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  • TREM CARR
    INFORMATION FROM IMDb


    Date of Birth
    6 November 1891, Trenton, Illinois, USA


    Date of Death
    18 August 1946, San Diego, California, USA (heart attack)


    Spouse
    Margaret Kochersperger (1 January 1918 - 18 August 1946) (his death) (1 child)


    Trivia
    Co-founded, with Buck Jones and Scott R. Dunlap, Great Western Pictures, a production company.
    Founded Trem Carr Productions (1920-29), a film production company.
    Founded, with W. Ray Johnston, Monogram Pictures in 1933.


    Mini-Biography
    Until the advent of television in the late 1940's there were two distinct Hollywoods. Populated on one extreme were the major studios (many of which owned their own theater chains) with the glamor made possible with million dollar film budgets. On the other extreme, centered along Gower Street off Sunset, was Poverty Row, where innumerable independent producers of varying repute ground out three and four-day wonders costing next-to-nothing by comparison. It's films, most often westerns, featuring actors with vaguely familiar names in material written to satisfy undemanding, largely rural audiences. Lacking theater chains, these outfits sold their releases to a complex network of film exchanges which would rotate bills up to three times each week, keeping films circulating between theaters across the country for years. Any given film would drift up and down these theaters' double bills, ping ponging Saturday afternoon matinées, literally until the prints wore out. Gower Gulch saw scores of these companies come and go during it's two decade heyday. One studio, Columbia Pictures, managed to break into the ranks of the A-list studios (thanks to a wunderkind director, a crude-yet-crafty studio boss and unique relationships with MGM and Warner Brothers). Another, Republic, would briefly blur the definition of a B-studio by occasionally producing exceptional films. The rest would survive by eking out minuscule profits on a volume basis or fail miserably by rolling the dice on a few ill-conceived projects. Trem Carr spent the majority of his career in the latter of Hollywood's extremes. He's most closely associated with his close friend and partner, W. Ray Johnston. Together these two low-budget veterans successfully established Monogram Pictures, shelved it, only to resurrect it to even greater success... all within a span of less than 6 years. Ray had learned the film business from the ground up, having been the treasurer of Syndicate Pictures and a producer at Florida's Thanhouser Studio. Based on his experience, he saw the key to a company's success lay more in its distribution network than the actual films themselves. With the advent of talkies, he set about to build a tight knit distributor franchise and the first incarnation of Monogram was born in 1931. Trem had joined up with Ray just prior to the company's formation as production manager and operated through 1935 without any studio facilities of its own. Monogram entered into deals with independent producers (including Paul Malvern, M.H. Hoffman and I.E. Chadwick) to release their product under its banner while occasionally renting studio sound stages and producing their own product as well. Ray was the finance and distribution end and Trem was the hands-on production chief of Monogram Pictures from 1931-35. In late 1933, the pair were approached by serial-specializing Mascot Pictures' Nat Levine about joining forces under one banner at the recently foreclosed-upon Mack Sennett studio. Fearing the overhead, they refused. By 1935, Nat Levine's reputation had grown significantly since the release of his Tom Mix serial, The Miracle Rider (1935) and it's reported $1 million gross, an eye-popping accomplishment in Gower Gulch. Levine next approached the head of Monogram's film processing company, the wealthy, domineering Herbert J. Yates. As the owner of Consolidated Film Industries, Yates had amassed a fortune along Poverty Row by providing processing services and advancing raw film stock on credit to struggling producers, many of whom fail, leaving Yates free to sue and distribute their product at huge profit. In his years doing this, Yates had harbored a desire to become a legitimate movie mogul. While both Trem and Ray had rejected Levine's proposition previously, Yates' involvement made the deal worth serious reconsideration, since Monogram's debts to Yates would be extinguished as part of the deal. Monogram was shelved and the new company, Republic Pictures, was born. Yates made several similar offers to other small outfits that were rolled into the new studio, including Victory and Chesterfield. Under the original plan, Carr, Johnston and Levine were to rotate as production heads, unfortunately it soon became a test of wills; Yates' money bankrolled the operation and he held all the cards. Trem's management style severely clashed with the autocratic Yates and it soon became clear that the unequal partnership was unworkable. Trem was the one-time theoretical head of Republic and regarded Yates as a meddling interloper. Levine did his best to remain neutral, but ultimately sided with the money (ironically, he would be bought out by Yates in 1939 for $1 million in cash and would soon find himself broke and washed up in pictures). Their clashes with Yates escalating violently, Trem and Ray left Republic in 1937 and after a brief stint producing B-pictures for Universal Pictures they resurrected Monogram Pictures using rented offices there, managing to release a remarkable 20 low budget features that same year. With Trem as production manager and Ray as president, this "new" version of Monogram became a label for independent producers to group together largely for the convenience in distributing their product through its network of film exchanges - and the relative prestige of the Monogram name. This concept was virtually identical to United Artists, albeit on a comparatively minuscule budget (Monogram's published profits averaged less than $2,000 per release well into the 40's--- a laughable figure to most studios). For the 1938-39 season, Monogram announced its intention to release 26 features and 16 westerns. The company became known for its ability to quickly capitalize on topical news stories (Atlantic Flight (1937)), modest westerns starring Jack Randall and Tex Ritter and even managing to snag Boris Karloff for the "Mr. Wong" detective series. While none of these films could be considered classics, they were mostly above-par by prevailing Poverty Row standards and most importantly, profitable, an elusive goal for many of it's neighbors. An extremely efficient production manager, Trem continued to attract a number of equally efficient (meaning in most cases, extremely cheap) producers under the Monogram banner in the early 40s, and scooping up other studios' cast-off properties that he keenly sensed still had money left to wring out of them. Among these were former 20th Century Fox's Charlie Chan series (lifted nearly whole with it's aging star Sidney Toler, albeit with diminishing returns with each added entry) and getting tremendous mileage with Samuel Goldwyn's recently unemployed Dead End Kids (re-branded as the East Side Kids and later as the Bowery Boys for legendary skin flint producer Jan Grippo). Monogram maintained a heavy emphasis on cheaply produced westerns, through the war (tragically losing one of their biggest stars, Buck Jones, in the infamous Coconut Grove Fire in 1942). Trem and Ray made a fantastic business partnership and remained close friends. Ray was devastated when Trem died of a coronary in 1946 and the Monogram name gradually morphed into Allied Artists (a name more reflecting the concept of primarily distributing other producers' films) in the late 1940s. Despite the loftier sounding name, Allied would continue to release films with the same low-budget production values well into the 1950's. In retrospect, Monogram was neither the best poverty row studio (the title ironically befitting Republic) or the worst (inarguably, PRC), but largely thanks to Trem Carr, successful, resilient and remarkably prolific.
    - IMDb Mini Biography By: Jack Backstreet


