RKO Pictures (also known as RKO Productions, Radio Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, and RKO Teleradio Pictures) is an American film production and distribution company. The original company produced films from 1929 through 1957, with releases extending until its dissolution in 1959. On October 23, 1928, RCA announced that it had acquired control of the Film Booking Offices of America studio and Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chain and was merging them under a holding company, Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corp.[1] Its new production arm was incorporated as RKO Productions Inc. on January 25, 1929.[2] While RKO Distributing Corp. was originally organized as a distinct business entity, by July 1930 the studio was transitioning into the new, unified RKO Radio Pictures Inc.[3] In December, RKO announced that it would be acquiring Pathé Exchange, including its studio and backlot in Culver City, film laboratories in New Jersey, distribution exchanges in the United States and Great Britain, and the Pathé News operation.[4] In 1931–32, RKO Pathé operated as a semiautonomous division of RKO Pictures.[5][6]
In the 1930s and 1940s, Hollywood's Golden Age, RKO was one of the Big Five studios. Its lineup of acting talent during this period included Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Robert Mitchum. Among the studio's most notable films are Cimarron (winner of the 1931 Academy Award for Best Picture), King Kong (1933), Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946—the studio's only other Academy Award for Best Picture), and what some people consider the greatest film of all time, 1941's Citizen Kane.[7][8]
The studio declined after Howard Hughes acquired ownership in 1948,[9] and it was sold to the General Tire and Rubber Company in 1955.[10] After several years of attempting to save the company, in January 1957, General Tire reached an agreement with Universal Pictures, where Universal would distribute the remaining RKO product, but the agreement effectively ended all film production at RKO.[11] In 1959 General Tire put all of its non-core operations in a holding company, RKO General,[12] which in 1978 reconstituted RKO Pictures Inc. as a production subsidiary,[13] although the new company did not release its first film until 1981.[14] General Tire sold RKO Pictures in 1989, at which point it began operating under new management as a small independent film company, RKO Pictures LLC.[15][16]
All release dates are from the AFI Database, except as follows: those designated with an (*) are from imdb.com, and those designated with a (**) are from Theiapolis.com; other sources are noted with footnotes. The date listed is the earliest date, whether that be the premiere or the general release date. The order is according to release dates in the United States.
Note: All films released by the original incarnation of RKO are now owned by Warner Bros. through Turner Entertainment Co. (in North America, the United Kingdom and France at the least) unless otherwise noted.
- ^ Jewell & Harbin 1982, p. 10.
- ^ Jewell 2012, p. 18, 20, 25.
- ^ "Part 1, Group 3—Dramatic Compositions, Motion Pictures". Catalogue of Copyright Entries. Vol. 3. Washington, DC: Library of Congress Copyright Office/Government Printing Office. 1930.
- ^ "Cash and Participation for Pathe in RKO Deal". The Film Daily. December 7, 1930. p. 1. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
- ^ Jewell 2012, p. 31–32, 43, 56.
- ^ Jewell & Harbin 1982, p. 32, 44, 54.
- ^ "'Citizen Kane' Fave Film of Movie Elite". rogerebert.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2008.
- ^ "Sight & Sound – Top ten". Sight & Sound. Archived from the original on September 3, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
- ^ "Silver Atlas Retaining "Heavy" RKO Interest". The Film Daily. May 12, 1948. p. 1. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
- ^ Jewell & Harbin 1982, p. 15.
- ^ "Confirm Closing of Univ. Deal for RKO Selling". The Film Daily. January 23, 1957. p. 1. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
- ^ O'Neill, Dennis J. (1966). A Whale of a Territory: The Story of Bill O'Neil. New York: McGraw Hill. p. 180.
- ^ Lambert, Bruce (August 12, 1993). "C. R. Manby, 73, Ex-Chairman and President of RKO Pictures". New York Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
- ^ "Carbon Copy". Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
- ^ "Pavilion Buys Stake in RKO". New York Times. September 1, 1989. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
- ^ "Company Overview of RKO Pictures, LLC". Bloomberg Business. Archived from the original on February 9, 2017. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
