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A history of RKO Radio Pictures, Incorporated 1928-1942

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A history of RKO Radio Pictures, Incorporated 1928-1942

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Content A HISTORY OF RKO RADIO PICTURES, INCORPORATED 1928-1942 by Richard Brownell Jewell A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Communication-Cinema) September 1978 Copyright by Richard Brownell Jewell, 1978 UMI Number: DP22246 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI DP22246 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Dissertation Publishing Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 -1 3 4 6 U N IV E R S IT Y O F S O U T H E R N C A L IF O R N IA T H E G R A D U A T E S C H O O L U N IV E R S IT Y P A R K LO S A N G E L E S , C A L IF O R N IA 9 0 0 0 7 This dissertation, w ritten by Richard Browne11 . Jewe11............ under the direction of h f.f....... Dissertation Committee, and approved by all its members, has been presented to and accepted by the Dean of The Graduate School, in partial fulfillm en t of the re quirements fo r the degree of . D O CTO R OF PH ILO SO PH Y Dean Date P i n . P. Ci r\ , r )^ 3-M TABLE OP CONTENTS Chapter Page I. THE NATURE OF THE STUDY............... . . 1 Statement of the Problem ............... 4 Significance of the Study ............... 5 Review of the Literature ............... 6 Scope of the Project.................... 7 Limitations of the Project ............. 9 Sources of Data.......................... 9 Methodology ........................ 12 Conclusion............................... 14 II. PRE-HISTORY AND THE FORMATION OF THE COMPANY.......................... 17 The Sound Revolution .................... 20 RCA and F B O ............................... 22 Kennedy and Pat h e ........................ 23 Keith-Albee-Orpheum and F B O ............. 23 The Rush to Sound........................ 24 RCA Completes the Me rger............... 26 Hiram Brown and Joseph I. Schnitzer . . . 28 Consolidation in the Industry........... 30 Production at F B O ........................ 31 Conclusion . .......................... 33 III. THE SCHNITZER-LEBARON REG-IME (1929-1931)............................... 37 The Titan Studio........................ 38 Expansion and Acquisition in 1929 .... 40 Personnel................................. 42 The Wide Screen.......................... 44 Production............................... 45 The Films................................. 49 Rio R i t a ................................. 52 Continuing Expansion in 1930 56 Radio C i t y ............................... 57 The Pathe Merger . .................... 59 The Wide Screen (Continued)............. 59 Personnel .......................... 61 Production............................... 6 3 The Films .......................... 65 1931--Conclusion of the Pathe Merger . . 71 II Chapter Page The Financial Crisis Begins ............. 75 David 0. Selznick Joins R K O ............. 76 A Recapitalization Plan Presented .... 77 Personnel................................. 80 Production............................... 81 The Films................................. 83 RKO Pathe................................. 88 Cimarron................................. 91 Conclusion............................... 95 IV. THE SELZNICK REGIME (1932-1933)...........■ 103 RKO' s New Power Structure............... 103 Cost-Cutting ............................. 106 The Radio-Film Alliance .................. 108 Radio C i t y ............................... 112 Personnel...................... 116 Production............................... 123 The Films................................. 133 What Price Hollywood? .................... 143 Bird of Paradise........................ 146 A Bill of Divorcement.................... 149 Two Costly Mistakes...................... 151 Selznick Leaves the Company ............. 155 Selznick's 1933 Productions ............. 157 King Kong................................. 159 Christopher Strong ...................... l6l Conclusion............................... 163 V. THE KAHANE-COOPER REGIME (1933-1934) . . . 173 Receivership ............................. 173 Further Studio Economizing ............. 177 Personnel................................. 180 Production............................... 185 The Films................................. 193 Melody Cruise ............................. 200 Little Women ............................. 202 Flying Down to R i o ...................... 206 Song of K o n g ............................. 208 Executive Realignment in 1934 ...... 210 Miscellaneous Matters .................... 216 Personnel................................. 219 Production............................... 222 The Films................................. 224 Spitfire................................. 230 Down to Their Last Y a c h t ............... 233 Of Human Bondage........................ 235 Conclusion............................... 236 iii Chapter Page VI. THE McDONOUGH-KAHANE REGIME (1 9 3 4-1 9 3 5) ............................... 247 Receivership ............................. 247 Production............................... 248 The Films '................................. 251 The Gay Divorcee........................ 256 The Little Minister...................... 259 A Year of Transit ion--1935 260 Receivership Developments ............... 264 The Atlas-Lehman Transfer ............... 265 New Executive Alignment .................. 266 Personnel................................. 268 Production............................... 272 The Films................................. 275 Roberta................................... 284, The Informer............................. 287' Becky Sharp................. 288 She and The Last Days of Pompeii .... 294 Top H a t ................................... 298 Conclusion............................... 301 VII. THE SPITZ-BRISKIN REGIME (1936-1937) . • • 308 Receivership ............................. 309 The Executives.......................... 312 Radio-Film Cooperation .................. 314 Personnel............... 317 Production............................... 329 The Films................................. 332 Follow the Fleet and Swing Time......... 341 Sylvia Scarlett, Mary of Scotland, A Woman Rebels ........................ 346 Winterset................................. 3 5 2 Prospects for 1937 353 Executive Shifts ........................ 355 Receivership.......................... . 359 Personnel................................. 364 Production............................... 370 The Films................................. 377 The Soldier and the L a d y ............... 392 Stage D o o r ............................... 396 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs......... 400 Conclusion ........................ 403 iv Chapter VIII. IX. Page THE SPITZ-BERMAN REGIME (1938) ............. 4l6 Receivership ............................... 4l7 Personnel................................. 422 Production...............................■ . 431 The Films . . ............................. 438 Bringing Up Baby.......................... 452 Room Service............................... 454 Conclusion................................. 458 THE SCHAEFER-BERMAN REGIME (1939)......... 466 Receivership ............................... 467 Pandro Berman Leaves ..... ........... 470 The War in Europe........................ 473 Personnel................................. 476 Production................................. 481 The Films . ............................. 488 Gunga D i n ................................. 505 Love Affair............................... 512 The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle . . . 515 Bachelor Mother .......................... 522 The Hunchback of Notre D a m e ............. 526 Conclusion................................. 531 THE SCHAEFER REGIME (1940-1942) 540 The End of Receivership.................. 541 The Continuing Impact of World War I I ............................. 544 Personnel................................. 546 Orson Welles............................... 552 Production. ........................ 557 The F i l m s ................................. 567 Abe Lincoln in. Illinois.................. 585 They Knew What They Wanted............... 590 19 41 --Pandemonium at RKO ............... 595 Personnel................................. 605 Production................................. 610 The F i l m s ................................. 617 Citizen Kane............................... 636 Suspicion ................................. 647 Prologue to 1942--America Enters the W a r ................................. 653 Plunging Toward Disaster-- More Executive Changes .................. 654 The Magnificent Ambersons and It 1 s All True I ! i [ .................. 660 v Chapter Page George Schaefer Resigns .................. 677 Personnel................................. 682 Production........... 684 The Films................................. 687 The Magnificent Ambersons and It's All True (Continued) ............. 695 Aftermath--Rathvon and Koerner Begin A n e w ............................. 700 XI. CONCLUSION................................. 728 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................. 740 APPENDIX............................................ 749 vi CHAPTER I THE NATURE OF THE STUDY RKO Radio Pictures* Incorporated* a subsidiary of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation* was founded in 1928 as a joint enterprise of the Film Booking Office* the Radio Corporation of America* and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater circuit. It was* until its demise in 1958* the fifth larg est of the "major" motion picture companies that dominated American theatrical film production."*" During its active years, RKO produced a number of America's most highly regarded films: Little Women* Of Human Bondage* The Informer* The Magnificent Ambersons, -and Citi zen Kane. It also created several financial "blockbusters": Rio Rita, King Kong, Top Hat* Hitler's Children. Its con tract players included such important "stars" as Katharine Hepburn* Fred Astaire* Ginger Rogers* and Cary Grant. Among the significant Hollywood talents who either began their careers at RKO or developed their reputations while working for the studio were Hepburn* George Cukor* Orson Welles* George Stevens* Frank Sinatra* Lucille Ball* Robert Wise* and Mark Robson. The company also distributed many of the films of the industry's top independent producers: 1 2 Walt Disney,, Samuel Goldwyn, Sol Lesser, and others. Throughout most of Its history, RKO controlled a chain of more than 100 theaters. The studio provided these theaters with a steady stream of diversified motion pictures, news reels, and short, subjects. A number of the cinema world's most famous figures were Intimately associated with the company: Orson Welles, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Jean Renoir, David 0. Selznick, Pandro Berman, Dore Schary, and Howard Hughes. It would seem that a studio of this magnitude would have been examined In detail in the standard works on film c * * history. An examination of such works, however, reveals that each contains only two or three superficial references 2 to RKO. To compound the problem, published statements about the studio are often riddled with errors. A highly regarded encyclopedia of film lore makes no less than five • 5 factual mistakes in its short description of RKO.^ The lack of careful attention paid to RKO in the » literature represents, by no means, a unique situation. Only one studio, United Artists, has received the careful, 4 scholarly attention that all deserve. Professor Tino Balio's study of United Artists, based on company records, stands like a bellwether in a sea of mediocrity and misin formation. And yet even this book is limited because United Artists was a unique studio set up solely to dis 3 tribute pictures. It had no studio facilities, no contract stars, directors', writers, etc., nor did it own a chain of theaters. The vertically integrated companies (companies with production, distribution, and exhibition components) such as MGM, Warners, and RKO have either not been touched or examined in a cursory, shallow fashion. One of the few cinema historians to recognize this problem, and attempt to correct it, is John Baxter. In Hollywood in the Thirties, he writes largely from the point of view of the studios and defends his approach thus: The key concept of Hollywood films and especially of Hollywood in the Thirties is that of the studio. Without the studios, Hollywood could not have existed. An understanding of the studio system and of the or ganisational processes on which it was based is cen tral to any examination of the period. Not one of these organisations is unworthy of serious study.5 Unfortunately, Mr. Baxter's volume is limited, and he de votes most of his space to the three largest studios (MGM, Paramount, Warner Brothers). RKO he ignored. One can isolate a fundamental reason for the schol arly neglect of the "major1 ' studios. Serious study of the cinema is still in its infancy. Most works published to date emphasize the aesthetics of film. They argue that the cinema is an art form and discuss the individual films and filmmakers that have contributed most to the development of the medium. Studios are often portrayed, with some justi fication, as "factories" concerned with profit rather than artistry, the enemies of freedom and creative expression. Gerald Mast, who has little to say about them in his gen eral study of film history, sums up this attitude: The studio system produced an obvious tension be tween film art and film business. Art cannot be mass produced; creativity does not work in departments or on schedules. 6 Nevertheless, the fact remains that many of the foremost film artists— John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, George Stevens— made their great films while toiling for the "factories." The number of artistically viable movies produced within the confines of the "major" studios mitigates against the contention that these were totally restrictive, dehumanizing institutions. A new, more objective consideration of the studio system is in order. Statement of the Problem The purpose of this study is to make an historical investigation■of RKO Radio Pictures, Incorporated from 1928 to 1942. It Is felt that this investigation and analysis will not only elucidate the development of RKO but will also clarify the workings of the American "studio system" as a whole. RKO was chosen as the subject because it remains, at present, the only "major" studio to go out of business, thus enabling one to complete its history {in a volume to be written subsequent to this dissertation). Also, while ........... ' " "5 being a representative movie company--one which functioned in essentially the same way the others did— RKO was se lected because it had certain unique features that separated it from most of its competitors: (l) it was not run by a "family dynasty"; (2) its management changed hands fre quently; (3) it was intimately related to several powerful American financial concerns; (4) it was known as a studio in which creative freedom was easier to attain than the others. Significance of the Study A history of RKO Radio Pictures is thought to be worthwhile because: ( . 1) a motion picture company that ex isted for thirty years and produced more than 700 feature films is an important entity worthy of serious investiga tion; (2) concrete information concerning the functioning of RKO will facilitate a better understanding of the Ameri can studio system when it was the dominant force in world cinema. The Hollywood film industry has always been a com bination of art, craft, and business. This study will attempt to show the interrelations among these facets., within a single company. Although financial considerations will be important., this will not be a business history. The study will, instead, be the first to isolate and ex plain the major functions of a motion picture company, 6 scrutinizing how the RKO organization operated and evalu ating the works it produced. Review of the Literature There have been no detailed examinations of the American studio system. Benjamin B. Hampton's classic treatment of the U.S. film industry analyzes the studios in detail, but it does not consider events beyond 1 9 3 1* a year 7 when RKO was still in its infancy. A number of books have O appeared about the various studios. With the exception of Balio's study of United Artists, mentioned earlier, these works are consistently superficial, their authors blithely unconcerned with the demands of serious research. An even more unfortunate circumstance is that much of what is known about the studios has been derived from the numerous biog raphies and autobiographies of the so-called "film moguls." These men--Louis B. Mayer, Harry Cohn, Darryl P. Zanuck, William Pox, Adolph Zukor, Jack L. Warner, and others--ran the "major" studios throughout the industry's most profit able years. Their stories are composed largely of gossip, anecdote, and legend. They make highly enjoyable reading, but their scholarly value is suspect. David 0. Selznick was the only "mogul"'to head RKO production, and his tenure lasted for a brief period of time. Thus, the biography of him and his own published volume of memoranda will be of o limited value to this project. No one has attempted an in-depth history of RKO. This conclusion is based on a review of all studies re ported in the Audio Visual Communications Review and Speech Monographs, ■ all theses and dissertations listed in Guide book to Film and Dissertation Abstracts,' and the absence of any .reference to such studies in the literature. Several essays exist which deal with the company's history. An article published more than twenty years ago in Fortune provides a sketchy review of the studio's finan cial background. '1 '0 The Fall 1973 issue of The Velvet Light Trap Review of Cinema is devoted exclusively to RKO. Two of its articles are particularly relevant: a brief overview of the company and a year-by-year chronology, mainly list ing the studio's most important releases.'1 ' ' 1 ' WHA-TV, an educational television station in Wisconsin, showed a series of RKO films on its "Marquee Theatre" several years ago. In conjunction with this program, the station pub lished an illustrated booklet enumerating the movies and providing cast and credit information. An eighteen-page 12 essay on the development and collapse of RKO is included. Although these essays are sketchy and flawed to a certain extent, they will be of some value to the project. Scope of the Project The study will deal with RKO Radio Pictures, In corporated, from its beginning in 1928 through the George . J. Schaefer regime which ended in 1942. Some information on the pre-history of the company (the Robertson-Cole and EBO studios) and on the Rathvon-Koerner regime which succeeded Schaefer in 1942 will also be included. Primary emphasis is to be placed on the essential "raison d'etre" of the studio: feature filmmaking. Areas such as. distribution, exhibition, the production of short subjects and newsreels, and other peripheral considerations will be examined mainly in terms of their effect on the production of theatrical films. Major areas of focus, therefore, will be: 1. The corporate power structure of the RKO or ganization 2. Economic aspects of the company's development 3. The evolution of production policies 4. Important figures in the studio's development 5. Comparisons with other "major" studios 6 . External factors (the Depression, World War II, etc.) that affected the studio In addition, the feature films produced during each period of the company's history will be discussed. It Is, of course, impossible to examine every film made by the studio, but an overview of the "product" can be provided. Certain of the most important films will be treated in detail, both from a production perspective and, to a lesser extent, a critical posture. 9 Limitations of the Project The chief limitation of the project is the inability to complete the entire history of the company. The immense scope of the endeavor placed it beyond the bounds of a normal dissertation- and prompted the guidance committee to recommend the George Schaefer period as the cutoff date. The study* therefore* will encompass approximately one-half the company's history. (indeed* this is the most interest ing half from the perspective of RKO films. The organiza tion produced little to compare with King Kong* the Astaire-Rogers musicals, and Citizen Kane during the 19^3- 1958 period.) As stated earlier in this chapter* however* I have every intention of finishing the complete history of RKO in the near future. Sources of Data A sufficient amount of research material exists to make this a feasible* viable project. The most valuable material has come at the end of the research phase. When I began the project more than two years ago* I was told that I would not be able to utilize materials in the RKO archive on Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles. In March 1977:, I learned that a new administra tion at RKO General* Incorporated* would be willing to make the company's files available to me. Contained in these 10 files Is information about every film produced by RKO, every individual who worked for the company, and every managerial regime which functioned during the company's existence. The files are not complete: some periods of the company's devel opment are much more completely documented than others, but my overall understanding of RKO's development has increased immeasurably thanks to this unprecedented opportunity. Supplementing this primary research material is a wide variety of secondary sources. Several research guides and indices have been used in the gathering of materials: The Film Index: A Bibliography, Gottesman and Geduld's Guidebook to Film, Rehrauer's Cinema Booklist, The Interna tional Index to Periodicals, and The Essay and General Lit erature Index. A reasonably complete picture of the company's fi nancial history has been gleaned from Film Daily Yearbooks (which date back to 1918), International Motion Picture Almanacs (published since 1930)^ and other motion picture journals and trade publications such as Motion Picture News, Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World, Exhibitors Herald-World, Motion Picture Herald, Film Daily, Variety, Daily Variety, and Hollywood Reporter. Information derived from these sources has been supplemented with data published in newspapers, especially New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and articles in such national publications as Time, Newsweek, Business Week, and The Christian Science Monitor. 11 The company's public relations organ,, the RKO Radio Flash, has been perused and found to be of negligible value. One would think, from reading the pages of the Flash, that every film produced by the company was greater than Gone With the Wind and every company management more perceptive and knowledgeable about showmanship than the Warners, Thal- bergs, and Zanucks combined. As my study will demonstrate, this was, sadly, not the case. The records and personal papers of individuals who worked for RKO have also been examined. The University of Southern California library has collections of material from Sol Lesser, Fay Wray, Robert Sisk, George Cukor, William Dieterle, Tay Garnett, King Vidor, Robert Wise, and Joseph Cotton. The papers of Kenneth Macgowan contained in the University of California at Los Angeles research li brary have proved especially valuable. Macgowan was a producer at RKO from 1932 to 1935- The American Film In stitute holds an oral history with Pandro Berman, an im portant studio executive for many years. This oral history has provided many insights. Books and articles written by and about films and individuals (actors, producers, directors, executives) asso ciated with RKO have been studied for their perceptions of the studio and its operations. 12 Me thodology The history of RKO Radio Pictures will he written In chronological-topical fashion based on the aforementioned sources. Each chapter will be broken down into discrete units, designated by headings such as "Receivership," "Per sonnel,," "Production," "The Films., " etc. At times, this may cause a certain amount of confusion or redundancy. For example, the departure of a production head or performer may be reported early in a chapter and then, at a later point, his or her films discussed. Although not an ideal solution, this segmentation does enable the reader to concentrate on one important portion of the studio's functioning, rather than forcing him to jump around among different topics for reasons of pure chronology. RKO was such a complex, multi faceted organization that it would be difficult to clarify the studio's operations without this artificially imposed structure. The original plan was to test conclusions drawn from preparatory research in personal interviews and cor respondence with former RKO employees. In studying inter views done with filmmakers and executives (especially those with connections to RKO), I have decided that these inter views are too unreliable, too colored by personal emotion and ego, too compromised by the faulty nature of human memory, to be of real value. As an example, let us take . . _ _ . ^ the following remarks made by John Ford to Peter Bogdano vich on the Important RKO film, The Informer: It was made under such peculiar circumstances. Joe Kennedy was the head of RKO and he wanted me to come over. "Can you get something for Jack to do," he says. They had a bunch of Westerns and I said, "I’m tired of them, but I've got a story written by my cousin, Liam O’Flaherty, called The Informer."13 Joseph Kennedy was not associated with RKO in any capacity when Ford embarked on The Informer, and biographical sketches of O’Flaherty do not mention that he was related to Ford. In this interview, Ford continues to construct a scenario which has Kennedy selling the studio when Ford had completed a week's production, the "new" studio management stopping the picture and then allowing Ford and his company to go back to work when "they" discovered how little the 14 film would cost. The entire tale is pure fiction, but, alas, not atypical of the recollections of many Hollywood personalities. After all, a good story should never be spoiled by the facts. In addition, access to the company's records has made the conducting of personal interviews a superfluous enterprise. The records answer most of the questions that would be asked in interview sessions and are, unquestion ably, a more reliable source of information. For these reasons, the personal interview component of the research plan was 'abandoned. y 14} Conclusion • In December 1952., RKO was enduring one of its many periods of turmoil and confusion. The well-known historian of the cinema, Terry Ramsaye, noted the dramatic events taking place, ruminated on the company's flamboyant past, and suggested that a study of RKO might be a fruitful undertaking: ROMANTIC ASSIGNMENT--The Intricate and excitingly fantastic week-to-week, sometimes day-to-day, some times hour-to-hour, developments in the current chap ter of the affairs of RKO suggest that some competent writing-researcher might do a fascinating history of that corporation. Everything that has happened in the motion picture industry has happened to what we call RKO— so far. It is a story of the vitality of an industry close to the people.15 15 Footnotes The other major studios: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Para-' mount, Warner Brothers, Twentieth Century-Fox, Columbia, Universal, and United Artists. Alan Casty, Development of the Film (New York: Har- court Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1973); Lewis Jacobs, The Rise of the American Film: A Critical History (New York: Teachers College Press, 1958); Arthur Knight, The Liveliest Art (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1957); and Gerald Mast, A Short History of the Movies (New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1971). ^Leslie Halliwell, The Filmgoer's Companion, 4th ed. (New York: Avon Books, 1974), p) 6 5 4. 4 Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1978). ^John Baxter, Hollywood in the Thirties (New York: The A. S. Barnes Co., 1 9 8 8), pT 11. f . Mast, A Short History, p. 274. 7 'Benjamin B. Hampton, History of the American Film Industry (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1970). 8 MGM and Warner Brothers have received the most at tention. Bosley Crowther's The Lion's Share (New York: Dutton, 1957) rates among the best studio histories. In addition, there Is John Eames' The MGM Story (New York: Crown Publishers, 1975)• The ubiquitous Charles Higham has tackled the Warners in Warner Brothers (New York: Scribner, 1975)j and James R. Silke has given us a book whose length (and quality) are suggested by its title, Here1s Looking at You, Kid: 50 Years of Fighting, Working and Dreaming at Warner Brothers (Boston: Little, Brown) 1975). Rochelle Larkin's Hail, Columbia (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1973) is good as far as it goes, but it stops well short of a full analysis. Universal Pictures by Michael G. Fitzgerald (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1977) suf fers, like most of these efforts, from an overabundance of still photographs and a paucity of critical insight. ^Bob Thomas, Selznick (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1970); David 0. Selznick, Memo from David 0. Selznick, ed. Rudy Behlmer (New York: Viking Press, 1972)') ’ 1.6 ^°"RKO: It's Only Money, H Fortune, May 1953, PP. 122- 127 and 206-215. “ I “ I Tim Onosco, "RKO Radio: An Overview," and John Davis, "A Studio Chronology," The Velvet Light Trap, No. 10 (Fall 1973):2-12. "^Russell Merritt, "R.K.O. Radio: The Little Studio That Couldn't," Marquee Theatre (Madison, Wis.: WHA-TV, 1973), PP- 7-25. ^3peter Bogdanovich, John Ford (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968), p. 59. 1^Ibid., pp. 6 0-6 1. l^Terry Ramsaye, "Terry Ramsaye Says . . . ," Motion Picture Herald, 20 December 1952, p. 14. CHAPTER IT PRE-HISTORY AND THE FORMATION OF THE COMPANY It is possible to trace the roots of RKO back to 1883. In that year, the famous vaudeville showman, B. F. Keith, opened a variety theater in a 15 x 35-foot remodeled store in South Boston, Massachusetts. Keith's theater was a success and he decided to expand. When he died in 191^, he held sway over a nationwide circuit of theaters which could, and did, book entertainers on tours of more than a year. Keith had accumulated this theatrical domain through expansion and then an amalgamation o.f his Keith houses with the Albee circuit. During the early years of the Twentieth Century, the movies were generally regarded as a vulgar, low-class form of entertainment. Vaudeville theaters, like those in the Keith-Albee group, used films mainly as "chasers" to clear 2 a house of patrons between shows. Birth of a Nation, the films of the great silent comedians, and such early stars as Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks gradually changed the attitudes of the general public. Movies grew in popu larity while vaudeville diminished in attractiveness." In 17 18 some variety theaters., movies received equal billing with the live performers. Robertson-Cole, the studio that would become RKO Radio Pictures, was built in 1920 on a site called Cole- grove in Hollywood, California.