Cass Warner Sperling Movies
- 2008
Filmmaker Cass Warner Sperling explores the story of her grandfather Harry Warner and his three brothers Abe, Sam, and Jack, who forever changed the face of Hollywood by creating Warner Brothers Studios. It all started with a simple storefront theater, cobbled together with spare chairs from a funeral home and a sheet tacked to the wall. Few could have foreseen that the four brothers behind that endeavor would eventually go on to create one of the most powerful movie studios ever. Each endured their fair share of personal hardships along the way, but the fruits of their labors can still be tasted today thanks to the success of films like Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino. The Warner Brothers believed that as filmmakers they bore a heavy social responsibility to create films that weren't just entertaining, but socially relevant as well. This is the story of four brothers who never compromised their original vision, told by the very people who knew them best. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1998
- Add Hollywood: An Empire of Their Own to QueueAdd Hollywood: An Empire of Their Own to top of Queue
Winner of the Best Jewish Experience Documentary award at the 1998 Jerusalem Film Festival, this A&E program directed by Simcha Jacobovici was also hailed as "provocative and engaging" by John Leonard in New York Magazine and "shrewdly on target" by Caryn James in The New York Times. Essentially an adaptation of Neal Gabler's award-winning, somewhat controversial book Hollywood: An Empire of Their Own: How The Jews Invented Hollywood, this documentary chronicles the amazing success story of the half-dozen Jewish immigrants or sons of immigrants who created the movie industry studio system and became the moguls of Hollywood during its Golden Age. Highlights include archival footage, interviews, and commentary on these leaders, including Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount; Carl Laemmle, founder of Universal; Jack and Samuel Warner, founders of Warner Bros.; Louis B. Mayer, founder of MGM; William Fox, head of 20th Century-Fox; and Harry Cohn, who ran Columbia Pictures. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Avishai, Judith Balaban, (more)
