The Brothers Warner Page #3

...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.

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