^ An English firm named Robertson-Cole bought 13 1/2 acres of land and constructed seven buildings, including three production stages. Robertson-Cole's primary business concern-was exporting Roamer automobiles, but they had also begun exporting mo tion pictures made by various Hollywood producers. In trigued by the notion that the company could realize greater profits by producing its own films, Robertson-Cole began building a studio and set to picture-making before the facility was even finished. The first Robertson-Cole feature was Kismet (1920), based on the story of "Omar, the Tentmaker.This was followed by Mistress of Shenstone, starring Pauline Fred erick and directed by Henry King. Both were completed before the studio itself. Robertson-Cole's next-door neighbor was the United Studios, a rental facility where First National and other producers made their pictures. In later years, Paramount bought this property and Paramount Pictures and RKO func tioned side-by-side, separated only by a wire fence. In 1922, Robertson-Cole was reorganized and its 19 name changed to FBO: Film Booking Office of America, In corporated. It was, however, still owned and controlled by n British banking Interests. This organization was more ori- ■ ented toward distribution than production, though serials, westerns, and some dramas were filmed on the FBO lot. Anna Q. Nilsson, Evelyn Brent, Alberta Vaughn, and Viola Dana were among the performers who made pictures for FBO. The British banking firm of Graham's of London took over the studio in 1923. Major H. C. S. Thomson, Graham's representative in India, was persuaded to move to Hollywood where he became president of FBO. From 1924 until January 1926, B. P. Fineman, formerly an independent producer for First National, was the production head of the studio. In 1926, Edwin King was appointed vice-president in charge of production. Later in 1926, Hayden, Stone and Co., a large bank ing house of Boston, bought FBO from the British interests. Joseph P. Kennedy was named president of FBO and King con tinued as production chief. Kennedy's reputation today is based more on his careers in banking and diplomacy than his movie achievements. He was also, of course, the patriarch of one of the most famous families in America. Three of his sons gained fame in the political sphere, and two met tragic deaths. During this period, FBO was one of the smaller studios. It was certainly not comparable to Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer or the Fox Film Corporation. 20 The Sound Revolution In 1927., sound invaded the American motion picture business. The move to sound had actually begun in August of the preceding year when Warner Brothers premiered Don Juan with a synchronized musical score and synchronized sound effects. The film., starring John Barrymore, and the series of short sound films which accompanied it were re ceived so enthusiastically that the Warners decided to gamble everything on "talkies.” Their instincts proved cor rect. When The Jazz Singer opened in October 6 , 1927, the response was everything the Warners had hoped— and more. The next few years saw them move from the ranks of mediocre Hollywood producers to one of the most powerful positions in the movie business. Their commitment to sound pictures was almost totally responsible for this success. What does this have to do with RKO? Everything— as we shall see--for RKO was a child of the sound revolution. Some Hollywood moguls expressed a hearty skepticism about the so-called revolution. Joseph Schenck, president of United Artists, announced in August 1928 that his company would not make talking pictures: I do not believe that the present talking picture craze is more than a public curiosity in a novelty. It is a novelty and a badly done one. I prophesy they will not last more than four or five months. 6 Most of the other companies were not as dubious. Warner Brothers stock was skyrocketing and Paramount, MGM, and 21 First National began altering their studio facilities for the production of sound pictures. The first "all-talking" feature, The Lights of New York (1 9 2 8), was an enormous suc cess. Now there could be no thought of turning back. The "talkies" were a fact of Hollywood life. The coming of sound brought a business boom to the film industry. The public was entranced by this new addi tion to screen entertainment and studio profit reports re flected the new popularity of the movies. Warner Brothers had a profit of $ 2 million in 1 9 2 8. , followed by the whopping figure of $17 million in 1929* In- the same year., Paramount reported $7 million, Fox jumped to $3-5 million, and MG-M to $3 million. As Tino Balio points out, the company that stood to make the most money was not a movie studio. It was A. T. & T. "who through its subsidiaries, Western Elec tric and Electrical Research Products, captured the entire . . Q market for sound equipment. ^ Western Electric, however, was not the only company to realize that money could be made in the production of sound equipment. The Radio Corporation of America (RCA), one of the chief competitors of A. T. & T., developed its own sound system with the assistance of General Electric and Westinghouse. This sound equipment was trademarked "Photophone." 22 RCA and FBO Photophone had large obstacles to overcome in order to be a success. Since most of the important production companies had already signed agreements to use. the Western Electric system exclusively, the RCA executives began cast ing about for a foothold within the movie industry. They found it in FBO. In January of 1928, Joseph Kennedy announced that RCA, the General Electric Company, and the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company had acquired "a substan tial interest" in FBO Pictures Corporation.^ The original announcement stated that RCA's new sound reproduction and synchronization method would not only be used in FBO films, but would also "be available to the entire motion picture industry." Thus, RCA planned to use FBO as a showcase for Photophone and, possibly, as a base from which raids might be launched against the near-monopoly of Western Electric. Part of this first notice is of particular inter est in light of the subsequent formation and development of RKO: This is the first time that any great industrial organization so closely related to the motion picture business, has ever become a directly Interested asso ciate of any motion picture company. It is one of the first times in the history of all business that two organizations representing distinct industries, have associated themselves to further the common interests of both industries.1 2 23 The concept that radio and the movies are related and have common goals and interests will become an almost constant refrain in RKO's early years. Kennedy and Pathe February 1928 brought another tantalizing announce ment. Joseph P. Kennedy, president of FBO., stated that he IP was joining the Pathe Film Company as an advisor. -1 Despite Kennedy's denials that this meant a merger of FBO and Pathe, 14 Pathe's Class A stock nearly doubled in one day. Kennedy emphasized that he would simply be a business advisor, with out remuneration, to Pathe and was taking on the j ’ob because of his long friendship with J. P. Murdock, the president of Pathe. The next few months seemed to indicate the veracity of Kennedy's remarks. FBO and Pathe did not merge, at least not right away. But three years later, RKO absorbed Pathe, and Joseph P. Kennedy played an important role in the trans action (see Chapter III). Keith-Albee-Orpheum and FBO Mergers seemed to be an extremely popular business strategy in early 1928. At that time an agreement was worked out which wedded the Orpheum circuit of theaters to Keith-Albee. Almost before the ink was dry on this deal, the newly formed Keith-Albee-Orpheum purchased a significant interest in FBO. As the Motion Picture News declared, this 24 transaction completed "a combination . . . that is a tre mendous power in the motion picture industry.It was obvious what they meant. Now, in addition to the financial support and technical expertise of RCA, FBO could count on "assured bookings [for its pictures] in practically 700 the atres which make up the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuits and l6 affiliated houses in America and Canada." This quotation, taken from the Motion Picture News, contained one misstate ment. Many of the 700 vaudeville houses would not be con vertible to sound film theaters. In actuality, the compa ny's original chain of motion picture theaters would be approximately one-fifth this size. B. P. Keith's theater empire would retain much of its original thrust and integrity. Vaudeville performances continued for some years as a significant element in the K-A-0 houses. But there could be no question about the general direction of entertainment trends. The movies were taking over and live shows were moving swiftly into the background. Within ten years, almost all the surviving K- A-0 theaters would be film palaces exclusively. The Rush to Sound By mid-summer 1928, the Hollywood movie companies were engaged in a feverish rush to convert to sound. De spite Joseph Schenck's unrestrained pessimism about the "novelty," MGM, First National, Paramount, and other compa 25 nies were building sound stages* installing equipment in theaters* and looking for properties that would make suit able "talkies." FBO was somewhat more conservative. Joseph Kennedy advocated a "go slow" policy: The expense that the industry will have to undergo because of talking pictures will be very excessive. . . . It behooves the utmost care and caution in handling this new invention so that it is properly and judiciously placed before the public* and not induce expenditures out of all proportion. There’ are too many concerns in this business within 6 or 7 per cent of going in the red for any wild flinging about of money at present. That is far too small a margin.17 William LeBaron* who had succeeded Edwin King as FBO's vice- president in charge of production* echoed his boss's re marks. After decrying the "hysterical" responses of some film people to the coming of sound* LeBaron remarked that the silent cinema would probably never completely disappear: I believe . . . that there will eventually be three distinct forms of entertainment. First* there will be the legitimate stage play with the human person and voice; second* the talking picture or all talking picture program; and third* the old reliable form of a good silent picture program* during which the patron as [sic] to exert but one sense— the sense of seeing. This enables the patron to relax* where on the other hand* either the stage play or the talk ing picture brings into use both hearing and sight. The silence and relaxation afforded by the silent drama is one of the chief reasons for its tremendous success.1 8 Thankfully* LeBaron's abilities as a studio head were some what superior to his understanding of the psychology of movie viewers. The RCA engineers did-not proceed with caution. 26 They were making impressive strides toward the perfection of the Photophone equipment. In August 1928,, an important breakthrough was announced. David Sarnoff* president of RCA* informed the press that "complete interchangeability of sound picture films made by Movietone and Photophone nl9 processes had been achieved. This meant that films synchronized with Western Electric's optical sound system* "Movietone*" would be fully compatible with Photophone's projection and sound reproduction equipment and vice versa. Theater owners would not have to worry about whether their system would work with each individual film. At first* there was some skepticism about RCA's claim. But when FBO's first "talkie*" The Perfect Crime* opened at the Rivoli in New York* Sarnoff was proven cor rect. The synchronized picture* handled by Photophone* was 20 run on a Movietone machine with no difficulties. RCA Completes the Merger The fall of 1928 was a period of extraordinary ac tivity in the film business. Many of the choicest rumors involved Joseph Kennedy and the FBO situation. After sev eral months of rumors about Kennedy assuming the presidency of Pathe* the trade papers reported that he would* instead* 21 take over First National. This seemed to indicate that FBO and perhaps Pathe* as well* would amalgamate with First 27 National. One week later, however, the entire deal had fallen apart. The question of complete versus partial authority had apparently destroyed the arrangement. Kennedy wanted complete autonomy, but the First National board of 22 directors refused to give up all its power. Kennedy went back to his jobs as president of FBO and advisor to Pathe. In October David Sarnoff, rather than Kennedy, as serted himself and effected one of the largest business compacts in the history of the American film industry. RCA, through an equitable exchange of stock, gained control of both Keith-Albee-Orpheum and FBO Pictures. Heretofore these companies had been related but now they would stand together as one giant, $300 million corporation.^ stated pur pose of the new enterprise was obvious, "to produce, dis tribute and exhibit perfected synchronized pictures made by ti24 RCA's Photophone system. Although Kennedy's relationship to the new entity was uncertain, it seemed likely that he would continue his association with the corporation. The merger was confirmed on October 2 3, 1 9 2 8— the birthday of RKO. On this day, the venture was officially named the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation and David Sarnoff 2S became chairman of the board of directors. v According to one of the industry trade journals, Radio-Keith-Orpheum seemed to have near unlimited potential: 28 This new organization will be, at its outset, one of.the most powerful and potentially most prom ising in the amusement industry. The consolidation of an established producing unit with a string of theatres and an important synchronizing company, possessed of existing discoveries and equipped for future research, is a matter of outstanding impor tance to motion picture c ircl es . 26 As expected, Joseph Kennedy was named to the board of di rectors, but Sarnoff stated that "he did not know who would be president of the new company and he did not know when he 07 [the president] would be appointed, or announced." Em ployees of the various companies were assured that there would be "a minimum of unsettling of the present person- Hiram Brown and Joseph I. Schnitzer The executive positions in the new corporation were filled in the final month of 1928. Hiram Brown, whose busi ness experience included the public utilities field and the leather industry but nothing remotely related to show busi ness, was named president of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corpo ration. David Sarnoff explained his selection of Brown: The Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation is building upon a foundation that has no exact parallel in the amuse ment field. The new company is associated with the Radio Corporation of America and its subsidiary, the RCA Photophone Company; with vaudeville, by ownership of the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation; with motion picture production, through acquisition of the EBO Productions Company; and with broadcasting, through the cooperation to be given by the National Broad casting Company. The existing personnel of the enlarged Radio- Kei th-Orpheum Corporation already includes the enter-' 29 tainment, picture production and theatre experience necessary to the successful operations of the company. It is evident., therefore,, that the primary require ment for the administrative task involved in such a combined effort . . . calls for great coordinating and executive ability. The board of directors be lieve that the company is fortunate in obtaining the services of an administrator whose capacity has been so thoroughly proven in other fields. Mr. Brown will have the advice, support and aid of all the directors. It is my own expectation to maintain an active inter est in the affairs of the company and to work closely with Mr. Brown.29 Mr. Brown's entry into the entertainment field was not greeted with such unbridled enthusiasm by Martin Quigley, publisher of the influential Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World. While admitting that business executives like Brown could "enrich" the industry, Quigley cautioned Brown to study "the regrettably large number of instances outside executives have come into the industry with little regard and little respect for things as they are, and for the personalities who occupy leading positions in the indus try." ^ 0 There is no record of whether or not Brown took Quigley's advice. The film production company (still named FBO at that time) also received a new leader, Joseph I. Schnitzer. Schnitzer, unlike Brown, was well-acquainted with movies. He began as manager of the Des Moines, Iowa branch of the Pittsburgh Calcium Light & Film Company during the early days of the American cinema. After serving as general man ager of Universal, he became president of Equity Pictures 30 from 1920 to 1922. Prom there he moved to FBO where he was the ranking vice-president when the merger was announced.^ In addition, two men who would play important roles in the company's development for the next several years were con firmed by the board of directors. Lee Marcus was named vice-president of FBO and B. B. Kahane, its secretary- treasurer. Continuing as production head was William LeBaron. To make room for Schnitzer, Joseph Kennedy volun tarily resigned as president and chairman of the board of PBO. It is quite possible that Kennedy was beginning to tire of the vicissitudes and wacky personalities of the movie business. In the midst of the whirlwind negotiations of 1928, Kennedy had organized a new company around Gloria Swanson called Gloria Productions, Incorporated. Erich Von Stroheim was engaged to direct Miss Swanson in Queen Kelly, and the result was one of ”the costliest misadventures of the twenties.The picture was deemed unreleasable, thus costing Kennedy approximately $800,000. Whatever his rea sons, Joseph Kennedy abandoned RKO before it even got off the ground. He was never a factor in the company. Consolidation in the Industry The formulation of RKO was unique in Hollywood his tory, but it did not take place In a vacuum. The year 1928 will be remembered as a time of frantic conversion to sound 31 and the beginning of a consolidation trend which would re sult in the predominance of eight "major" companies. The basic thrust of these companies was in the direction of theater acquisition. Warner Brothers., for example, ac quired the Stanley circuit in September 1928. The deal gave them 200 theaters and was worth $100 million.Paramount and MGM (through the Loew's Company) already had a substan tial number of outlets for their product, but the belief at this time seemed to be that no company could have too many. The accumulation of theaters’ continued into 1929 and was not even completely quelled by the stock market crash in October of that year. Many of the companies (including RKO) would come to regret their profligate acquisitiveness when the Depression finally hit the movie business. Production at FBO A few words should be said about FBO's films, if only as a point of reference against which to compare the early RKO productions. Billing themselves as "Master Show men of the World" in their advertisements, the Kennedy- LeBaron regime turned out about one film a week. Most were inexpensively produced with only a few costing more than $75,000. Clara Bow and Tom Mix worked for KBO at this time, but the majority of the company's films featured lesser known performers. In July 1928, the company's reputation was such that It placed an advertisement in Motion Picture 32 News stating that the rumor that EBO planned to "produce pictures of an inferior quality" was absolutely unfounded.^ The studio trumpeted loudly when its first "talkie" was released. The Perfect Grime, a courtroom drama starring Clive Brook and Irene Rich., had synchronized music, dia logue, and sound effects. The highlight of the film was the trial, "the action of which is synchronized with a verbal account of the attack of the prosecutor, the defense of his rival, the plea of the condemned boy, the verdict of found guilty of murder, and the shrieks of the newsboys calling the extras. J The picture was neither a critical nor a major commercial success and has passed into cine matic oblivion. PBO’s first "100$ talking picture" was Singapore Mutiny, a Ralph Ince production featuring Ince and Estelle Taylor. It seems, also, to have been lost for ever. Among the studio's silent releases in 1928 were The Keeper of the Bees with Clara Bow, two Joe E. Brown come dies entitled Hit of the Show and The Circus Kid, Gangwar with Olive Borden and Jack Bickford directed by Bert Glennon, and Blockade, starring Anna Q,. Nilsson. William LeBaron was an active writer as well as the head of PBO production. A story by him was used as the basis for The Perfect Crime. Before embarking on a movie career, LeBaron had written many plays and collaborated 33 with Victor Herbert on "Her Regiment" and Victor Jacobi and Fritz Kreisler on "Apple Blossoms. Conclusion Without question, RCA was the motivating force be hind the founding of Radio-Keith-Orpheum. David Sarnoff and his associates had dreams of a giant entertainment octopus that someday would combine talking pictures, vaude ville shows, radio broadcasts (RCA controlled NBC), and even television (then in the experimental stage) into a mutually symbiotic package. Just how these elements would come to gether to support and improve one another was another ques tion, but the RCA executives had no doubts about the viabil ity of their plan. They also' had no way of foreseeing that the days of booming business were numbered. The stock market would crash during the week in which RKO was cele brating its first birthday. 34 Footnotes Perry Lieber, "History of RKO Radio Pictures," 27 May 1946, p. 1, RKO Archives, Los Angeles, Calif. Herein after, all references to material from the RKO Archives will carry the simple footnote designation, "RKO. 1 1 2Ibid. ^"History of RKO Radio Pictures, May 1940," "RKO," p. 1. ^Ibid., p. 2 . ^Ibid., p. 3 . 8”Schenck Gives Talkies Five Months," Motion Picture News, 11 August 1928, p. 460-C. ^Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1978)j P- 77. 8Ibid., p. 7 8. 9Ibid. 1 0 "Radio Corp. and General Electric Acquire Interest in FBO," Motion Picture News, 7 January 1928, p. 17. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid. ■^"Joseph P. Kennedy with Pathe a's Advisor," Motion Picture News, 18 February 1928, p. 501. 14 Ibid. ~^"K-A—0. Buys FBO Interest, " Motion Picture News, 3 March 1928, p. 735- l6Ibid. Edwin Schallert, "Kennedy Urges Conservation," Motion Picture News, 4 August 1928, p. 347. 35 1 2 "William LeBaron Again Sounds Warning to Go Slow,," Motion Picture News, 25 August 1928., p. 612. ■^"R.C.A. Claims Complete Interchangeability; Western Electric Silent," Motion Picture News, 11 August 1928, p. 457. PO "Rivoli Booking Sheds Further Light on Interchange ability Issue," Motion Picture News, 18 August 1928, p. 537- 21 "Kennedy Signs Five Year Contract with First Na tional," Motion Picture News, 18 August 1928, p. 529. ?P "Kennedy Withdraws from First National," Motion Picture News, 25 August 1928, p. 607. 3"RCA Getting Control of KAO and FBO in 300 Million Deal," Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World, 13 October 1928, p. 2 3. 24 Ibid. 2^"Radio-Keith-FB0 Deal Closed with Sarnoff as Board Head," Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World, 27 October 1 9 2 8, p5 21. 26-p, . , Ibid. 2^"Kennedy-on RKO Directorate; Sarnoff Silent on Presidency," Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World, 10 November 1928, p. 2 5. 28-,-, . , Ibid. 29"Hiram S. Brown Enters Film Industry as RKO Presi dent, " Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World, 8 Decem ber. 1 9 2 8, p. 2 7. ^Martin Quigley, "A New Executive, " Exhibitors Her ald and Moving Picture World, 8 December 1928, p5 20'. "Brown Has Full Control at RKO," Motion Picture Herald, 27 February 1932, p. 11. 32Balio, United Artists, p. 8 3. ^"Warners Acquire Stanley Co. in $100,000,000 Deal, Motion Picture News, 15 September 1928, p. 843. 3^,rFB0 Advertisement, " Motion Picture News, 14 July 1928, p. 347. 35’11 Perfect Crime, ' FBO First ’Talkie', to Open at Rivoli," Motion Picture News, 4 August 1928, p. 403. •^"William LeBaron Will Supervise 'Rio Rita, ', r Ex hibitors Herald-World, 5 January 1929^ P- 29. CHAPTER III THE SCHNITZER-LEBARON REGIME (1929-1931) A prefatory note is in order. Now that we can begin the history of RKO., per se, it will be convenient to organ ize the material with reference to the various executives in charge of the company's affairs. By the "company" is meant the 'film production company (first known as RKO Productions, Incorporated, then RKO Radio Pictures, Incorporated) rather than the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation, the corporate umbrella. In addition to the movie producing company which represented its principal subsidiary, Radio-Keith-Orpheum held sway over the RKO Distributing Corporation, whose job was to distribute RKO films and the films of other compa nies in the United States and Canada, and Keith-Albee- Orpheum, the exhibition concern. The Corporation also embraced several other smaller companies to handle foreign distribution. Since all these business entities were so closely interrelated, the lines of demarcation between them will sometimes blur. Some of the presidents of Radio-Keith- Orpheum will take a more active interest in picture produc tion than others. At times, the distribution executives 37 '38' will have strong input into the film policies of RKO. But the focus of this study will remain the production side of the organization, and for that reason, chapters will carry the name(s) of the president of RKO Radio Pictures (in this case Joseph I. Schnitzer) and/or the production head in Hollywood (William LeBaron). These men were the major de cision makers as far as filmmaking goes; the story of RKO is also the story of their successes and failures. RKO adopted the corporate setup of all the "major” studios. Its headquarters were established in New York with picture production centered 3,000 miles away in Holly wood. As the following chapters will show., this often 2 caused major communication and decision-making problems. The Titan Studio On January 15, 1929j EBO Productions ceased to exist. The film production enterprise was renamed RKO Pro ductions, Incorporated: Officials of the old EBO company were elated at the change in name, feeling that the new title carries with it some of the glory and prestige of hhe gigantic Radio-Keith-Orpheum organization, of which RKO Produc tions is such a prominent part. 2 Three weeks later, It was announced that the studio's prod- , uct would be trade named "Radio Pictures." There could be no doubt concerning RCA's determination to foster the new enterprise and to remind people constantly that they were responsible for its being. The logograph which RKO adopted further reinforced ’ the concept. It showed a giant radio 39 tower bestriding the world, beeping out its signal of "A Radio Picture." On February 9, 1929, the Exhibitor's Herald-World ran a slick four-page advertisement for the new "produc tion machine."-^ The graphic illustration depicted a bare chested, god-like figure, towering over a modern metropolis and pointing his index finger at "RADIO PICTURES" on the adjoining page. The ad proclaimed: "A TITAN IS BORN . . . eclipsing In its staggering magnitude and far-reaching interests any enterprise in the History of Show Business. The superlatives continued: "one mammoth unit of showman ship . . . fulfillment of daring dreams . . . colossus of modern art and science." Rio Rita, "Florenz Ziegfeld's gorgeous smash hit," was accorded a full page as the com pany' s major production of the 1929-1930 season. All in all, RKO's beginning seemed highly auspicious. Commenting on the alliance of radio and the movies, David Sarnoff said: Radio has traveled far afield since its establish ment as a wireless telegraphic service. It is on the ocean, aboard ship, In the home; it is now en tering the theatre through the development of talk ing motion pictures. Electrical science has finally synchronized sound and motion on the screen.5 In his weekly editorial column, Martin Quigley echoed the enthusiasm of-Sarnoff and his associates: Great results may be expected from the active entrance into motion picture affairs of the tremen dously successful Radio Corporation of America. 4o This vast organization will contribute much to the motion picture industry. In the linking together of the great forces of radio and the principal radio company, with the motion picture, there will be com mon advantages to both parties, with especial advan tages to the public.6 The ballyhoo about the new "Titan" glossed over one fact that would plague the company for years to come. Radio and the movies could never be total allies. Both were medi ums of entertainment and both competed, and would continue to compete, for the public's entertainment time and expend iture. The American family that stayed at home to listen to its favorite programs instead of venturing out to the local movie house cost companies like RKO significant prof its. And what would happen, many movie insiders wondered, if television became practicable? RCA and RKO began an aggressive program in 1929 to join radio and the movies, but the link that would wed these two fundamentally com petitive enterprises was not easy to forge. Expansion and Acquisition in 1929 Rumors of further mergers surrounded RKO in 1929. In February, Hiram Brown stated emphatically that RKO was "in business to stay." He continued, "There is no truth to rumors we are to submerge our corporate identities with 7 those of other companies." In June, RKO and Paramount announced that they 8 would form Radio-Keith-Orpheum (Canada) Ltd. The new com 4l pany was purely an exhibition venture, set up to handle the theater operations of the two studios in Canada. This deal naturally sparked a new round of connection regarding an alliance of the two companies in the United States and around the world. After all, their Hollywood properties made them next-door neighbors. Again, the rumors were com- o pletely denied by RKO executives. The remainder of the year brought more stories of possible affiliations, including one with the General Motors Corporation, but no agreements were ever consummated. It appears that RKO did intend to build its own identity. The company's business and personnel acquisitions and expan sionist policies seem to bear this out. In order to strengthen its theater position, the company purchased the Proctor chain of vaudeville houses. Eleven theaters in New York and New Jersey were included.10 Later in the year, the six Pantages theaters on the West Coast were joined to RKO exhibition. Several of the other companies were even more acquisitive than RKO. By Novem ber, Publix (Paramount) had added more than 250 theaters to its holdings during the year, Fox had acquired over 400, and Warner Brothers had gained a substantial number.11 As • mentioned earlier, this unbridled race to capture control of the nation's theaters would cost the studios dearly. Impressive expansion also occurred at the studio. 