# Poverty Row

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{{short description|Slang term used in Hollywood to refer to small film production companies}}
{{For|a street or district featuring large numbers of [homeless persons](/source/Homelessness)|Skid row}}

'''Poverty Row''' is a slang term for small [Hollywood](/source/Hollywood_(film_industry)) studios that produced [B movie](/source/B_movie)s from the 1920s<ref>[https://www.filmsite.org/20sintro.html Film History of the 1920s – Filmsite.org]</ref> to the 1950s, typically with much smaller budgets<ref>[https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/reel-life-the-peculiar-virtues-of-poverty-row/Content?oid=876301 Reel Life: the peculiar virtues of poverty row]</ref> and lower production values<ref>[https://cinema.wisc.edu/series/2019/summer/poverty-row-ucla POVERTY ROW FROM UCLA|Cinematheque]</ref> than those of the [major studios](/source/Major_film_studios). Although many of these studios were based in the vicinity of [Gower Street](/source/Gower_Street_(Los_Angeles)) in Hollywood,<ref name="hollywoodsearliestindies">[https://hyperallergic.com/467306/ucla-gower-gulch-poverty-row-series/ An Archive Restores and Resurrects Hollywood's Earliest Indie Films – Hyperallergic ]</ref> the term does not necessarily relate to any specific physical location.

Many of the films produced by Poverty Row studios were those of series in the [Western](/source/Western_(genre)), comedy, adventure and crime genres.

== Studios ==
{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2024}}
While some Poverty Row studios had a brief existence, releasing only a few films,<ref>[https://cinema.ucla.edu/blogs/archive-blog/2018/10/05/preserving-poverty-row-scott-macqueen Preserving Poverty Row: Q&A with Scott MacQueen|UCLA Film & Television Archive]</ref> others operated in a manner similar to that of [major film studio](/source/major_film_studio)s such as [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](/source/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), [Warner Bros.](/source/Warner_Bros.) and [Paramount Pictures](/source/Paramount_Pictures), but on a much smaller scale.

The most successful and enduring Poverty Row studios maintained permanent lots and recognizable standing sets, had cast and crew under contract and produced a more varied output than did the smaller firms.

