41. “Radio Corporation of America Annual Report 1930,” 10 March 1931, pp. 3, 21.
42. Eugene Lyons, David Sarnoff (New York: Harper & Row, 1966), p. 144.
43. “Big Rockefeller Project Gives Electric Group Strongest Hold,” p. 44.
44. Beauchamp, Joseph P. Kennedy Presents, p. 229.
45. “Definite Denial of Merger Between RKO and Pathe Is Issued by E. B. Derr,” Exhibitors Herald-World, 22 February 1930, p. 21.
46. Beauchamp, Joseph P. Kennedy Presents, p. 300.
47. Benjamin B. Hampton, History of the American Film Industry (New York: Dover, 1970), p. 126.
48. Donald Crafton suggests that RKO also needed a source of additional product because in “July 1930, Paramount stopped playing its films in RKO houses.” See Crafton, The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition to Sound, 1926–1931 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999), p. 208.
49. “Individual Company Analyses,” Motion Picture Herald, 3 January 1931, p. 58.
50. “Pathe Only the Nucleus of a Broader Plan,” Motion Picture Herald, 21 February 1931, p. 18.
51. Ibid.
52. “$10,000,000 Budget in New Season for RKO-Pathe,” Motion Picture Herald, 7 February 1931, p. 9.
53. “N.Y. Critics All Go for ‘Cimarron’; Ad Campaign Set,” Motion Picture Herald, 31 January 1931, p. 35.
54. FDR quoted in Leon J. Bamberger to RKO Managers, Salesmen, Bookers, 16 July 1934.
55. “Big Royalties for Big Picture Writers,” Motion Picture Herald, 3 January 1931, p. 62.
56. Charles R. Rogers to Lee Marcus, 1 May 1931.
57. “Brown Borrows Six Millions for RKO Pathe,” Motion Picture Herald, 20 June 1931, p. 9.
58. Ibid.
59. “Reductions of Admission Price Adopted in Most Large Cities,” Motion Picture Herald, 24 October 1931, p. 9.
60. “Pathe-Radio May Save $2,000,000 to RKO by Merge,” Variety, 10 November 1931, p. 4.
61. David O. Selznick, Memo from David O. Selznick, ed. Rudy Behlmer (New York: Viking Press, 1972), p. 42.
62. Harry Joe Brown, memorandum to All Department Heads, 2 November 1931.
63. Ibid.
64. Rogers continued to work in the industry for almost twenty years, primarily as a producer. In 1936 he became head of production for Universal, but retained the position only until 1938.
65. “The Best Money Film Stars,” Variety, 5 January 1932, p. 38.
66. “Radio Comes to Screenland and Adventures Enroute,” Motion Picture Herald, 16 April 1932, p. 13.
67. “Depinet Becomes Pathe G.M.,” Motion Picture Herald, 28 February 1931, p. 18.
68. “RKO in Dilemma over Refinancing,” Motion Picture Herald, 21 November 1931, p. 24.
69. “RKO Primer,” Time, 7 December 1931, p. 75.
70. “Hiram Brown Unusually Frank Telling Legmen All about RKO,” Variety, 8 December 1931, p. 7.
71. “RKO Theatres' Big Net,” Variety, 8 December 1931, p. 27.
72. “RKO Gets Its New Money Jan. 2,” Variety, 29 December 1931, p. 1.
73. “RKO Primer.”
74. “Radio and Pathe to Deliver ‘31–32 Films,” Motion Picture Herald, 21 November 1931, p. 25. By “negative quality,” Marcus meant the quality of the final negative, that is, the conformed negative of the production from which release prints were then struck for distribution.
75. Thomas Schatz, The Genius of the System (New York: Metropolitan Books, 1996), p. 87.
76. “RKO Reports a Net Loss but Gains in Theatre Operation,” Motion Picture Herald, 12 March 1932, p. 28.
CHAPTER 3
1. “New Chief of Theatre Operation Expected as Next Move in RKO,” Motion Picture Herald, 9 January 1932, p. 10.