42 On January 29, William LeBaron informed, the press that a new soundproof stage would be built and all the standing stages on the lot soundproofed. In addition., three new projection rooms would be constructed., bringing about a 12 total expenditure of $250,000. In March, another quarter of a million dollars was appropriated for the new music de partment building and the wardrobe and property units. 'The RKO "Ranch" became a reality later in the year. The studio purchased 500 acres in the San Fernando Valley near Encino to be used for the construction of large standing sets and filming exterior scenes for action pictures such as west erns. This addition was part of a $2 million expansion 15 program begun in August which continued into 1930. Personnel RKO also reached out for the most talented avail able personnel In. 1929- The first major announcement con cerned the signing of two already famous writers, Ben. Hecht and Charles MacArthur.^ The men. were considered "hot" be cause of the Broadway success of The Front Page, which they co-wrote, as well as Hecht1s profitable gangster film, Underworld. They would each contribute an original story to RKO, rather than, collaborate. Hecht ' s was to be called Upperworld, while MacArthur’s title and subject matter were a question mark at the time of the signing. Later, he in formed the press that he would dissect "social climbers" in his script. _____________________________________________________ 43 By the time RKO held its first sales convention in July,, a number of well-known people had joined Hecht and MacArthur in signing commitments to the company. The actors now on the payroll included Bebe Daniels, Olive Borden, Betty Compson, Richard Dix, Rudy Vallee, and Sally Blane. Wesley Ruggles, William J. Cowan, and Mai St. Clair were the most important directors under contract. In addition to the authors of The Front Page, RKO had James Creelman, Jr., George Abbott, Jane Murfin, and Vina Delmar signed to provide story material. Victor Baravalle accepted a posi tion as the studio's musical director, and Max Ree was placed in charge of an important conglomerate department at the studio. This section embraced the art department, where sets were designed, and the property, drapery, and costume departments. In keeping with RKO's commitment to sound movies, several musically-oriented talents joined the staff. Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and Vincent Youmans were among the first composers and/or lyricists to work for a company that would add several more famous musical stars to its list of employees In the 1930s- The studio's most im portant producer-director was Luther Reed who would handle Rio Rita. As in the past, studio head William LeBaron promised to take an active hand in the writing and produc tion of RKO films. This seemed to represent a strong nucleus around 44 which to mold a production enterprise. But it must be em phasized that 1929 was a transitional year between silence and sound, and confusion and uncertainty prevailed. Many of the important stars of the 1920s, such as John Gilbert, were already losing their hold on the public. Others were rising to take their places. Richard Dix won a poll as the "most popular male star of the era” in 1929* but no one could be sure his popularity would continue in the new 16 talking picture milieu. Likewise, who could say if such established silent directors as Mai St. Clair and Wesley Ruggles would be able to master the complicated processes of sound motion pictures? The molding together of RKO per sonnel was, thus, a perplexing operation. The Wide Screen The introduction of sound to movies had resulted in such an incredible turnabout that movie executives with foresight immediately began to contemplate the next fron tier. If they could beat their competitors with some new, earthshaking innovation, perhaps they would reap even more profits than the Warners had. Color movies seemed to be one possibility, but another concept intrigued the big companies even more: the wide screen. In November, RKO acquired the rights to a "wide stereoscopic film" process invented by George K. Spoor and 17 P. J. Berggren., Joseph Schnitzer announced that RKO 45 would, soon begin the construction of sets and the installa tion of new cameras and accessories at the studio and ex pected to have a feature completed within three months. Apparently, the studio's initial commitment to musicals had a great deal to do with the decision. If the Spoor-Berggren process worked, it would enable RKO to shoot big musical shows "in their natural perspectives, showing complete choruses, the full width of a 5 2-foot screen or even larger, and full 30-feet high, with all the action of a stage pro duction. as naturally as it is seen in three dimensions be hind the foot light s. RKO was not alone in this idea to open, up the hori zons of the screen. Other companies (Fox, Metro, and, nat urally, Warner Brothers) were working feverishly on. their own wide-screen experiments. The culmination of the activ ity came in 1930 and is documented later in this chapter. Production. An uncertain, schizophrenic production climate pre vailed in Hollywood in 1929* While most studios rushed ahead with sound films, there was still a demand for silents because the majority of the world's theaters were not yet "wired" for sound. In. its first year, Radio released pic tures which were 100 percent talking, pictures which were 100 percent silent, talking pictures in. silent versions, and silent pictures with music and sound effects added. By the 46 end of 1929j the studio reported it had released thirty "dialog" films and fifteen "silents," although some of the "dialog" pictures and some of the "silents" were the hybrids 19 mentioned above. Without question., however, the studio was in busi ness to make sound pictures. And the most spectacular type of sound film in 1929 was the musical. The opening of Broadway Melody, MGM's "all-talking, all-singing and all- dancing drama," early in the year at New York's Astor and Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese theater broke all house rec- 20 ords. This simply confirmed the industry-wide speculation that moviegoers would be captivated by lavish musical pro- ■ ductions. Broadway Melody was an original, but most of the musicals which followed it were adaptations of Broadway hits: Universal's Showboat, Paramount's The Coconuts, and 21 RKO's first important feature, Rio Rita. RKO's belief in the musical was expressed by Joseph Schnitzer in February. After mentioning Rio Rita, Syncopa tion, Hit the Deck, and Dance Hall as examples of RKO at tractions soon to be available, he boasted: We've given William LeBaron carte blanche to make the biggest film musical shows that the public has ever been called upon to witness. They'll get there first and they'll clean up for exhibitors. A sum of $10 million was earmarked for the. 1929-1930 produc tion program, signaling "the beginning of the great strides ^7 which Radio Pictures will take."2^ The program officially began on March 1. This seems an appropriate point for an explanation of the "production program" concept. Usually in late spring or early summer of each year, the major companies would hold their annual "sales conventions." The main purpose for these gatherings would be the announcement of picture pro duction plans for the coming year— a year which generally ran from September 1 to August 31- These plans were always couched in the most grandoise terms in hopes that the owners of theater chains and individual houses would commit to show the company's product throughout the year. The studios al most never lived up to their promises (RKO was one of the worst offenders) . For an infinite number of reasons,, cer tain advertised films would never make it to the screen. This fact, plus the unpredictable quality of each company's films, caused exhibitors to complain bitterly about the en tire concept of "block booking," as the strategy was called. From the studio's point of view, however, it was a necessary business tactic, and companies competed strenuously with each other to sell their "blocks." Of course a studio didn't need to worry about its own theaters; these repre sented a guaranteed outlet for the company's pictures. But it is a little-known fact that the majority of theaters in America were independently-owned during the 1930s and 48 1940s. Thus* each company's distribution organization was constantly beating the drum about its movies* trying to en tice as many exhibitors as possible to sign up. The first RKO convention was held in June 1929 at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. Stating that the company "in less than four months [has] assembled an impressive array of stories and authors*" the executives listed thirty pro ductions for the 1929-1930 season with each "to be of major ,,24 importance. The musical productions were all listed as "specials": Plorenz Ziegfeld's Rio Rita* Vincent Youmans1 Hit the Deck* High River by C. Ranger Worser* Radio Revels* an original operetta with book* lyrics* and music by Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar* Vagabond Lover with Rudy Vallee* and Ringside by George Abbott* Hyatt Daab* and Ted Paramore. The major all-talking productions included Upper- world by Ben Hecht* Gold Coast by Charles MacArthur* Dance Hall by Vina Delmar* The Very Idea based on a play by William LeBaron* and Street Girl featuring Betty Compson. There would also be three Bebe Daniels "specials" and three Richard Dix "specials." The stories for these films had not yet been selected. Promises such as the latter would cause the studio innumerable headaches for years to come* but they were standard industry practice. The companies felt com pelled to sell their stars as well as their pictures. This often meant tailoring scripts to fit the star personalities 49 and resulted In Innumerable examples of bad story selection and the mangling of potentially Interesting material. The studio's program looked formidable on paper. In September a nationwide sales drive was launched utilizing the slogan., "It's RKO— Let's Gol"^ Six weeks later and shortly after the release of Rio Rita, the company felt so confident it renewed production chief LeBaron's contract 2 6 for three years at a salary of $4.,000 per week. LeBaron seemed perfectly suited to RKO's future plans. He was not only a writer and producer but also a successful librettist with several Broadway successes. Since the company planned to place heavy emphasis on musicals, LeBaron1 s carryover from FBO appeared to be a stroke of excellent fortune. The new arrangement made him one of the highest paid executives 27 in the motion picture industry. The Films The first official "Radio" picture premiered at the Globe Theater in New York on July 30, 1929. Street Girl, starring Betty Compson and directed by Wesley Ruggles was, unquestionably, of lesser consequence than the glamorous first night festivities. Among those in attendance were David Sarnoff, Hiram Brown, Merlin Aylesworth, the president of the National Broadcasting Company, and such important industry figures as Harry Warner, Spyros Skouras, and p O Joseph P. Kennedy. The film proved to be a standard early 50 sound concoction. It chronicled the rise of an orchestra called "The Pour Seasons" as engineered by Compson, the group's general manager. On the way up, there are plenty of opportunities for musical interludes and the development of a love triangle. Street Girl was no classic, but it had tolerable dialogue and music and was certainly not an em barrassment to the new, ambitious company. Earlier in the year, several pictures were released by the company that had been started by the PBO production machine. The only one worthy of mention is Syncopation, a look at nightclub life which featured a real band, "Fred Waringrs Pennsylvanians." The story focused on Barbara Ben nett and Bobby Watson as a dance team whose marriage is threatened by Ian Hunter who plays a villainous millionaire. Despite mediocre acting, cliche-ridden dialogue, and less- than-perfect synchronization, the film played two. weeks at the Hippodrome in New York and broke all records for the 29 house. The novelty value of being one of the first screen musicals must surely account for a success which continued during the release of the film throughout the rest of the country. With the exception of Rio Rita, the studio's other offerings did not live up to its enthusiastic predictions. Half Marriage starred Olive Borden as an art student who marries beneath her station after the accidental death of one of her gentlemen friends puts a coda to her "vamping." 51 The New York Times reported that the film was thoroughly overshadowed Toy a film compilation of the high points of vO important boxing matches which accompanied it. Perhaps LeBaron and his producers had the review in mind later in the year when they released Night Parade, a fight picture. Directed by Mai St. Clair, Night Parade was about a young middleweight champion (Hugh Trevor) whose career is nearly destroyed by his two-faced lover. The melodrama lacked interesting characters and snappy, atmos pheric dialogue. It was quickly forgotten. RKO's other significant attractions at least had music to sustain them. Dance Hall once again presented Olive Borden in a story about professional dancers. Tanned Legs, directed by Marshall Neilan, starred June Clyde as a modern Pollyanna who solves all the other characters' 'prob lems in the course of the picture. Much superior was Jazz Heaven, a whimsical "Tin Pan Alley" story. The strong point of the film was its comedy interludes between Joseph Caw- thorne and Albert Conti which stole the show from the main tale of songwriter John Mack Brown and his lady, Sally O'Neill. Melville Brown handled the direction. One of RKO's most eagerly awaited productions almost failed to make it to the screen. On October 2 9, fire gutted PI the Consolidated Film Industries building in Hollywood. Among the items destroyed was the negative of Rudy Vallee’s first RKO movie, The Vagabond Lover. Fortunately, enough 52 footage existed at the studio to salvage the picture and it opened in late:-November. The film had the usual ingredi- ents--music, romance, and several subplots— and featured Marie Dressier in a comic role that outshined Vallee as well as the other principals involved. Vallee plays Rudy Bronson, a hick from Waterville who completes a correspond ence course from America's "Saxophone King" and then heads for Long Island to meet the great man. There are many plot complications as well as many opportunities for Vallee to "croon" before the mandatory happy ending. Although the film was moderately successful, it would not have been a great loss to the cinema if the flames at Consolidated had eaten up all available footage. Rio Rita The one true "Titan" released by RKO in 1929 more than made up for its several mediocre/bad releases. Two days after his election as president, Joseph Schnitzer pur chased the screen rights to Plorenz Ziegfeld's musical blockbuster, Rio Rita.^^ The play had opened in New York in February 1927^ and following sixty-two weeks on Broadway became a road-show attraction throughout the country.JJ Schnitzer paid $85,000 for the property. With William LeBaron personally supervising the production and Luther Reed directing, the film began shoot ing in June and finished one month later. The title role 53 belonged to Bebe Daniels; Captain Jim Stewart* the male lead* was played by John Boles borrowed from Universal Pic tures* where he was under contract* for $5 *0 0 0 a week. Comedy was provided by the vaudeville team of Robert Woolsey and Bert Wheeler. George Renavent took the villain's part. The studio spared no expense in filming the gaudy operetta. Land was rented from Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs in the San Fernando valley* and some of the sets oil were constructed there.J Max Ree's costumes* one of the most spectacular parts of the film* cost almost $40*000* and the last half hour was shot in Technicolor at an expense of $16*200. The total expenditure amounted to approximately $6 7 8*0 0 0* $2 3 *0 0 0 more than the original projection.-^ The New York opening of the picture in October rep resented the high point of the year for the studio. Joseph Schnitzer described it in a wire to musical director Victor Baravalle: Too bad you could not have witnessed the opening of Rio Rita last night. We had most brilliant audience ever assembled for picture opening and thing went off with a bang. Everybody raving about it in New York.38 Schnitzer's comments were reiterated by Douglas Hodges of Exhibitors Herald-World when the film opened in Los Angeles. Calling Rio Rita "a triumph in many ways for many people*" Hodges lavished praise on LeBaron* Daniels* Reed* Wheeler and Woolsey* and Max Ree.Apparently audiences found the 54 film as agreeable as the insiders. It contributed almost $1 million in profits to the fledgling company. (At this point., it is necessary to explain how a studio like RKO determined the profits of its films. The final negative cost of each picture— which included a studio overhead charge of approximately 25 percent— was used as a basis to compute these crucial matters. After the film had played for a respectable amount of time and was no longer being booked, the gross receipts [both domestic and foreign] were totaled, providing a figure representing world gross film income. One might think that the picture's negative cost would simply be subtracted from the world gross to ascertain profits. This, however, was not the case. In order to account for the costs of running RKO's distribution network--such as advertising, shipping, the salaries of distribution employees, and the costs of making, maintaining, and storing prints— a complicated formula en tered into the accounting. This formula fluctuated through the years, but basically a movie had to recoup at least twice its costs to be deemed profitable. This type of bookkeeping was common practice in the Hollywood companies. It helped them In their dealings with the Internal Revenue Service and with personnel who were accorded percentages of the profits of their pictures. It represented a form of "creative accounting," because more Income was certainly realized from individual films than 55 this method suggests. An'Appendix included at the end of the study provides financial information on many of RKO's films.) Seen today, Rio Rita stands as an exotic piece of screen antiquity. It represents a kind of lush but static musical entertainment that quickly passed on in the early thirties mainly because of improvements in sound recording and camera equipment. The story provides our first "musi cal western" about a Texas ranger (Boles) who is on the trail of the notorious bandit, El Kinkajou. He meets Rita (Daniels) and they quickly fall in love, but Rita's brother is suspect. He may be the outlaw. After a falling out with Stewart, Rita agrees to marry the villain, Ravenoff. At the climax, he naturally is revealed to be the Kinkajou and the marriage ceremony unites Rita and her ranger. There are many songs rendered by the two principals, including the famous "Rio Rita." Interwoven with the romance and melodies in alternating scenes is a comic subplot which has Chick Bean (Wheeler) trying to arrange a divorce through an un scrupulous lawyer named Lovett (Woolsey). In the end, this zany mess is resolved when Lovett takes up with the former wife, leaving Bean free to marry his new sweetheart. The dialogue (between the lovers) is arch and over stated, the music is not especially memorable, and the com edy sequences are not well integrated into the main story. 56 The direction also shows very little imagination; Luther Reed simply attempted to freeze the stage show on celluloid and managed to succeed with minimal attention paid to cine matic quality. But one should not be too hard on the film. Very few of the early musical extravaganzas hold up well. The new sound medium was rough going for simple dramas; musicals presented a wealth of difficulties. The sheer spectacle of Rio Rita is something to behold— especially the sets and wardrobe. The river barge scene which ends the film and was shot in two-strip Technicolor is a feast for the eyes. Without question,, this was one of the prime movie entertainments of its time. The success of Rio Rita propelled RKO forward into a new decade. Significantly, the picture opened during the same month that the stock market crashed. The financial cataclysm of October 29, however, had little immediate ef fect on RKO. While other enterprises toppled, the motion picture business looked bullishly toward the future, and the new "Titan" studio exuded optimism. Surely victories like Rio Rita would come with greater 'and greater frequency in the 1 9 3 0s. Continuing Expansion in 1930 In February 1930, Radio-Keith-Orpheum stock was con sidered one of the best buys on Wall Street. One broker conjectured that the company's theaters would entertain 500 ( < ( I f \ [ 1 t ' I 57 million customers during the year, and the stock could pos sibly show earnings of $10 per share.^ Buoyed by such optimistic forecasts, the organization continued to expand. More theaters joined the RKO chain making a grand total of 175 houses by the end of the year. It was later reported that the company had spent $3 3,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 in net acquisition of 40 capital assets during 1 9 2 9 and 1 9 3 0. Radio City RKO entered into two major financial deals during the year. Both would haunt the company for years to come. The first involved a giant projected entertainment complex in mid-Manhattan, the Rockefeller Center. ^ Announced when America was sinking into the Depres- jsion, the Rockefeller plan was a grandiose gamble. It would i [supposedly cost $2 50 million and include four theaters to i 4i [be operated by Radio-Keith-Orpheum. The largest would be t [devoted solely to variety entertainment and seat 7 0 0; the I i 'others would feature talking pictures, musical comedy pro- i iductions, and drama. Five thousand seats were envisioned \ tor the film theater. RCA was also involved. Facilities ( ' [for the worldwide broadcast of radio and television would i bonstitute an important facet of the "city within a city." C [?he leasing of office space by RCA, the National Broadcast- i [ng Company, and Radio-Keith-Orpheum and its subsidiaries i ra.s also part of the package. i i K ___________________________________________________________________________ < l 58 Hiram Brown explained RKO's reasons for participat ing in the arrangement: In leasing and operating a theatre devoted to variety, a second devoted to sound, a third'devoted to musical comedy, and a fourth to dramatic produc tions, the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation is pro viding itself with facilities for the greatest pos sible development of its business; it proposes to use the technique of all the arts in the creation of its entertainment programs and it will obtain this first hand under this new plan. In the entertainment center now to be established, RKO will be able to tap the creative talent developed by the variety, musical comedy and dramatic stages and by the air. It will have the opportunity to test the audience's reaction to any musical or dramatic production before deciding to place it before the country on the screen. The association of motion pictures with the sister arts of radio, electrical recording and other forms of entertainment, can only result in raising the values and standard of the screen. 42 The logic of President Brown's statement is cloudy to say the least. Why did RKO need to make a giant financial com mitment to Rockefeller Center in order to "test" performers and properties for possible movie use? Couldn't the com pany simply send story experts and talent scouts to vaude ville houses and the openings of Broadway plays for evalu ative purposes? And what was to stop the representatives of other studios from attending Radio City theaters and signing the best talent or bidding for the best plays? De spite Brown's remarks, it appeared rather obvious that the only tangible benefit RKO might derive from the arrangement would be income produced by the theaters. And what would happen if they failed? 59 The Pathe Merger The second major set of negotiations resurrected' rumors that had lain dormant for over a year. At first* the suggestion of a merger between RKO and the Pathe Ex change, Incorporated, was flatly denied by both parties. In February, E. B. Derr, executive vice-president of Pathe, stated that "any discussion of an amalgamation between these two film companies has been pure rumor and such a plan has h4r never been under actual consideration. In May, Joseph Kennedy resigned from the active management of Pathe, and the rumors flared up again. This time they were fully justified. However, serious talks between the two companies resulted in an initial stale- 44 mate. RKO's first offer was a stock exchange deal which would have cost the company no hard cash. After Pathe's directors refused the plan, RKO agreed to pay a fixed sum. The deal was set in December but not consummated until the following January because some of Pathe1s stockholders filed suit to prevent it. Full details of the arrangement will be provided later in the chapter. The Wide Screen (Continued) RKO continued Its experiments with the enlarged Image In the early part of the year. Three special Spoor- • Berggren cameras were delivered to the Hollywood studio for 4s use in several proposed pictures. By mid-March, however, 60 enthusiasm for the innovation was beginning to wane. The studio released the news that Dixiana would be made in standard format. The film was the big musical follow-up to Rio Rita, and earlier reports had indicated it would be shot in the Spoor process. The trade papers speculated that RKO 46 was dropping wide film altogether. At least one wide film did reach RKO's screens. This was Danger Lights, a railroad story which opened in New York in December. By that time, RKO had completely abandoned the field. Although the Spoor-Berggren process did provide a greater illusion of depth and added excite ment to action sequences, there were many drawbacks. Chief among these was the prohibitive cost of the 6 3 .5 millimeter film and cameras. In addition, the technique had not been perfected; figures in screen-center were always in focus but those on the sides and in the background appeared fuz zier than normal. The special equipment needed to project the film represented the final difficulty. RKO was not the only company to re-embrace the standard format. Pox had tried its "Grandeur" film in news reels and Happy Days and The Big Trail but decided there was no future advantage to it. Likewise, MGM's "Realife" process was scrapped after the release of Billy the Kid. Warner Brothers' 65 millimeter "Vitascope" also joined the ranks of the quickly-forgotten, though expensive, experi- 61 ments. In late November,, Variety ran the following post mortem: Burial services are all that remain to end the wide film era which never really was born. Producers are satisfied that the public won't go for it. Fur thermore any increase in the width of celluloid is too expensive a proposition all round.47 And that was it. The public had shown none of the zeal for bigger pictures that greeted the addition of sound to movies. The wide screen would reappear twenty years later, however, and the reception would be a good deal warmer the second time around. Personnel The year 1930 was a desultory one for talent acqui sition. Despite RKO's much-reiterated statement about putting together the best production machine in Hollywood, only one star was signed: Irene Dunne. She had gained something of a reputation as a musical performer in Flo Ziegfeld’s Show Boat and was expected to step rapidly into 48 musical comedy roles at the studio. Hardly an overnight sensation, Dunne would not become a major asset, for several years. The story of "Amos ’n Andy" must surely represent one of the fastest revolutions of the wheel of fortune in show business history. Establishing a policy which would continue for years, RKO signed the well-known radio comedi ans (Freeman G-osden and Charles Correll) and starred them 62 in a special vehicle called Check and Double Check. The movie was so successful that the pair were rated RKO's top 49 stars by the end of the year. ^ In studying the pattern of gross receipts of the film, the company discovered that Check and Double Check had no "hold-over" value whatsoever. Apparently audiences turned out to see the blackface duo out of pure curiosity. Having seen the radio personalities once on celluloid., company executives felt people., by and large, had no more interest in them. They were "freaks of the screen, good for one film only."^^ RKO's "biggest" stars of 1930 were dropped by the company with minimal ceremony. The other important names, Bebe Daniels and Richard Dix, were now beginning to diminish in the public's estima tion. It seemed clear that their top days were already in the past, and no one was on the RKO horizon to replace them. Daniels' appearances in Dixiana, Lawful Larceny, and Love Comes Along and Dix's work in Lovin' the Ladies and Shoot ing Straight injected little excitement into movies that were basically old-fashioned and poorly made. One idea which paid off was the decision to star Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey in a series of wacky come dies. The team, which had come from the RKO vaudeville circuit and played a secondary role to Daniels and John Boles in Rio Rita, proved popular with audiences and con 63 tinued to appear in RKO films for years. At the end of 1930j Variety called them "head and shoulders above any other featured draw on the Radio lot."