Mavericks and (M)ad Men: The Industrial Film Legacy of Dallas

What comes to mind when you think of media depictions of Dallas, Texas? Perhaps... Dallas? On the air from 1978 to 1991, the CBS blockbuster series remains one of the longest-running hourlong, primetime dramas in US television history. An estimated 350 million people tuned in on November 21, 1980, to solve the program's "Who shot J.R.?" mystery. American viewership alone was 83 million, representing 76 percent of all US televisions at the time.

But the city's history as a destination for on-location filming extends beyond the iconic primetime soap. The Wheelan-Loper Film Company of Dallas and San Antonio was formed in 1908. Spencer Williams shot ten race films—or films with a Black cast intended for a Black audience—in Dallas in the 1940s. And following the success of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), shot in the Dallas area, the city would attract a number of projects, including Fandango (1985), JFK (1991), Wishbone, and Walker, Texas Ranger.

Dallas could not have supported the making of popular film and television, however, if independent filmmakers had not already cultivated national renown for another kind of production—commercial film production, e.g., newsreels, industrial and promotional films, government and educational films, and television commercials. Surviving archival collections showcase a few of the pioneers that helped establish this creative legacy and earned Dallas the nickname "Little New York of the Southwest."

Newsreel companies for major distributors like Universal, Pathé, Paramount, and RKO called on Jamieson to cover Dallas-area events, from the sentencing of George "Machine Gun" Kelly (the first synchronous sound footage ever shot in a federal courtroom) to the New London school explosion. In 1942, he joined the federal War Production Advisory Committee for advertising and industrial filmmakers and distributors, after which his company became a noted producer of military and government films.

While government and military contracts continued, the company also produced industrial and promotional films, television programs, and television commercials. Sons Bruce and Hugh Jr. took over company leadership in 1953, turning Jamieson into a studio-concept business with its own lab and a staff of camera operators, writers, editors, and animators—many of whom went on to successful careers in the film industry or even start their own production houses.

With its staff of directors, writers, camera operators, animators, editors, sound recordists, and other crew members, Stokes produced industrial and promotional films as well as television commercials for a range of clients, including both local names like the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Dallas and national brands like Frito-Lay and Kroger. Like Jamieson, the company also received government contracts, making recruitment films for the United States Navy and Marine Corps.

Visual's commercials often featured catchy tunes—take these earworms promoting Lone Star Beer and Play Mate, for example. The trend shows off another strength of Dallas commercial film production: its reputation as a jingle hub. KLIF's Tom Merriman and WFAA's Bill Meeks developed the concept of mass-produced radio jingles in the 1950s. Musical breaks soon became industry practice, prompting songwriters, musicians, and music producers to flock to Dallas to meet the demand for marketing jingles.

Shelley Tracy and Raymond Locke opened the Southwestern Advertising Agency, later known as TracyLocke, in Oklahoma City in 1913. Four years later, the company moved to Dallas, where its headquarters remain. TracyLocke developed a number of enduring advertising campaigns, from the call to drink Dr Pepper at "10, 2, and 4" to the rebranding of 7-Eleven. The company also coined terms like "slacks" and "metroplex," the latter to describe the vast Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

This story highlights Dallas production companies and filmmakers found in the Texas Archive of the Moving Image online video collection. But countless other "mavericks and (m)ad men" called Dallas home, including S.F. "Brownie" Brownrigg, Joe Camp, Victor Duncan, Hope Yvonne Peters, Robert Redd, Larry Stouffer, Jack Whitman, and Gordon Yoder.

Together, Dallas independent filmmakers produced an extensive body of work seen around the globe and laid the foundation for the thriving Texas film industry of the present day. Much of their immense output no longer exists or survives only in personal collections. Their legacy continues not only through archival film preservation but also among the new generations of Dallas talent that sustain the city's starring role as a major center for media production.