Herbert Yates
Encyclopedia
Herbert John Yates was the founder and president of Republic Pictures
, famous for being the home of John Wayne
, Gene Autry
, and Roy Rogers
. Under Yates' leadership between 1935 and 1959, Republic made 956 feature films and 849 serial chapters, many of which are classics enjoyed today on television and DVD by a whole new generation of appreciative fans.
Yates was born in Brooklyn
in 1880. His was a Horatio Alger story. He started his business career at an early age, building a newspaper sales business on the streets of Brooklyn. Later, he ascended rapidly through the ranks of the American Tobacco Company
, retiring from that business with a sizable fortune before the age of 30. Focusing on the movie and recording business, he built a small empire, acquiring record companies and film laboratories. In the twenties, he provided financing for Mack Sennett
and Fatty Arbuckle
.
In October 1929, his Consolidated Film Industries took control of ARC (American Record Corporation
, a company created as a result of a merger between a number of dime store labels). In the following years, the company was very involved in a depressed market, buying failing labels at bargain prices to exploit their catalogue. (In December 1931 Warner Bros.
leased Brunswick Records, Vocalion Records and associated companies to ARC.) In 1932, ARC was king of the 3 records for a dollar market, selling 6 million units, twice as much as RCA Victor. In an effort to get back on top, RCA created its Bluebird label. ARC bought out the Columbia Records catalogue in 1934. In the 1930s ARC produced Brunswick at 75c and Oriole, Romeo, Melotone, Vocalion, Banner and Perfect at 35c.
In December 1938, the entire ARC complex was purchased from Consolidated Film for $700,000 by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). This allowed the rights to the Brunswick and Vocalion labels to return to Warner Bros., which assigned the rights to those labels to Decca Records.
Yates formed Republic in 1935 by arranging for the merger of several smaller production companies with his Consolidated Film Industries
, which was providing film processing and financing for many studios in Hollywood. Among the merged companies were Mascot Pictures, which brought the serial to Republic, and Monogram Pictures
, which brought the Mack Sennett lot in Studio City. Under Yates' leadership, Republic first leased and then purchased the lot, expanding it from six stages to nineteen and adding state-of-the-art production facilities.
In 1934, Gene Autry had his first movie role in the Mascot production of In Old Santa Fe. Autry had been a recording artist under contract to Yates' American Record Corporation
: he would go on to star in 56 movies for Republic between 1935 and 1947. In 1938, Yates created a second American icon by giving Roy Rogers his first starring role in Under Western Stars
. Rogers filled in for Autry during the war
and ended up making more than 80 movies under the Republic banner.
Republic's most acclaimed movie was The Quiet Man
(1952), directed by John Ford
and starring John Wayne
and Maureen O'Hara
. Ford had tried to make the Irish love story for years, but none of the studio heads would take a chance on it. Yates risked a budget of over a million dollars, making possible such extravagances as Technicolor
and location filming in Ireland. It earned triple its cost, and earned Republic its only Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
In 1948, Yates left his wife, Petra, for the Czech figure skater Vera Hruba Ralston. He and Ralston were married in 1949. He retired from Republic and the movie business in 1959, the same year Republic's board decided to switch emphasis from production to distribution. He died at his residence in Sherman Oaks
in 1966.
The Republic lot survives today as CBS Studio Center
. Notable among Yates' contributions to the lot are the Mabel Normand
sound stage, built during the war and later home to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and an award-winning music scoring auditorium that has hosted such famous names as Aaron Copland
and Artur Rubinstein.
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
, famous for being the home of John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
, and Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
. Under Yates' leadership between 1935 and 1959, Republic made 956 feature films and 849 serial chapters, many of which are classics enjoyed today on television and DVD by a whole new generation of appreciative fans.
Yates was born in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
in 1880. His was a Horatio Alger story. He started his business career at an early age, building a newspaper sales business on the streets of Brooklyn. Later, he ascended rapidly through the ranks of the American Tobacco Company
American Tobacco Company
The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company...