^ RKO also failed to sign any important producers or directors in 1 9 3 0j but mainly the company was "starved for stars." It was hoped that the forthcoming Pathe merger would partially eliminate the problem. Under contract to that studio were Bill Boys* Constance Bennett, and Ann Harding. Each had more "star power" than anyone in RKO's collection. Production The year 1930 was surely the most uninteresting one in RKO's history, and the films released during the period generally reflect the moribund state of affairs. When the Los Angeles County Museum of Art accorded RKO a 128-film retrospective in 1 9 7 7* not one picture from 19 30 was screened. It was the only unrepresented year in the annals of Radio Pictures. The carryover from the 1929-1930 program consisted primarily of musicals, domestic dramas, and an occasional "socially significant" film like The Case of Sergeant Grischa. Most of them were lambasted by the critics and paled when compared to the equivalent Metro, Paramount, and Warner Brothers' productions, but they were not total fail ures at the box office. The full impact of the Depression 64 had not yet descended on America., and the tastes of the new talking picture audience were less than discriminating. One element that reviewers of Radio Pictures often mention, at this time, is the superior quality of the Photophone re cording system. Perhaps some individuals patronized RKO's films simply because they sounded better than anyone else1s. The Sales Convention once again was held in Chicago in May. A whopping $20 million was advertised as the bud get allocated for the 1930-1931 program. The major prom ised attractions included the Amos 'n Andy picture, Dixiana, Cimarron, Leathernecking, Rex Beach's The Silver Horde, Heart of the Rockies, The Perfect Alibi, and Half Shot at CO Sunrise.D In addition, a commitment to "clean" pictures that would lure children back to the theaters was made. Apparently the RKO executives decided that an overabundance of sexy and sensationalistic pictures were glutting the screen. Believing that profits could be garnered from the "kiddie" audience, RKO advertised Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland as one of its first especially appealing attrac tions.-^ (This policy was short-lived; Babes in Toyland was never made by the company and other than Check and Double Check, only a few productions were aimed at the children's film market.) Finally, the conventioneers were told that no more silent pictures would come from RKO. The convention ended after statements of booming 6 5 optimism from David Sarnoff and Hiram Brown. The remainder of the year did not, however, bring about an upsurge in the quality of RKO's product. In fact, the pictures seemed to get worse. Dixiana was a serious disappointment and except for some interesting work from actor-director Lowell Sher man, the 1930 RKO films deserved little respect. By Oc tober, Variety reported that vaudeville programs in RKO theaters were apparently carrying the company. All but one of the theaters featured variety shows as well as films, and considering the abysmal level of the company's pictures, there seemed no other explanation for its continued profits. The executives of the picture company were not oblivious to the embarrassing situation. Joseph Schnitzer began reading scripts and plays and promised to take a more active inter est in production matters. By the end of the year, it was rumored that he would replace LeBaron as head of produc tion, though why anyone felt Schnitzer could do a better job remains a mystery. ^ The Films Some description of RKO's 1930 films is in order-- if only for record purposes. The first "special" of the year, Hit the Deck, was another photographed musical play adapted and directed by Luther Reed. Although it had more Technicolor sequences than Rio Rita, it also had an uneven mix of story and spectacle and a trite script which ruined 66 the whole affair. The main plot focused on the love story of sailor uBilge" Smith (jack Oakle) and Looloo (Polly Walker) who handles most of the musical numbers. Attempts to enliven the proceedings by Roger Gray, Franker Woods, and Harry Sweet proved sporadically successful, but on the whole, the film was a leaden disappointment. Wheeler and Woolsey cavorted in three surrealistic vehicles during the year. The first, called The Cuckoos, was the best and convinced the RKO management to go with the team on a regular basis. The Cuckoos also contained color sequences, some singing and dancing, and a story line that resists description. The stars play bankrupt fortune tellers who set out to find a kidnapped heiress. Their quest is interrupted by a series of nonsensical happenings which are funny enough to keep an audience interested. Their second effort, Half Shot at Sunrise, had an equally implausible plot about two American doughboys who romp around Paris A.W.O.L. with military policemen in pur suit. If the comedians had a strength, it was not their singing and dancing but their delivery of flippant dialogue passages, often laced with double entendres. Wheeler, as here, generally played the naive straight man who sets up the worldly, acidulous Woolsey for premium one-liners. A romantic interest for Wheeler is also an obligatory element in the pictures;.in this case, Dorothy Lee as the vivacious Annette fills the role. 67 Hook, Line and Sinker, a burlesque about gangsters who Invade a hotel managed by the clowns., premiered In late 'December. Once again, the picture Is sustained by witty repartee. The Wheeler and Woolsey team never transcended their vaudeville origins, and their directors, such as Edward Cline Of Hook, Line and Sinker, did not show any in terest In fusing their talents with the potentials for more cinematic comedy. As a consequence, the Wheeler-Woolsey efforts seem archaic and clumsy today. They do not hold up as well as the works of the great silent jesters or even their contemporary vaudeville competitors, the Marx Broth ers. But in their time, Wheeler and Woolsey had a loyal following; they were of importance to RKO. The studio made several gangster films besides the farcical Hook, Line and Sinker. They were not as bad as RKO's big musical productions, but the pictures hardly com pare with such Warner Brothers'-' classics as Little Caesar, produced in the same year. The Fall Guy starred Jack Mul- . hall as an honest young man who loses his job and becomes involved with bootlegger and drug pusher Thomas Jackson. Mulhall quickly assumes the title role, but everything works out rightly in the end. An interesting footnote to this film is the performance of Mae Clarke as Mulhall's wife. It was Clarke, of course, who gained cinematic immortality by taking a grapefruit in the face from gangster James Cagney in Warner's The Public Enemy (l93l)» 68 The Pay-off had nothing to recommend it except com petent direction and excellent acting by Lowell Sherman. Sherman was one of the most' underrated talents of his time. While not the most cinematic director, he always managed to extract fine performances from actors in his films, and his own playing usually transcended the parts he was given. Such was the case in The Pay-off, a banal story about a suave gang leader (Sherman) who falls in love with a naive young woman (Marion Nixon) and chooses to go to the electric chair so that she may never know the extent of his villainy. No more exciting was Framed, directed by George Archainbaud and starring Evelyn Brent as a gunman's nmoll" who tries to frame the chief of police. The usual stock characters put in appearances: a wisecracking detective, weak-willed killer, bullying chief of police, and silken gang leader. While most of the company's product was light and frivolous to the point of absolute insubstantiality, The Case of Sergeant Grischa ran to the opposite extreme. Be lieving the Arnold Zweig novel to be "one of the greatest war books," William LeBaron insisted that the film version remain scrupulously faithful to its source: The story is harrowing, in parts it is gruesome; there is not a moment of entertainment value in it, as that word is commonly understood. No one breaks into a tap dance and there are no night club host esses. 5b 69 Nevertheless, LeBaron believed the film would be Important enough, and controversial enoughs to draw a respectable audience. He was wrong. The Herbert Brenon-directed film was so tedious, so lacking in credibility and dramatic intensity, that it gen erated little interest. The filmmakers totally missed the tone of bitter comedy that Zweig intended. Chester Morris, whose agent turned down the lead role in All Quiet on the Western Front, played Grischa, a simple-minded Russian soldier who escapes from a German prisoner-of-war camp. Attempting to return to his homeland, Grischa meeta Babka (Betty Compson) who provides him with the identity tag of a Russian spy. The Germans recapture him and sentence him to death. The point of the story, the Prussian ruthlessness and disdain for justice, is brought home when proof of Grischa's innocence is brushed aside and he is executed. When it was finished, LeBaron felt Grischa would be "the most discussed film that was ever produced. It was, instead, one of the most quickly forgotten. When cinema- philes discuss memorable anti-war films, a 19 30 production Is often mentioned. But it Is Universal's All Quiet on the Western Front, not The Case of Sergeant Grischa. Among the adventure tales released In 1930 were The Silver Horde, Beau Bandit, and Danger Lights. The Silver Horde dealt with a battle for control of the Yukon salmon 70 fisheries with hero Joal McCrea pitted against villain Gavin Gordon. Jean Arthur also appeared in this story which had frequent brawls but little else to grab one's attention. Silent star Rod La Rocque played the lead in Beau Bandit, a tired tale of a Mexican Robin Hood. The most interesting thing about Danger Lights was the use of the Spoor-Berggren wide-film process already mentioned. The story centered on a love triangle involving Louis Wolheim, Jean Arthur, and Robert Armstrong. The male leads are gentlemanly to a fault with first; Wolheim.-sjaving Armstrong’s life (after Armstrong has stolen Arthur from him),, and then Armstrong rushing Wolheim to Chicago where a specialist will deliver him from death's door. Irene Dunne made her first appearance in Leather- necking, a silly but unpretentious yarn about Marines in Hawaii. It transformed military life into "one continual round of parties, yachting trips and pillow fights among Q the boys in the barracks." The film did not propel Miss Dunne Into Instantaneous stardom. Bebe Daniels displayed her talents in Love Comes Along, Lawful Larceny, and Dixiana. The best of these was Lawful Larceny, directed and co-starring Lowell Sherman. Adapted from a play by Samuel Shipman, the movie told the story of a woman (Daniels) who manages to regain money and securities which had formerly been stolen from her husband. 71 The dialogue was pretty flat, but Sherman kept the film moving so rapidly that It emerged as pleasantly diverting. Miss Daniels' musical efforts. Love Comes Along and Dixiana, were much worse, their only redeeming feature being her singing. Dlxiana was perhaps the major disappointment of the year to RKO. This story about New Orleans was a very expensive production; it had color, personal supervision by LeBaron, and direction by Luther Reed, still riding the success of Rio Rita. The sales department created a major advertising blitz for Dixiana, but it had slight impact. The film flopped miserably. Despite the steady stream of bad pictures, RKO seemed to be charmed. The company reported profits for 1 9 3 0 of $3.4 million, more than double the 1 9 2 9 figure.^ Perhaps vaudeville was the prime contributor, but profits were profits no matter what their source. No one in the organization, with the exception of Joseph Schnitzer, seemed overly concerned about the weakness of the film pro duction team. Within a year, however, the RKO hierarchy would be acting very differently. 1931--0onclusion of the Pathe Merger On January 29., 1931* stockholder complaints were finally circumvented and the assimilation of the Pathe Exchange by RKO was completed. Besides the obvious advan- 72 tage of access to Pathe's contract stars (especially Con stance Bennett), it seemed that RKO's primary purpose in buying Pathe was to enlarge and strengthen its position within the industry. Throughout 1930 an<3 early 1931* con stant maneuvering threatened to upset the balance of power among the major Hollywood companies. For a time, it ap peared that MGM and Fox would form an alliance. Then, rumors began to spread of a Fox-Warner deal, and several other combinations were proposed. If one of these affili ations could be cemented, many industry executives theorized that the new giant company would completely dominate film * business, making it very difficult for less-powerful studios to compete. RKO plus Pathe was more formidable than just RK0--at least that was the thinking of the management. Be cause of the rapidly worsening Depression and the threat of government action against a monopoly, no ,rsuper studio" arrangement was ever concluded. And RKO quickly discovered that its absorption of Pathe had come at a very inopportune time. The Pathe Corporation had a long and distinguished history in the movie business. American operations began in 1905 when J. A. Berst opened a New York office for the production of features and short subjects by the French concern. Over the years, the company's newsreels gained wide popularity, and the famous crowing Pathe rooster be- 60 came a symbol of excellence in the film news field. 73 Highlights of the silent days included the company’s deci sion to distribute Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North, its affiliation with popular comedian Harold Lloyd., and its release of several of Cecil B. DeMille's films toward the end of the era. Pathe had been a consistent money-maker, usually showing profits of a million to a million and a 61 half dollars per year. The coming of sound, however, dis rupted Pathe's operations, and its fortunes declined more rapidly than those of most other companies. DeMille left, and even the economizing stewardship of Joseph Kennedy had not turned things around. Pathe was a sickly outfit when RKO moved in. The purchase price was approximately $5*000,000, of which $500,000 was a cash down payment and the rest to be paid in six percent notes. They would mature in five equal 62 annual installments beginning January 1, 1932. In return, RKO gained control of the Pathe studio in Culver City, the company's employees (including stars), and the distribution organization. Theaters were not a factor, as Pathe pre ferred entering.-irito sharing contracts with independents rather than owning its own houses. Just what RKO would do with the new subsidiary was something of a mystery at first. In February, the company decided to operate RKO Pathe (the new name) as an autonomous unit within the confines of the corporate structure. Lee 74 Marcus, who had ten years' experience in the film industry and would later superintend'RKO's low-budget production unit, was made president of RKO Pathe Pictures., Incorpo rated. His initial task was "reorganization" which trans lated more specifically into wholesale ax-wielding. The Motion Picture Herald reported that "echoes of the standard, routine and customary statement that everybody's job was safe had hardly died to a whisper when the volleys of the firing squad began." D No major shake-up occurred in the newsreel arm of the company. In fact, "Pathe News and Re views" was itself made a subsidiary corporation with Court- 64 land Smith In charge. Smith, a former newspaper man, had organized Pox Movietone News and worked on the development of the sound newsreel. Charles R. Rogers was signed to head production at the Culver City plant. He had started as a theater manager and then became a producer responsible for the Ken Maynard Westerns. Later in the 1 9 3 0 Universal would hire him as its production chief. His budget would be "at least $1 0,0 0 0,0 0 0," and twenty to thirty features as well as 158 65 shorts and weekly Issues of the newsreel were scheduled. RKO appeared determined to breathe new life into its recent acquisition. 75 The Financial Crisis Begins By mid-year,, the curtain was slowly drawing down on RKO's short history of prosperity. The Depression was grow ing worse, not tetter., and theater attendance had dropped dramatically. The movies were not "depression-proof," after all. RKO had managed to place itself in a particularly vulnerable position. The wild theater expansion of 1929 and 19 30 now seemed ill-advised because many houses were beginning to lose money. Despite the premiere of its most spectacular film, Cimarron, in January, Radio pictures were still among the worst produced by any major company. And there was something of a war going on between William LeBaron and Joseph Schnitzer over who would have the final say in production decisions. As if these problems were not sufficient, Pathe had become a major difficulty. In June 1931* Hiram Brown arranged a loan of $6 million from the Chemical National Bank to keep RKO Pathe 66 afloat. Lee Marcus' cost-conscious policies had not been completely successful; the subsidiary was losing between $10,000 and $50,000 per week. Reasons for the difficulties included a "low inventory" of completed pictures, "markedly increased operating costs of the newsreel under the new re- 67 gime," and "payments from income to Pathe Exchange, Inc." Studio operating costs were figured to be $100,000 weekly. 76 Marcus and Herbert Zohbel, treasurer of RKO., did not appear to be overly upset. With new capital assured, they pre dicted that the company would be running in the black by August 1 5.^® They were mistaken. In October, business was so grim that all the Hollywood companies reduced admission prices from twenty-five to twenty cents throughout the na- 6 9 tion. Pathe continued to be an albatross around RKO's neck, and something had to be done. A solution was reached in early November; the separate distribution mechanisms of the two studios would be merged, thus saving an estimated $2 million a year.^ Although unapparent at the time, this was the first step in a process which would eventuate in the complete disappearance of RKO Pathe. The move was also the first in a startling series of events which would con tinue into early 1932. David 0. Selznick Joins RKO The next major announcement was the signing of David Selznick as chief of the RKO and RKO Pathe production units. Selznick was an enfant terrible. The son of pio neer producer Lewis J. Selznick, from whom he had learned a great deal about filmmaking, Selznick had had stormy tenures at MGM and Paramount, but he, nevertheless, impressed chair man of the RKO board, David Sarnoff. Sarnoff decided to give Selznick a chance as RKO's head of production, even 77 ' 71 though Selznick had never run an entire studio before. It was a brilliant^ though poorly-timed; decision. Selznick's job; of course; was to make good pictures; a scarce recent commodity at the studio. In the beginning; no one was quite sure how Selznick would function. Uncer- • tainty arose from the fact that LeBaron was still on staff; Charles Rogers remained the apparent head of RKO Pathe pro duction; and Joseph Schnitzer and even Hiram Brown had made 72 statements about looking after the company's filming. By late December; the situation had been clarified; Selznick would be the supreme head of both RKO and RKO Pathe produc tion; while the others would fade into the background or soon be looking for new jobs. Charles Rogers was the first to go. A Recapitalization Plan Presented November 1931 also brought the astounding news that RKO was in danger of total collapse. Profligate acquisi tion and expansion combined with the low level of RKO pic ture quality had suddenly caught up with the company. B. B. Kahane; RKO's general counsel; attempted to explain what had happened: Up to and including May of 1930; RKO boasted of an average daily bank balance of $800;000. Little did we think then; that economic conditions and busi ness activities within the company would make it so difficult in May and again in September of 1931 to secure financing.>73: 78 Kahane added that current conditions necessitated the pro curement of at least $4 million Toy January just to continue operations. In addition, extra money was needed to cover obligations that would come due early in the year. RCA had already advanced $1 million to RKO, but this was only a 74 stopgap sum. RKO's leaders did have a scheme to salvage the in firm "Titan.Stockholders were asked to approve a re capitalization plan which would give them one new share of if RKO stock for four old ones. This would reduce capital stock by 75 percent and clear the way for issuance of new stock and ten-year 6 percent debentures totaling $1 1,6 0 0,- 000. RCA agreed to underwrite the debentures. If stock holders refused the plan, the company would, almost cer tainly, fall into receivership; it was the only way out. As expected, several of the company's minority stockholders were less than enthusiastic about the deal. Some considered it a stratagem by which RCA planned to acquire total control-of the movie organization. Despite management statements that RCA naturally wanted to aid a company it had created and that RKO would be no prize pack age for RCA to cope with, some stockholders filed suits and petitions for receivership. Their stock was not worth much, but they couldn't see the logic in trading four shares of it for one new share. 79 In early December, Hiram Brown invited twenty news men to his office and publicly accepted the blame for RKO's 76 precipitous decline. In addition to the production of bad pictures. Brown listed such disparate causes of company trouble as "the warm summer spell and protracted hot period of 1931; [and] the British going off the gold standard. Variety advanced the idea that Brown's biggest mistake was 7o failing to select "showmen as his closest advisors." The same story chastised RKO's leadership for acting nonchalant about its dreadful productions for almost two years. The decision to put Selznick in charge was considered long overdue. The RKO stockholders, as a whole, were convinced that the refinancing plan was right for the future. During the week of December 12, the plan was ratified with the company to receive $11,600,000 on January 2, 1932.^ As guarantor of the advance, RCA would secure more than one- half the stock and over three-quarters of the debentures; on there was no doubt who was running RKO now. Still, RKO was not a bargain, as both RCA and RKO executives con stantly reminded the press. Its stock had plummeted from a high of 50 to a low of 1 7/8 in less than two years. A great deal of work would be required just to prop the studio back on its feet. 80 Personnel No great strides were made in the acquisition of talent during 1931- Appearances in Cimarron had helped the careers of Richard Dix and Irene Dunne considerably, but Edna Mae Oliver probably got more out of the picture than either of them. By the end of the year, she was ranked third behind Dix and Wheeler and Woolsey in the hierarchy 81 of RKO players. A concerted effort was under way to make her the equivalent of Metro's Marie Dressier. Bebe Daniels left RKO for Warner Brothers during the year, prompting the studio to sign Dolores Del Rio as a leading lady. RKO now also had the services of such impor tant stars as Constance Bennett, Ann Harding, Helen Twelve- trees, and Bill Boyd who were all under contract to Pathe when the merger was concluded. Their appearances were confined mainly to RKO Pathe films in 1931j but most would gradually move into RKO product as the RKO Pathe setup was phased out in 1932. Instead of the active recruitment of talent, 1931 was characterized more specifically by the wholesale dis missal of many "above the line" personnel. The financial crisis at the end of 1931 cost the jobs of producer Miles Connelly, directors Harry Hoyt and Paul Stein, and writers Tim Whelan, Joseph Miles, Anthony Coldeway, Charles Whit- 82 taker, and Graham John. Though the studio was not quite 8l a tabula rasa ..when he took over., Selznick would have a great deal of latitude In building his own production machine. Besides Selznick, one other important executive be came associated with RKO in 1931- Ned E. Depinet had worked as general sales manager for First National and then Warner Brothers before accepting the position of vice- president and general sales manager of RKO Pathe in Febru ary. ^ In a company which became renowned for its revolving door policy toward executives, Depinet showed a remarkable longevity. He remained with RKO for more than twenty years, eventually becoming the company's president. The brutal chaos of the Howard Hughes regime finally forced Depinet to depart. Production The release of the epic . Cimarron, began the year auspiciously for RKO, but a good deal of unpleasantness would accompany the remainder of the 1931 releases. Early in the year, Joseph Schnitzer,. then going through one of. his "take charge of production" phases, presented the to tally unoriginal theory that production problems were actu ally story problems. He outlined the following procedure for the development of better material: We will pay the free-lance writer so much down for an idea submitted and which we approve. Later on we will pay so much more for the story's develop ment. And upon its completion we will make the final payment.8^ 82 This., apparently, is one of the earliest formulations of the so-called "step-deal" which became highly popular later in Hollywood. RKO, however, did not implement the concept with any effectiveness in 1931J instead, it invested in literary properties which were adapted to the screen by the studio's writers or combed the files looking for silent scenarios to remake as sound vehicles. Only a few "original" ideas made it to the screen. 85 The 1931 convention was held in Hollywood in May. ^ President Schnitzer presented the champion salesman of Radio Pictures and then announced that thirty-six films would com prise the 193l“1932 program. Pour of these would be "Ti tans": colossal productions on the order of Cimarron. The first of these, in fact, would star Dix and Dunne once again in a story of the settlement of the Dakota territory "aimed 86 to parallel 'Cimarron" Marcheta was the tentative title. Other promised highlights were: Dolores Del Rio in Bird of Paradise and The Dove; three Wheeler-Woolsey pic tures; Miracle City written by Cimarron's director, Wesley Ruggles, and its adapter, Howard Estabrook; Fannie Hurst's Symphony of Six Million; at least one Lowell Sherman pro duction and two featuring Edna Mae Oliver. Rhetoric sur rounding these announcements was more subdued than in the past. Perhaps the studio was becoming self-conscious about its former self-eulogizing. 83 When RKO found itself caught up in the year-ending financial imbroglio, exhibitors began to wonder if the studio (and RKO Pathe) would deliver its product as prom ised. It was also conjectured that the films might be rushed and inferior due to the crisis situation. Lee Marcus, who had recently become general manager of operations for the merged RKO and RKO Pathe, assured the industry that the companies would discharge their obligations and that there would be "no foolish economies sacrificing either negative Q rj quality or distribution efficiency." Despite such prom ises, RKO production ended 1931 under a dark cloud of uncer tainty and unreliability. David Selznick had a most chal lenging task on his hands--to build confidence in Radio Pictures. The Films The previous year having been spoiled by the fail ures of its big musicals, Hit the Deck and Dlxiana, RKO shied away from the genre in 193I* concentrating instead on melodramas and comedies. Kept Husbands, directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Joel McCrea and Dorothy Mackaill, was an uninspired example of the former. It told the story of a poor man who marries a rich woman and loses his self- respect. After a period of domestic strife, 'they solve their problems when the wife agrees to live within the limitations of her husband's earned income. 84 Transgression was somewhat more interesting. Based on a novel by Kate Jordan, its plot centered on Kay Francis who leaves her husband (Paul Cavanaugh) to run off with a Spaniard played by Ricardo Cortez. After dispatching a let ter to her husband explaining that she loves another man, Francis discovers that Cortez is having an affair with a peasant girl. The girl's father shoots Cortez, and Francis, sadder and wiser, rushes home to try to intercept the let ter. A blackmail element complicates the suspense, but all is well in the end. And Francis has come to realize what a fine man she had in the first place. A movie with Erich Von Stroheim, Adolphe Menjou, Lily Damita, and Laurence Olivier could not be all bad, but Friends and Lovers came close. Von Stroheim plays Victor Sangrito who is shot to death while whipping his wife (Damita). This clears the way for the development of a turgid love triangle involving Menjou and Olivier as two British military men contending for Damita's affections. There is a good deal of squabbling but little true drama in the picture. Victor Schertzinger directed. Olivier, at this point in his career, had not achieved significant suc cess in Hollywood. He returned to England in 1933 an4 re mained there for several years. His big break in films would come in the 1939 Wuthering Heights. Other "mellers" turned out in 1931 include Millie, 85 about a woman (Helen Twelvetrees) who shoots a former lover for attempting to seduce her daughter. The ending Is stand ard courtroom drama. White Shoulders. , like Transgression, Involved a wife who forsakes her husband to elope with a lesser man but wakes up in time for suitable atonement. Mary Astor, Jack Holt, and (once again as the heavy) Ricardo Cortez fill the principal roles in this poorly acted, poorly directed (by Melville Brown) moral tale. Finally, Richard Dix starred in The Public Defender as a modern-day Robin Hood who solves the mystery of a bank crash which has brought havoc to the lives of its depositors. The RKO comedies were again top-lined by three Wheeler-Woolsey vehicles. In Cracked Nuts, Woolsey plays King Zup of El Dorania who wins his crown in a crap game with his predecessor. The film was a completely nonsensi cal melange enlivened considerably by the inclusion of Edna Mae Oliver. Her function as the aunt of Wheeler's true love is to keep niece Betty (Dorothy Lee) out of Wheeler's grasp. Slightly less surrealistic, and not nearly so funny, was Caught Plastered. The location of this farce is a drug store which the two maniacs attempt to revitalize. The film had the usual cardboard villains, romantic subplot, and passages of snappy vaudeville witticisms, but without the extra dimension of Edna Mae Oliver, the formula began to seem a little tired. A bit better was the Christmas release, Peach 86 • O' Reno. Here Woolsey (as in Rio Rita) performed the role of a shyster lawyer with Wheeler as his partner. They run a "quickie" divorce racket in Nevada which metamorphoses into a gambling casino in the evenings. For reasons too compli cated to describe., Wheeler cavorts in drag throughout part of the proceedings; the touch is hardly original but it generates a respectable amount of humor. With this film, it seems necessary to add Dorothy Lee's name to the team. She had played the ingenue love interest in the last four Wheeler-Woolsey efforts. The studio's other comedies were an undistinguished lot. Lowell Sherman directed and starred in The Royal Bed and Bachelor Apartment. The Royal Bed, based on a play by Robert Sherwood, was better than the latter, but neither had much to commend except Sherman's own sophisticated por trayals. Laugh and Get Rich, starring Dorothy Lee and Edna Mae Oliver, is important principally because director Gregory La Cava would make a number of other, and mostly better, pictures for the studio. This one was a silly story of life in a boarding house run by Oliver. Later in the year, La Cava directed Smart Woman, an adaptation of a play by Myron C. Fagan. It featured Mary Astor, Robert Ames, Edward Everett Horton, John Halliday, and Noel Francis in a series of romantic switchbacks which sort themselves out by the denouement. 