The Brothers Warner Page #2

all about the same time.

They saw the future

of what was a nickelodeon.

It was 1903.

Sam and Harry put their nickels

on a plate...

...and sat through three shows back to back

until the manager threw them out.

Watching others

go in and out of the theater...

...they looked at each other,

shook hands and said:

"We're in the motion-picture business."

At the same time in another city...

...Brother Albert

had become a nickelodeon junkie.

When he arrived home, he announced that

he too wanted to be in the movie business.

Kismet, fate, call it what you like,

a decision was made.

Sam got wind of a second-hand kinetoscope

projector invented by Thomas Edison...

...that came with the film The Great

Train Robbery, the rave of the day.

The whole family, excited about

the potential of this new business...

...piled their savings on the dining table.

Still short, Father Benjamin pawned

the family heirloom, a gold watch...

...as well as old Bob the horse,

who pulled his meat-delivery wagon.

Now they were in

the motion-picture business.

To open up their first storefront theater,

the brothers hung a sheet on the wall...

...and cut a deal to borrow chairs

from the funeral parlor next door.

Sam ran the projector,

Albert fed the film through it...

...Harry collected the nickels,

sister Rose played the organ...

...and Jack sang...

...or more accurately, chased everyone out

when the film was done.

I was used as a chaser...

...in the early days of the motion pictures,

movies, nickelodeons.

They wanted to get rid

of an audience...

...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...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes