During the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Republic Pictures produced more than 1,000 movies and 66 serials. The studio was home to singing cowboys Gene Autry and Roy Rogers and to John Wayne, who made more than 30 pictures there, including the Oscar-winning "The Quiet Man."
Among the movie serials produced were "The Adventures of Captain Marvel," "Zorro's Fighting Legion," "Dick Tracy" and "Zombies of the Stratosphere," featuring a young Leonard Nimoy.
AMC pays tribute to Republic with a two-hour documentary "The Republic Pictures Story," premiering Friday. The special features clips and interviews with Rogers, Autry, Dale Evans, the late stuntman Tom Steele, serial director Bill Witney and many Republic stars.
Len Morris is the director and producer of "The Republic Pictures Story." The 20-year veteran of producing, directing and editing documentaries previously produced the NBC specials "Mussolini--The Wolf of Rome," "Shadow of the Reich" and "Peter the Great and Mother Russia."
Morris talked with Susan King about Republic Pictures.
Were you a big fan of Republic Pictures?
I was aware of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. I am 43 and that's not quite old enough to appreciate Republic.
This project was originally intended just to be an hour. After about six months of research and screening, we kept ordering and ordering movies. We saw 335 films. We kept coming across other facets of Republic, coming across more information and more titles.
We began by looking at the "A" movies and we ordered (from the Republic archives) every one of John Wayne's titles, all the major Roy Rogers films and ordered all of the films by world-class directors like Allan Dwan, Nicholas Ray, Frank Borzage and Orson Welles. We ordered all of the films that had stars who were recognizable or just beginning their careers. Some weren't available. We had to get copies from collectors.
Which movies did you have to get from collectors?
"The Bold Caballero," Republic's first color film. Another was "Remember Pearl Harbor!" and early Wayne titles. Many of the titles were only available in old 16mm prints. So we had to be prepared to handle videotape, film and other formats just to look at the films.
Why is it that Republic isn't as well-known as Paramount or Universal?
You can't go into a bookstore and get a big glossy book on Republic Pictures. It sure would have helped us. I think the reason is that Republic wasn't a major studio. Its identification is with the B-Westerns. Republic rode to its fame and fortune on the back of a horse.