87 Technicolor was called on to pep up The Hun Around, , a disorganized variation on the standard "golddigger" plot, and Fanny Foley Herself, Edna Mae Oliver's first starring picture. Fanny Foley was not a good choice for the inaugu ration of a new leading lady. This sometimes sentimental, sometimes farcical drama about a vaudeville performer and her two daughters failed to utilize Miss Oliver's talents to their best advantage. Before long, she would find her self back in secondary roles at RKO. Three other films which do not exactly fit the melo drama or comedy categories deserve mention. The Gay Diplo mat, a romantic spy story, is memorable as Pandro Berman's first production. Berman was working at the studio as an assistant to William LeBaron when the producer assigned to the picture (Henry Hobart probably) walked off. Berman took 88 over and brought the rather mediocre film to completion. Thus began the career of the individual who would produce more films than any other man for RKO. Herbert Brenon, who had directed The Case for Ser geant Grischa in 1930, tried to cash in on one of his silent film successes with Beau Ideal. Brenon had directed Perci- val C. Wren's Beau Geste before the "talkie" revolution, but this further excursion with the Foreign Legion contained none of the excitement or ingenuity of the original tale. Marred by rotten dialogue and hysterical acting from Hale 88 Hamilton and others, Beau Ideal proved to be one of Radio's worst films of 1 9 3 1- Significantly better was Are These Our Children, , Wesley Ruggles' dramatization of the problems which accom pany teenage maturation. This was a very different film from Mr. Ruggles' sprawling Cimarron; it focused on the tragedy of one young man (Eric Linden) who is slowly, un wittingly drawn into a spider web of liquor, glamorous girls, and crime. A drunken binge results in the acci dental shooting of an old man by the protagonist. Even the trial does not impress itself on the foolish, naive youth until he hears his own death sentence pronounced. The film contains no last minute deus ex machina, no incredible happy ending which will provide the fellow a second chance. At the finish,.Linden is on his way to prison where, we know, he will be executed. Ruggles succeeds in drawing excellent performances from a cast of Juvenile, mostly un known,. actors. Are These Our Children was a highly unusual Radio Picture; it managed to achieve a strong sense of verisimilitude and actually had something meaningful to say about contemporary life. RKO Pathe The uncertainties which accompanied the Pathe merger pushed back the production schedule of RKO Pathe pictures. Most opened during the second half of 1931- 89 Considering the presence of Constance Bennett, Helen Twelve- trees, and Ann Harding, it is understandable that RKO Pathe specialized in 'Voraan's pictures," i.e., films designed to appeal to female moviegoers. Born to Love, starring Miss Bennett, was a repre sentative example. The setting is wartime London with Bfennett cast as an American hospital worker who falls hard for aviator Joel McCrea. He leaves her with child and is subsequently shot down behind German lines. The war ends and, presuming McCrea has died, Bennett provides her baby with a father (Paul Cavanaugh). Inevitably McCrea returns, and the film changes into a tear-jerker about frustrated mother love. Miss Bennett loses custody of her child, forcing the audience to suffer along until she recaptures both offspring and true love (McCrea) at the climax. Constance Bennett, who was the biggest star at RKO during this period, also teamed with McCrea in The Common Law. This time the setting is Paris with McCrea playing the unlikely part of a struggling young artist from Tarry- town, New York. Bennett, who is already sharing an apart ment with Lew Cody, agrees to pose for McCrea and, before long, they fall in love. The rest of the story is com prised of routine breakups and reconciliations, attempts by Cody to sabotage the love affair, and the usual shocked exhortations from McCrea's family when they discover what has been happening in decadent Europe. Both Born to Love and The Common Law were directed by Paul L. Stein. Among RKO Pathe's other attempts to lure women to the box office was Devotion, a Cinderella romance starring Ann Harding and Leslie Howard, and A Woman of Experience, with Helen Twelvetrees this time sampling the heady cham pagne of European love. In the latter, Miss Twelvetrees plays a wartime spy in Vienna who is wounded while perform ing her duties. She has fallen for a young naval officer (William Bakewell) who returns to marry her. It is then discovered that the lady's injury is more serious than first believed; she has but six months to live. Against the wishes of his mother, the gallant Bakewell marries her anyway. Based on a play by John Farrow and directed by Harry Joe Brown, A Woman of Experience typifies the trif ling melodrama which was RKO Pathe's specialty. Bill Boyd (before his Hopalong Cassidy days) was the only male performer of stature under contract to RKO Pathe. He appeared in The Big Gamble, a complicated story about a man who wants to pay off his considerable debts before com mitting suicide. Essentially a suspense vehicle, the de velopment of the plot was interrupted from time to time by comic scenes featuring James Gleason and Zasu Pitts. The woman who loves Boyd and rekindles his interest in living is played by Dorothy Sebastian. Together, they manage to 91 triumph over the gangster villain (Warner 01and) who demands the $100,000 owed him, or else. Boyd also starred in Sui cide Fleet, an unconvincing Navy picture which included a brief appearance hy future RKO star, Ginger Rogers. The remainder of the 1931 RKO Pathe product was mainly comprised of inept comedies. The Tip-Off also fea tured Ginger Rogers, as well as Eddie Quillan and Robert Armstrong, in a gangster spoof. Rebound was a more preten tious, but not much better, romantic comedy adapted by Donald Ogden Stewart from his own play. Ina Claire, Robert Ames, and Myrna Loy play the leads in this marital confec tion spoiled by some tedious philosophizing about the merits of love. The worst, Sweepstakes, is saved for last. This was the absurd tale of a jockey (Eddie Quillan) whose horse rockets to victory whenever he chants "whoop-te-doI" Cimarron The only film produced by RKO or RKO Pathe in 1931 that merits extra attention is Cimarron. Actually, the film was made in 1930 but not released until early 1 9 3 1- Since most cinema scholars do not consider a film completed until it is released, Cimarron will be discussed at this juncture in the narrative. This policy— of considering movies in the year of their first release--will be followed throughout the continuing text. Cimarron was Edna Perber's story of the development 92 of the Oklahoma territory from 18 89 to 1 9 2 9. It was first serialized In the Woman1 s Home Companion magazine., then Is sued In novel form by Doubleday In 1930. RKO purchased the movie rights for $115*000 and assigned Howard Estabrook to write the adaptation. Wesley Ruggles was handed directorial responsibility. Prom the beginning, Cimarron was conceived as a "big” project, but it continued to grow in scope until it far surpassed anything the studio had ever attempted. Pinal Oq costs amounted to $1,433*000. y The exciting land rush se quence which opened the picture was shot on location near Bakersfield; the rest was photographed mainly in studio and at the RKO ranch. Cimarron was released in late January, and received qo near-unanimous approval from the New York critics. Even Franklin D. Roosevelt, then governor of New York, penned an appreciation of the picture: It is not often that I really wax enthusiastic over a picture, but I think a really big thing has been done in the production of 'Cimarron.' There are so many millions of our present population who have no real conception of the great drama of the opening up of Oklahoma and of Cherokee Strip, that this representation will, for many years to come, have great historic value, even long after it is a "best seller. "91 A giant advertising campaign accompanied the opening of the film throughout the U.S., and its reputation grew. If was included among the "ten best" of 1931 by both The National 93 Board of Review and Film Daily. The climactic accolade came when Cimarron received the best picture "Oscar" awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. No other RKO picture (except The Best Years of Our Lives, a Samuel Goldwyn production distributed by RKO) would ever win. this coveted honor. An. additional footnote of interest is that Cimarron, remains the only western to be named "Best Pic ture" by the Hollywood Academy. Although the breadth and spectacle of Cimarron, still impress one today,, the film has not stood the test of time. Less antiquated than. Rio Rita, its roots are still firmly grounded in. silent film traditions rather than newly emerg ing sound film devices. The acting, in. particular, could easily pass for the broad melodramatic style which char acterized the silents of the early twenties. Richard Dix's performance is especially overblown. The structure of Cimarron also has an old-fashioned quality, though it is pure Edna Ferber (Giant is another example). After its spectacular land rush beginning, Cim arron. becomes an episodic story about the civilizing of the Oklahoma territory as viewed through the eyes of Yancey Cravat (Dix) and his wife Sabra (Irene Dunne). Cravat is the conscience of the new region, an American knight errant who consistently champions the causes of the downtrodden (Indians are only one group who receive his kindliness) 94 through his actions and the influential newspaper he pub lishes. Cravat is also a restless wanderer who periodically takes off for years at a time, then reappears whenever a dramatic situation is in the offing. Thus, the hub of the film is actually Sabra rather than Yancey. The audience is encouraged to suffer with her and admire her fortitude as she keeps The Wigwam in circulation while waiting for her beloved to come home. In reality Cimarron is more "woman's picture" than western. The historical recreation of the building of the frontier is enlightening, but the pattern of goings and comings during the forty-year time span begins to fatigue the viewer after a time. And the character of the under standing, indomitable Sabra is almost too perfect to swal low. Cimarron is brought to life on occasion by the appear ance of Edna Mae Oliver playing the last outpost of "cul ture" in the heathen environment. RKO would produce many better films in the years ahead, but none would receive as much praise, or as many honors, as Cimarron. Movie companies, unfortunately, must run on box office receipts rather than kudos, and here the movie failed its producers. The mammoth production cost was simply too much to recoup; Cimarron was carried on the studio books at a loss of $6 3 0,0 0 0.^ 95 Conclusion The Schnitzer-LeBaron days might properly he called RKO1s age of innocence. From a beginning filled with glori ous possibilities through a period of growth during which even mediocre pictures made money, RKO finally awakened in late 1931 to a very problematic future. The corporation reported a net loss for the year of $5*660.,770 with $3*7 1 6 * 8 6 5 of the deficit coming from production opera tions.^^ From this point on* almost every year of the com pany's history would be a struggle. Only during the movie- crazed World War II era would the studio executives be able to relax and watch the profits pour in. Except for this respite* RKO's fortunes would always be wearisome. Is there any simple explanation for the poor qual ity of pictures during the first three years? No* but some basic answers may be suggested. Instead of looking to the New York theatrical world for actors and directors who might bring new and important skills to some films* the studio relied instead on a staff of leftovers from the silent days. Beginning with LeBaron and including the pro ducers* directors* and stars* most of RKO's production per sonnel had won their reputations in the silent cinema and were slow to adapt to the new* more intricate medium. Even though the studio tried such "talkie" forms as the musical and the gangster film* its efforts were labored and stag 96 nant compared to Paramount1s Applause and The Love Parade and Monte Carlo on the one hand, or Warner Brothers' Little Caesar and The Public Enemy on the other. Another problem was the complete failure of RKO to build any stars during the three years. The attempts to make "audion" luminaries out of such silent performers as Bebe Daniels and Richard Dix were unsuccessful, and no "new faces" were discovered or promoted with the exception of Irene Dunne. It seems safe to say that RKO’s initial leaders made few correct decisions during their three years of power. Future administrations would not have the same op portunities that were presented to Messrs. Schnitzer and LeBaron (and Hiram Brown); instead, each new executive could look forward to the task of correcting some of the mistakes perpetrated by these gentlemen. 97 Footnotes From the point of view of historical research,,' the dual setup represents an enormous stroke of good fortune. The executives on each coast were forced constantly to write and wire each other about company business. This correspondence, plus the interoffice memoranda which sur vive, have proved' of supreme assistance in piecing together the history which follows. 2"RK0 Productions Is New FBO Title.," Exhibitors Herald-World, 19 January 1929., P- 2 3. 3"Radio Pictures Advertisement," Exhibitors Herald- World, 9 February 1 9 2 9, pp. 7-10. 4 Ibid., p. 9. ^"Radio Pictures Is Trade Name Selected for RKO Pro ductions," Exhibitors Herald-World, 9 February 1929* p. 39- 6 Martin Quigley, "'Radio1 Pictures," Exhibitors Herald-World, 9 February 1929* P. 3^* r j 1"RKO Organization Is in Business to Stay, Says Hiram S. Brown Denying Merger," Exhibitors Herald-World, 23 February 1929* p. 2 5. Q "Kahane Denies RKO and Paramount Plan Similar Deal in U.S.," Exhibitors Herald-World, 8 June 1929* p. 31. ^Ibid. "Purchase of Proctor Circuit Welds RKO Theatre Hold ings," Exhibitors Herald-World, 25 May 1929* p. 21. 11"Public Lead Fox by Only 100 in Race for Theatre Control," Exhibitors Herald-World, 16 November 1929* p. 21. 12"Soundproof Stages At RKO in $250,000 Program," Exhibitors Herald-World, 2 February 1929* p. ^-2. ■^3"RKO Adds $3,000,000 to Its Budget; Expansion Is Planned," Exhibitors Herald-World, 17 August 1929* p. 51. ■^"Hecht and MacArthur Signed To Write Originals for FBO," Exhibitors Herald-World, 12 January 1929* p. ^1. 98 ■^"Big Chance for Humor in Sound, Says MacArthur, RKO Writer," Exhibitors Herald-World, 2 February 1929, p. ^ . 1 6) "Most Popular Stars of the Era," Exhibitors Herald- World, 9 March 1929, p. 6 3. IT "RKO Gets Rights to Spoor-Berggren Wide Film Proc ess; Plans Building Sets," Exhibitors Herald-World, 25 No vember 1929, P* 2 5. n O "RKO Votes $1,000,000 for Use of Spoor Stereoscopic Process," Exhibitors Herald-World, 6 July 1929, p. 6 3. "Radio Pictures," Exhibitors Herald-World, 18 Janu ary 1930, P* 28. 20 "'Broadway Melody1 Opens in Cleveland at Stillman, March," Exhibitors Herald-World, 23 February 1929, P* 28. p-| Bosley Crowther, The Lion1s Share (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1957), P. 151. op "RKO's Production Program Points to Big Sales Year, Says Schnitzer," Exhibitors Herald-World, 23 February 1 9 2 9, p. 2 8. ^^"LeBaron Outlines RKO $10,000,000 Production Plans," Exhibitors Herald-World, 23 February 1929, p. 39* oh. . 30 Features of Major Importance To Be Produced by RKO," Exhibitors Herald-World, 20 July 1929, P* 71- 2-^"RK0 Starts Year September 7 with Coast to Coast Campaign," Exhibitors Herald-World, 7 September 1929, P* 33* 06 "LeBaron's Contract with RKO Is Renewed for Three Year Term," Exhibitors Herald-World, 26 October 1929, P* 26. 2 7Ibid. pQ Radio Pictures' First Premiere Draws Industry's Leaders to Globe," Exhibitors Herald-World, 3 August 1929, p. 3 8. 2-^Peter Vischer, "Syncopation," Exhibitors Herald- World, 27 April 1929, P* 26. "'Art' Student in a Film," New York Times, 19 August 1929, P* 22. 99 "$1 , 500 j000 Is Estimated Loss i-n Consolidated Films Flames," Exhibitors Herald-World. , 2 November 1929* p. 41. 8^"Hecht and MacArthur Signed -to Write Originals for FBO. , r SB -^Ligon Johnson, letter to RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., "RKO," 9 November 1937. s4 C. J. Sullivan, letter to Edgar Rice Burroughs, "RKO," 17 June 1929. ^"Budget of Production Cost--Rio Rita, 1 1 "RKO," 19 June 1929. 3^J. I. Schnitzer, telegram to V. Baravalle, "RKO," 7 October 1929. ^Douglas Hodges, "The Studio," Exhibitors Herald- World, 30 November 1929, p. 3 8. 38tiprofts 0f Additional Features of Any Significance From I929/ 3O through 1935/38," "RKO." (Typewritten list.) ^Laurence Stern, "Buying Concentrated in Stocks As sured of 1930 Profits," Exhibitors Herald-World, 8 February 1 9 3 0, p. 2 6. ^"Complete Text of Reorganization Plan for Radio- Keith- Orpheum, " Motion Picture Herald, 28 November 1938, P. 70. 41» Big Rockefeller Project Gives Electric Group Strongest Hold," Exhibitors Herald-World, 21 June 1930.> P. 43. ^2Ibid., p. 44. ^"De finite Denial of Merger Between RKO and Pathe Is Issued by E. B. Derr," Exhibitors Herald-World, 22 February 1 9 3 0, p. 2 1. ^"Pathe Take Over by R-K-0 Expected," Variety, 15 October 1930, P. 5* ^"Warner Operetta Begins; RKO Is Using Wide Film Cameras," Exhibitors Herald-World, 8 February 1930, p. 35. ^"RKO Silent on Dropping Spoor Wide Film Process," Exhibitors -Herald-World, 15 March 1930, p. 21. 100 ^7"Wide Film Finally Passed Up by Public and Pro ducer,, ! t Variety, 26 November 1930, p. 5- 48 "Irene Dunne Signs with RKO for Singing Roles; Was Hit in Ziegfeld Show," Exhibitors Herald-World, 26 April 1930, P. 24. ^"Leading Film Names, 1930, " Variety, 31 December 1930, pp. 54-55. "Amos-Andy Not for 2d Talker," Variety, 18 February 1931, P. 2. -^"Leading Film Names, 1930," p. 55* -^"Get Children Back to Theatre, Plunkett Tells RKO Sales Force,” Exhibitors Herald-World, 24 May 1930, p. 2 3. 5 3Ibid. -^"Vaudeville as Aid to R-K-0,” Variety, 1 October 1930, p. 2 3. 55ttThink Schnitzer West iso Stay on Production," Vari ety, 17 December 1930, p. 5. ■^"Like 'Grischa' or Not You Remember It, and That's B.0. Says LeBaron," Exhibitors Herald-World, 1 March 1930, p. 24. 5 7Ibid. j - Q "Fun Among the Marines," New York Times, 13 Septem ber 1 9 3 0, p. 9. -^"RKO Net $1.45 A Share; 1930 Earnings Rise," Vari ety, 11 March 1931, P- H. 80 Benjamin B. Hampton, History of the American Film Industry (New York: Dover Pub11cat!ons, 1970), p5 126. 6 1 - , - , . , Ibid, 62 "Individual Company Analyses," Motion Picture Her ald, 3 January 1931, P- 58. ^2'fpathe Only the Nucleus of a Broader Plan," Motion Picture Herald, 21 February 1931, P. 18. 6 4 - r . . . Ibid. 101 "$10*000*000 Budget In New Season for RKO-Pathe*" Motion Picture Herald, 7 February 1931* P- 9. "Brown Borrows Six Millions for RKO Pathe*" Motion Picture Herald, 20 June 1931* P- 9* 6 7Ibid. ^"Reductions of Admission Price Adopted in Most Large Cities* " Motion Picture Herald* 24 October 1931., P. 9- "Pathe-Radio May Save $2*000*000 to RKO by Merge*" Variety, 10 November 1931* P- 4. 71 David 0. Selznick* Memo from. David 0. Selznick* ed. Rudy Behlmer (New York: Viking Press* 1972)* p3 42. 7 2"Pathe-Radio May Save $2*000*000 to RKO by-Merge*" P. 9* 78"RKO in Dilemma over Refinancing*" Motion Picture Herald* 21 November 1931* P* 24. 7\bid. 7^"RKO Primer*" Time* 7 December 1936* p. 75* 76 "Hiram Brown Unusually Frank Telling Legmen All about RKO*" Variety* 8 December 1931* P* 7* 7 7Ibid. 7 8"RK0 Theatres' Big Net*" Variety* 8 December 1931* p. 27. 7< ^"RK0 Gets Its New Money Jan. 2*" Variety, 29 Decem ber 1931* p. 1. 8°"RK0 Primer," p. 75- O “ i "The Best Money Film Stars*" Variety* 5 January 1932* p. 38. 8 2 "Radio Comes to Screenland and Adventures Enroute*" Motion Picture- Herald, 16 April 1932* p. 13. 102 88"Depinet Becomes Pathe G.M.," Motion. Picture Herald, 28 February 1931* P. 18* 84 "Big Royalties f Picture Herald, 3 January 1931* P- 62. Oh "Big Royalties for Big Picture Writers,, " Motion 8s ■^"Radio's Sales Force Take Home Plans to Put Over 36 Features," Motion Picture Herald, 2 May 1931* p. 2 7. 8 6Ibid. "Radio and Pathe to Deliver '31-'32 Films," Motion Picture Herald, 21 November 1931* p. 25- OO Mike Steen, "A Louis B. Mayer American Film Insti tute Oral History of Pandro S. Berman," The American Film Institute Archives, n.d., pp. 13-14. Beverly Hills, Cali fornia. 89nprofits of Additional Features." 9°"N.Y. Critics All Go for 'Cimarron'; Ad Campaign Set," Motion Picture Herald, 31 January 1931* P- 35. qi Leon J. Bamberger, quotation in letter to RKO Man agers, Salesmen, Bookers, "RKO," 16 July 1934. -^"Profits of Additional Features." "RKO Reports a Net Loss but Gains in Theatre Opera tions, " Motion Picture Herald, 12 March 1932, p. 28. CHAPTER IV THE SELZNICK REGIME (1932-1933) A scene that would be repeated all too frequently during RKO history accompanied David Selznick's first few months as production head. "Reorganization"’was the pri mary task— a general realignment and housecleaning intended to get the company on the right track. Many changes were made with the most dramatic coming in the executive ranks. RKO's New Power Structure Early in 1932, it appeared that Hiram Brown and Joseph Schnitzer might continue at the top of the RKO hier archy. Schnitzer announced that he planned to move his office back to New York, leaving production matters on the West Coast completely in Selznick's hands.^ Schnitzer had spent the majority of his time in 1931 overseeing (some said interfering with) picturemaking in Hollywood. In February, Hiram Brown was given a’vote of confidence by the RKO board of directors, and it seemed that the status quo would in- 2 deed be maintained. Stability did not continue long. By the middle of 103 io4 April, Schnitzer'had resigned to enter independent produc tion. In addition, Brown's job was handed to Merlin Hall Aylesworth, the president of the National Broadcasting Com pany. ^ Mr. Brown would continue to serve RKO in an "advi sory capacity." He stayed on as a "lame duck" through the summer. Without question, the impetus behind the shake-up was David Sarnoff of RCA. As chairman of RKO's board and president of its parent company, he had been extremely in fluential from the very beginning. But now RCA had gained even stronger control of RKO, and Sarnoff planned to make sure no more fiascoes would come to pass. Aylesworth was considered to be a master organizer; Sarnoff fully expected him to be as successful In guiding RKO as he had been with NBC. Merlin "Deac" Aylesworth had grown up in the mid- West. He attended several colleges, eventually receiving a law degree from the University of Denver. After practicing law in Port Collins, Colorado, from 1908 to 191^-* he became chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. In 1919j he accepted a post as managing director of the Na tional Electric Light Association. He surrendered this position in 1926 to become president of the National Broad casting Company. The incredible aspect of his appointment as president of Radio-Keith-Orpheum was that he planned to devote only half his time to the position. He would retain 105 the presidency of NBC, spending mornings on RKO business and then devoting his afternoons to the broadcasting con cern. Aylesworth was supposed to have boundless energy, but, in retrospect, this seems an ill-considered, foolhardy arrangement. It goes without saying that RKO needed full time attention. The corporation decided to promote one of its own to replace Schnitzer as president of RKO Radio Pictures. Benjamin B. Kahane was a "theater man," having begun with 5 the Orpheum circuit in 1919- Later, he worked for Keith- Albee and was secretary and director of the Keith-Albee- Orpheum Corporation when RKO was formed in 1928. He became the first secretary-treasurer of RKO. Like Aylesworth, Kahane also held a law degree which prompted the company to appoint him general counsel in 1929. Kahane1s new office was established at the Hollywood studio; there his job would soon take on the character of referee attempting to satisfy the financial needs of Selznick's production ad ministration while placating New York executive concerns about "over-spending." Other important executive posts were given to Ned E. Depinet, now vice-president in charge of distribution; Lee Marcus, who was to function as liaison officer between the studio and the home office; and Harold B. Franklin, the new president of the theater division (Keith-Albee-Orpheum). In 106 one year., RKO had been reorganized from top to bottom. The new setup had not come inexpensively, however. Several of the former executives held long-term contracts; the only way to dispense with their services was to make settlement deals, and these deals dug deeply Into RKO's cash reserves. For example, in May David Selznick managed to talk Ben Schulberg of Paramount into hiring former production chief William LeBaron. But RKO still had to pay LeBaron $1,500 per week until his contract expired in 1933-^ In light of the fact that the company had been paying LeBaron $3,500 per week since Selznick arrived, even though LeBaron had no real function within the production schema, this was con sidered a successful--though costly--agreement. Cost-Cutting Economizing became one of RKO's key words in 1932. If the studio were to function within the strictures of a steadily worsening Depression, every identifiable strip of fat would have to be pared. A 10 percent salary cut was 7 put Into effect for all company employees In January.1 In February, it was revealed that RKO planned to eliminate RKO Pathe, merging that production outfit with Radio Pictures. The not unexpected move meant that the Gallic gamecock, long a Pathe trademark, would be seen in future only on O company newsreels. Shortly thereafter, the RKO Pathe studio in Culver City was closed in order to effect further 107 savings. It reopened In May,, primarily as a rental lot for Independent production. Despite these setups, and belt-tightening procedures in the theater organization., RKO continued to operate in the red. A net loss of $2,166,713 was reported for the q quarter ending March 31* Kahane was then assigned the job of eliminating every inessential aspect of the studio’s functioning. On July 11, he wired Sylesworth to advise that overhead had been cut $254,000 and, by year's end, savings of $1.4 million to $1.5 million could be expected. Among the economies were a reduction of the writers' pay roll by $3,000 per week, a reorganization of the prop de partment to result in savings of $6,868 per picture, and elimination of certain crew personnel on productions sal vaging $40,000 per year. Kahane promised even more cost- cutting and assured his boss that "these savings are being accomplished without impairing quality or detracting from production value. Morale at studio is good and Mr. Selz- 11 nick is cost conscious and is co-operating with us fully." Efforts to cut costs continued throughout the rest of the year. One of the most annoying restrictions, from the point of view of film directors, was a rule allowing only 12 one take of any scene to be printed. In order to print more than one take, directors or editors would have to secure approval from a number of different individuals. • 108 This policy remained in effect for years and resulted in several ingenious gambits on the part of directors who wanted more latitude to view what they had shot. The Radio-Film Alliance Merlin Aylesworth's fondest wish was to unite the entertainment spheres of radio broadcasting and movie pro duction. The idea had been paramount in the formation of RKO, but nothing of consequence had been made of it during the first three years. Immediately upon assuming the RKO presidency, Aylesworth revived the dream and became its foremost propagandist. He stated that the "picture busi ness and radio business must be co-ordinated" and that radio "should be used to exploit motion pictures.He also announced plans to erect a broadcasting studio on the RKO lot and assured movie executives that radio was no threat to the picture business: People will never stay at home. They will always seek entertainment elsewhere. Radio programs plug ging the idea, "Go to the theatre" will serve to get people out of their homes and into the motion picture theatres. 1^- The leaders of the other companies were not only dubious; they were downright antagonistic. Everyone was suffering because of an awesome drop in box office attend ance. The lure of "free" radio amusement had to be par tially responsible and, thus, radio had become something of a villain in Hollywood circles. AylesworthTs remarks, 109 though perhaps not altogether traitorous, certainly raised questions about his true allegiance. Would he really use NBC to boost the movies and get people back to a picture- going routine . . . or would he employ RKO to strengthen broadcasting? Aylesworth seemed to think he could do both. In June, Merlin Aylesworth journeyed to Hollywood to present his philosophy of mutual cooperation. A luncheon was called by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sci ences for the purpose of introducing him to the industry moguls. The new RKO president promised that radio could work for the studios, that radio's great "lung power" should be exploited to bring people into the theaters. He empha sized that there was more than enough business for both concerns and that radio had not ruined the newspapers as was feared at one time. He also stated that television was still a long way off because there was, as yet, no demand for it.