interviewed. Some of the best stuff happens early on when we learn how the brothers ended up getting into the movie business and why they eventually moved out West.

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.