Robert J. Horner

Above is a 1923 tradepaper ad for Horner silents.

Bottom left corner is a photo of George Chesebro and Eva Novak is pictured in the bottom right. Chesebro worked in about a dozen of Horner's sound westerns. Novak and Chesebro were witnesses to the September, 1923 marriage of Horner to Frieda Bohnn.

Above is a 1927 tradepaper ad for Horner silents. "Pawnee Bill Jr." was played by Ted Wells and "Kit Carson" was William Barrymore / Boris Bullock.

THE MANSION OF MYSTERY serial was completed and released in late 1927. William Barrymore had the lead, Horner directed, and distribution was handled by William M. Pizor and his Capitol Film Exchange company. MANSION is among the lost / missing serials. Horner must have liked Barrymore - or his salary demands were cheap - as he appears in about fifteen Horner silent and sound films.

(From Old Corral collection)

THE APACHE KID'S ESCAPE (Robert J. Horner, 1930) was Horner's first talking picture. This was one of the half dozen that Jack Perrin did for Horner in 1930 - 1932 ... and Perrin had trouble getting all of his pay (see newspaper article on prior page).

The photo inset in this lobby card shows Perrin and his trusty steed Starlight.

Below is the title lobby card for Perrin's LARIATS AND SIX-SHOOTERS (Robert J. Horner, 1931) which is among the lost / missing westerns.

(Courtesy of Richard Harrison)

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is a photo of a title lobby card showing Franklyn Farnum and Bill Cody in BORDER GUNS (Aywon, 1934), one of a trio of films that Cody did for Horner.

(Courtesy of Ed Tabor)

TEX TAKES A HOLIDAY (Argosy, 1932) was shot in "Multicolor", an early two-strip color process. Horner was the producer. The star was Wallace MacDonald (with light blue shirt and moustache above), and he had a brief fling in front of the camera before becoming a B film producer at Columbia Pictures. He also worked for Multicolor. The player with the handful of knives is Steve Clemento / Clemente, who was a knife-throwing expert. TEX TAKES A HOLIDAY (Argosy, 1932) is one of the lost / missing westerns.

The Variety review of TEX TAKES A HOLIDAY was not kind to the film and color process. Excerpts from the review: "In black and white this might have eased through as a second-grade western, but in color, it is very weak. It is wholly spoiled by about as poor an exhibition of bad color work as has been brought forward yet. On top of this, much of it seems to be slightly out of register, giving an out-of-focus effect. It will not be in the running even in the minor houses."

On a positive note, give Horner credit for trying color (in 1932). On the negative side, why did Horner even attempt to use an early color process on a dirt-cheap western in 1932? Les Adams did some sleuthing in his copies of Film Daily and found the answer:

The 1932 Film Daily Yearbook has Wallace MacDonald, hero of TEX TAKES A HOLIDAY, as the sales manager for Multicolor, Ltd. (700 Romaine St.). Robert J. Horner shared the following with Multicolor Productions - location, address and telephone number - Cinephone Studios, 4376 Sunset Drive, OLympia 8701. So did Burton King. And Harry S. Webb and Flora E. Douglas and Cliff Broughton Productions. And Thrillo-dramas and United Producers, Ltd and Action Pictures.

In the 1937 Film Daily Product Guide and Directors' Annual, Horner is the president of two companies, Roadshow Classics and American Pictures Corp., and he was still using that 4376 Sunset Drive, Hollywood address.

(Courtesy of Ed Tabor)

Above are Wallace MacDonald with heroine Virginia Brown Faire in another lobby card from TEX TAKES A HOLIDAY (Argosy, 1932).

Date	Title	Company	Producer	Director	Writer(s)	Star	Leading Lady
5/1/30	CHEYENNE KID, THE	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	Jacques Jaccard	Jacques Jaccard and Yakima Canutt	Buffalo Bill, Jr.	Joan Jaccard
11/22/30	APACHE KID'S ESCAPE	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	Jack Perrin	Josephine Hill
2/15/31	TRAILS OF THE GOLDEN WEST	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	Leander De Cordova	L. V. Jefferson	Buffalo Bill, Jr.	Wanda Hawley
3/8/31	WILD WEST WHOOPEE	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	Jack Perrin	Josephine Hill
4/12/31	PUEBLO TERROR , THE	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	Alvin J. Neitz (Alan James)	L. V. Jefferson	Buffalo Bill, Jr.	Wanda Hawley
5/10/31	KID FROM ARIZONA, THE	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	Robert Walker and Robert J. Horner	Jack Perrin	Josephine Hill
6/14/31	SHERIFF'S SECRET, THE	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	James Hogan	James Hogan	Jack Perrin	Dorothy Bauer
10/25/31	LARIATS AND SIX-SHOOTERS	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	Alvin J. Neitz (Alan James)	Carl Krusada	Jack Perrin	Ann Lee
2/1/32	RIDERS OF GOLDEN GULCH	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	Clifford Smith	Yakima Canutt	Buffalo Bill, Jr.	Mary Dunn
2/5/32	45 CALIBRE ECHO	Cosmos/ West Coast	Robert J. Horner	Bruce Mitchell	Carl Krusada	Jack Perrin	Elinor Fair
12/2/32	TEX TAKES A HOLIDAY	Argosy Productions	Robert J. Horner	Alvin J. Neitz (Alan James)	Robert Walker and Alan James	Wallace MacDonald	Virginia Brown Faire
4/1/33	WHIRLWIND RIDER, THE	American Pictures	Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	Royal Hampton (RJH?)	Buffalo Bill, Jr.	Jeanne (Genee) Boutel
5/1/33	TRAILS OF ADVENTURE	American Pictures	Robert J. Horner	Jay Wilsey (Buffalo Bill, Jr.)	Donald Kent	Buffalo Bill, Jr.	Edna Aselin (Aslin)
2/1/34	BORDER GUNS	Aywon Pictures (A-1)	Nathan Hirsh & Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	Oliver Drake	Bill Cody	Janet Morgan (Blanche Mehaffey)
4/1/34	BORDER MENACE, THE	Aywon Pictures (A-1)	Nathan Hirsh & Robert J. Horner	Jack Nelson	Robert J. Horner	Bill Cody	Miriam Rice
5/1/34	WESTERN RACKETEERS	Aywon Pictures (A-1)	Nathan Hirsh & Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	James P. Hogan	Bill Cody	Edna Aselin (Aslin)
6/16/34	RACKETEER ROUND-UP (alternate title: GUNNERS AND GUNS)	Fred Thomson Prod/H&H	Nathan Hirsh & Robert J. Horner	Robert Hoyt (Horner)	Eddie Davis and Ruth Runnell	Edmund Cobb	Edna Aselin (Aslin)
2/1/35	PHANTOM COWBOY, THE	Aywon Pictures (A-1)	Nathan Hirsh & Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	Carl Krusada	Ted Wells	Doris Brook
5/1/35	DEFYING THE LAW	Aywon Pictures (A-1)	Nathan Hirsh & Robert J. Horner	Robert J. Horner	Carl Krusada	Ted Wells	Edna Aslin
Notes from Les Adams: SOUTH OF SONORA with Buffalo Bill, Jr. probably belongs to Horner. The only thing I have on it is the cast and Jacques Jaccard as the director, but it is shown in Film Daily as a West Coast production. And it's possible that something called THE TIA JUANA KID with Pat Carlyle and Bobby Nelson (circa 1935, if it ever got released) came out of Horner's camp.