2. “Brown Has Full Control at RKO,” Motion Picture Herald, 27 February 1932, p. 11.
3. His career as a producer would not be memorable; later, he became co-owner of Western Costume, the leading costume rental house in Hollywood.
4. “Aylesworth Made RKO President; Brown in an Advisory Capacity,” Motion Picture Herald, 16 April 1932, p. 13.
5. Ibid.
6. David Selznick, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, 9 May 1932.
7. LeBaron would enjoy better fortune at Paramount, where he produced She Done Him Wrong, starring Mae West, and It's a Gift, one of W. C. Fields's funniest movies. In 1938 he took over as the studio's production chief, but his tenure in the position was short-lived. In the early 1940s, he began producing for Twentieth Century-Fox. There he guided such pictures as The Gang's All Here and Pin-Up Girl.
8. “Notes on Interview with Merlin H. Aylesworth,” RKO Publicity Department, 14 April 1932.
9. “Rough Notes of Luncheon Address Presented to the Academy by M. H. Aylesworth,” 13 June 1932.
10. Ibid.
11. Martin Quigley, “Mr. Aylesworth's Bad News,” Motion Picture Herald, 18 June 1932, p. 7.
12. “Aylesworth Sees Theatre Revival,” Motion Picture Herald, 25 June 1932, p. 22. For more information on the developing relationship between the movies and radio, see my article, “Hollywood and Radio: Competition and Partnership in the 1930s,” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 4, No. 2 (1984), pp. 125-141; and Michele Hilmes, Hollywood and Broadcasting (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990).
13. “RKO 10% Cut Now General,” Variety, 26 January 1932, p. 15.
14. Martin Quigley, “The Old Red Rooster,” Motion Picture Herald, 13 February 1932, p. 7.
15. “RKO Quarter Loss Is $2,166,713.67,” Motion Picture Herald, 14 May 1932 p. 35.
16. Martin Quigley, “David Hits Out,” Motion Picture Herald, 30 April 1932 p. 7.
17. Mike Steen, “A Louis B. Mayer American Film Institute Oral History of Pandro S. Berman,” American Film Institute Archives, Los Angeles, n.d., P. 15.
18. “RKO Radio to Issue 62 Features, 140 Shorts, Convention Is Told,” Motion Picture Herald, 21 May 1932, p. 82.
19. Ibid., p. 83.
20. B. B. Kahane to David Selznick, 4 June 1932.
21. Ibid.
22. B. B. Kahane, telegram to M. H. Aylesworth, 11 July 1932.
23. Ibid.
24. Merian C. Cooper, memorandum to C. D. White, 18 July 1932.
25. B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, 25 July 1932.
26. Ibid.
27. “RKO Reports $1,375,170 Loss for Six Months Ended June 30,” Motion Picture Herald, 27 August 1932, p.24.
28. “Changes in 34 RKO Theatres Raise Gross Profit 237 Per Cent,” Motion Picture Herald, 27 August 1932, p. 19.
29. M. H. Aylesworth to B. B. Kahane, 21 July 1932.
30. David Selznick to B. B. Kahane, 21 July 1932. Sam Jaffe (not the actor) was later hired, though his RKO employment would not last long.
31. Ibid.
32. B. B. Kahane to M. H. Aylesworth, 26 July 1932.
33. M. H. Aylesworth, telegram to B. B. Kahane, 2 August 1932.
34. David Selznick, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, 4 August 1932.
35. Ibid.
36. B. B. Kahane to M. H. Aylesworth, 4 August 1932.
37. M. H. Aylesworth to B. B. Kahane, 17 August 1932.
38. Ibid.
39. B. B. Kahane to M. H. Aylesworth, 18 August 1932.
40. M. H. Aylesworth, telegram to B. B. Kahane, 12 October 1932.
41. “Radio's Smash Contest,” Motion Picture Herald, 27 August 1932, p. 56.