    Filmography
    Producer
    1946 Swing Parade of 1946 (executive producer)
    1945 Woman in the Case (executive producer)
    1945 Divorce (executive producer)
    1945 Adventures of Kitty O'Day (executive producer)
    1944 Range Law (producer)
    1944 Hot Rhythm (executive producer - uncredited)
    1944 Lady, Let's Dance (executive producer)
    1944 Partners of the Trail (producer)
    1943 Where Are Your Children? (executive producer)
    1939 The Phantom Stage (producer)
    1939 Honor of the West (producer)
    1938 Ghost Town Riders (producer)
    1938 Prairie Justice (producer)
    1938 Guilty Trails (producer - uncredited)
    1938 Black Bandit (producer)
    1938 Prison Break (producer)
    1938 Outlaw Express (producer)
    1938 Western Trails (executive producer)
    1938 Air Devils (producer)
    1938 The Last Stand (executive producer - uncredited)
    1938 State Police (producer)
    1938 Border Wolves (producer - uncredited)
    1938 Midnight Intruder (associate producer)
    1938 The Spy Ring (producer)
    1937 The Singing Outlaw (producer)
    1937 Adventure's End (producer)
    1937 Courage of the West (executive producer)
    1937 Idol of the Crowds (producer)
    1937 I Cover the War! (producer)
    1937 The 13th Man (executive producer)
    1937 California Straight Ahead! (producer)
    1936 Conflict (producer)
    1936 Sea Spoilers (producer - uncredited)
    1936 King of the Pecos (producer)
    1936 The Lawless Nineties (producer)
    1936 The Oregon Trail (producer)
    1935 When We Look Back (producer)
    1935 The New Frontier (executive producer - uncredited)
    1935 Forbidden Heaven (producer)
    1935 Cappy Ricks Returns (producer)
    1935 Two Black Sheep (producer)
    1935 Cheers of the Crowd (producer - uncredited)
    1935 Make a Million (producer)
    1935 Honeymoon Limited (producer)
    1935 Great God Gold (producer)
    1935 The Mystery Man (supervising producer)
    1933 Sagebrush Trail (executive producer - uncredited)
    1933 Ranger's Code (producer)
    1933 Skyway (executive producer)
    1933 The Avenger (producer)
    1933 Galloping Romeo (supervising producer - uncredited)
    1933 Rainbow Ranch (supervising producer)
    1933 The Fugitive (executive producer)
    1933 The Fighting Texans (supervising producer)
    1933 Diamond Trail (producer)
    1933 Speed Brent Wins (executive producer)
    1933 West of Singapore (supervising producer)
    1932 Crashin' Broadway (producer)
    1932 Self Defense (supervising producer)
    1932 The Fighting Champ (producer)
    1932 Lucky Larrigan (producer)
    1932 The Desert Outlaw (producer)
    1932 The Man from Arizona (producer)
    1932 Texas Buddies (producer)
    1932 Hidden Valley (producer)
    1932 Broadway to Cheyenne (producer)
    1932 Son of Oklahoma (producer)
    1932 Beyond the Border (producer)
    1932 Law of the North (producer)
    1932 Mason of the Mounted (producer)
    1932 The Man from Hell's Edges (producer)
    1932 Riders of the Desert (producer)
    1932 Arm of the Law (producer)
    1932 Vanishing Men (producer)
    1932 The County Fair (producer)
    1932 The Man from New Mexico (producer)
    1932 Law of the West (producer)
    1932 The Blood Brother (producer)
    1932 Wyoming (producer)
    1932 South of Santa Fe (producer)
    1932 Ghost City (producer)
    1931 Galloping Thru (producer)
    1931 In Line of Duty (producer)
    1931 Land of Wanted Men (producer)
    1931 Two Fisted Justice (producer)
