Established in 1919 by the brothers Weiss (Adolph, Louis, and Max), Artclass specialized for most of the 1920s in low-budget westerns and serials, distributed on a States’ Rights basis. Beginning in 1926, the Weiss brothers began expanding into short subjects, most notably with a slate of two-reel slapstick series produced by Billy West between 1926 and 1929. These mostly featured either past-their-prime comedy stalwarts (e.g., Ben Turpin, Snub Pollard) or second-tier talents (e.g., Jimmy Aubrey, Poodles Hanneford). More distinctive was the Hairbreadth Harry series of action melodrama spoofs, based on C. W. Kahles’s celebrated comic strips and starring Earl McCarthy in the titular role. The Weiss brothers stumbled into the sound era, first retrenching to features before reorganizing Artclass into three separate firms: Weiss Productions (1933-1938), Superior Talking Pictures (1933-1935), and Stage and Screen Productions (1933-1946). By the mid-1930s, the brothers were once again specializing in the western features and serials that had been their silent-era bread and butter.