Maurice H. Conn's journey in Hollywood began in the 1930s, when he founded his own low-budget film production company, Talisman Studios, on Sunset Boulevard. Under his leadership, the studio released feature films under three separate labels: Ambassador-Conn Pictures, Conn Pictures, and Melody Pictures Corporation.
Conn's most notable signing was Kermit Maynard, the younger brother of established cowboy star Ken Maynard, who was known for his athleticism and circus performances. Kermit excelled in horsemanship and was billed as "The World's Champion Trick and Fancy Rider." He went on to star in eighteen of Conn's westerns, including ten films in the Northwest Mounted series, which were based on stories by James Oliver Curwood.
Other regular performers in Conn's films included Frankie Darro and Jim Thorpe, a Native American Olympic athlete who was often cast as Indians or henchmen. These low-budget features were successful due to their strong supporting casts and superior production values, which included picturesque on-location shooting and a minimal use of stock footage.
Conn's studio was known for its fast-paced production schedule, with experienced directors like John English helming eight pictures per year from 1935. The studio's peak year was 1937, when they released fourteen films. However, the risks of running a small film studio in competition with the major studios eventually caught up with Conn, and Ambassador-Conn Pictures ceased operations in 1938.
Despite this setback, Conn continued to work in the film industry throughout the 1940s, producing low-budget pictures for Monogram, 20th Century Fox, and Eagle-Lion.