, retiring from that business with a sizable fortune before the age of 30. Focusing on the movie and recording business, he built a small empire, acquiring record companies and film laboratories. In the twenties, he provided financing for Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
and Fatty Arbuckle
Fatty Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd...
.
In October 1929, his Consolidated Film Industries took control of ARC (American Record Corporation
American Record Corporation
ARC, the American Record Company, also referred to as American Record Corporation, or as ARC Records, was a United States based record company...
, a company created as a result of a merger between a number of dime store labels). In the following years, the company was very involved in a depressed market, buying failing labels at bargain prices to exploit their catalogue. (In December 1931 Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
leased Brunswick Records, Vocalion Records and associated companies to ARC.) In 1932, ARC was king of the 3 records for a dollar market, selling 6 million units, twice as much as RCA Victor. In an effort to get back on top, RCA created its Bluebird label. ARC bought out the Columbia Records catalogue in 1934. In the 1930s ARC produced Brunswick at 75c and Oriole, Romeo, Melotone, Vocalion, Banner and Perfect at 35c.
In December 1938, the entire ARC complex was purchased from Consolidated Film for $700,000 by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). This allowed the rights to the Brunswick and Vocalion labels to return to Warner Bros., which assigned the rights to those labels to Decca Records.
Yates formed Republic in 1935 by arranging for the merger of several smaller production companies with his Consolidated Film Industries
Consolidated Film Industries
Consolidated Film Industries was a film laboratory, and film processing company, and was the leading film laboratory in the Los Angeles area for many decades. CFI processed negatives and made prints for motion pictures and television...
, which was providing film processing and financing for many studios in Hollywood. Among the merged companies were Mascot Pictures, which brought the serial to Republic, and Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
, which brought the Mack Sennett lot in Studio City. Under Yates' leadership, Republic first leased and then purchased the lot, expanding it from six stages to nineteen and adding state-of-the-art production facilities.
In 1934, Gene Autry had his first movie role in the Mascot production of In Old Santa Fe. Autry had been a recording artist under contract to Yates' American Record Corporation
American Record Corporation
ARC, the American Record Company, also referred to as American Record Corporation, or as ARC Records, was a United States based record company...
: he would go on to star in 56 movies for Republic between 1935 and 1947. In 1938, Yates created a second American icon by giving Roy Rogers his first starring role in Under Western Stars
Under Western Stars
Under Western Stars is an American Western film starring Roy Rogers and Smiley Burnette. This was the first starring role for Rogers, made under contract to Republic Pictures....
. Rogers filled in for Autry during the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and ended up making more than 80 movies under the Republic banner.
Republic's most acclaimed movie was The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man is a 1952 American Technicolor romantic comedy-drama film. It was directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen and Barry Fitzgerald. It was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh...
(1952), directed by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
and starring John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
and Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
. Ford had tried to make the Irish love story for years, but none of the studio heads would take a chance on it. Yates risked a budget of over a million dollars, making possible such extravagances as Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
and location filming in Ireland. It earned triple its cost, and earned Republic its only Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
In 1948, Yates left his wife, Petra, for the Czech figure skater Vera Hruba Ralston. He and Ralston were married in 1949. He retired from Republic and the movie business in 1959, the same year Republic's board decided to switch emphasis from production to distribution. He died at his residence in Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California
Sherman Oaks is an affluent district in the San Fernando Valley area of the city of Los Angeles, California. In contrast to much of the Valley, the area is relatively urbanized, with commercial skyscrapers along Ventura Boulevard as well as scattered throughout...
in 1966.
The Republic lot survives today as CBS Studio Center
CBS Studio Center
CBS Studio Center is a television and film studio located in the Studio City district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. It is located at 4024 Radford Avenue and takes up a triangular piece of land, with the Los Angeles River bisecting the site...
. Notable among Yates' contributions to the lot are the Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand was an American silent film comedienne and actress. She was a popular star of Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and is noted as one of the film industry's first female screenwriters, producers and directors...
sound stage, built during the war and later home to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and an award-winning music scoring auditorium that has hosted such famous names as Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
and Artur Rubinstein.