Founded in 1935 by a former tobacco executive, Herbert J. Yates. It was one of the greatest B-movie studios that exist and produced many classic movies including the Christmas classic, It's a Wonderful Life, and the Western classic, High Noon. The demise of Republic Pictures was brought on by the rapid rise of the television and the demise of 2 or 3 feature films in one movie show as well as serials. Republic tried to survive by converting to to TV production but could not stem the tide of progress. It was bought out by Spelling Entertanment in its last 10 years and the company finally closed the studio down in 1998. All Republic Pictures are now under the distribution of Artisan Entertainment. Spelling, however, owns all rights to the Republic Pictures name, logo, movies, etc.