^ Unfortunately, Aylesworth coupled his remarks with an excessively gloomy analysis of the current motion pic ture industry. He predicted that all the companies could be in bankruptcy within ninety days unless drastic measures were taken. He blamed the "ridiculously high salaries" of stars and executives and the overabundance of both theaters 16 and poor pictures for the calamitous state of affairs. The Hollywood establishment was not impressed by 110 Mr. Aylesworth's performance. Here was a man whose movie experience amounted to less than three months, who was run ning a company In considerably worse shape than most of the studios, and yet he had the audacity to predict apocalypse for the entire business. An editorial in the Motion Picture Herald criticized Aylesworth for his bad timing and Inade quate understanding of public relations. Words such as these are scarcely spoken across a conference table of industry without first a cau tious survey of those in the room. That the respon sible head of a corporation in the peculiar responsi bility of RKO . . . should as daringly become the herald of disaster and ruin in the presence of the American press pertains to an order of logic which he alone, if any one, can explain. Mr. Aylesworth, in his speech, is selling the motion picture short. . . . He is in the position, as president of RKO, of inviting the public to spend its money at the box office for entertainment mer chandise produced under what he sets forth as a con dition next akin to bankruptcy. He asks the American picture-going public to buy failure on the installment plan, a ticket at a time.If Aylesworth's impolitic speech won few friends and even fewer supporters of his mutual cooperation plan. Speaking in San Francisco two weeks later, he switched from despair to optimism about the future, predicting that radio would ultimately revive the theater business. He cited a "growing spirit of mutual cooperation between radio broad casting companies, the theatres and studios" as the basis for his belief that attendance would soon begin to in- 18 crease. There is minimal evidence of close cooperation be- Ill tween radio broadcasting and the other studios during this period, but Aylesworth made sure RKO showed no reticence. In August, the studio launched a massive advertising cam paign around the joint radio-film exploitation of a mystery property called The Phantom of Crestwood. The idea worked as follows: The studio would pro duce Bartlett Cormack's original screen story for release throughout the United States on October 14. Beginning August 26 and continuing weekly for six weeks, the NBC radio network would present a dramatization of The Phantom. The final episode, however, would not be broadcast; instead, listeners would be encouraged to submit their own endings for the story. Awards totaling $6,000, including a first prize of $1,5 0 0, would be parceled out for the best dra matic solutions. It was not planned to use the winning ending on the picture; there would not be enough time to shoot it since RKO planned to open the film shortly after the final radio broadcast. The Motion Picture Herald was enthralled by the concept: The ramifications of the campaign will be tre mendous. Radio set owners, motion picture fans, newspaper readers, fan magazine readers— and in evitably, all persons with whom these vast poten tial audiences come in contact, will learn about the picture well In advance.19 The results of the advertising gimmick, however, were less than earth-shaking. The big problem was the story, which 112 had no real freshness to It. The Phantom of Crestwood was just another convoluted murder mystery, and Its film ver sion starring Ricardo Cortez., Karen Morley, and Pauline Frederick had little to excite the audiences of the time. The radio serialization may have helped somewhat-~the movie made a modest profit--but It was not deemed worthwhile to continue the experiment. Mr. Aylesworth and his staff be gan to survey different methods of utilizing the radio movie partnership for the benefit of both. Radio City Despite the frenzied studio economizing of B. B. Kahane and cuts in Selznick's production budget (see Pro duction ), RKO continued to lose significant amounts of money. The net loss for the first half year amounted to po $1^375^170. One problem was vaudeville, formerly a fi nancial asset which had become a decided liability. In the Schnitzer-LeBaron days, the popularity of vaudeville shows in RKO theaters partially compensated for the poor pictures which the company produced. Now Radio was making better movies, but the variety programs no longer seemed to inter est customers. In late August, the company eliminated 21 vaudeville shows completely in thirty-one of its houses. Harold Franklin, head of RKO's theaters, estimated the move 22 would result in increased gross profit of 2 37 percent. RKO continued to look' for ways to cut theater costs 113 In 1932. The end of the year, however, brought a new and unprecedented theater commitment. Actually the commitment had been made in 1930 (see Chapter II) when prospects for the company and Its business looked considerably brighter. Now, RKO would be forced to add two of the world's largest theaters to its strained operations. Once again, the company's timing was very bad. Radio City was principally the dream of the Rocke fellers, but David Sarnoff and the leaders of RKO also be lieved strongly in the ambitious enterprise. Originally, there were to be four theaters for RKO to handle, but the executed plan was reduced by two. The showplace of the complex was Radio City Music Hall, a 6,200-seat palace in tended for the presentation of stage shows and vaudeville entertainment. Complementing the Music Hall was the RKO Roxy, a 3,700-seat auditorium for movies which would also feature live performances, though not of the magnitude of those put on by the Music Hall. Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel, a showman of near legendary fame, was chosen to direct the operations of both theaters. Signed to assist Roxy were Erno Rapee, music director, Robert Edmond Jones, art director, and Florence Rogge, Martha Graham, and Russell Markert in charge of d a n c i n g . December 27, 1932, was the day chosen for the grand opening of the Music Hall, with the Roxy presenting its first movie two nights later. 114 The great moment arrived and Roxy was ready. A packed house studded with leaders of the entertainment and business communities was treated to nearly five hours of diversion: The opening Music Hall program offered., In addi tion to numbers by the orchestra and resident ballet and chorus, Taylor Holmes in a musical dramatic sketch, aerialists, comedy by Sisters of the Skillet, Doctor Rockwell and H. Ray Bolger; Frankin Vera Schwarz of the Berlin Opera, the Tuskegee choir, an allegorical dance by Harald Kreutzberg, excerpts from "Carmen" featuring Titta Ruffo, Coe Glade, Aroldo Lindi and Patrlc Bowman, the Martha Graham dancers, Weber & Fields and a concluding minstrel number with DeWolf Hopper acting as a master of ceremonies.24 Reports indicate that the audience, captivated at first by the scope and sheer magnificence of the Hall, became pro gressively bored, then exhausted, with the overblown extrav aganza. By the end of the evening, many empty seats were evident. The journalistic reviews were politely enthusi astic, but some hinted it would take spectacular shows to make the Music Hall work, considering the darkened times. It quickly became obvious that the Music Hall was not going to work at all; it was a disaster unprecedented in show business history. A total of $180,000 was lost during its first sixteen days with admission prices set at $2.75. 25 The solution was to change over to motion pictures as the prime attraction, with stage and vaudeville in sup port. This made the RKO Roxy, which had presented RKO's The Animal Kingdom as its premiere attraction, a rather 115 obvious redundancy. Less than two weeks after Its opening., The Roxy was slated to close pending determination of future policy. Terry Ramsaye analyzed the fiasco in brutal detail, bestowing his heaviest sarcasm on RKO: If the seating capacity of the Radio City Music Hall is precisely 6,200, then just exactly 6,199 persons must have been aware at the initial perform ance that they were eye witnesses to something tre mendously more astonishing than the opening of the world's biggest theatre. It was the unveiling of the world's best "bust." Carefully utilizing every imposing modern re source from money to metallurgy, with the single exception of plain common sense, RKO and its execu tive control have attained a negative triumph beyond compare in the history of the amusement industry.26 After outlining RKO's many additional corporate misadven tures, Ramsaye fixed Merlin Aylesworth in his sights as chief architect of the nightmare: It has been somewhat more privately than pub licly said that Mr. .Aylesworth had little option about assuming the RKO presidency if he were to con tinue in his happier job as president of the National Broadcasting Company. But, anyway, he did take the additional responsibility, and what he has done about it, and had caused to be done about it, is about as apparent as the Grand Canyon— with about the same cubic content of nothing.27 Columbia's The Bitter Tea of General Yen, directed by Frank Capra, was the first film to play the Music Hall with admission prices scaled down to the 35^-99^ range. Stage shows continued, but Rothafel pleaded illness and re tired to the background, while Robert Edmond Jones and three members of the administrative staff resigned. Ayles- 116 worth., Franklin* and other functionaries of RKO exhibition* held a series of meetings to determine the best plan for RKO's newly leased theaters. Reversing an earlier decision* they announced that the RKO Roxy would continue to show The 28 Animal Kingdom for an indefinite period. In addition to shouldering the burden of two huge theaters* RKO also made good its promise to move into new offices in Radio City. The move* along with the "opportu nity” to run the Music Hall and RKO Roxy* cost the company 29 100*000 shares of stock which passed to the Rockefellers. . They now represented a powerful faction in the RKO power structure. At a time when the movie concern was edging ever closer to the brink of financial ruin* it had taken on a nearly insoluble exhibition problem and further compli cated its corporate hierarchy. Personnel The year 1932 was one of the most vital in RKO his tory for signing personnel. The man who should receive the majority of credit is David Selznick. Selznick was an astute judge of character and poten tial talent. During the three years he spent at Paramount before joining RKO, Selznick had been impressed by several individuals* some of whom he persuaded to join him with the new company. One of these was Merian C. Cooper* a former military man and explorer who had made two famous documen- 117 tary films, Grass and Chang. The documentaries, shot in barbaric, treacherous regions of the world, so excited Jesse Lasky of Paramount that he hired Cooper to produce The Four Feathers. The Pour Feathers turned out to be a successful adventure saga starring William Powell, and Cooper's Hollywood career was launched. Impressed by Coop er's friendships with such powerful American financial names as the Vanderbilts and Whitneys, as well as his ap parent production abilities, Selznick convinced him to come to RKO in 1932 as producer and personal assistant to the new head of production. Also coming along was Ernest B. Schoedsack, a cameraman and director, who had worked with Cooper since the days of Grass and Chang. Another director who moved to RKO from Paramount at Selznick's behest was George Cukor. Cukor had been part of the influx of New York theater talent that accompanied the entrance of sound. After serving as dialogue director on All Quiet on the Western Front, Cukor had been given a chance to direct by Paramount. One of his early assign ments, One Hour With You, had resulted in open conflict be tween Cukor and two of Paramount's most powerful men— B. P. Schulberg, then head of production, and Ernst Lubitsch, the gO famous director. When Selznick asked him to follow him to RKO, Cukor was happy to oblige. And Paramount seemed pleased to have RKO take over Cukor's contract. 118 Selznick also had the perspicacity to scrutinize employees already on the RKO payroll and continue individu als who appeared to have considerable potential. Pandro Berman had been closely connected with the LeBaron regime and, thus., fully expected the ax. He was slightly shocked when Selznick kept him on as an assistant and eventually SI allowed him to begin producing pictures again. Another individual who would become an important RKO producer, Kenneth Macgowan, was signed by Selznick as a story editor in January 1932. Macgowan was a cultured man who had gained some reputation as a producer of plays in New York. Without doubt, the company's most serious personnel problem was in the acting area. The RKO stock company was woeful when Selznick took charge. Even formerly potent stars like Constance Bennett and Ann Harding had been di minished by their appearances in poor RKO pictures. Selz nick knew he would have to build stars; company finances were not in any shape to make contracts with well-estab lished, expensive talents. If he could sign unknowns to long-term arrangements, then groom them quickly, the new production head might be able to put together a star coterie at a modest expense. . In light of this philosophy, the signing of Katharine Hepburn seems a logical, though still rather daring, move. Hepburn had gained some attention on the New York stage when Selznick and Cukor became interested in her for 11'9 A Bill of Divorcement. In late May., a screen test was made of the actress In New York. She' and her agent were both unsatisfied with the results, but the RKO executives de cided to look at the test, anyway. From the beginning, Lee Marcus was not Impressed. He wired Selznick In June stat ing, "Her salary is one thousand per week which is all out of proportion to her capabilities and experience. " ^ 2 Cukor felt differently: With David Selznick, . . . I saw a test that she'd done in New York. She was quite unlike anybody I'd ever seen. Though she'd never made a movie, she had this very definite knowledge and feeling right from the start.33 Selznick evidently concurred, because he overruled Marcus and signed Katharine Hepburn on June 22. The agreement called for one picture to begin within sixty days, with three weeks guaranteed at $1,250 weekly. If the company was pleased with her work, the options in the contract could keep Hepburn in RKO pictures exclusively for five years thereafter. She was, however, free to do theatrical work when not toiling in Hollywood. As B. B. Kahane stated in a letter to Aylesworth, the salary investment in the actress was "comparatively very little if Hepburn makes good."35 Late in the year, when Selznick's own tenure with RKO became an open question, he still continued to search for new talent. He became interested in a charming dancer who had gained a reputation in an act featuring his sister 120 as his partner. Once again., Selznick ordered tests to see if the subject photographed well. After viewing the film., Selznick recommended the signing of the performer in this wire to New York story editor, Katharine Brown, who doubled as a studio talent scout: Definitely interested in Fred Astaire for lead in musical to be directed by Sandrich if we can get him on reasonable terms, for period of years; possibly allowing him time.off to do play if this becomes ab solutely necessary. Conceding that his ears and chin are drawbacks, his personality seems to come through and feel we might be able to drum up considerable publicity interest if we sign him.3& Fred Astaire did not sign his first contract with RKO until after Selznick left the company. Without question, though, it was Selznick's vision that enabled Radio Pictures to acquire one of its greatest future properties--and very cheaply, too. As Astaire correctly recalls in his autobi ography, the initial commitment was for one picture, three weeks guaranteed at $1,500 per week. With just a trace of bitterness, he states: The only risk the studio took at signing was the total sum of $4500. If I had failed, I would have been dropped.37 On the other side of the ledger, RKO started look ing for ways to eliminate some of its highly-paid employees when the financial crush began at mid-year. Kahane was instructed by Aylesworth to study the contracts of all those making high salaries and come up with some plan for reducing the obligations. On July 25, Kahane wrote Ayles- 121 - ^ 3 C3 worth concerning the matter. The letter provides much Insight into the "relative worth" of most of the current talent. Constance Bennett, the highest paid RKO actress of the time, would be more than willing to release RKO from its contract, according to Kahane, because she could cer tainly make an even better arrangement with one of the other studios. Therefore, unless the company was willing to for feit its biggest star, nothing could be done about her. Kahane was certain Ann Harding would accept a cut in salary if the company agreed to extend her contract and "give her the right to approve the stories upon which her pictures are based.But since Kahane felt dubious about the contract extension and was firmly opposed to giving the star story approval there appeared little chance of a con cession . Three secondary players were reported to be on the way out. Robert Armstrong, then making $2,000 per week, a salary deemed "excessive," would not have his contract re newed when it expired on October 18. Helen Twelvetrees was said to be "virtually through with us," and Ricardo Cortez was reported to have failed to develop "a box-office fol lowing." ^ 0 Kahane decided to withhold the final verdict on Cortez until his contract expired in October. Cortez was then making $1 ,7 5 0 per week. Among the directors and writers, the only ones 122 deemed to be receiving too much money were Wesley Ruggles and Howard Estabrook, the Cimarron duo. Although no spe cific comment was made, It appears Implicit that these two "hold-overs" from the former administration were dispen sable . This kind of candid dissection of company personnel may seem a bit cold-blooded, but it was absolutely neces sary as the company entered the purgatory of financial op pression. Letters of this kind became even more frequent in the future. The only other personnel matter of interest during 1932 involved new contract negotiations with Wheeler and Woolsey. In October, Kahane offered the team $50,000 a picture against 10 percent of the gross receipts, but they held out for a guarantee of $75*000 a picture. Kahane con sidered this figure too risky. One of his letters reveals how carefully such matters were estimated: We cannot get away from the fact that the grosses from the Wheeler-Woolsey pictures have steadily and drastically declined, each successive release being less than the preceding one. The fluctuation is from a high of $9 3 2 ,0 0 0 to as low as $469,000. . . . It may be that we can develop another team of come dians and build them up to popularity and this would be better than paying Wheeler and Woolsey what seems to be a prohibitive salary in view of the declining grosses . . . and considering also that it has been the history of comedy teams that they go down rather than up in popularity as time goes on.41 It appears that an agreement was eventually reached between RKO and the comedians. Although details are not clear, the 123 two continued to star In Radio Pictures. Production The first few months of David Selznickrs term were spent in completing pictures set in motion by the previous regime., such as The Lost Squadron and Bird of Paradise, and preparing for the 1932-1933 program. This program would be Selznick!s first as a studio head; thus, he was determined to make it as exciting as he possibly could. In April, Selznick abolished the established policy of using "supervisors" or "associate producers" to oversee individual films. Considering the supervisor to be "just another mind to convince, to compromise with and to argue with," Selznick decided to watch over the pictures himself 42 as they would all reflect on him. Selznick's assistants-- particularly Merian Cooper and Pandro Berman— would help him in this herculean undertaking. The immensity of the task became clear when the 4s company convention was held In May. J Delegates were In formed that sixty-two features would be produced by RKO. The count Included pictures which would fill out the rest of the 1 9 3 1 _1932 season, as well as the 1932-1933 offerings, but the figure still looked very challenging. Listed as "highlights" of the schedule were three adventure dramas: Kong and The Most Dangerous Game, pro duced by Cooper, and Bring 'Em Back Alive, a Malayan jungle 124 picture based on the book by Prank Buck. Other "specials” were literary In origin: The Animal Kingdom, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Thirteen Women, , Phantom Fame, and A Bill of Divorcement, tentatively starring Irene Dunne and Laurence Olivier. Constance Bennett was announced to star in The Sun Also Rises as well as Conspicuous, a society comedy-drama, and a third, as yet undetermined picture. Ann Harding would appear opposite Leslie Howard in The Animal Kingdom and be featured in one other "super-special" with Richard Dix. The only Wheeler-Woolsey comedy mentioned was Hold 'Em, Jail to be directed by Norman Taurog. Several films featuring Edna Mae Oliver were heralded, including Little Orphan Annie based on Harold Gray's newspaper comic strip. The company also planned to release four Bill Boyd vehicles and six inexpensive westerns with Tom Keene. David Selznick was unable to attend the convention but sent the following message: We are facing a big job and a big responsibility. Anything further I have to say will be said with what I trust will be box office product.44 The tone of the curt statement suggested grim determination on the part of the new head of production. As mentioned earlier, summer brought the news of RKO's severe fiscal plight. This initiated a high level of concern about the progress of production on the part of corporate president M. H. Aylesworth. Soon B. B. Kahane 125 found himself In the unpleasant position of. mediator* be tween Selznick, who was trying to make the best possible pictures at the most Inexpensive cost, and Aylesworth, who was not always satisfied with the results. Intimations that trouble clouded the horizon were contained in a letter written by Kahane to Selznick on June 4, 1932. After discussing the "Consolidated Profit and Loss Statement" which showed the current losses, Kahane continued: I wish I could write you an optimistic letter and point out some signs of an early improvement in busi ness conditions generally, but the gloom is very thick and black. . . . There is no doubt that the conditions facing the industry are critical. The next six months will be crucial ones and it will be a case of the survival of the fittest.45 Kahane also expressed regret that he and Selznick had taken over at such an unpropitious moment: I am sorry, David, that you and I, in what is virtually our first year, have these external prob lems and difficulties to add to the task we have of getting product of quality and merit, produced at a proper cost. It would be so much easier if we did not have to be concerned so much about cost and if we had no worry about our cash requirements being filled. But we must face conditions as they are. ^6 Conditions required the production of forty pictures on a total budget of $9*548,000, or an average expenditure of $2 3 8 ,0 0 0 per picture. ^ If RKO's financial status did not worsen and the pictures were palatable, Kahane believed the company could make money on such a program. The conflict between Aylesworth and Selznick began 126 to build in July. Aylesworth wired Kahane refusing Selz nick's request to hire Sam Jaffe as studio production man ager because he considered the salary requirement exhor- h o bitant. (Jaffe was later hired.) He also criticized the studio's failure to complete productions as promised (in order to meet distribution dates which Depinet and his staff were depending on), and mentioned cost overages on certain pictures. When the telegram arrived in Hollywood, Kahane gave it to Selznick who immediately responded in a 4q heated memo. ^ With respect to Jaffe, Selznick stated em phatically that he considered him the best production man ager in the business, a man who could save the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in decreased production costs. The refusal to hire Jaffe because of his salary demands was, according to Selznick, the worst kind of "false economy": We would be Justified in overpaying a man a great deal in salary, for he could save a yearly overpay ment to him in the course of a month’s production in any major studio. This, believe me, is not theory or conjecture; it is fact. 50 He also lamented the inability of the New York executives to understand that the studio "daily bulletin" contained only tentative release dates for pictures. "I cannot tell you, and neither can anybody else, how long it is going to take me to lick this story or that script," Selznick ex- bl plained. He concluded his memo with a defense of his administration's performance: 127 I do not know who In Mew York is back of Mr. Aylesworth's worries or criticisms . . . . I am both surprised and sorry, because I had hoped, and, indeed, thought, that he was fairly well impressed when he was out here. But I should like you to know that I have no apologies whatsoever to offer for the job we have done; on the contrary, I am proud of it.52 Kahane enclosed Selznick's memo in his reply to Aylesworth, dated July 26 .^^ Kahane's letter amplified Selznick's remarks. He included lists of features and their planned release dates, showing that only three of the last fifteen had been delayed. In addition, Kahane reminded his boss that movie production is quite unlike other indus trial undertakings: After all, the production of pictures is not like the manufacture of some staple commodity--there are many delays that are inevitable and unavoidable— and some lee-way must be allowed. Knowing our cash con dition and realizing how "close to the handle" we must work, I have impressed upon Mr. Selznick the necessity of doing all he possibly can to meet re lease dates punctually and I am sure we can count on his complete co-operation, but New York must not expect every production to come through exactly as scheduled. 5^ In regard to Individual films going over budgfet, Kahane de clared this, also, was inevitable, but indicated the aver ages would be made up by bringing In other films under budget. Thus, the entire program would not cost more than the $9*5 million allowance. The Conquerors and Hold 'Em, Jail were mentioned as films definitely going over budget. Aylesworth digested the information, along with some other reports he had received, and then dispatched a 128 wire to Kahane designed to Impress on him and Selznick the necessity of pinching every penny. ^ He also attempted to mollify Selznick by praising him for giving the company "much better product." Then, Aylesworth outlined the seri ousness of the current situation: Fighting as we are here for reduced expenses in the entire RKO organization, we must necessarily strictly limit our expenditures in the studios. . . . Confi dentially I had great difficulty in obtaining suffi cient monies from our board to carry on our opera tions at this time due to the general feeling that past experience made it almost impossible for us to carry on successfully and that the present business depression did not warrant a continuation of any business on past financial performances.56 The wire continued the complaint about overages on several pictures, and gently scolded Selznick for certain films that were not, in any sense, superior to the shabby efforts of the former regime. Roar of the Dragon, Roadhouse Murder, Westward Passage, Girl Crazy, and Young Bride were specif ically mentioned. Finally, Aylesworth conveyed the news that he had asked for a postponement of the August board of directors’ meeting, hoping that more definite financial progress would be demonstrated in September or October. Once again, Kahane asked Selznick to reply. The * forthcoming memo was more tempered than his previous ef fort. ^ After once again explaining that budget overruns on certain pictures would be compensated by reducing the estimated costs of others, Selznick accepted blame for most of the poor films Aylesworth had mentioned. He rationalized the failures, thus: 129 However, conceding . . . that all five of the pictures mentioned are poor, I should like to say that there will always be poor pictures from every studio. Nobody can hit the bulls' eye every time, and if out of every group of pictures we send east, one or two of them do not live up to expectations, or are even complete clucks, we would still have the highest percentage of good pictures that any studio has ever turned out.58 To prove his point, Selznick listed twelve recent MGM blunders which had been all but forgotten because of the successes of Grand Hotel and Letty Lynton. After stating that•he appreciated "the spirit of Mr. Aylesworth's wire, and know what he is up against," Selznick promised to "con scientiously do everything in my power to cut costs and ease „gq the financial situation. Kahane once again forwarded Selznick's memo with a cover letter assuring Aylesworth that the program would be completed within budgetary limi tations and generally supporting Selznick's answers and . +. 60 viewpoint. Apparently, Merlin Aylesworth began to feel that Ben Kahane was becoming overly supportive of Selznick. He prefaced his next telegram to Kahane with a reminder that "as president of the picture company you must always assume position of New York executive as well as general manager 61 at Hollywood." The implication was that Kahane better start bearing down on Selznick because things were not evolving as promised. One aspect that particularly upset Aylesworth concerned "A" pictures and "B" pictures. By 130 this time, the major studios had begun breaking their films down into two separate categories: the A pictures generally featured important stars and were accorded premium budgets, while the Bs were made inexpensively with lesser-known actors. The A films were also called "specials" or "impor tant" pictures; the B releases came to be known as "pro grammers" or "fillers." Sometimes the demarcation between As and Bs seemed fuzzy, but usually there was no doubt about the designation of a picture. The RKO program called for forty pictures, alternating regularly between A produc tions and B productions. So far, nine pictures were fin ished, and Aylesworth was shocked to discover that only one represented the B class. At that rate, the studio would surely exceed its production budget, meaning definite ruin. After instructing Kahane to press Selznick while keeping both the production head and M. C. Cooper "inspired," Ayles worth emphasized that "the next three or four months are the vital period and will tell the future story of RKO and Radio pictures. Kahane's reply emphasized comprehension of the obli gations of his position, of the problems at hand, and of the necessity to produce the correct number of movies within budgetary limitations. J Since box office receipts had fallen even more, he promised to shoot for a $9 million program, rather than one costing $9 . 5 million: 131 I have made all this clear to Mr. Selznick and Mr. Cooper and not a day goes by that we do not discuss the cost of the pictures In production and being pre pared for production, as well as commitments, over head and other factors affecting cost. I go over every preliminary production estimate and if it is in excess of the appropriation I will not pass it unless I am satisfied that the overage is justified and, if justified, can be made up bv reducing the appropriation on other productions.64 Kahane was telling Aylesworth that he was doing his job. Significantly, however, the letter contained no mention of the A versus B problem. Pall arrived, but the movie business continued in a tailspin. RKO's board of directors decided to cut the pro duction budget by $1 million, necessitating the elimination of four pictures from its promised program. Aylesworth was worried about the new budget and conveyed his feelings to Kahane by wire: The entire motion picture business is in precarious position, and the business interests that furnish money have lost confidence in Hollywood production. With all our complications of entering Radio City which is most important to future of Radio Pictures and RKO and with determined successful attempts to cut theatre expense and general RKO expense, it is absolutely essential we show our board of directors we can live up to our word. If we do this success fully, I have no doubt of the future of RKO and Radio Pictures.65 The necessity of reducing the program spawned a new idea in the minds of the Hollywood executives: unit produc tion. This concept was a variation on the United Artists experiment. A group of independent units could be signed to produce a fixed number of pictures. Financing would be 132 shared by RKO and the Independents with profits to be di vided after RKO's standard distribution fee was subtracted. This would assure the studio a steady stream of films to meet its exhibitor commitments., while reducing the cash ex penditure for production. It would also enable the head of each unit to devote all his time and energy to a limited number of pictures. This especially appealed to Selznick., who was beginning to grow tired of running an entire studio. "A production schedule of forty or more features is too much for one man to supervise in one season," he said.