The primary Poverty Row studios included:
* [CBC Productions](/source/Cohn-Brandt-Cohn_(CBC)_Film_Sales_Corporation), founded by [Harry Cohn](/source/Harry_Cohn), was considered a Poverty Row studio from 1919 until its reorganization in 1924 as [Columbia Pictures](/source/Columbia_Pictures).<ref name="jstor/1213587">{{cite journal |last1=Bernstein |first1=Matthew |title=Review: The Merchant Prince of Poverty Row: Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures by Bernard F. Dick |journal=Film Quarterly |date=1 July 1995 |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=51–52 |doi=10.2307/1213587 |jstor=1213587 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1213587 |access-date=29 June 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* [Tiffany Pictures](/source/Tiffany_Pictures) was in operation from 1921 through 1932 as both a production company (about 90 films) and a distributor.
* [Mascot Pictures](/source/Mascot_Pictures) was formed in 1927 by [Nat Levine](/source/Nat_Levine) and merged into [Republic Pictures](/source/Republic_Pictures) in 1935.
* [Larry Darmour Productions](/source/Larry_Darmour) flourished from 1927 through the 1930s, mainly on the popularity of its [''Mickey McGuire''](/source/Mickey_McGuire_(film_series)) short-film series starring [Mickey Rooney](/source/Mickey_Rooney). Darmour was also the principal producer for Majestic Pictures until 1935.
* [Monogram Pictures](/source/Monogram_Pictures) was created in 1931 by the merger of [Sono Art-World Wide Pictures](/source/Sono_Art-World_Wide_Pictures) with [W. Ray Johnston](/source/W._Ray_Johnston)'s [Rayart](/source/Rayart). After the attempted 1935 merger of Monogram into Republic Pictures, Johnston took Monogram independent again, and in the following decades produced films ranging from college/teen musicals starring popular swing bands to classic stories such as ''[Oliver Twist](/source/Oliver_Twist)''{{cn|date=May 2026}} and the final films of [Kay Francis](/source/Kay_Francis). Monogram evolved, in relatively stable financial condition, into [Allied Artists](/source/Allied_Artists_Pictures_Corporation) in 1953.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Getz |first1=Leonard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nk_Y2-LZSLEC&q=bowery%20boys |title=From Broadway to the Bowery: A History and Filmography of the Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and Bowery Boys Films, with Cast Biographies |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9780786487424 |pages=173–175 |chapter=The Bowery Boys |access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref> Monogram/Allied released the 48 feature films of the [Bowery Boys](/source/The_Bowery_Boys).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Getz |first1=Leonard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nk_Y2-LZSLEC&q=bowery%20boys |title=From Broadway to the Bowery: A History and Filmography of the Dead End Kids, Little Tough Guys, East Side Kids and Bowery Boys Films, with Cast Biographies |date=2015 |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=9780786487424 |pages=173–175 |chapter=The Bowery Boys |access-date=15 May 2020}}</ref>
* [Republic Pictures](/source/Republic_Pictures) was organized in 1935 when [Herbert J. Yates](/source/Herbert_J._Yates) combined six other established Poverty Row companies (Monogram, [Mascot Pictures](/source/Mascot_Pictures), [Liberty Pictures](/source/Liberty_Pictures), [Majestic Pictures](/source/Majestic_Pictures), [Chesterfield Pictures](/source/Chesterfield_Pictures) and Invincible Films) with his [Consolidated Film Laboratories](/source/Consolidated_Film_Laboratories). Republic began by releasing serial shorts and Westerns with [Gene Autry](/source/Gene_Autry) in the 1930s before eventually riding the success of eventual superstars [Roy Rogers](/source/Roy_Rogers)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171019232950/https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/10/19/the-dirt-cheap-lost-classics-of-poverty-row-filmmakers-restored-at-moma/ The Dirt-Cheap Lost Classics of Poverty Row Filmmakers, Restored at MOMA|The Village Voice]</ref> and [John Wayne](/source/John_Wayne). Republic's ''[The Quiet Man](/source/The_Quiet_Man)'' (1952) was nominated for the [Academy Award for Best Picture](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture), and [John Ford](/source/John_Ford) won the Oscar for [Best Director](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Director).
* [Grand National Films Inc.](/source/Grand_National_Films_Inc.) was organized in 1936 with some significant talent ([James Cagney](/source/James_Cagney) and director [Charles Lamont](/source/Charles_Lamont)) but could not survive without its own distribution channel. It folded in 1939 after having released approximately 100 films.
* [Producers Releasing Corporation](/source/Producers_Releasing_Corporation) (PRC) emerged in 1939 and lasted until 1946, when it was absorbed into [Eagle-Lion Films](/source/Eagle-Lion_Films). PRC presented a steady output of Westerns and gangster films with occasional high spots, such as [Edgar G. Ulmer](/source/Edgar_G._Ulmer)'s [film noir](/source/film_noir) classic<ref>[https://www.criterion.com/films/29614-detour Detour (1945)|The Criterion Collection]</ref> ''[Detour](/source/Detour_(1945_film))''<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jul/06/detour-film-noir-1945-ann-savage My streaming gem: why you should watch Detour|Film|The Guardian]</ref> (1945) and ''[Minstrel Man](/source/Minstrel_Man_(film))'' (1944), which was nominated for two Academy Awards for its music.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 17th Academy Awards {{!}} 1945 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1945 |accessdate=23 March 2020 |website=Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |language=en}}</ref>

=== Lower-tier studios ===
The smallest studios, including [Tiffany Pictures](/source/Tiffany_Pictures), [Victory Pictures](/source/Victory_Pictures), [Mascot Pictures](/source/Mascot_Pictures_Corporation), and [Chesterfield Pictures](/source/Chesterfield_Pictures), often packaged and released films from independent producers, British "[quota quickie](/source/Cinematograph_Films_Act_1927)" films or [exploitation films](/source/exploitation_films) such as ''[Hitler, Beast of Berlin](/source/Hitler%2C_Beast_of_Berlin)''<ref>[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/199544 Project MUSE - The "B" Movie Goes to War in Hitler, Beast of Berlin (1939)]</ref> to supplement their own limited production capacity. Producers would sometimes create a new studio when their former ones failed, such as [Harry S. Webb](/source/Harry_S._Webb) and Bernard B. Ray's Reliable Pictures and Metropolitan Pictures.

