Richard B. Jewell - RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan Is Born

APPENDIX

The whole equation of pictures

RKO and the Studio System

While many of the pioneering motion picture companies still exist today (unfortunately, RKO is not among them), they now operate very differently than they did in the 1920s through the 1950s. Thus, it should prove valuable to those unfamiliar with the workings of the old studio system, and augment the knowledge of individuals who understand the ins and outs of the system, to read this primer on RKO operations. It describes the corporation's general business practices and organizational structure.

RKO's business model was based on a prototype developed by other movie companies, and it functioned in a way that mirrored the operations of its competitors. Each studio, however, had its own organizational quirks and special policies.

Like most of its competitors, RKO was bicoastal with its business headquarters in New York and its filmmaking plant in Los Angeles. Five of the organizationsMGM, Paramount, Warner Bros., Fox (later Twentieth Century-Fox), and RKOwere vertically integrated. They operated a studio to produce their product, a worldwide distribution arm to market it, and a chain of theaters where the films almost always played. Columbia and Universal were also considered major studios, though they did not own theaters, and United Artists rounded out the Eight Majors even though UA was purely a distribution enterprise releasing independently made films. In addition, a number of smaller, poverty row movie concerns existed during RKO's lifespan. Mascot, Monogram, Republic, Majestic, Grand National, Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), and a few others turned out, almost exclusively, cheap genre pictures that did not challenge the oligopoly enjoyed by the majors.

MANAGEMENT

RKO's corporate president resided at the top of the company's administrative pyramid. He was responsible for the overall performance of the organization and for hiring the other major executives. Though RKO's structure included a large number of subsidiary companies (most set up to handle distribution in specific countries or regions of the world), the pivotal executives were the ones with primary responsibility for production, distribution, and exhibition. The latter two were based in New York along with the corporate president, while the head of production worked in Hollywood.

Each of the principal components of the corporation was expected to run in an efficient and profitable manner, but everyone knew the most important of the three was production. Success in the movie business depended on the creation of feature films that would attract enough paying customers to generate profits after all the attendant costs had been subtracted. Thus, the head of production at the studio was arguably the most critical company employee. In addition to understanding story, personnel, and budget, a superior head of production needed to combine the best qualities of a drill sergeant, a high-stakes poker player, a cheerleader, a psychiatrist, and a soothsayer. It was one of the toughest jobs imaginable, not just in the movie business but in any business. F. Scott Fitzgerald recognized this when he wrote, Not half a dozen men have ever been able to keep the whole equation of pictures in their heads.

The production chief along with his staff had to develop, oversee, and complete forty or more feature productions a year. One of the overriding issues of RKO's history was final production authority, the ability to make all-important decisions about which stories would be made and how they would be staffed and cast. At most companies, final decisions of this kind were unquestionably the responsibility of the head of production. But this was not always the case at RKO, where the function was sometimes usurped by the corporate president or another powerful executive. Serious problems always resulted from this managerial rupture.

Industry personnel understood that the movies released by a company like RKO fell into two basic categories: A pictures and B pictures. The A films were also known as important productions. They showcased a studio's top talent (actors, producers, directors, writers, technical talent) and were accorded the most fulsome budgets and longest-running times (generally seventy-five minutes or longer). Most important, they were leased to theaters for a percentage of the box-office intake.

B films, which usually ran about an hour, were made for much less money than the A pictures. From top to bottom, they featured individuals who were not considered capable of generating any special excitement among theatergoers. At a time when many theatrical programs included two features, the B film settled comfortably into the bottom half of the double bill. Still, these pictures enjoyed an importance that transcended their economical origins. They (along with the shorts that studios also produced) offered a platform to try out new talent. Some of RKO's most successful writers, directors, and actors cut their teeth on B pictures before graduating to the big leagues. B pictures also provided a reliable source of income to the company. Leased to theaters for a flat fee, most brought in a small profit.

In the mid-1930s, RKO management determined that superintending a full slate of feature releases was too demanding for one individual. After that, the studio added an executive producer for B films who worked closely with the production chief but freed him to concentrate on the A pictures. Both men had considerable resources at their disposal. For most of its history, RKO controlled two studios: the main lot at Gower Street and Melrose Avenue in Hollywood and the RKO Pathe lot on Washington Boulevard in Culver City. In addition, the company owned a ranch in Encino where outdoor pictures (mostly Westerns) were shot and large standing sets (such as the cathedral square for The Hunchback of Notre Dame) were erected.

Within the studio walls worked hundreds of individuals whose jobs were to help the company make the very best movies. Many of them signed exclusive contracts with RKO and, thus, could be counted on to contribute for a number of years. They were organized by department.

DEPARTMENTS

Acting. A studio's most prominent employees were its contract actors. Spectators loved stars, and the studios whose films featured the most popular performers, such as MGM, were consistently successful. In RKO's early days, the acting department included Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, Constance Bennett, Katharine Hepburn, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, as well as an impressive group of character actors including Edna May Oliver, Lee Tracy, Anne Shirley, Eric Blore, Erik Rhodes, and Helen Broderick. For some years beginning in the mid-1930s, the studio maintained an acting workshop where young contract performers received training. Ginger Rogers's mother, Lela, was placed in charge of the budding talent. Lucille Ball studied with Lela and appeared in Fly Away Home, the first play produced and directed by Rogers at RKO Radio's Little Theatre on the Lot in January 1936. The general public was invited to attend, with tickets priced at twenty-five cents.

Writing. The writing department brought together experts on adaptation, construction, character, dialogue, and the other skills required to produce quality screenplays in a timely fashion. It included Jane Murfin, Howard Estabrook, Dorothy Yost, Edward Kaufman, Allan Scott, Dudley Nichols, and John Twist.

Directors. The directors department listed Luther Reed, Wesley Ruggles, George Cukor, John Cromwell, Mark Sandrich, and George Stevens among its ranks. Most of the men who directed for RKO had to guide several movies a year; they were expected to bring the principal photography of each to a budget-conscious and successful conclusion.