42. “Radio to Start Unit Production Soon: Selznick,” Motion Picture Herald, 19 November 1932, p. 15.
43. B. B. Kahane to M. H. Aylesworth, 1 November 1932.
44. Ibid.
45. Gavin Lambert, On Cukor (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1972), pp. 42-44.
46. Lee Marcus to David Selznick, 9 June 1932.
47. Lambert, On Cukor, p. 60.
48. David Selznick, telegram to Lee Marcus, 22 June 1932.
49. B. B. Kahane to M. H. Aylesworth, 31 October 1932.
50. David Selznick to Katharine Brown, 27 January 1
933.
51. Fred Astaire, Steps in Time (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959), p. 213.
52. B. B. Kahane to M. H. Aylesworth, 3 October 1932.
53. Selznick, Memo from David O. Selznick, p. 43.
54. David Selznick to B. B. Kahane, Ned Depinet, Harold Franklin, Robert Sisk, 1 September 1932.
55. David Selznick, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, 25 July 1932.
56. B. B. Kahane to M. H. Aylesworth, 27 September 1932.
57. David Selznick, memorandum to Ned Depinet, Robert Sisk, B. B. Kahane, 30 August 1932.
58. B. B. Kahane to Ned Depinet, 4 October 1932.
59. David Selznick, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, 20 October 1932.
60. Harold Franklin, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, 6 December 1932.
61. Okrent, Great Fortune, p. 206.
62. Ibid., p. 238.
63. “RKO Roxy Prices from 40c to $1.50; To Open Dec. 29,” Motion Picture Herald, 26 November 1932, p. 26.
64. “Two Radio City Theatres Lavish,” Motion Picture Herald, 31 December 1932, p. 26.
65. Myer Kutz, Rockefeller Power (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974), p. 61.
66. Terry Ramsaye, “Static in Radio City,” Motion Picture Herald, 14 January 1933, p. 11.
67. Ibid.
68. “Music Hall Starts Combination Policy as RKO Roxy Continues,” Motion Picture Herald, 14 January 1933, p. 25.
69. Martin Quigley, “RKO's Autograph Album,” Motion Picture Herald, 3 December 1932, p. 7.
70. The Rockefellers, however, would never acquire a controlling interest in RKO, as has been asserted in a number of different works. See, for example, Cary Reich, The Life of Nelson Rockefeller: Worlds to Conquer, 1908–1958 (New York: Doubleday, 1996), p. 99.
71. “Selznick Out,” Time, 26 December 1932, p. 36.
72. M. H. Aylesworth, telegram to B. B. Kahane, 2 February 1933.
73. Ibid.
74. Selznick, Memo from David O. Selznick, pp. 51-52.
75. Ibid., p. 53.
76. Ibid.
77. Fay Wray, On the Other Hand: A Life Story (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989), p. 103.
78. Selznick, Memo from David O. Selznick, p. 44.
79. B. B. Kahane, telegram to M. H. Aylesworth, 6 February 1933.
80. Sid Grauman to M. C. Cooper, 24 March 1933.
81. Selznick, Memo from David O. Selznick, p. 48.
82. Ibid., p. 50.
CHAPTER 4
1. B. B. Kahane to Merlin Aylesworth, 23 January 1933.
2. “RKO Receivers Sought in Three Separate Actions,” Motion Picture Herald, 28 January 1933, p. 16.
3. “Committees Named in RKO Suits,” Motion Picture Herald, 4 February 1933, p. 26.
4. “Then Came the Dawn,” Business Week, 8 February 1933, p. 12.
5. Louis Nizer, “The Magic of Equity Receivership,” Motion Picture Herald, 25 February 1933, p. 28.
6. Ibid., p. 29.
7. “Reorganizing of RKO Underway,” Motion Picture Herald, 11 February 1933, p. 16.
8. “Committees Named in RKO Suits.”
