Republic Entertainment, Incorporated
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| Motion pictures | |
| Founded | 1935 (original) 1985 (relaunched) |
| Defunct | 1959 (original) 1996 (re-defunct) |
| Headquarters | Studio City, Los Angeles, California |
| Owner | National Amusements |
| Parent | Viacom |
Republic Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935-59, based in Los Angeles, California. It had studio facilities in Studio City and a movie ranch in Encino. It was best known for specializing in Westerns, serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action. Republic was also notable for developing the careers of John Wayne, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. It was also responsible for the financing and distribution of several John Ford-directed films during the 1940s and early 1950s and one Shakespeare film, Macbeth (1948), directed by Orson Welles.
Created in 1935 by Herbert J. Yates, a longtime investor in film and music properties and founder and president of the film processing laboratory Consolidated Film Industries, Republic was initially formed when Yates acquired six smaller independent Poverty Row studios.
In the depths of the Great Depression of the 1930s, Yates' laboratory was servicing many studios. In 1935 he saw a chance to become a studio head himself. Six established Poverty Row companies (Monogram Pictures, Mascot Pictures, Liberty Pictures, Majestic Pictures, Chesterfield Pictures and Invincible Pictures) were all in debt to Yates' lab. He prevailed upon these studios to merge under his leadership (or otherwise face foreclosure on their outstanding lab bills). Yates' new company, Republic Pictures Corporation, was established as a collaborative enterprise focused on low-budget product.
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