Herbert Yates

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Herbert John Yates (born August 24, 1880 in Brooklyn , New York , † February 3, 1966 in Sherman Oaks , California ) was an American businessman and film producer . He was the founder and president of the film studio Republic Pictures .

Life

After graduating from Columbia University , Yates quickly made a career for the tobacco company American Tabacco . From 1912 the now wealthy Yates invested in the young film business, with his Consolidated Film Industries he created many film laboratories and was also the financier of various film and music studios. In 1929 he took over the American Record Corporation record label .

When several small film studios such as Mascot Pictures and Monogram Pictures owed him money, he united them in the mid-1930s as a film studio called Republic Pictures under his leadership. Thanks to skilled low-budget film artists and a specialization in westerns , Republic became arguably the most successful Poverty Row film studio in Hollywood, whose films were particularly popular in rural America. He worked with the big western stars of the genre such as John Wayne (who was under contract with Republic in the 1940s), Gene Autry and Roy Rogers . Yates not only mass-produced, but also cinema art such as Orson Welles ' Macbeth - The Kingslayer , Nicholas Rays Johnny Guitar - When Women Hate, and John Ford's Rio Grande , Whom the Sun Shines and The Winner . The special effects at Republic were considered so outstanding that even larger film studios occasionally turned to them for help.

Yates cast his young lover Vera Ralston - whom he was married to from 1952 until his death - in costly Republic productions from the late 1940s, though almost all of her box office- flop films and acting performances were torn apart by critics . He also made her brother Rudy Ralston a film producer with an abnormally high salary. In addition to the dwindling cinema revenues due to the rise of television, this nepotism was one reason why Yates had to withdraw from the top management in 1959 under pressure from dissatisfied shareholders.

Herbert Yates died in 1966 a very wealthy man at the age of 85 in Sherman Oaks, California.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Herbert J. Yates | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie. Retrieved May 10, 2018 .
  2. ^ Herbert J. Yates | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie. Retrieved May 10, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Ronald Bergan: Obituary: Vera Hruba Ralston. February 28, 2003, accessed May 10, 2018 .
  4. ^ Herbert J. Yates | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie. Retrieved May 10, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Yates, Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Yates, Herbert John (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American businessman and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York
DATE OF DEATH 3rd February 1966
Place of death Sherman Oaks , California