9. Robert Sobel, RCA (New York: Stein & Day, 1986), p. 94.
10. Ibid., p. 99.
11. B. B. Kahane to M. H. Aylesworth, 13 February 1933.
12. Ibid.
13. Merian Cooper, telegram to Katharine Hepburn, 9 March 1933.
14. “Hollyday,” Time, 20 March 1933, pp. 41-42.
15. “7 Companies on Full Pay,” Motion Picture Herald, 15 April 1933, p. 9.
16. “Cooper Giving Free Hand to His Staff,” Motion Picture Herald, 1 April 1933, p. 18.
17. B. B. Kahane to William Mallard, 10 May 1933.
18. “Cooper Giving Free Hand to His Staff.”
19. B. B. Kahane to Merlin Aylesworth, 10 May 1933.
20. Ibid.
21. “RKO Reduces Theatre Holdings,” Motion Picture Herald, 17 June 1933, p.27.
22. Harold B. Franklin to M. H. Aylesworth, 23 June 1933.
23. M. H. Aylesworth, memorandum to H. R. Lamb, 23 June 1933.
24. “RKO Roxy Second Run,” Motion Picture Herald, 27 May 1933, p. 17.
25. “Westerns on Way Out as Public Taste Changes,” Motion Picture Herald, 1 April 1933, p. 9.
26. “84 Features with Music Available for Booking in Next Few Months,” Motion Picture Herald, 20 May 1933, p. 9.
27. “Radio Schedules 52 for 1933-34,” Motion Picture Herald, 1 July 1933, p. 33.
28. Ibid.
29. W. L. Brown, report on Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation, 18 July 1933.
30. B. B. Kahane, telegram to M. H. Aylesworth, 10 October 1933.
31. B. B. Kahane to M. H. Aylesworth, 6 June 1933.
32. B. B. Kahane to Ned Depinet, 10 November 1933.
33. “J. R. McDonough, Realist,” Motion Picture Herald, 12 August 1933, p. 17.
34. B. B. Kahane to J. R. McDonough, 5 October 1933.
35. B. B. Kahane to J. R. McDonough, 7 October 1933.
36. J. R. McDonough to B. B. Kahane, 16 October 1933.
37. B. B. Kahane to J. R. McDonough, 23 October 1933.
38. B. B. Kahane to J. R. McDonough, 10 November 1933.
39. “Fran,” memorandum to J. R. McDonough, 17 November 1933.
40. David O. Selznick to Ned Depinet, 18 October 1933. Years later, with his eyes focused on posterity, Selznick would claim that the RKO theater proprietors had encouraged him to modernize the story. See Selznick, Memo from David O. Selznick, p. 415.
41. Merian Cooper to Ned Depinet, 28 July 1933.
42. B. B. Kahane, telegram to Ned Depinet, 31 October 1933.
43. “Little Women Sets Music Hall Record,” Motion Picture Herald, 25 November 1933, p. 46.
44. Merian Cooper to David Selznick, 2 November 1933.
45. Robert Sisk to Ned Depinet, 18 December 1933.
46. B. B. Kahane to J. R. McDonough, 15 November 1933.
47. Throughout its early history, RKO was much more willing to allow its top talent to share in the profits of their pictures than were other companies. Besides Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Irene Dunne, John Ford, Irving Berlin, and others eventually became RKO profit participants. At MGM, on the other hand, Louis B. Mayer, Irving Thalberg, J. Robert Rubin, and other executives and producers had percentage deals, but the studio's numerous stars received straight salaries.
48. J. R. McDonough to B. B. Kahane, 17 November 1933.
49. J. R. McDonough to Katharine Hepburn, 22 January 1935.
50. “RKO Net Loss for Year Is Halved: 58 of 162 Owned Houses Dropped,” Motion Picture Herald, 11 November 1933, pp. 56-60.
51. Ibid., p. 60.
52. Quotations in this and the following paragraph are drawn from Merian Cooper, memorandum to the Board of Directors, 18 December 1933.
53. Quoted in Thomas W. Bohn and Richard L. Stromgren, Light and Shadows (Port Washington, NY: Alfred Publishing, 1975), p. 236.
