Republic Pictures 75th Anniversary! September 15, 2010

Founded in 1935 by executive Herbert J. Yates, independent studio Republic Pictures is fondly remembered today for producing westerns, serials and B-movies. The studio also launched the careers of such future cowboy icons as John Wayne, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. In the 1940s and 1950s, the company moved into prestige pictures with the release of MACBETH (1948), THE RED PONY (1949), THE QUIET MAN (1952) and JOHNNY GUITAR (1954), before disbanding in 1959.

Republic Pictures 75th Anniversary:

“Meet the Stars #7: Meet Roy Rogers,” 1941, Republic Pictures, 10 min. Dir. Harriet Parsons.

“It’s a Grand Old Nag,” 1947, Republic Pictures, 8 min. Dir. Robert Clampett.

UNDER WESTERN STARS, 1938, Republic Pictures, 54 min. Dir. Joseph Kane. Roy Rogers is elected to Congress and becomes determined to help his constituents get water in their district. When he runs up against resistance from one of his peers, he takes the elder congressmen on an inspection trip and strands him without water to make his point.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER, 1939, Republic Pictures, 70 min. Dir. George Sherman. It is the eve of World War II, and Federal agents Gene Autry and Frog Millhouse (Smiley Burnett) head to Mexico to foil the schemes of a fleet of foreign spies at a submarine base.