    1931 Oklahoma Jim (producer)
    1931 The Nevada Buckaroo (producer)
    1931 Near the Trail's End (producer)
    1931 The Man from Death Valley (producer)
    1931 The Montana Kid (producer)
    1931 Mother and Son (producer)
    1931 Partners of the Trail (producer)
    1931 Vultures of the Law (producer)
    1931 Dugan of the Badlands (producer)
    1931 Ships of Hate (producer)
    1931 The Ridin' Fool (producer)
    1931 The Greater Love (producer)
    1931 God's Country and the Man (producer)
    1931 Sunrise Trail (producer)
    1930 Should a Girl Marry? (producer)
    1930 Headin' North (producer)
    1930 The Fourth Alarm (producer)
    1930 The Land of Missing Men (producer)
    1930 The Oklahoma Cyclone (producer)
    1930 Convict's Code (producer)
    1930 Worldly Goods (producer)
    1930 Near the Rainbow's End (producer)
    1930 The Rampant Age (producer)
    1929 Shanghai Rose (producer)
    1929 Two Sons (producer)
    1929 The Phantom in the House (producer)
    1929 Bride of the Desert (producer)
    1929 Handcuffed (producer)
    1929 Anne Against the World (producer)
    1929 Two Sisters (producer)
    1929 The Devil's Chaplain (producer)
    1929 Some Mother's Boy (producer)
    1929 When Dreams Come True (producer)
    1928 The Black Pearl (executive producer)
    1928 Ships of the Night (producer)
    1928 Sisters of Eve (producer)
    1928 The Chinatown Mystery (producer)
    1928 Sweet Sixteen (producer)
    1928 The Man from Headquarters (producer)
    1928 The Divine Sinner (producer)
    1928 Mystery Valley (producer)
    1928 The Devil's Tower (producer)
    1928 The Branded Man (producer)
    1928 The Drifting Kid (producer)
    1928 Gypsy of the North (producer)
    1928 My Home Town (producer)
    1928 Trailin' Back (producer)
    1928 Painted Trail (producer)
    1928 You Can't Beat the Law (producer)
    1928 The Law and the Man (producer)
    1927 Casey Jones (producer)
    1927 Wild Born (producer)
    1927 A Wanderer of the West (producer)
    1927 On the Stroke of Twelve (producer)
    1927 A Light in the Window (producer)
    1927 Gun-Hand Garrison (producer)
    1927 Ridin' Luck (producer)
    1927 A Boy of the Streets (producer)
    1927 Prince of the Plains (producer)
    1927 Million Dollar Mystery (producer)
    1927 The Midnight Watch (producer)
    1927 The Show Girl (producer)
    1926 The Smoke Eaters (producer)
    1926 The Dixie Flyer (producer)
    1926 His Taking Ways (Short) (producer)

  • Trem Carr is an American film producer. 6 November 1891
    In Trenton and died on 18 August 1946 In San Diego .


    His career, begun in 1926 , consists of 150 films.
    As part of the Poverty Row circuit, Trem Carr was one of the great artisans
    of the B series and in particular of the western


    He was, among others, with his friend W. Ray Johnston , the founder of the Monogram Pictures

    Trem Carr notably produced 11 of Duke's earlier movies


    1937 Adventure's End (producer)
    1937 Idol of the Crowds (producer)
    1937 I Cover the War! (producer)
    1937 California Straight Ahead! (producer)
    1936 Conflict (producer)
    1936 Sea Spoilers (producer - uncredited)
    1936 King of the Pecos (producer)
    1936 The Lawless Nineties (producer)
    1936 The Oregon Trail (producer)
    1935 The New Frontier (executive producer - uncredited)
    1933 Sagebrush Trail (executive producer - uncredited)



    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England