^ Paramount was also reported to be converting to the unit system.^ B. B. Kahane believed totally in unit production. He argued for the concept in a letter to Aylesworth, writ ten November 1, 1932: I am convinced that in a plan of decentralized pro duction lies the industry's best chance to control costs and schedules and improve the quality of prod uct. For such a plan to be successful, the producers in charge of the independent units must be reliable men of experience and ability and they must have some of their own money invested in their productions, or, if they cannot be induced to share in the cost, they must operate under an arrangement which will penalize them if they exceed their budgets or fail to meet re lease schedules. 68 Kahane further explained that no one, in his opinion, would work as hard on a straight salary as he would if he had a stake in the outcome of his efforts. Although convinced of its efficacy, Kahane cautioned that unit production "should 133 be worked out slowly and gradually and without a sharp dis- „6q ruptlon of the present administration. Pandro Berman, Walter Wanger, and King Vidor were mentioned as potential unit heads. Discussion of unit production was suspended late in the year because of the Radio City situation and the rene gotiation of David Selznick's contract. Selznick1s initial agreement with RKO had expired in October, but he continued to work while new terms were debated. Kahane was in favor of keeping Selznick oh, giving him a raise of $1,000 a week and a participation in the profits of the company's films if he continued to oversee all production, or a percentage of the profits of an independent unit, if Selznick decided 70 to head one up. The negotiations would continue into 1 9 3 3; their conclusion will be discussed later in this chapter. The Films Several films made under the auspices of the former administration were released in early 1932. Though hardly memorable, a few of these do deserve mention. Dolores Del Rio's first RKO effort was appropri ately titled Girl of the Rio. An adaptation of Willard Mack's play, The Dove, the film suffered from sluggish di rection (by Herbert Brenon) and a labored script. Dolores plays a dancer who sacrifices all to save the life of her 134 American lover (Norman Poster). Leo Carillo sneers his way through the villain's role. Ladies of the Jury was an amusing comedy featuring Edna Mae Oliver. As a society matron chosen for jury duty, Oliver brings turmoil to the courtroom in her own inimitable way. Among many breaches of legal decorum, she insists on being accompanied by the maid and chauffeur, interrogates witnesses whenever she feels like it, and addresses the irate judge with total informality. Much superior to Miss Oliver's other starring effort, Fanny Foley Herself, this film included a number of interesting characters and a suf ficiency of funny lines. Ladies of the Jury was one of the better comedy efforts of the LeBaron regime. The additional films were mostly RKO Pathe releases featuring the company's female luminaries. Panama Flo pre sented Helen Twelvetrees in an incoherent story set in a steamy jungle paradise. Charles Bickford, who represents the heavy for much of the story, is suddenly transformed, without explanation, into the romantic hero. Likewise, Robert Armstrong flip-flops from apparent champion to de ceitful murderer. The New York Times reported the plot 71 managed to "confound" its audience. Another exotic location was used in Prestige, star ring Ann Harding, but the results were not markedly im proved. This time it is a penal colony in Indochina to 135 which Miss Harding journeys in search of her fiance. He is commandant of the French facility, a man fighting a losing battle with alcohol because of the rigors of jungle life. Melvyn Douglas plays the part, with Adolphe Menjou in at tendance as the primary evildoer. The film succeeds in conveying the heat, monotony, and other discomforts of the place, but, unfortunately, the narrative has similar charac teristics. It goes nowhere, leaving Miss Harding's beauty and obvious talent as the only elements of interest. Lady With a Past, a cosmopolitan comedy starring Constance Bennett, was much more successful. Edward H. Griffith directed this account of a bashful, intelligent girl who goes to Europe to improve her personality and, hopefully, her love life. At first, she is forced to hire an "admirer" to take her dancing and to the cafes, but be fore long she becomes a succes de scandale whose name ap pears in the Paris papers regularly. Miss Bennett was well-suited for this breezy entertainment. She received capital support from Ben Lyon, David Manners, Albert Conti, and others. Finally, RKO Pathe attempted to resurrect the ca reer of silent star Pola Negri in a cabaret romance en titled A Woman Commands. Although the film had some charm, RKO executives deemed Miss Negri's thick accent a liability impossible to overcome. She made no more films for the company. 136 The first film which carried David Selznick's credit as "Executive Producer" was The Lost Squadron. Like the films just discussed, it had "been started by the former regime. The film was shut down when Selznick took over, but he recommenced production and The Lost Squadron was finished under his aegis. Although hardly a masterwork, the end product did have a certain originality about it and was very well made. Both of these attributes— with special emphasis on originality--would become characteristics of the Selznick productions. The story focused on three mem bers of a World War I flying squadron. After the war ends, they take jobs as stunt flyers for a maniacal Hollywood director (Erich Von Stroheim). The director becomes jeal ous of one of them and sabotages his plane. A flyer is killed (though not the right one), and the other two take their revenge. The three principals are played by Richard Dix, Robert Armstrong, and Joel McCrea. Their acting (es pecially Dix's) tends to be a bit wobbly, but the aerial sequences are not. They still look genuinely spectacular. Another plus for the picture is the ending, which eschews a simplistic solution to a complicated situation. The Lost Squadron provided an indication that Selznick would, indeed, raise the level of RKO's product. Before discussing such major 1932 films as Bird of Paradise, What Price Hollywood?, and A Bill of Divorcement, I shall briefly survey the other Selznick releases. 137 Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey once again showed up in Girl Crazy and Hold 'Em, Jail. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, these two films resulted in a falling-off in the popularity of the comedy team. It was not that the new vehicles were appreciably worse than the old ones. The problem was the formula which was beginning to grow quite stale. In Girl Crazy, the setting is wild and woolly Custerville, Arizona. The two city-slickers, adopting their usual personae, arrive in town and superimpose their own brand of madness on the chaos that is already there. Woolsey is elected sheriff, a perilous occupation, but man ages to best the local bad man. There are plenty of wise cracks, and Dorothy Lee is once again part of the package. Her place was taken by Betty Grable in Hold TEm, Jail, a slam-bang farce directed by Norman Taurog. The two nuts perform the parts of convicts in a prison run by a man who loves football. As might be expected, an absurd football contest between Bidemore prison and Lynwood prison is the set piece of the film. Edgar Kennedy, a veteran of slap stick, added appreciably to the nonsense as the warden, and Edna Mae Oliver was also on hand, though only in a minor role. Still, the Wheeler-Woolsey efforts were becoming tediously predictable. One of the most profitable films of 1932 was Bring ■ 'Em Back Alive. Actually, Selznick and his staff had very little to do with this production. It was, instead, han- 138 died by the Van Beuren Corporation which made short films and cartoons for RKO release. Van Beuren acquired the rights to Prank Buck's book about the trapping of wild animals for zoos, then photographed the action on location in the Malayan jungle. The resulting documentary-trave- logue contained clashes between a tiger and a black leopard, a crocodile and a python, and a climactic battle between a tiger and a python. Humorous sequences, such as the frus trated attempt of some natives to transport a captured baby elephant, were intercut to lighten the proceedings. Prank Buck appeared in the film and also narrated the action. Bring 'Em Back Alive provided tremendous exploita tion possibilities, and RKO's advertising staff rose to the occasion. The Mayfair Theatre in New York, where the film opened, was transformed into a jungle habitat with twenty motorized life-size animals, ushers dressed in African hel mets and khaki shorts, and its box office enclosed in a 72 bamboo hut. Buck appeared, in person, during the first week of performances and response was thunderous. The movie continued to fill theaters when released throughout the United States. Ned Depinet wired Kahane that the picture represented a "turning point for [the] company.it was not that--the Van Beuren organization reaped the majority of the profits--but Bring 'Em Back Alive certainly provided some box office relief at a time when RKO sorely needed it. 139 It also inspired RKO to forge ahead with a studio-produced jungle spectacular: King Kong. Selznick's interest in fresh, controversial subject matter was evident in He11is Highway and The Age of Consent. Hell's Highway was an indictment of the chain gang system, released before the more famous Warner Brothers' film, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. It did not have the innate dramatic strength of the Warner effort, but Hell1s Highway succeeded in showing the brutalizing conditions of the penal work crews. Richard Dix and Tom Brown play the leads. The story errs in its emphasis on preachments and in its reli ance on an unconvincing melodramatic climax, and yet one has to admire the company for making it. Obviously, Hell1s Highway had no chance of joining the Motion Picture Herald's list of box office champions. The Age of Consent was also out of the ordinary. College student life provided the subject, but instead of the usual survey of sophomoric girl-chasing and fraternity partying, the movie explored the confusions and difficul ties of students in search of themselves. Gregory La Cava directed this interesting minor film, bringing it in for less than $100,000. This was almost $30,000 less than the 74 original budget. The most bizarre of all the 1932 productions was surely The Most Dangerous Game. A pet project of Merian 140 Cooper's, the film related the story of mad Count Zaroff who, having grown bored with hunting animals, stalks human beihgs on his private island. Into the Russian's clutches fall Joel McCrea, Robert Armstrong, and Pay Wray. Arm strong proves to be an easy trophy, but Mr. McCrea, a famed hunter himself, proves more formidable prey. The duel be tween McCrea and the psychopath, with Wray as the prize, is quite exciting. In the end, McCrea wins and he and the girl escape the demonic isle. The wounded Count (Leslie Banks) falls out of his high window, presumably to be chewed to death by the yapping hunting dogs below. The Most Dangerous Game, one of the true curiosi ties of the early American sound cinema, was directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and actor Irving Pichel. It proved a modest success and has been remade many times, including radio and television versions. The RKO film seems more im portant today as a kind of warm-up exercise for King Kong. Some of the same sets were used in both films, including the famous felled tree across a precipice. The great ape shakes humans off this primitive bridge like beetles in King Kong. In addition to Schoedsack, who co-directed Kong with Merian Cooper, Wray and Armstrong also moved directly into the later film. Selznick’s comedies were slightly better than those of LeBaron, but they were not the studio's strong suit. Its l4l My Face Red featured Ricardo Cortez and Helen Twelvetrees in a witty story about a scandal-mongering journalist. The Sport Parade was also about the newspaper scene, princi pally sports writing. Joel McCrea plays a budding Grant- land Rice who somehow manages to win a wrestling champion ship. The film is generally mediocre except during Robert Benchley's appearances as a droll, mistake-prone radio announcer. The Half Naked Truth collected the most laughs of the humorous efforts of the year. Gregory La Cava, the director, was definitely right for this madcap tale of a demon publicist and his several triumphs. Lee Tracy plays the lead with enormous energy. Lupe Velez, as the object of his gimmicks and his affections, and Eugene Pallette, as an assistant dubbed Achilles, both add to the merriment. One of the funniest sequences in the film involves Tracy’s suc cessful blackmailing of theatrical impresario Prank Morgan. Tracy takes a rather compromising snapshot of Morgan and Velez. The next morning when Morgan arrives in his office, he finds one of the photos--then another and another. Each one Morgan discovers is larger and more detailed than the last, until the producer is reduced to a stuttering mass of jelly. Filmed under the working title, Phantom Fame, The Half Naked Truth succeeded boisterously. La Cava's strengths were less apparent in Symphony of Six Million, a Fannie Hurst weeper which he directed early in the year. Pandro Berman remembers the film as 142 having several "firsts": It was Berman's first production under Selznick; it was the first film for Russian-born actor Gregory Ratoff, who played the father of physician Ricardo Cortez; it was the first time an elaborate opera tion was filmed; and it had one of the first complete musi- 7R cal scores by Max Steiner. The narrative., about a doctor who sacrifices his ideals for money and social position and then bungles an operation on his own father., was designed to puncture even the most cynical consciousness. In the end, Cortez triumphs over his mistakes by performing mirac ulous surgery on his true love, Irene Dunne. The problem with this picture was mainly Cortez, a limited actor incap able of handling the principal role. The Steiner score did not help much either; its overwhelming strings literally swamped the drama throughout. Symphony of Six Million was • not a complete failure, but its best moments were humorous bits featuring Ratoff. These had very little to do with the main story. The Animal Kingdom, a pictorial version of the Philip Barry play, was tastefully directed by Edward H. Griffith and starred Ann Harding, Leslie Howard, Myrna Loy, and William Gargan. As mentioned earlier, the picture was considered special enough to be the opening attraction at the RKO Roxy. Howard, who along with Gargan and Ilka Chase had appeared In the stage production, gave the most capti- 143 vating performance. He is Tom Collier, an amiable man who takes a proper wife (Loy) and then discovers he has made a mistake. Unlike the agreeable artist (Harding) whom he had formerly loved, Tom's wife is positively mortified by some of his actions. A matter of especial concern to her is the behavior of Tom's convivial butler (Gargan) who cannot seem to grasp his proper station in life. Tom, on the other hand, finds his wife's friends to be deadly bores. The story follows his disentanglement from the marriage and re treat to the arms of his real love. The Animal Kingdom re ceived unanimous critical approval and did excellent busi ness during its Roxy engagement. But the Depression audience as a whole was not enthusiastic about this exami nation of the less than world-shaking problems of the priv ileged class. The film was eventually carried on RKO's books at a loss of $8 0,0 0 0.^ What Price Hollywood? The penultimate RKO Pathe release was a drama about the movie colony- that deserves special mention. The story line of What Price Hollywood? was refined by David Selznick in his 1937 production, A Star is Born, and has become one of the most durable of movie plots. The RKO original also represented George Cukor's first important success. He would return to the material more than twenty years later for Warner Brothers, directing the Judy Garland-James Mason . _ w version of A Star is Born. According to Cukor, What Price Hollywood? was "very dear to David Selznick's heart" and reflected Selznick's personal vision of his chosen profes sion : Largely through David's influence, we didn't kid the basic idea of Hollywood. Most of the other Hollywood pictures make it a kind of crazy, kooky place, but to David it was absolutely real, he believed in it. I think that's why What Price Hollywood? was one of the few successful pictures about the place, in the face of a tradition that they never succeed.77 Adela Rogers St. Johns generated the original idea for the film with Constance Bennett in mind as the star. Jane Murfin and Ben Markson then wrote the screenplay. Ap parently many incidents paralleled real Hollywood happen ings. The choice of Lowell Sherman to play the dipsomaniac director was literal type-casting and the behavior of Sher man ' s self-destruetive brother-in-law, John Barrymore, may also have contributed to the characterization. The first half of What Price Hollywood? is superb, crackling with wit and insight and featuring a bravura per formance by Sherman. Constance Bennett makes believable her transformation from Brown Derby waitress to moving picture star. Gregory Ratoff is also excellent as the Selznick-inspired studio mogul, and the glimpses of behind- the-scenes filmmaking are among the best ever shown. The picture begins to go wrong when a love interest for Bennett (Neil Hamilton as a millionaire polo player) enters the 145 proceedings. Hamilton's performance is woefully deficient andj even worse., his presence forces Sherman into the back ground. The last section of the film covers a series of tragic events (the divorce of Bennett and Hamilton, the suicide of Sherman) before a most disappointing and unlikely' finish reunites Bennett and her millionaire. By the time Selznick made A Star is Born in 1937j he had worked out the kinks in the story, combining the Sherman and Hamilton characters into one man, this time an actor rather than a director. The rise of the ingenue (Janet Gaynor) is perfectly balanced by. the fall of the former star (Frederic March) with their desperate love as the crucial element in the drama. Even with the changes, the basic plot was uncomfortably close to What Price Holly wood?, and it came to RKO's attention that Selznick had never acquired the rights. Sam Briskin, then head of pro duction at the studio, wrote the president of RKO Radio Pictures, Leo Spitz, stating that he considered the release of A Star is Born through United Artists, "a clear cut case iyO of plagiarism.' Various legal opinions were solicited, but RKO's final decision was to forget the whole matter. Apparently the studio had a case, but no one wanted to of fend Selznick who had become a very powerful man in the movie business by that juncture. 146 Bird of Paradise Bird of Paradise represented one of the biggest and costliest productions of 1932. It was also one of the most cursed undertakings in the history of RKO. The Schnitzer-LeBaron organization purchased rights to Richard Walton Tully's play, Bird of Paradise, which de picted a clash of cultures in the South Seas. The play was reasonably famous, having been revived frequently after its initial performance in 1911. Selznick's exact opinion of the material is hard to pinpoint, but he did decide to pro ceed with it and borrowed famous director King Vidor from MGM to handle the project. Vidor describes a meeting he had with Selznick after attempting to read the play: "Will it make a good picture?" Selznick asked. "I don't know," I said. "I can't read it. I finally got through the first act, but for the life of me I couldn't go any further. Why don't you tell me what the other two acts are about?" "I haven't read it either," he answered with typical honesty. "I've been too busy since I took this job to read anything. Can't you possibly get through the other two acts?" "I'm sorry," I said, "but I don't think I'd ever make the picture if I read the last two acts." Selznick then snapped his fingers in a gesture of Inspiration. "I want Del Rio and Joel McCrea in a South Sea romance," he said. "Just give me three wonderful love scenes like you had in The Big Parade and Bardelays the Magnificent. I don't care what story you use so long as we call it Bird of Paradise and Del Rio jumps into a flaming volcano at the fin ish. "79 This sounds like a typical Hollywood tall tale, but there is apparently a great deal of truth to it. A deci sion was reached to shoot the picture on location in Hawaii. 147 In mid-January., King Vidor sailed for the islands without a final script or a final budget. He was accompanied by writer Wells Root, as Root and Vidor planned to work on the 80 script during the passage. On January 27, the film crew, including stars Del Rio and McCrea, left San Francisco on the SS Maui. Things started to go awry immediately upon their arrival. First, Vidor discovered that the islands were much less primitive than he had expected. It was difficult to find the kind of locations he desired— locations unsullied by the accoutrements of civilization. Second, a "kono wind" commenced, bringing high winds and near-continuous rainfall and overcast skies to the area. Shooting began, but the company was fortunate to average one minute of footage a day. The schedule called for fourteen days in Honolulu, but after two weeks very little had been completed. And the script was still being rewritten. Selznick told the company to stay on; surely, the weather would improve. It did not. At one point, Vidor was forced to em ploy natives to nail palm fronds back on trees denuded by 8l the winds. Whenever a scene was ready, the showers would hit as if the Island gods were actively hostile to the Hollywood intruders. Sections of the script had to be dis carded because of the conditions. In early March, the com pany finally departed, though the film was still far from 148 finished. They had had one clear day to shoot during their 82 twenty-four working days. On salary in Hollywood awaiting the return of the company was Bushy Berkeley* who had been hired to choreo graph the native dances. He was unhappy because the delay prevented him from undertaking a Marx Brothers film at P a r a m o u n t .^ The cast and crew arrived at the studio on March 9. Here things could be controlled* and yet the prob lems did not abate. The whole production shut down on two occasions while Humphrey Pearson* James Creelman* Gene 84 Fowler* and others continued to wrestle with the script. Still* no final budget could be drawn up. After further frustrations such as the "cracking" of a tank used to film underwater shots as First National Studios* the discovery that studio-made outrigger canoes did not match the real canoes in the footage shot in Hawaii* and the illness of Dolores Del Rio which cost two crucial days of filming* the production was finally completed. Catalina Island— which probably should have doubled for the South Seas in the first place— was used as the location for some of the filler material. When one contemplates the magnitude of the diffi culties* it is a wonder Bird of Paradise cost "only" $752*000 and turned out as well as it did. Highlighted by Clyde DeVinna's sparkling photography* the picture does capture the exotic ambiance of Polynesia. As might be 149 expected., the biggest problem Is the story. An overwrought hodge-podge of action sequences, native superstitions, and an object lesson In the perils of miscegenation. It never coalesces Into articulate drama. Dolores Del Rio and Joel McCrea are attractive as the Island princess and American trespasser whose love affair Is doomed, and some of their love scenes are truly sensual, but their acting also cre ates several unconsciously humorous moments. McCrea's in struction of Luana (Del Rio) in the English language Is one of these. The story of Bird of Paradise is simply one of many proving the difficulties of the filmmaking process and il lustrating why artistic films are so infrequently made. There have been very few productions in the history of the cinema on which everything has gone "right." The studio tried to turn all the complications to its advantage by al lowing rumors to circulate that Bird had cost over a million 85 dollars. The film was held for release until the begin ning of the fall program, and a large advertising blitz accompanied the opening. Audiences were not impressed; Bird of Paradise lost $240,000 for RKO. A Bill of Divorcement A much happier experience was the filming of Clemence Dane's play, A Bill of Divorcement, starring John Barrymore. Barrymore delivered an affecting performance as 150 a man, shut up In a mental institution for fifteen years., who escapes on the day his wife divorces him. But the real story of the picture was the performance of Katharine Hep burn as Barrymore's daughter. Selznick describes the way an audience responded to her first screen appearance: Not until the preview was the staff convinced we had a great screen personality. During the first few feet you could feel the audience's bewilderment at this completely new type,, and also feel that they weren't quite used to this kind of a face. But very early in the picture there was a scene in which Hep burn just walked across the room, stretched her arms, and then lay out on the floor before the fireplace. It sounds very simple., but you could almost feel, and you could definitely hear, the excitement in the audi ence. . . .In those few feet of film a new star was born.87 Hepburn is the pivotal character in the film. Her discovery that her father really has been insane, rather than suffer ing from "shellshock," forces her to dismiss her lover and forsake her dream of becoming a mother. The curse of men tal disease Is In her blood; the only way to conquer it is to remain childless. She determines to care for her father, freeing her mother (Billie Burke) to marry the man she now loves (Paul Cavanagh).'. Hepburn was fortunate to have George Cukor as her Initial director. They would work again together many times. Cukor never really transcended the stage origins of A Bill of Divorcement, but he surely succeeded in eliciting top-flight performances from the principals. Even Barry 151 more--renowned for his tendency to "ham"— was held In check throughout most of the picture. When the picture was finished, Selznick feared that RKO would not push It as hard as>possible. He dispatched the following memo to several company officers, Including Ned Deplnet of distribution and Robert Sisk of advertising: Seldom In my experience have I heard such industry enthusiasm for a picture as for "A Bill of Divorce ment." . . . I think there is great danger of our under-estimating it, under-advertising it, and under selling it; and I urge that everything possible be put behind it. I know that one or two executives . . . felt that magnificent as it was, the picture was, perhaps a bit above the heads of the audience. I cannot at all subscribe to this conclusion. . . . I have too often in the past seen executives mis taken in stating that "this is box office" and "this is not box office" to believe that any picture of the outstanding quality of "A Bill of Divorcement" does not have every chance to be successful. And even if it is correct that the picture is "too good for our audiences" (and I, personally, don’t think there is such a thing), I do not think we should arrive at this conclusion in advance of its presentation to the public .8 8 Selznick was dead right, on this occasion. The film, which only cost $244,000, turned a profit of $1 5 0,0 0 0.®^ Two Costly Mistakes November 1932 brought two releases that damaged the company's finances and Selznick's credibility. Since this was precisely the time when the production chief's new con tract was being debated, the films probably contributed to his ultimate’ downfall. Rockabye, the final film released under the RKO 152 Pathe logograph, was a weepy ..paean to mother love. RKO bought the rights to Lucia Bronder's play from Gloria Swan- son^ then rushed It Into production because of certain com mitments to exhibitors and to Constance Bennett, the star. George Fitzmaurice, who had been responsible for several Greta Garbo films, was borrowed from MGM to direct. Selz nick felt the ideal leading man would be Leslie Howard, but he was unavailable. Joel McCrea, a member of the stock company, seemed the logical choice; Selznick, however, de cided McCrea was not "the sensitive mental type" and nego tiated a deal with Paramount to use Phillips Holmes, in- Production went forward without significant prob lems, but the finished film was a stunning disappointment. B. B. Kahane sheepishly wrote M. H. Aylesworth to explain what had happened: The Constance Bennett picture, "ROCKABYE," . . . was previewed while I was in New York and reports had come to me that it was quite bad and that "re takes" were necessary. Upon returning to the Studio I saw the picture myself and was shocked to see how bad it had turned out. As you probably know, we bor rowed one of Metro's ace directors, George Fitzmaurice . . . and it is incredible that a director of Fitz maurice' s reputation could bungle a production in the manner he did. I understand that patrons who saw the picture at the preview laughed at scenes in the pic ture that were intended to get tears.91 Believing that release of the film would do "irreparable in jury" to both the studio and Miss Bennett, Selznick decided to replace Phillips Holmes with Joel McCrea and bring on 153 George Cukor to direct about two weeks of retakes. A good deal of rewriting was also part of the salvage effort. Rockabye was repaired to the satisfaction of Selz nick and Kahane and eventually released, but it was still one of the studio's most feeble efforts of the year. Ben nett, an energetic comedienne, was miscast as an actress who forsakes her lover rather than disrupt the twin spirit ual harmonies of family and motherhood. The only hearts broken by the picture belonged to RKO executives. Equally disappointing was the promised Richard Dix- Ann Harding "super-special, ! t The Conquerors. Although Selznick sent memos around discouraging the comparison, here was a film with the same kind of historical reference 02 and epic sweep as Cimarron. Selznick was concerned be cause the cost of The Conquerors would be some $800,000 less than that of Cimarron. He felt audiences might un fairly compare the more inexpensive picture to the Academy Award winner, if they were told the picture was another Cimarron. The studio hired William Wellman to direct from Robert Lord's screenplay which was based on a story by Howard Estabrook. The finished film encompassed life in the United States from 1870 to the early 1930s* Its cen tral figures were one American family (headed by Dix and Harding) whose three generations triumph over a variety of 154 hardships and lay the foundations of a great Midwestern hanking Institution In the process. Thematically* the film hammered home the notion that after each of its periods of economic crisis* America has not only recovered* but forged ahead to days of greater prosperity. It was obviously de signed to provide Inspiration for cheerless Depression audiences. Kahane and Selznick viewed the results with unre strained enthusiasm. Kahane wrote Ned Depinet on October 4* stating that The Conquerors "should be one of the big pictures of the year.Selznick topped that by predict- hQ4 ing it would be one of the biggest pictures ever made. A Thanksgiving release was chosen* and the initial reviews and attendance were very gratifying. Business* however* fell off quickly; it soon became obvious that The Conquer ors would be a failure. The length of the picture (some felt it was too long)* its ending (several had been filmed and there were serious disagreements about which one to use)* and the decline in Richard Dix' s popularity were ad vanced as possible reasons for the sub-par performance. Selznick rather testily blamed the advertising department 95 for inadequately exploiting the picture.