Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul

The old Technicolor home movies are nice to watch, but this shallow biography of Warner Brothers chief Jack Warner offers scant insight into what made him tick, and disappointingly little history of the Warner Brothers studio. Written, directed, and produced by Warner's grandson, the overall message of the documentary seems to be that Warner (who was widely hated in Hollywood) may have had a few faults, but was mostly a great old guy.

After reading a previous glowing comment, I was hoping for something "unique...enchanted...marvelous...fresh...delightful...". But only my strong interest in film history kept me watching. Others may want to pass on this one.

While there has been a lot of press around Jack Warner, there has never been such an insider's look at the Warner family. Warner grandson and filmmaker Gregory Orr takes us on an enchanted and marvelous journey of the Warner empire. The film includes never-before-seen home movie footage and exclusive details of the Warners. The result is a fresh and delightful look at the rise and fall of one of the most powerful movie industry families. Orr is an accomplished storyteller and the editing is particularly good. Highly recommended.

Of the two bio/docs made in 2006-7 by Warner grand kids about the two principal brothers this is clearly the superior work. Whereas Cass Warner's love letter to her grandfather, Harry Warner, is fun to watch, especially when it is dealing with the extremely vitriolic relationship between Harry and Jack, it is an exercise in angel versus devil. In Gregory Orr's more balanced, nuanced and ultimately more convincing portrait of his grandfather, Jack Warner, good guy and bad guy are combined, as they are with most of us, into one highly imperfect human package. The result is a fascinating study in venality, deceit and cruelty, to be sure, but also indomitability, brashness and, most vividly of all, joi de vivre. My only quibbles with it are that Efrem Zimbalest is not the most compelling of narrators and I would have liked more detail about key WB films under Jack's tutelage like "Treasure", "The Letter", and "My Fair Lady", to mention nothing of "Baby Jane", which is barely mentioned. A minus.

PS...For the record I disagree with the film's title. Last mogul was Wasserman, down the road at Universal.

Wow....it's interesting to have watched this after I'd already seen "The Brothers Warner" (2008). "The Brothers Warner" was a very long, thorough and no holds barred biography on all four of the Warners--with a strong emphasis on Jack. And, because it was made with the help and cooperation of the families of the other three brothers, it was VERY uncomplimentary and described him as practically an incarnation of the Devil! But, with "Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul", the film was made with significant help of his grandson, son-in-law and son--and you hear fewer of the accounts of what a jerk Jack was--and history has well established that he was an awful person. Still, the film is interesting...but also VERY, VERY short. The biggest problem is that the history of the studio itself seemed an afterthought at best and the context for the things he did seemed to be missing. As a result, it just felt sketchy and superficial.

My advice is to skip this film unless you have already watched "The Brothers Warner" and just want more....otherwise, just see "The Brothers Warner"--it's better in every possible way.

As Old Hollywood vanishes and the market-driven economy dictates more of what we see, this is an interesting film to see even if only to reflect on how different things were "back then;" but it's also quite watchable in its own right. For the student of film history, or the newcomer to the world of early Hollywood, this engrossing portrait provides plenty of memorable material, and archival footage that film buffs will eat up. When you know going in that the filmmaker is the grandson of the movie's subject, there is concern that this will be a fawning document of a superficially great man. But, Mr. Orr does a good job of balancing the profile of someone he knew with a sharp editorial eye. The narration is well-written. This is well worth seeing.