Harry S. Webb

Harry S. Webb was one of the early jack-of-all-trades in silent Hollywood, although his work was confined mostly to the "wrong side of the tracks" called Poverty Row. Born in 1896 (some sources claim 1892), Webb broke into movies as an actor, working at what was then the largest studio on earth, "Uncle" Carl Laemmle's Universal Pictures. After a few turns in front of the camera, Webb moved into production and, like many of Laemmle's relatively few unrelated employees, left for what he felt were greener pastures. In 1926 he hooked up with legendary serial producer Nat Levine to make the serial The Silent Flyer (1926) (ultimately sold and distributed by his old studio, Universal) just prior to the formation of Levine's Mascot Pictures. As half of Webb-Douglas Productions, he continued at Mascot for about a year, directing the first three of the newly formed company's cliffhanger serials. Webb-Douglas moved out from behind Mascot, continuing to produce serials and low-budget westerns. In