About THE BROTHERS WARNER
CASS WARNER’S DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
It was an especially hot day at my summer camp. I was told I had a phone call and to go to the office. As I stood listening to my father on the phone tell me Grandpa Harry "passed on", a thud happened in my universe. I could feel myself grabbing for fond memories that were turning from color to black and white without the presence of my grandfather in them.
The last time I saw him flashed into my mind: He lay on a perfectly starched bed in an anti-septic smelling bedroom. A mysterious force drew me to him as if he were a candle in the dark. It was a gentle force. His eyes were opened and moved to take me in. A slight smile came across his lips. I watched his hand start to slowly move across the sheet toward mine. My hand immediately wrapped around his. The enormously kind look in his eyes embraced me as it always did. I felt his grip strengthen transmitting and sealing an important request — something of great importance was being entrusted to me. I squeezed back. A promise was made!
I feel a great honor and privilege to have fulfilled that promise!
Most Sincerely,
Cass Warner Sperling
THE BROTHERS WARNER is an intimate portrait of the four film pioneers who founded and ran Warner Bros. for over 50 years.
Cass & Grandpa Harry
This is the inside story of the little known major player in the Warner Bros. studio legend, Harry Warner, honest Abe, visionary Sam, and volatile Jack — the original Hollywood independent filmmakers. This close-knit band of brothers was the first to use mass media to “educate, entertain, and enlighten”.
Their legendary scrappy rise from nothing, their overcoming of personal tragedies, and their battles are all woven together with the times they lived in. From opening their first storefront theater by hanging a sheet on the wall and borrowing chairs from a funeral parlor to creating one of the top studios in America, four brothers built an empire on a dream and revolutionized Hollywood creating the first major studio with a social conscience.