The generically named ‘Producers Releasing Corporation’–or, familiarly, PRC–was an ultra low-budget, poverty-row movie studio that existed from 1939 to 1947 and is now primarily known as the studio behind Edgar G. Ulmer’s immortal noir ‘Detour’ (1946). Ulmer made a number of PRC movies–others include ‘Strange Illusion’ with Hedy Lamarr and ‘Bluebeard’ with John Carradine–and his memories of shooting these five-day features (most of them barely ran more than 60 minutes) are happily preserved in his interview with Peter Bogdanovich, which can be found in PB’s ‘Who The Devil Made It?’ (an indispensable part of any cinephiles library). PRC was actually substantial enough to not only produce but to distribute it’s own movies, unlike other cheapie studios and actually had its own studio lot (Grand National and others rented out space). The address of that lot was 7324 Santa Monica Blvd. It’s now an apartment complex.
PRC’s logo is–like Monogram’s (see previous post)–a good deal more handsome and sleek than the material that inevitably followed it. I guess this shouldn’t be surprising since logo art probably cost less than one might think. In the case of PRC, however, the movies may well have cost less than the logo itself did. Enjoy…