Each of these companies brought talent, property and technical expertise to the merger. Among the actors who found themselves at the new studio was John Wayne, who was still in the middle of the B-picture part of his career. Mascot had Gene Autry, who was making a name as a singer but was just getting started in movies. And down the road was Roy Rogers, who Yates hoped would draw audiences away from Autry (Yates was sick and tired of battling over contracts and money with Autry).
Rogers ended up not replacing Autry, when it came to fan demand, but Yates wasn’t complaining; he had the two biggest singing cowboys stars in the world.
Read the rest of Henry Cabot Beck's True West magazine article on the 75th anniversary of Republic Pictures.