54. Merian Cooper, memorandum to the Board of Directors.
55. B. B. Kahane to Ned Depinet, 7 December 1933.
56. M. C. Cooper, memoranda to All Producers and Directors, 11 January 1934 and 16 January 1934.
57. “Irving Trust Report Notes RKO Gaining,” Motion Picture Herald, 26 May 1934, p. 12.
58. Victor Shapiro, “The Hollywood Scene,” Motion Picture Herald, 10 February 1934, p. 16.
59. “McDonough to Head RKO Radio; Cooper Again Production Chief,” Motion Picture Herald, 24 February 1934, p. 19.
60. Ibid.
61. Fred Astaire to Leland Hayward, 9 February 1934.
62. Fred Astaire to Leland Hayward, 12 February 1934.
63. Leland Hayward to Fred Astaire, 16 February 1934.
64. Pandro Berman to Leland Hayward, 26 February 1934.
65. Katharine Hepburn to RKO Studios, Inc., 13 February 1934.
66. Merian Cooper to J. R. McDonough, 2 April 1934.
67. Merian Cooper to Merlin Aylesworth, 2 April 1934.
68. Merlin Aylesworth to Merien [sic] Cooper,
16 April 1934.
69. J. R. McDonough, memorandum of telephone conversation with A. H. McCausland, 17 May 1934.
70. J. R. McDonough, telegram to A. H. McCausland, 20 May 1934.
71. Pandro Berman to J. R. McDonough, 31 March 1934.
72. B. B. Kahane to J. R. McDonough, 22 March 1934.
73. Pandro Berman to Ned Depinet, 27 March 1934.
74. B. B. Kahane to J. R. McDonough, 22 March 1934.
75. Ibid.
76. Pandro Berman to B. B. Kahane, 12 June 1934.
77. Ibid.
78. B. B. Kahane, memorandum to Pandro Berman, 13 June 1934.
79. “Plots and Plans,” Time, 25 June 1934, p. 40.
80. Broadcasters Organize Raid on Hollywood Film Talent,” Motion Picture Herald, 14 April 1934, p. 9.
81. Ibid.
82. Victor M. Shapiro, “The Hollywood Scene,” Motion Picture Herald, 2 June 1934, p. 31.
83. Pandro Berman, telegram to Ned Depinet, 10 April 1934.
84. B. B. Kahane, memorandum to Lou Brock, 25 April 1934.
85. Ibid.
86. B. B. Kahane to Ned Depinet, 14 July 1934.
87. Pandro Berman, telegram to Katharine Hepburn, 3 June 1936.
88. “Irving Trust Report Notes RKO Gaining,” Motion Picture Herald, 26 May 1934, p. 12.
89. “RKO, Paramount Ask Reorganizing,” Motion Picture Herald, 16 June 1934, p. 12.
90. “More than 8,000,000 Attended Radio City Houses in First Year,” Motion Picture Herald, 20 January 1934, p. 27.
91. “Rothafel Resigns Post as Director of Music Hall,” Motion Picture Herald, 13 January 1934, p. 22.
CHAPTER 5
1. “Irving Trust Is Named Permanent Trustee of RKO,” Motion Picture Herald, 30 June 1934, p. 38.
2. Brock would return in the late 1930s, once again assuming command of the RKO shorts unit in 1939.
3. “RKO Schedules 50 for New Season,” Motion Picture Herald, 23 June 1934, p. 12.
4. Ibid., p. 18.
5. “RKO Payments Await Agreement,” Motion Picture Herald, 13 October 1934, p. 43.
6. “Reorganizing of RKO Is Started,” Motion Picture Herald, 3 November 1934, p. 15.
7. Fred Astaire to Katharine Brown, 6 November 1933.
8. According to Berman, Brock was offered the property but turned it down to produce Down to Their Last Yacht. He told Berman, “I can blow better scripts out of my nose.” See Bob Thomas, Astaire the Man, the Dancer (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984), p. 94.
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