New York-born Nat Levine got his start in show business when he dropped out of high school to take a job as an accountant with the Loew's theater chain, and eventually worked his way up to become personal secretary to Marcus Loew. Levine soaked up as much knowledge about the film business as he possibly could, and in 1926 he and a few investors ...
He successfully coaxed aging cowboy superstar Tom Mix (who was facing financial trouble from his failing circus business, bad investments and numerous ex-wives) out of a self-enforced retirement in 1935 for the princely sum of $10,000 a week to appear in The Miracle Rider (1935). The 15-chapter serial took 4 weeks to shoot and ran 306 minutes in total, making it the longest of any western serial ever made and Mix the highest actor ever paid by lowly Mascot. Levine's instincts were correct: the serial earned in excess of $1 million in profits.
2
Mascot owner Nat Levine was the first to envision buying a studio and consolidating a number of "Poverty Row" independents under one roof into sort of a super-studio. When the old Mack Sennett Studios came up for sale in 1933 he approached a number of producers with his idea, but was rebuffed. Instead, he took an option on the property, moved in, and rented out its sound stages. By 1935, Levine was riding high from his unprecedented success with a Tom Mix serial that had elevated his reputation along Gower Gulch which helped convince Consolidated Film Industries' Herbert J. Yates join him as the principal stockholder (along with Monogram's W. Ray Johnston and Trem Carr in subordinate positions) in merging Mascot and several other independents to form Republic Pictures. Johnston and Carr soon find working with the domineering Yates impossible and leave to reform Monogram in 1936. Yates pushed Levine out the door in 1938.
3
Nat first operated his Mascot 'studio' out of the upstairs offices of a contractor's business on Santa Monica Blvd. He specialized in low-budget western serials using mostly rented equipment and kept his production units busy on location.
$200,000
