Producers Releasing Corporation was the smallest and least prestigious of the 11 Hollywood film companies of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called "Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower Street in Hollywood where shoestring film producers based their operations. However, PRC was more substantial than the usual independent companies that made only a few low-budget movies and then disappeared. PRC was an actual Hollywood studio – albeit the smallest – with its own production facilities and distribution network, and it even accepted imports from the UK. PRC lasted from 1939 to 1947, churning out low-budget B movies for the lower half of a double bill or the upper half of a neighborhood theater showing second-run films. The studio was originally located at 1440 N. Gower St. from 1936 to 1943. PRC then occupied the former Grand National Pictures physical plant at 7324 Santa Monica Blvd., from 1943 to 1947. This address is now an apartment complex.
Al St. John was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, with whom he often performed on screen. St. John was employed by Mack Sennett and also worked with many other leading players such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Mabel Normand. His film career successfully transitioned from the silent era into sound, and by the late 1930s and 1940s he was working predominantly in Westerns, often portraying the scruffy comedy-relief character "Fuzzy Q. Jones". Among his notable performances in that role are in the "Billy the Kid" series of films released by the Producers Releasing Corporation from 1940 to 1946 and in that company's "Lone Rider" series from 1941 to 1943.
Love Bound is a 1932 American Pre-Code mystery film directed by Robert F. Hill and starring Jack Mulhall, Natalie Moorhead, Clara Kimball Young. It is a second feature produced by the Poverty Row studio Peerless Pictures. The film is also known as Murder on the High Seas, the alternative title it was later reissued under.
Wild Horse Phantom is a 1944 American Producers Releasing Corporation Western film of the "Billy the Kid" series directed by Sam Newfield.
Passport to Paradise is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by George B. Seitz and starring Jack Mulhall, Blanche Mehaffey and Eddie Phillips. It was produced as a second feature for release by the independent company Mayfair Pictures. The film is now considered to be lost.
Colorado Sunset is a 1939 American Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and June Storey. Written by Betty Burbridge and Stanley Roberts, based on a story by Luci Ward and Jack Natteford, the film is about a singing cowboy and his buddies who discover that the ranch they bought is really a dairy farm—and worse, it's subject to intimidation from a protection racket that prevents dairy products from safely reaching the market.
Budd Leland Buster, was an American actor known for B western films. He was sometimes credited as Bud Buster, and as George Selk in his later work.
Olive Gloria Shea was an American film actress. She was sometimes billed as Olive Shea.
Black Gold is a 1936 American action film directed by Russell Hopton and starring Frankie Darro, LeRoy Mason and Gloria Shea.
Silent Sentinel is a 1929 American silent crime film directed by Alan James and starring Gareth Hughes and Josephine Hill.
Strange People is a 1933 American mystery film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring John Darrow, Gloria Shea and Hale Hamilton. It was produced by the independent Chesterfield Pictures.
Women Won't Tell is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Sarah Padden, Otis Harlan and Gloria Shea. It was written by Lela E. Rogers, mother of Ginger Rogers.
Thrill of Youth is a 1932 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring June Clyde and Dorothy Peterson.
North of Arizona is a 1935 American Western film directed by Harry S. Webb and starring Jack Perrin, Blanche Mehaffey and Lane Chandler. It was a low-budget B film made by Reliable Pictures.
St. Louis Woman is a 1934 American pre-Code musical drama film directed by Albert Ray and starring Jeanette Loff, Johnny Mack Brown and Earle Foxe. It is also known by the alternative title of Missouri Nightingale.
Mayfair Pictures was an American film production and distribution company active between 1931 and 1934 during the early sound era. It grew out of Action Pictures, another low-budget studio location on Poverty Row. It was established by the producer Ralph M. Like and was located at the former Charles Ray Studios in Hollywood.
Lester F. Scott Jr. (1883–1954) was an American film producer of the silent and early sound eras. He specialized in producing western films, many of them directed by Richard Thorpe.
Badge of Honor is a 1934 American drama film directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and starring Buster Crabbe, Ruth Hall and Betty Blythe. It was produced on Poverty Row as a second feature for distribution by Mayfair Pictures. Crabbe was loaned out from Paramount Pictures for the production. The film's sets were designed by the art director Paul Palmentola.
Desert Justice is a 1936 American western film directed by William Berke and starring Jack Perrin, Warren Hymer and David Sharpe.
Gun Code is a 1940 American western film directed by Sam Newfield and starring Tim McCoy, Inna Gest and Carleton Young. It was distributed by the independent company PRC which specialized in handling low-budget second features. The film's sets were designed by the art director Fred Preble.
