The Brothers Warner Page #2

...they'd have someone like me

come out and sing.

- Are you ready?

- Yes.

My great-grandfather, Benjamin Warner...

...believed profoundly in the value of unity.

His constant advice to me was this:

"Harry, "he would say,

"You are the oldest of my sons...

...and it is your responsibility

to keep your brothers together.

As long as you stand together,

you will be strong."

He had been brought up from age 6...

...to take care of

...and so he had a lot of responsibility

all of his life...

...and so that's the way he lived his life,

as a very responsible person.

Harry was born Hirsch

and had the middle name of Morris...

...named after his mother's brother.

Usually he was just Harry,

or sometimes H.M.

Harry Warner

took the business very seriously.

Was he a big, jovial,

giving-you-a-bear-hug sort of a guy? No.

Was he humorless? No.

He was a quieter person.

Well, you know, everybody loved Harry,

you know?

Well, they did. I mean, he was just--

He was a gentle soul, you know?

It wasn't that he wasn't tough and strong

and, like, you know, running the show...

...but there was a gentleness about him

that everybody appreciated.

He wasn't a fast talker,

he didn't tell stories.

He was just a straight-shooting,

honest person...

...and, "This is who I am, "you know,

"And you better be who you are."

And if you weren't, he didn't like it

and he'd let you know.

Albert was a very large man.

He had a large head, huge hands.

He was impressive in his bulk,

I would say that.

And he did not like to attract

any attention to himself.

He'd sit at the dinner table

and hardly say a word.

Always called everybody in his family

a bunch of bums.

The philosophy of life

that that would reveal...

...is that hard work prevents you

from being a bum.

Sam was described

as the family's visionary...

...the dreamer

who loved anything mechanical...

...and had the nerve,

or chutzpah, to match.

Well, Sam was a remarkable man.

He was a very rough character

but he was a very colorful man.

He was extremely bright.

In the family, he was a buffer

between Harry and Jack.

If I'm trying to picture Jack Warner

walking around the set...

...he was a brisk walker.

Not really smiling,

but animated all the time.

He had this brush mustache,

which he dyed.

It was always brown...

...and his hair was always slicked back

and always dyed brown.

And I finally understood that.

Nobody was gonna catch him being gray.

Very strong, very direct, very big desk.

You know, just like you'd cast the head

of a studio for a movie, you know?

The youngest brother

Americanized his name...

...Jacob, or Yankel in Yiddish,

to Jack.

He added a middle name, Leonard,

because he thought it sounded classy.

Jack L. Warner had a ring of formality

or authority to it...

...but he preferred the snap

of just being called J.L.

He was the frontman

and he was the youngest, right?

Well, the youngest, "I'm the youngest.

I'm an actor, put the light on me, please...

...because they're getting all the attention

all the time. Hello."

He was definitely a man to notice.

When he walked in a room...

...you knew someone of importance

was walking into that room.

Every crisis was an incentive

for the brothers to take their next step.

It became difficult

to get a supply of films.

They formed

The Duquesne Film Exchange...

...acquiring films for themselves

and for others to rent...

...realizing distribution

was more profitable than exhibition.

When one of the films arrived

as a negative print...

...Jack advertised it as the first picture

made with all colored actors.

When it became nearly impossible

to get new films...

...Harry leased an abandoned foundry

to start to produce their own films...

...and Warner Features was born.

When Edison tried to control

the East Coast market for two-reelers...

... Sam and Jack joined the exodus to

Hollywood, with Harry and Albert to follow.

Even though times were tough...

...they weren't interested in selling

their fledgling company.

World War I broke out.

Sam and Jack got hired

to make training films for the Army.

In their first film, Open Your Eyes...

...Jack played the part of a soldier

who caught the clap.

Tired of working for others,

Sam bought the bestselling book...

...written by the ambassador to Germany

called My Four Years in Germany...

... which told of the atrocities committed

by the Kaisers troops.

Their gamble paid off.

It was the company's

first politically conscious film...

...and their first moneymaker.

Although others offered more money,

Harry convinced the author...

... that Warner Bros. was the biggest

movie studio in Hollywood...

...and would deliver

the biggest box office.

The famous Hollywood back-end deal

was born.

With their profits,

they bought their first studio in Hollywood.

Each brother took on specific roles

within the fledgling company.

Harry served as president,

the financial wizard and strategist.

Albert oversaw distribution

and exhibitor relations.

Sam was the producer, acquiring books,

ideas and new technologies...

... while Jack oversaw

the day-to-day operations.

"Those were the good old days. Positively."

That's his handwriting.

Is it? Wow.

I think so.

-These are wonderful.

-That's right.

Yeah.

This one I love.

This one is so touching.

That's sweet, yeah.

This one is Hal Wallis.

A very young Hal Wallis.

-Yes, indeed.

Oh, look. This is your 6th birthday.

Society Cinema, Mom.

You got in Society Cinema...

-...on your sixth birthday.

-How about that.

Even when Grandpa took

time off, he was still making movies.

He produced a short about

my mom's 6th birthday in 1926.

God, everybody

was having such a good time.

That's my cousin, Jackie,

who was very close to me as a friend.

That's my mother and my sister.

And my dad.

He's so cute. It's funny to see him

excited and having fun.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, it's so cute.

My sister, Doris,

was eight years older than I was.

And my brother was 12 years older

than I was.

The truth is, I was unexpected.

Yeah, I was a surprise.

My mother and dad were married

for over 50 years...

...which in those days

was unusual in Hollywood.

He relied on her,

and he liked being with her...

...and he felt reassured

when she was with him.

Oh, that's Jack and lrma.

Jack's first wife.

That's Jack and Jackie.

That's Jack and his second wife, Ann.

Okay, you know the rest.

People in the family

disapproved of Jack's divorce...

...and him marrying his mistress,

especially when there was a child involved.

One of my regrets was the

friction between Harry and Jack.

But I think it was mainly that my father

resented authority of his older brother.

When Jack first started out,

he was a lightweight.

And it bothered Harry terribly

that this younger brother...

...was just not going anywhere,

and he was crazy about girls and parties...

...and so he was not happy with him.

His idea was that his son, Lewis...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes