RKO Pictures

RKO (Radio-Keith-Orpheum) Pictures is an American film production company.

RKO Radio Pictures Inc.

Shut out of the sound-film conversion frenzy, RCA bought its way into the motion picture business to gain an outlet for its variable-area optical sound-on-film system, RCA Photophone. All of the major studios and their theater divisions had signed exclusive contracts to use AT&T Western Electric division's Westrex variable density optical sound-on-film system.

Related Topics:
RCA Photophone - AT&T - Western Electric - Westrex

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Promising to make only sound films, RKO began production at the former FBO studios in early 1929, with William LeBaron in charge of production. By the early 1930s, RKO was producing forty pictures a year, releasing them under the names "Radio Pictures" and "RKO Pathe." LeBaron was succeeded in 1931 by David O. Selznick, who signed and promoted several young actors who would carry RKO through the decade, among them Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Joel McCrea and Katharine Hepburn. RKO also distributed films for independent producers: from 1936, it released Walt Disney's features and shorts, and from 1941 also handled Samuel Goldwyn's productions. During this time the RKO Studio Club was founded by Errol Leslie "Sandy" Sanders. In addition to those signed by Selznick, RKO stars of the 1930s included Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Constance Bennett and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.; among the studio's directors were John Ford, George Cukor, George Stevens and Leo McCarey. Lacking the resources of the other major studios, many RKO pictures of this period make up in style what they lacked in production values.

Related Topics:
William LeBaron - 1930s - David O. Selznick - Fred Astaire - Ginger Rogers - Joel McCrea - Katharine Hepburn - 1936 - Walt Disney - Errol Leslie "Sandy" Sanders - Cary Grant - Irene Dunne - Constance Bennett - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. - John Ford - George Cukor - George Stevens - Leo McCarey

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Early in the 1930s, the Justice Department forced a re-organization of RCA, and as a result RCA reduced its holdings in RKO. Control passed to the investor Floyd Odlum and the Rockefeller brothers. But the shaky finances and excesses of the Kennedy-Sarnoff years could not carry RKO through the depression, and in 1932 it sank into receivership. A corporate re-organization in the mid-1930's led to better times. From 1935 onward, the Pathe name was used only on newsreels and documentaries; all features went out under the revised name "RKO Radio Pictures."

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Propelled by the box-office boom of World War II and more stable management under Charles Koerner and Dore Schary, RKO made a strong comeback in the 1940s. Koerner, former head of the RKO theater chain, favored star-driven pictures. But RKO no longer had major stars under contract, so he made deals with the biggest names whereby they would appear in one RKO picture each year. Thus RKO pictures of the mid- and late-forties offered Bing Crosby, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Claudette Colbert and others who were usually priced above RKO's league. Film noir became something of a house style at RKO, and its 1940s list of contract-players reads like a who's-who of noir: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Robert Ryan, Lawrence Tierney, Jane Russell and George Raft among them.

Related Topics:
Charles Koerner - Dore Schary - 1940s - Bing Crosby - James Stewart - Gary Cooper - Ingrid Bergman - Claudette Colbert - Robert Mitchum - Jane Greer - Robert Ryan - Lawrence Tierney - Jane Russell - George Raft

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More so than other major studios, RKO relied on B-pictures to fill up its schedule. These low-budget films served as training ground for new directors, among them Anthony Mann, Nicholas Ray and Robert Wise, and some RKO Bs, like Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, Hitler's Children, The Narrow Margin and Isle of the Dead are remembered today.

Related Topics:
Anthony Mann - Nicholas Ray - Robert Wise - Cat People - I Walked with a Zombie - Hitler's Children - The Narrow Margin - Isle of the Dead

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After years of weathering financial ups-and-downs, Floyd Odlum decided to cash in his RKO holdings, and in 1947 put his shares on the market. It was widely assumed that J. Arthur Rank, then expanding his British and American holdings, would be the buyer. But to the surprise of many, in 1948 Howard Hughes gained control by acquiring 25% of the outstanding stock. During his tenure RKO again suffered, as Hughes' eccentric management style took a heavy toll. Within weeks of taking control, he dismissed two-thirds of the work force; production was shut down for six months in 1949 while Hughes undertook to investigate the politics of all remaining studio employees. Completed pictures would be sent back for re-shooting if Hughes felt his star (especially female) wasn't properly presented, or if a film's anti-communist politics weren't sufficiently clear.

Related Topics:
J. Arthur Rank - 1948 - Howard Hughes

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Hughes let go of the RKO theaters in 1953 as settlement of the U.S. vs Paramount, et al. anti-trust case; with the sale of the profitable theaters, the shaky status of the film studio became apparent. Busy during the Korean War years with the demands of his aircraft-manufacturing and TWA holdings, Hughes found the steady stream of lawsuits from RKO's minority shareholders to be a nuisance. Anxious to be rid of their charges of malfeasance and mis-management, Hughes offered to buy out all other stockholders. By the end of 1954, at a cost of $24 million, he had gained total control of RKO, thus becoming the first sole-owner of a studio since Hollywood's pioneer days. Six months later, in July, 1955, Hughes abruptly sold RKO to General Tire & Rubber Co. for $25 million. Hughes retained the rights to pictures he had personally produced, including those made at RKO; he also retained the contract of his discovery Jane Russell. For Howard Hughes, this was the end of his twenty-five year role in Hollywood.

Related Topics:
U.S. vs Paramount, et al. - TWA - General Tire & Rubber Co.

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In taking control of the studio, General Tire also restored RKO's links to broadcasting; General had bought Boston's WNAC and the Yankee Network in 1943, and had bought and merged Don Lee Broadcasting and Bamberger Broadcasting to form General Teleradio in 1952. Thomas O'Neill, son of General Tire's founder William O'Neill, and chairman of the broadcasting group, saw that General Tire's new television stations, indeed all stations, would need programming. In 1953 O'Neill had approached Hughes about buying RKO's film library; with the 1955 purchase of the studio that library was his, and rights to 700 pre-1948 RKO films were quickly put up for sale. The asking price of $15.5 million convinced other timid studios that their libraries held profit potential. The C&C Television Corp. , a subsidiary of the beverage maker C&C Cantrell & Cochrane, bought RKO's library and offered it to independent stations with ads for C&C Cola already edited into the pictures. By 1956 all of RKO's classic pre-1948 films were playing widely on television, and for some half-forgotten films like Citizen Kane, it meant rediscovery by the public.

Related Topics:
1943 - 1952 - Thomas O'Neill - C&C - Television Corp. - Cantrell & Cochrane

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General Tire made a half-hearted effort to run the studio, hiring veteran producer William Dozier to head production. Most RKO pictures of this era are either remakes of earlier successes, or enlarged B-pictures. Years of mismanagement had driven away many directors, producers and stars; convinced that RKO was sinking, both Goldwyn and Disney left, Disney to set up its own distribution firm in 1954. After a year and a half of mixed success, General Tire shut down production at RKO for good at the end of January, 1957.

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The studio lots in Hollywood and Culver City were sold to Desilu Productions later in 1957 for $6.5 million. Desilu would be acquired by Paramount Pictures in 1967, and the former RKO Hollywood lot became home to Paramount Television, which it remains to this day.

Related Topics:
Desilu Productions - 1957

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With the closing down of production, RKO also shut its distribution exchanges; from 1957 through late 1959, remaining pictures were released through others, including Warner Brothers, Universal and MGM. Many of the last RKO productions carry a copyright "RKO Teleradio Pictures Inc.", shortened later to just "RKO Teleradio Inc." By the end of 1959, all that remained of the ambitious studio was the parent company, RKO General. This was also the holding company for all General Tire's broadcasting and soft-drink bottling enterprises.

Related Topics:
Warner Brothers - Universal - MGM

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Years afterward Thomas O'Neill claimed that General Tire had broken-even on its investment in RKO, that the sale of the film library and studio lots, along with the proifits from its own productions, had let them walk away cleanly.

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