In 1903 four brothers;  Hirch Moses, Abraham, Schmuel and Itzhak Wonsal or Wonskolaser opened their first movie theater in New Castle, Pennsylvania.  This site is now named the Cascade Center, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex honoring their heritage. Four brothers whose parents emigrated from Poland to Ontario, Canada in 1892.

Do these names ring a bell?

How about Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack? 

 The Warner brothers?

 In 1912 Harry Warner hired Mr. Paul Ashley Chase as an auditor. Soon after, they had begun producing films which led to the creation of the Warner Bros. Studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack Warner produced the pictures while Harry and Albert Warner as well as Mr. Chase handled finance and distribution in New York City.  Their first syndicated film My Four Years in Germany was produced during World War 1, this film was based on the popular book by former American Ambassador James W. Gerard.

 Through the decades, a few dates:

• April 4, 1923 - they formally incorporated as Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated.
• 1932 - The first mysteries in color Doctor X were produced and released in the studio.
• 1934 - Fire at the Burbank studio, destroyed $500,000 / 20 years worth of early films
• 1947 - The first pairing of Sylvester and Tweety, a phenomenal success even today
• 1953 - Jack Warner decided to expand into 3D films House of Wax was the first to be born
• 1958 - Warner Bros. Records was launched
• November 1966, Jack Warner sold the control of the studio and music business to Seven Arts Productions.
• 1976 - They acquired the video game company; Atari, Inc.
• 1995 - The launch of The WB Network, made for teens
• 2006 - The launch of the CW Television Network with CBS Paramount Television

Harry Warner         December 21, 1881 - July 27, 1958
Albert Warner        July 23, 1884 - November 26, 1967
Sam Warner           August 10, 1887 - October 5, 1927
Jack Warner           August 2, 1892 - September 9, 1978

 The Warner Bros. Archives - The University of Southern California is the largest single studio collection in the world. Donated in 1977 to USC’s School of Cinema-Television by Warner Communications, the WBA houses departmental records that detail Warner Bros. activities from the studio’s first major feature, My Four Years in Germany (1918), to its sale to Seven Arts in 1968. UA donated pre-1949 Warner Bros. nitrates to the Library of Congress and post-1951 negatives to the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Most of the company’s legal files, scripts, and production materials were donated to the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Warner Brothers is now dueted with Sony Pictures.

The consequences of our actions are so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Alkaban
Spoken by Albus Dumbledore.