Founded
1929
(as Radio Pictures Inc., subsidiary of Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corp.)
Defunct
1959 (de facto)
Headquarters
1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY
For more information:-
RKO Pictures- Wikipedia
RKO Radio Pictures
(Radio-Keith-Orpheum) is an American film production and distribution company.
As Radio Pictures Inc. and then RKO Radio Pictures Inc.,
it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age.
The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO)
theater chains and Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America (FBO)
studio were brought together under the control of the
Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in October 1928.RCA chief David Sarnoff
engineered the merger to create a market for the company's sound-on-film
technology, RCA Photophone. By the mid-1940s,
the studio was under the control of investor Floyd Odlum.
RKO has long been celebrated for its cycle of musicals starring
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid- to late 1930s.
Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchum had their first major successes
at the studio. Cary Grant was a mainstay for years.
The work of producer Val Lewton's low-budget horror unit and RKO's
many ventures into the field now known as film noir have been acclaimed,
largely after the fact, by film critics and historians.
The studio produced two of the most famous films in motion picture history:
King Kong and Citizen Kane.
Jet Pilot, a Hughes pet production launched in 1949.
Shooting wrapped in May 1951, but it was not released until 1957
due to his interminable tinkering.
RKO was by then out of the distribution business.
The movie was released by Universal-International.
Maverick industrialist Howard Hughes took over RKO in 1948.
After years of decline under his control, the studio was acquired by the
General Tire and Rubber Company in 1955.
The original RKO Pictures ceased production in 1957 and was effectively
dissolved two years later. In 1981, broadcaster RKO General, the corporate heir,
revived it as a production subsidiary, RKO Pictures Inc.
In 1989, this business with its few remaining assets,
the trademarks and remake rights to many classic RKO films,
was sold to new owners, who now operate the small independent company
RKO Pictures LLC.
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RKO Culver City Studios
RKO Forty Acres/Desilu Studios
Culver City, California
Scenes from
The Searchers, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon,
The Flying Leathernecks, Tall In The Saddle
amongst others were filmed here
40 Acres
The Lost Studio Backlot of Movie & Television Fame(1926-1976)
Gone With The Wind" Atlanta set built for that film.
Known as the Forty Acres even though the actual acreage is little more than 28 acres
(the backlot and the Culver City Studio sites cover approximately 40 acres),
this primary backlot for the RKO Studio
(another one existed in the San Fernando Valley community of Encino)
came into existence around 1926/27.
The history of the Culver City Studio and backlot actually goes back
to September 1918 when Thomas Ince purchased property from Henry Culver.
The Ince Studios were in business from 1919 to 1924.
In 1925, Cecil B. DeMille acquired Ince's holdings.
To film his "King of Kings", DeMille leased 28 1/2 acres of land close to the studio.
This property became known as the Forty Acres backlot.
On this property, DeMille built the biblical city of Jerusalem.
In 1928, RKO was created and took over the ownership of the Culver City property.
For the movie "The Bird of Paradise", they built a jungle and native village.
This jungle became the nucleus of the future Tarzan jungle.
The native village and the Jerusalem gates can be see in "King Kong".
In 1935, David O. Selznick leased the property from RKO
for his Selznick International Pictures. On the backlot, he constructed
the town of Atlanta, a railroad station,
and the Tara mansion for "Gone With The Wind".
Portions of the Jerusalem sets, including the gates,
were dressed to appear as Atlanta and they were burned to the ground.
Portions of the Atlanta sets were later used in "The Andy Griffith Show" television show
as the town of Mayberry.
To see where the Mayberry portion of the set was in comparison
to the entire Atlanta set, watch the film "The Magnificent Ambersons".
Across Ballona Creek from the main backlot, the lake and jungle for the Tarzan features
was created. It was here that Sol Lesser recreated the MGM treehouse,
but only one half. The right portion was a matte painting.
Selznick at the train depot gazing at Tara
In 1948, Howard Hughes purchased the property.
In 1955, the General Tire and Rubber Company became the new owners,
while in 1957, Desilu gained ownership of the lot.
Paramount purchased the Desilu holdings in 1967 and sold off
the Culver City property in 1968 to Perfect Film and Chemical.
In 1969, OSF Industries Limited became the new owners; in 1977,
Laird Industries; in 1986, Grant Tinker and Gannett Company; and finally in 1991,
Sony Corporation.
The stalag in "Hogan Heroes" was also located on the backlot.
In 1976, the Forty Acres backlot was bulldozed and turned into an industrial park. On the opposite side of Ballona Creek, a fire station occupies the area of the jungle.
The Studio is located at 9336 Washington Blvd in Culver City.
The nearby backlot location is bounded by Ince Street, Lucerne Avenue,
Higuera Street, and Jefferson Blvd.
In the view above from 1958, one can see a number of "40 Acres" landmarks,
including the "Mayberry" courthouse (right edge, center) and the mansion
from Scarlett O'Hara's plantation "Tara," from the film Gone With The Wind
Please see, for lots of facts and photos
40 Acres
The Lost Studio Backlot of Movie & Television Fame(1926-1976)
For more information:-
RKO Forty Acres Studios
For more information:-
RKO Pictures- Wikipedia
For more information
Studios, Backlots and Ranches
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[/extendedmedia]N.B
All information correct at original posting, for updated information
please click on Wikipedia link
