RKO Forty Acres

RKO Forty Acres
1965 aerial photo of the property, looking west. Desilu Studios can be seen in the background.
General information
Type	Film backlot
Location	Culver City, California, U.S.
Coordinates	34°01′19″N 118°22′55″W / 34.022°N 118.382°W / 34.022; -118.382
Opening	1927
Demolished	1976
Technical details
Size	28.5 acres (11.5 ha)
Studios in charge Cecil B. DeMille (leased from Harry Culver) 1927 RKO Pathé 1928–1948 Selznick International Pictures (leased from RKO) 1935–1939 RKO (under Howard Hughes) 1948–1955 RKO General (under General Tire & Rubber Co.) 1955–1957 Desilu 1957–1966 Paramount 1967 Perfect Film and Chemical 1968 OSF Industries Limited 1969–1976

RKO Forty Acres was a film studio backlot in the United States, owned by RKO Pictures (and later Desilu Productions), located in Culver City, California. Best known as Forty Acres and "the back forty,"^[1] it was also called "Desilu Culver,"^[2] the "RKO backlot," and "Pathé 40 Acre Ranch," depending on which studio owned the property at the time. For nearly 50 years it was known for its outdoor full-scale sets, such as Western Street, Atlanta Street, and Main Street and was used in many films (including King Kong (1933) and Gone with the Wind (1939)) and television series (such as Bonanza and Star Trek).^[3]

The property was a triangular parcel of 28.5 acres (11.5 ha),^[4] a few blocks from RKO-Pathe (later Selznick, Desilu-Culver, now "The Culver Studios")^[5] which was situated to the west. It was bounded by Higuera Street to the north, West Jefferson Boulevard, Ballona Creek and Culver City Park to the south, and Lucerne Avenue to the west. In 1976 it was razed for redevelopment. Today it is known as the southern expansion of the Hayden Industrial Tract.^[6] A number of the buildings in the industrial park have been converted to television studios. One of the shows produced at the park is Hell's Kitchen.