In order to finance his school and various dance companies, Horton choreographed a number of Hollywood musicals, beginning with "Moonlight in Havana" (1942). Many of the films, like the Maria Montez vehicle "White Savage" (1943), were Universal productions, which could not rival the budgetary extravagance of MGM or Fox, though many were in Technicolor; the most notable was Arthur Lubin's "Phantom of the Opera" (1943). Horton's dancers also frequently worked at clubs, including the Folies Bergère in New York and Earl Carroll Theatre and Restaurant in Los Angeles. Horton's best-known works, which he called "choreodramas," are "Salome" (which occupied Horton for nearly two decades) and "The Beloved".