Biography
Albert Victor Adamson (January 4, 1890 β November 9, 1972) was a New Zealand director, producer, screenwriter, and actor most famous for directing and starring in B and Z grade westerns in the early days of motion pictures. Adamson often used pseudonyms to credit himself, most often using the name Denver Dixon. His son, Al Adamson, would later follow his father in producing B movies during the 1960s and 1970s. Adamson was born January 4, 1890, in Auckland, New Zealand. In the late 1910s, he moved to the United States with a home-produced movie and found a distributor. He continued making his own movies despite a lack of early success with his films.Adamson began producing films around 1920. He called his production company Art Mix Productions and named himself the star. Adamson, however, found himself increasingly drawn to work behind the camera. He hired actor George Kesterson to act in his films using the Art Mix moniker, a name that Kesterson used for the rest of his career.With the advent of talking pictures, Adamson produced a series of Z-grade westerns featuring actors from the silent age in the decline of their careers, including Buffalo Bill, Jr., Wally Wales and Buddy Roosevelt. Many of these films were released by Superior Talking Pictures, a small independent distributor. Adamson's productions were of such low quality that the opening credits were often not proofread, leading to typographical errors such as in the case of the Buffalo Bill, Jr. film Lightning Bill, which was spelled Lighting Bill on the title card.Adamson's company, Victor Adamson Productions, built studios in Monrovia, California, in 1927. Opening and dedication ceremonies for the facilities occurred on July 17, 1927.In 1936 Adamson attempted to turn a young stuntman, Wally West, into a star using the name Tom Wynn. Adamson himself co-starred in the resulting film, Desert Mesa, using the pseudonym Art James. He was not able to find many companies willing to buy the film due to its poor quality. Adamson would star in one additional film after Desert Mesa, 1938's Mormon Conquest.Following Mormon Conquest Adamson appeared in many films, mostly Westerns and mostly in bit parts, through the late 1930s and 1940s. Often credited as "Denver Dixon", he appeared in approximately 130 films during this period. In 1952 he appeared as a barfly in an uncredited role in Bend in the River starring Jimmy Stewart. After a career hiatus, he briefly returned to filmmaking when he produced two horror films with son Al Adamson, Halfway to Hell (1961) and Two Tickets to Terror (1963). These films inspired the younger Adamson to produce B movies of his own, which he did from the 1960s through the early 1980s.
Filmography
all 106
Movies 106
Director 14
Writer 2
Producer 1
Five Bloody Graves (1969)
Noose for a Gunman (1960)
Half Way to Hell (1960)
The FBI Story (1959)
A Lawless Street (1955)
Duel on the Mississippi (1955)
The Gun That Won the West (1955)
Apache Ambush (1955)
Jesse James vs. the Daltons (1954)
Conquest of Cochise (1953)
The Juggler (1953)
Captain Pirate (1952)
Brave Warrior (1952)
Rancho Notorious (1952)
Flaming Feather (1952)
Bend of the River (1952)
The Son of Dr. Jekyll (1951)
Frenchie (1950)
Short Grass (1950)
Winchester '73 (1950)
The Gunfighter (1950)
Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950)
Dakota Lil (1950)
The Nevadan (1950)
Gun Cargo (1949)
Rimfire (1949)
Black Hills (1947)
Six-Gun Serenade (1947)
Code of the West (1947)
The Virginian (1946)
Moon Over Montana (1946)
Lonesome Trail (1945)
False Colors (1943)
Bullets and Saddles (1943)
Outlaws of Stampede Pass (1943)
The Lone Star Trail (1943)
Frontier Badmen (1943)
Law of the Saddle (1943)
Leather Burners (1943)
Border Patrol (1943)
Dawn on the Great Divide (1942)
Pardon My Gun (1942)
Silver Queen (1942)
Bowery at Midnight (1942)
The Lone Prairie (1942)
Phantom Killer (1942)
Arizona Stage Coach (1942)
Riders of the West (1942)
Boot Hill Bandits (1942)
Rock River Renegades (1942)
Western Mail (1942)
Thunder River Feud (1942)
Billy The Kid's Round-Up (1941)
Underground Rustlers (1941)
The Lone Rider in Frontier Fury (1941)
Billy the Kid in Santa Fe (1941)
Ridin' the Cherokee Trail (1941)
Arizona (1940)
Billy the Kid in Texas (1940)
That Gang of Mine (1940)
The Cowboy from Sundown (1940)
Queen of the Yukon (1940)
Roll Wagons Roll (1940)
Deadwood Dick (1940)
Stagecoach War (1940)
Land of the Six Guns (1940)
Pals of the Silver Sage (1940)
Wild Horse Valley (1940)
The Cheyenne Kid (1940)
East Side Kids (1940)
El Diablo Rides (1939)
Overland Mail (1939)
Oklahoma Terror (1939)
Law of the Wolf (1939)
In Old Montana (1939)
Feud of the Range (1939)
Code of the Fearless (1939)
Gun Packer (1938)
Where the Buffalo Roam (1938)
The Mexicali Kid (1938)
Starlight Over Texas (1938)
Six Shootin' Sheriff (1938)
The Cherokee Strip (1937)
Hopalong Cassidy Returns (1936)
Step on It (1936)
Arizona Trails (1935)
The Ghost Rider (1935)
Desert Mesa (1935)
Range Riders (1934)
Carrying the Mail (1934)
Rawhide Romance (1934)
The Rawhide Terror (1934)
Adventures of Texas Jack (1934)
Riding Speed (1934)
Lighting Bill (1934)
The Boss Cowboy (1934)
Lightning Range (1933)
Circle Canyon (1933)
The Fighting Cowboy (1933)
The Devil Horse (1932)
Heroes of the West (1932)
Sweeping Against the Winds (1930)
The Old Oregon Trail (1928)
Pioneer's Gold (1924)
Romance of the Wasteland (1924)
Ace of Cactus Range (1924)
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1890-01-04
Deathday1972-11-09 (82 years old)
Birth PlaceKansas City, Missouri, United States of America
ChildrenAl Adamson
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
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