Victor Adamson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Victor Adamson
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| Born |
Albert Victor Adamson
January 4, 1890 Auckland, New Zealand
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| Died | November 9, 1972 (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Other names | Denver Dixon, A. V. Anderson, Robert Charles, Al James, Van Johnson, Art Mix |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, film director, film producer, actor |
| Years active | 1910–1970 |
| Children | 5, including Al Adamson |
Victor Adamson (born January 4, 1890, died November 9, 1972) was a filmmaker from New Zealand. He was a director, producer, writer, and actor. He became well-known for making low-budget Western movies in the 1920s and 1930s. Victor Adamson often used different names, called pseudonyms, for his work. His most common fake name was Denver Dixon. His son, Al Adamson, also became a filmmaker, making "B movies" (lower-budget films) later on.
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Victor Adamson's Film Career
Victor Adamson was born on January 4, 1890, in Auckland, New Zealand. In the late 1910s, he moved to the United States. He brought a movie he had made himself and found a company to distribute it. Even though his first films were not very successful, he kept making his own movies.
Starting His Own Film Company
Around 1920, Adamson started producing films. He began using the screen name Art Mix. He chose this name because it sounded like Tom Mix, a very famous Western movie star at the time. Adamson even called his company Art Mix Productions.
However, the big movie company Fox Film, which worked with Tom Mix, did not like this. They got a court order to stop Adamson from using the name Art Mix. Adamson was worried because he thought he needed that name to sell his movies.
So, he found a clever way around it. He looked through the phone book and found a man named Arthur S. Mix. Victor Adamson then arranged to be legally adopted by Arthur S. Mix. This meant his real name became Arthur S. Mix, and no one could stop him from using the name Art Mix anymore! He did have to pay Arthur S. Mix a part of his earnings for several years.
Hiring Other Actors
Later, Victor Adamson stopped acting in his own films. He had trouble with his new false teeth, which sometimes clicked during filming. So, he hired an actor named George Kesterson (1896-1972) to play the "Art Mix" character in his movies. Kesterson used that name for the rest of his acting career.
In 1927, Adamson's company, Victor Adamson Productions, built its own film studios. These studios were located in Monrovia, California. The opening ceremony for the new facilities took place on July 17, 1927.
Making Talking Pictures
When "talking pictures" (movies with sound) became popular, Adamson's silent-film studio was not as advanced as the new Hollywood soundstages. But Adamson kept going. He filmed and recorded most of his movies outdoors. This helped him avoid building expensive indoor sets.
He made many low-budget Westerns. These movies often featured silent-film cowboy stars like Buffalo Bill, Jr., Wally Wales, and Buddy Roosevelt. Many of these films were released by a small company called Superior Talking Pictures.
Adamson's movies were made with very little money, sometimes less than $1,000. He often filmed them in old, rundown ghost towns in California. Scenes were usually shot in just one take, even if there were mistakes. Even the movie titles were sometimes drawn by hand very quickly. For example, the film Lightning Bill was accidentally spelled Lighting Bill on the title card.
Getting Movies Seen
Sometimes, Adamson could not find a company to distribute his films. When this happened, he would take his movies on the road himself. He would load his car with the film and posters. Then, he would travel to small towns in the Midwest. He would book his movies in local theaters. He would also perform a rope act himself, pretending to be Art Mix. The movie would be an extra bonus for the audience. This was his special trick to get his films seen and earn some money.
In 1936, Adamson tried to make a young stuntman named Wally West into a star. He gave him the name Tom Wynn. Adamson himself acted in this film, called Desert Mesa, using the name Art James. However, not many companies wanted to buy the film because it was not very good. Adamson acted in only one more film after Desert Mesa, which was Mormon Conquest in 1938.
After Mormon Conquest, Adamson appeared in many more films, mostly Westerns. He often played small roles. He acted in about 130 films during the late 1930s and 1940s. He was often credited as "Denver Dixon." In 1952, he had a small, uncredited role in the movie Bend in the River, which starred Jimmy Stewart.
After a break from filmmaking, he returned briefly in the 1960s. He co-produced two films with his son Al Adamson: Half Way to Hell (1960) and Two Tickets to Terror (1963). These films inspired his son to produce his own "B movies" from the 1960s to the early 1980s.
Death
Victor Adamson passed away from a heart attack on November 9, 1972. He was 82 years old and died in Los Angeles.
