Independent "Poverty Row" producer who specialized in low (extremely low)
budget westerns, usually shot in less than a week and distributed
through the then-chaotic exchange system to independent theaters. This
distribution system resulted in prints being bought outright in certain
states and virtually ensured a release would remain in circulation for
as long as it could remain spliced together, with a producer's profits
often being measured in numbers that would make a major studio producer
die laughing. Davis' most notable claim to fame was producing
$50,000 Reward (1924),
the film, likely his most profitable, that launched
Ken Maynard's career on
the road to stardom. He ended his career producing his only talkie,
West of the Rockies (1929), an
Art Mix quickie now considered lost.
