In its early years, Republic was itself sometimes labelled a "Poverty Row" company, as its primary products were B movies and serials. Republic, however, showed more interest in — and provided larger budgets to — these films than many of the larger studios were doing, and certainly more than other independents were able to. The heart of the company was its westerns, and its many western-film leads — among them John Wayne, Gene Autry, Rex Allen, and Roy Rogers — became recognizable stars at Republic. However, by the mid-1940s, Yates was producing better-quality pictures, mounting big-budget fare like "The Quiet Man" (1952), "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949), "Johnny Guitar" (1954), and "The Maverick Queen" (1956). Another distinguishing aspect of Republic Pictures was Yates' avoidance of any controversial subject matter (exploitation films being a staple of B movies), adhering to the Breen Office, in contrast to the other "Poverty Row" studios, which often dodged the Production Code.