Some organizations such as [Astor Pictures](/source/Astor_Pictures)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Astor_Pictures.html?id=gaOTDwAAQBAJ Astor Pictures: A Filmography and History of the Reissue King, 1933-1956 - Google Books]</ref> and [Realart Pictures](/source/Realart_Pictures)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200712004429/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9574ec70 Realart Pictures Inc.|BFI]</ref> began by obtaining the rights to rerelease older films from other studios before producing their own films.

== Comparison with other studios ==
<!--taken from the article "B movies (Hollywood Golden Age)"-->
;The Big Five majors
* [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](/source/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
* [Paramount Pictures](/source/Paramount_Pictures)
* [20th Century Fox](/source/20th_Century_Fox)
* [Warner Bros.](/source/Warner_Bros.)
* [RKO Pictures](/source/RKO_Pictures) (left the majors in the 1950s)

;The Little Three majors
* [United Artists](/source/United_Artists)
* [Columbia Pictures](/source/Columbia_Pictures)
* [Universal Studios](/source/Universal_Pictures)

;Poverty Row (top four of many)
* [Grand National](/source/Grand_National_Films_Inc.)
* [Republic Pictures](/source/Republic_Pictures)
* [Monogram Pictures](/source/Monogram_Pictures)
* [Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)](/source/Producers_Releasing_Corporation)

;
;Non-majors
* [Walt Disney Studios](/source/Walt_Disney_Studios_(division)) ([animation studio only](/source/Walt_Disney_Animation_Studios); became major studio decades later{{clarify|date=May 2026}})
* [Embassy Pictures](/source/Embassy_Pictures)
* [London Films](/source/London_Films)

== Decline ==
The breakup of the [studio system](/source/studio_system) (and its [block-booking](/source/Block_booking) practice, which left independent theaters eager for content from the Poverty Row studios) following 1948's ''[United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.](/source/United_States_v._Paramount_Pictures%2C_Inc.)'' decision and the advent of [television](/source/television) were among the factors that led to the decline and ultimate disappearance of the traditional Poverty Row studios, although small and independent studios continued to exist through the present day.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/apr/27/features.review2 Low-budget dross and brilliance|Film|The Guardian]</ref>

==See also==
* [Independent film](/source/Independent_film)
* [Vulgar auteurism](/source/Vulgar_auteurism)
* [Auteur theory](/source/Auteur_theory)
* [Roger Corman](/source/Roger_Corman)
* [French New Wave](/source/French_New_Wave)
* [Classical Hollywood cinema](/source/Classical_Hollywood_cinema)
* [Grindhouse](/source/Grindhouse)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Davis|first=Blair|title=The Battle for the Bs: 1950s Hollywood and the Rebirth of Low-Budget Cinema|date= 2012|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-5324-5}}
*{{cite book |last1=Dick |first1=Bernard F. |title=The Merchant Prince of Poverty Row: Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures |date=19 October 2021 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-9614-5 |language=en}}
* {{cite book|last=Fernett|first=Gene |year=1973|title=Hollywood's Poverty Row, 1930–1950|location=Satellite Beach, FL|publisher=Coral Reef Publications}}
* {{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Jack C.|title=White Horse, Black Hat: A Quarter Century on Hollywood's Poverty Row|year=2002|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-1-4617-3108-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Pitts|first=Michael R.|title=Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each|year=2005|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, NC|isbn=978-0-7864-2319-4|oclc=891667311}}
* {{cite book|last1=Stephens|first1=E.J.|last2=Wanamaker|first2=Marc|title=Early Poverty Row Studios|date= 2014|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1-4396-4829-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Read |first1=Robert |title=A Squalid-Looking Place: Poverty Row Films of the 1930s |date=August 2010 |publisher=[McGill University](/source/McGill_University) |url=https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/1j92g789m |quote=Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Art History and Communication Studies;  Film scholarship has generally assumed that the low-budget independent film studios, commonly known as Poverty Row, originated in the early sound-era to take advantage of the growing popularity of double feature exhibition programs.}}{{free access}}
*{{cite book |last1=Brennan |first1=Paul |title=The Origins of Taboo: Controversial Topics in Cinema originating in Poverty Row |publisher=[academia.edu](/source/academia.edu) |url=https://www.academia.edu/33235413}}

Category:Film and video terminology
Category:Film production companies of the United States
Category:History of Hollywood, Los Angeles
Category:1920s in film
Category:1930s in film
Category:1940s in film
Category:1950s in film
Category:Film noir

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Poverty Row](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_Row) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_Row?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.