^ Whatever the causes* The Conquerors ultimately was recorded on RKO's ledgers at a loss of $2 2 0*0 0 0.^ 155 Selznick Leaves the Company Time published a story In late December 1932, Indi cating that David Selznick had resigned as vice-president 97 in charge of RKO production. It pinpointed a disagree ment between Selznick and other RKO officials on the imple mentation of the , r unit plan" as a major factor in his decision. The story proved premature; Selznick continued to work, and contract talks dragged on during the first month of 1 9 3 3- This was a particularly bad time for RKO and, by extension, for Selznick's negotiations. The Radio City- debacle was capped by rumors that the company might have lost as much as $10 million in 1932. The eagerly awaited King Kong was still In production with costs mounting steadily. By the end of January, it became clear that the movie enterprise had reached bottom; the dreaded condition of equity receivership was now a certainty. The thing that ultimately aborted Selznick's RKO career was not directly related to any of these difficul ties. Nor was it salary demands; the company offered him $2 ,5 0 0 per week plus 20 percent of the net profits of the pictures he produced which Selznick apparently felt was 98 quite generous. The one aspect of the arrangement which Selznick could not abide, and Aylesworth would not back down about, was specified in the latter's final telegram to Kahane concerning the contract: 156 It must also be specifically understood that the final approval of. the story and budget for each picture shall be subject to your written approval and my tele graphic confirmation. In other words, you, as presi dent of Radio Pictures, must have veto power and final authority subject to my confirmation with respect to story subject and budgets.99 Selznick had previously informed Kahane that he would not accept anything less than total authority concern ing these matters: I could not consider accepting the possibility of any veto power on the part of anybody on stories which I might select. This is in all due respect to you [Ka hane], but is a matter of policy under any change from which I do not think it possible for a produc tion head to function p r o p e r l y . 100 Thus, a dead end was reached and negotiations were broken off. On February 3, 1933; Selznick composed a memo to Kahane in which he indicated he could have accepted the authority of Kahane. The idea of Aylesworth's intervention, however, was simply intolerable: But an authority in addition to your own on pro duction matters, that of New York— was something else again. I consider that it would be completely impossible for any production head to operate if he had to submit himself to what Mr. Aylesworth demanded-- the approval by himself of every script and budget.101 The remainder of the memo (which was never sent) included other biting references to Aylesworth and also Selznick's overwhelming disappointment with David Sarnoff. Sarnoff, according to Selznick, had made various promises and given certain assurances, then backed Aylesworth against him at 102 the crucial moment. David Selznick left RKO with a bitter taste in his mouth. 157 Selznick's 1933 Productions A number of films produced under Selznick's super vision were released in early 1 9 3 3- One of the best of these was Topaze, an adaptation of Marcel Pagnol's play about a naive French schoolteacher who learns the wicked ways of the business world and then turns them to his ad vantage. Selznick had toyed with the notion of filming Topaze, but felt sure it would flop until he considered 10S John Barrymore for the title role. The presence of Barrymore might make up for the play's satirical thrust (notorious box-office poison) if filming could be accom plished within a reasonable budget. Harry D'Arrast was hired to direct and turned out a delightfully parodic tale that seems quite fresh even today. Barrymore's performance was overblown on occasion., and his transition from primeval innocent to shrewd manipulator takes place almost overnight, but the film is still very satisfying. It has elements in common with such cinematic masterpieces as The Last Laugh and Wild Strawberries, and its ending is well above the simplistic moralizing of most other celluloid entertain ments of the period. Topaze also featured Myrna Loy as the mistress of a business tycoon. Their relationship was not veiled; it was totally open and discussed on several occasions. When RKO decided to're-release the film in 1 9 3^, it was sent to the 158 Association of Motion Picture Producers for mandatory code certification. Since 193^u a prime function of this body had been the evaluation of ethical qualities in pictures in terms of an involved set of religiously-inspired (specif ically., Catholic-inspired) criteria. To illustrate the changes that occurred in screen freedom after this so-called "Production Code" was implemented,, witness the following letter.from chief censor, Joseph Breen: We had the pleasure, today, of reviewing your picture entitled TOPAZE, for which you requested ap proval and the Production Code Certificate. We regret to inform you that this picture is ob jectionable from the point of view of the Production Code, since the story outlines an illicit and adul terous sex relationship without developing compensat ing moral values. In the light of these objectives, we cannot issue a Production Code Certificate. We take this means of officially notifying you of our rejection of this pic ture . 104 Thus, a picture that was considered eminently suitable for public viewing in 1933^ named "best American film of 1933” by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, could no longer be shown on American screens. Topaze earned a small profit on its initial release, but It would never have the opportunity to add to this profit. And if movies of the late 1 9 3 0s and 1940s seem bland when compared to the offer ings of the early thirties, this story suggests why. Among other interesting Selznick films of 1933 were Lucky Devils, about movie stunt men; Sweepings, starring Lionel Barrymore as a successful merchant who wishes to turn 159 over his dry-goods business to his uninspired children; and Our Betters, an adaptation of Somerset Maugham's play about social pretensions and English-American relationships. George Cukor directed Constance Bennett in the latter film* and the outcome was altogether superior to the dreary Rock- abye. These pictures,, however, were completely overshad owed by possibly the most famous film RKO ever produced: King Kong. King Kong King Kongj begun in August of 1932, was not released until after Selznick departed RKO. It was known at various times in its production history as The Beast, The Eighth Wonder, and Kong before the final title was eventually de termined. There is no need, in these pages, to describe the full story of its making; an excellent book already exists on the subject, co-written by one of the men who 10 R worked on the crew. ^ The point should be made that this was really Merian C. Cooper's film. He conceived the idea, and co-directed (with Schoedsack) as well as producing. His own love of adventure and Barnum-like abilities were captured in the character of Carl Denham, who leads the expedition to Kong's island. Robert Armstrong played the part, by far the best role and performance of his career. Selznick actually had little -to do with the picture, as he readily admitted. 160 When he and Kahane saw the way the film was developing, how ever, they squeezed other budgets to provide extra funds for Kong. By the time it was finished, the film had gone $300,000 over the original budget. Although King Kong probably does not warrant the rhapsodic aesthetic and mythic analyses it has received in recent years, it certainly must be classed as one of the most original and technically amazing film productions of all time. Nothing quite like it had ever been seen on movie screens before, though some of its effects were "borrowed" from the silent picture, The Lost World. The special ef fects accomplishments remain unequalled. The 197^ remake, costing some forty times as much as the original, is com paratively shabby in its technical virtuosity. King Kong set a standard of excellence against which all future "trick" pictures would be measured. As word spread about the film, telegrams were dis patched weekly from the Distribution office in New York to the Hollywood studio asking when it would be ready. The company was in dire need of a big box office hit. Just be fore King Kong was finished, MGM offered to buy it for $300,000-$400,000 more than its production cost. Kahane 107 informed Aylesworth but refused to sell. The .movie finally opened in early March at both the Radio City Music Hall and the RKO Roxy. It was, as expected, a huge success. 161 The premieres In other parts of the U.S. were almost as spectacular. Sid Grauman sent the following wire to Cooper after Its first night at the Chinese Theatre In Hollywood: Never saw greater enthusiasm at any premiere in my past experience of presenting premieres as that of King Kong. First time in history of any picture where applause was so frequent and spontaneous . . . . Every person leaving the theatre tonight will be a human twentyfour sheet. 108 King Kong eventually earned almost $700,000 for RKO, 10 Q an impressive figure but not as much as expected. Its later highly successful re-issues suggest that the picture might have fared better if it had been released during a period other than the Depression's darkest hour. Neverthe less, RKO needed profits desperately at this time. King Kong did not save David Selznick's job, nor did it stave off receivership, but it definitely added some punch to the company's image and its cash flow. Christopher Strong David Selznick's final RKO production provided Katharine Hepburn with her first starring role. The film also established, in vestigal form, the screen persona she would build upon throughout the rest of her career. Hepburn plays Lady Cynthia Darrington, a record- breaking aviatrix who falls passionately in love with Sir Christopher Strong (Colin Clive), a married man. Their affair culminates in pregnancy, but Sir Christopher cannot 162 break off with his kindly wife (Billie Burke). There ap pears to be no satisfactory solution., and so Lady Cynthia chooses to commit suicide (she crashes her plane deliber ately) rather than destroy Christopher's family. Hepburn plays an unusually strong female— independent, intelligent, and courageous. And yet, there is also an overwhelming sense of vulnerability about her, a wistfulness caused by her separation from the normal, the conventional. She is rebellious and head-strong, but a part of her personality longs for the security of a regular marriage and family re lationship. The character was not a new addition to movies but Hepburn's playing of Lady Cynthia breathed novelty into the stereotype. She was made for the role; the studio executives must have realized it for they immediately began looking for material with similar qualities. Christopher Strong cannot be classified as a great film. The sure-handed direction of Dorothy Arzner and Hep burn's dynamic performance raise the picture far above most of the other "soapers" of the time, however. The biggest flaw is the casting of Colin Clive as Sir Christopher. He seems so stiff and ineffectual throughout that one has trouble believing Cynthia would have anything to do with him, much less throw away her life on his account. The usual explanations about her need for a father-figure are trundled out, but Hepburn warrants a more vital figure to 163 play against. Selznick's initial choice had been Clive Brook for the part,, but he failed to secure Brook's serv- ices.^^ Colin Clive will be remembered as Dr. Franken stein In the Universal horror classic, but not for his per formance of the title role in Christopher Strong. Though a modest failure (it lost $1 5,0 0 0), the film did establish, without' question, that Katharine Hepburn would be a star.'*"1' ' " Conclusi on It seems to me that the determination to let David Selznick go in 1933 was the single biggest mistake RKO ever made. The only decision that could rival it would be allow ing Howard Hughes to gain control of the studio in 1947. Selznick was acerbic and egotistical, he had made some definite errors--like Rockabye and The Conquerors, and he had more than his share of bad luck--such as Bird of Para dise . But the man was a "born" picture maker, a genius whose subsequent career far surpassed the lifework of any of RKO's later "executive producers." In his short tenure with the company, Selznick superintended a slate of pictures that was clearly superior to the efforts of his predecessor. He also brought Merian Cooper, George Cukor, Katharine Hep burn, and Fred Astaire to the company, as well as promoting Pandro Berman to a position of authority. RKO had a dread ful financial year in 1 9 32; more than $10 million was, in 112 fact, lost. Selznick was not to blame, however. The 164 major seeds of difficulty-rapid expansion, theater acqui sition, the Pathe merger, Radio City--were sown before he took charge. Also, RKO was not the only studio suffering; Paramount1s deficit amounted to $21 million in 1932 and Warner Brothers reported $14 million in losses for the same year. David Selznick felt a strong sense of loyalty to RKO. In November 1932., when his contract negotiations were just beginning, Selznick's father-in-law, Louis B. Mayer, offered him a job at MGM. Selznick sent Mayer a long let ter refusing the position: Should RKO wish to continue with me on terms that are mutually agreeable, I feel that I owe them my allegiance. They gambled, and gambled heavily on me. They have permitted me to spend many millions of dollars entirely as I have seen fit. I think I have learned a great deal, and that they, as well as I, are entitled to the benefit of this l e a r n i n g . H 4 After explaining that he was inspired with the idea of mak ing a success of RKO, a difficult but challenging proposi tion, Selznick ended his missive with additional words of gratitude: [P.S.] RKO had an amazing faith In me at a time when my previous employers did everything to run me down, and when very few other companies in the business had even an appreciable respect for my ability. Notably, MGM did not change in its disrespect for these abili ties from the time I left Its employ about six years ago, until a few months ago. Faith, I feel, should be returned with faith.115 Thus, Selznick wanted desperately to remain with Radio Pictures, but Aylesworth's intransigence drove him to MGM. No one can say what would have eventuated had______ 165 David Selznick continued to function as production head. But the record of films he brought forth throughout the rest of the 193°s--including Dinner at Eight, David Copper- field, A Star is Born, The Prisoner of Zenda, Intermezzo, , and, of course, Gone With the Wind--is unequalled in Ameri can film history. The only men who could seriously chal lenge his right to be called the "most creative" of inde pendent producers would be Sam Goldwyn and Sam Spiegel. David Selznick could have given RKO precisely what it needed— a continuity of tasteful and intelligent produc tion. But Selznick was let go, and the studio never found a comparable replacement. 166 Footnotes "'■"New Chief of Theatre Operation Expected as Next Move in RKO., " Motion Picture Herald, 9 January 1932,, p. 10. ^"Brown Has Full Control at RKO,, " Motion Picture Herald, 27 February 1932, p. 11. 3 -^"Aylesworth Made RKO President; Brown in an Advisory Capacity," Motion Picture Herald, 16 April 1932, p. 13. 4 Ibid. ^"Biography of B. B. Kahane," "RKO," 13 April 1932. ^David Selznick, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 9 May 1932. ^"RKO 10^ Cut Now General," Variety, 26 January 1932, p. 15. O Martin Quigley, "The Old Red Rooster," Motion Pic ture Herald, 13 February 1932, p. 7- ^"RKO Quarter Loss Is $2,166,713•> " Motion Picture Herald, 14 May 1932, p. 35- 10B. B. Kahane, telegram to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 11 July 1932. "^Ibid. 12 Meri'an C. Cooper, memorandum to C. D. White, "RKO," 28 July 1932. ] _ 0 Notes on Interview with Merlin H. Aylesworth," RKO," RKO Publicity Department, 14 April 1932. 14 Ibid. 15 ^"Rough Notes of Luncheon Address Presented to the Academy by M. H. Aylesworth," "RKO," 13 June 1932. l6Ibid. 17 'Martin Quigley, "Mr. Aylesworth’s Bad News," Motion Picture Herald, 18 June 1932, p. 7. 167 1 Q "Aylesworth Sees Theatre Revival," Motion Picture Herald, 25 June 1932, p. 22. ■^"Radio's Smash Contest," Motion. Picture Herald, 27 August 1932, p. 5 6. 20"RK0 Reports $1,375^170 Loss for Six Months Ended June 30," Motion Picture Herald, 27 August 1932, p. 24. p “| "Changes In 3^- RKO Theatres Raise Gross Profit 237 Per Cent," Motion. Picture Herald, 27 August 1932, p. 19* 22 Ibid. 2^"RK0 Roxy Prices from 40^ to $1.50; to Open. Dec. 29," Motion Picture Herald, 26 November 1932, p. 26. 24 "Two Radio City Theatres Lavish," Motion Picture Herald, 31 December 1932, p. 26. or . Myer Kutz, Rockefeller Power (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974), p. 61. 26 Terry Ramsaye, "Static in Radio City," Motion Pic ture Herald, 14 January 1933j p. 11. 27Ibid. PR "Music Hall Combination Policy as RKO Roxy Contin ues, " Motion Picture Herald, 14 January 1933^ p. 2 5. 2^Martin. Quigley, "RKO's Autograph Album," Motion Picture Herald, 3 December 1932, p. 7- Gavin Lambert, On Cukor (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1972), pp. 42-44. 71 Mike Steen, "A Louis B. Mayer American Film Insti tute Oral History of Pandro S. Berman," The American Film Institute Archives, n.d., p. 1 5. Beverly Hills, Califor nia. 32 Lee Marcus, telegram to David Selznick, "RKO," 9 June 1932. 33 ^Lambert, On Cukor, p. 60. ^David Selznick, telegram to Lee Marcus, "RKO, " 22 June 1932. 168 3 9B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 31 October 1932. ^Davld Selznick, telegram to Katharine Brown, "RKO, " 2 7 January 1932. 37pre(j Astaire, Steps In Time (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1959)j p. 2 1 3. 3®B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 25 July 1932. 3 9Ibid. 40t. .. Ibid. ^B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 3 October 1932. hp Martin Quigley, "David Hits Out," Motion Picture Herald, 30 April 1932, p. 7- ^3"RKO Radio to Issue 62 Features, 140 Shorts, Con vention Is Told," Motion Picture Herald, 21 May 1932, p. 82. ^4Ibid., p. 8 3. ^9B. B. Kahane, letter to David Selznick, . "RKO," 4 June 1932. ^6Ibid. ^7Ibid. 2|0 M. H. Aylesworth, telegram to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 21 July 1932. ^9David Selznick, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 21 July 1932. 5 0Ibid. 5 1Ibid. 9^Ibid. 9 3B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 26 July 1932. 52|Ibid. 169 8 8M. H. Aylesworth, telegram to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 2 August 1932. 5 8Ibid. David Selznick, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 4 August 1932. 5 8Ibid. 5 9Ibid. 8 8B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 4 August 1932. M. H. Aylesworth, telegram to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 17 August 1932. 62 0 Ibid. 8 8B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 18 August 1932. 64 Ibid. H. Aylesworth, telegram to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 12 October 1932. "Radio to Start Unit Production Soon: Selznick," Motion Picture Herald, 19 November 1932, p. 15- 67 1"Decentralizing Production Wins Support as Stimulus to Quality," Motion Picture Herald, 26 November 1932* p. 9- 62 B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 1 November 1932. 8^Ibid. 7°Ibid. 77"A Jungle Thriller," New York Times, 20 January 1932, p. 17. 72"A Broadway Smash!," Motion Picture Herald, 9 July 1932, P. 53. 78Ned Depinet , telegram to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 20 June 1932. 248, ' ' ‘ 170 ^"Picture Control Sheets" "RKO," 13 January 1934. ^8Steen, "Oral History of Pandro S. Berman," pp. 15, 76 "Picture Control Sheet." "^Lambert, On Cukor, p. 46. 78S. J. Briskin, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 28 April 1937- 79 / King Vidor, A Tree Is a Tree (New York: Harcourt, ■Brace, 1952), p. 1935 Val Paul, memorandum to M. J. Abbott, "RKO," 26 March 1932. Q ~ i Vidor, A Tree Is a Tree, p. 199. 82 Paul, memorandum to M. J. Abbott. 8 3Ibid. 8ifIbid. 85 B. B. Kahane, memorandum to David Selznick, "RKO," 25 July 1932. 06 "Profits of Additional Features of Any Significance from 1929/30 through 1935/36," "RKO." (Typewritten list.) O r ~ 7 'David 0. Selznick, Memo from David 0. Selznick, ed. Rudy Behlmer (New York: Viking Press, 1972), p3 43. 88 David Selznick, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, Ned Depinet, Harold Franklin, Robert Sisk, "RKO," 1 September 1932. 89,, Picture Control Sheet." 90t David Selznick, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 25 July 1932. ■^B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 27 September 1932. 92 David Selznick, memorandum to Net Depinet, Robert Sisk, B. B. Kahane, "RKO, " 30 August 1932. 171 ~^b . B. Kahane., letter to Ned Depinet* "RKO*" 4 Octo ber 1932. -^David Selznick* memorandum to B. B. Kahane* "RKO*" 20 October 1932. -^Harold Franklin* memorandum to B. B. Kahane* "RKO*" 6 December 1932. 96 t t pro fits of Additional Features." -^"Selznick Out*" Time* 26 December 1932* p. 3 6. H. Aylesworth, telegram to B. B. Kahane* "RKO*" 2 February 1933- Selznick* Memo from David 0. Selznick* pp. 51-52. 101Ibid.* pp. 52-53. 1 0 2 Ibid.* p. 53- ^^David Selznick* letter to Amedee G. Van Beuren* "RKO*" 14 September 1932. ^^Joseph Breen* letter to Samuel Briskin* "RKO*" 18 August 1936. Orville Goldner and George E. Turner* The Making of King Kong (New York: Ballantine Books* 1975)• Selznick* Memo from David 0. Selznick* p. 44. ' " ' ‘ ^ B . B. Kahane* telegram to M. H. Aylesworth* "RKO* " 6 February 1933. "^^Sid Grauman* telegram to M. G. Cooper* "RKO*" 24 March 1933* Picture Control Sheet." 110Pandro Berman* telegram to David Selznick* "RKO*" 9 November 1932. lllnProfits of Additional Features." 112t,RK0 Loss During 1 9 3 2 Is Listed at $10*695,503/' Motion Picture Herald* 5 August 1933, P* 32. if 2 H3.pino Balio, United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press/ 197&) j , p4 9&. ^“ ^Selznick., Memo from David 0. Selznick, p. 48. 1 1 5Ibid., p. 5 0. CHAPTER V THE KAHANE-COOPER REGIME (1933-1934) B. B. Kahane and Merlin Aylesworth were prepared for the departure of David Selznick. They had decided in January that if negotiations with Selznick failed, they would ask Merian C. Cooper to take charge of production.^ When the opportunity was presented, Cooper first asked Selznick's permission. He felt considerably indebted to Selznick, who had supported him throughout his association with RKO. Selznick had no objections, and Cooper accepted the position. Merian Cooper had a big job ahead of him, for at that very juncture RKO was entering equity receiver ship . Receivership On January 27, 1933* Judge William Bondy of United States District Court in New York appointed the Irving Trust Company as Receiver of Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corpora tion. The action came after three separate petitions for 2 receivership were filed in New York, Newark, and Baltimore. The specific circumstance that forced RKO into repeivership 173 174 was its default on some $3*5 million in gold notes, issued to raise operating capital, which came due on January 1, 1933. When the company could not make good these obliga tions, court intervention became a certainty. Interest ingly, Paramount went into receivership at precisely the same time. Information disclosed in the subsequent hearings revealed that the theaters were the primary contributors to the company's financial plight: "In spite of subsequent economies which have been effected, profitable operation of these theatres un der present business conditions has proved impossible because of the burdens of excessive rents and fixed charges," said Mr. Aylesworth. . . . "A number of these theatres could be profitably run if necessary revisions of rentals and other fixed charges could be effected," he continued. "We hope that a reor ganization of such theatres can work out such reduc tions . "3 Business Week referred to the Paramount and RKO situations as retribution "for boom-time financing and new-era pur- ..4 chases. What was receivership and how did it work? Put simplistically, the laws of receivership for corporations .are' roughly equivalent to the laws of bankruptcy for indi viduals. When a huge organization cannot pay its obliga tions, wrote then-prominent attorney Louis Nizer in the Motion Picture Herald, the "question is not only how to re lieve the corporation of its debts but how to permit it to retain its beneficial property, operate its business and 175 divest itself of obligations which are draining its as sets. These problems become the responsibility of the court: When a corporation goes into receivership the court takes over the administration of its affairs. The receiver is the hand of the court. He is not an agent of the corporation; he is the officer of the court to receive., collect., care for and dispose of the property which has come into the court's custody. The object of the receivership is to avoid the imme diate, forced sale of the corporation's property to satisfy pressing creditors.° Thus, with the protective wings of the court shielding RKO from its creditors, the company could begin a retrenchment and reorganization which would, hopefully, lead to a set tling of its accounts and the establishment of profit- producing conditions. Nizer summed up the "magic of re ceivership" : Theoretically the equity receivership results in an unhurried liquidation so that creditors may be paid 100 per cent of their debts. Practically the equity receivership saves the corporation which has insuffi cient liquid assets from the morass of bankruptcy and forced sale. Furthermore, it provides the corporation weapons with which to successfully adjust its burden some contracts. Finally, by reorganization it enables the corporation to continue its enterprise, satisfying creditors by partial cash payments or stock representa tion in the new corporation.? Irving Trust Company, a powerful New York banking concern, thus became the agent of the court for RKO. Its job would not be to run the company, but to participate in the formulation of economizing and reorganization plans. In effect, Irving Trust became the guardian and conscience 176 of the company, constantly prodding RKO executives to set their house In order. A. H. McCausland was named chief representative of Irving Trust with respect to RKO1s af- 8 fairs. Since the theaters were of major concern, the film production company, as well as distribution and the news- 8 reel unit, were exempted from the receivership action. However, when a condition as serious as this grips any corporation, all of its subsidiaries are affected. As we shall see, RKO Radio Pictures was expected to contribute significantly in the all-out drive to get Radio-Keith- Orpheum back on its feet. By June, RKO could report some progress In its re organization. A careful scrutiny of the theaters resulted In the dropping of twenty-eight non-paying houses.^ One of the biggest, still unresolved, problems was the Radio City Theaters. RKO's leases on the Music Hall and RKO Roxy terminated automatically when the corporation went into receivership. However, a new lease with only slightly bet ter terms was Immediately agreed to, and RKO continued to operate the mammoth houses. An insufficiency of good pic tures, high operating expenses, and the continued depres sion in general film patronage resulted In losses of $210,000 through May 27.^ Scuttlebutt again indicated that the RKO Roxy would close. The Rockefellers, appar ently, would not permit this; instead, the theater was 177 turned into, a second-run house with admission scaled down 12 to a forty-cent top. A second report of the RKO receivership situation 17 was filed in November. ^ Among several positive indica tions, the report noted that a reduction of $5 million in RKO's 1933 net loss was expected, and that fifty-eight of the 162 wholly-owned RKO theaters had been abandoned. Business in Radio City took an upswing in the fall. Opera tions for the month of September actually showed a profit, before rent, of $90,580.8 7. In addition, the Kahane- Cooper production regime had substantially reduced the cost of pictures produced by the Hollywood studio. The report concluded: Encouraging progress has been made in reducing operating expenses, which has been reflected in im proved results in operations, despite the disruption of organization and morale consequent upon the re ceivership and the decline in theatre attendance during the period of bank closings and moratoria throughout the country. . . . Despite the absence of borrowing and the maintenance of a full motion pic ture production schedule, consolidated cash reserves have not been depleted to any considerable extent.15 Despite all these encouraging signs, the receivership and reorganization would continue. No end was yet in sight. Further Studio Economizing B. B. Kahane's commitment to trimming studio costs picked up vigorously after Selznick's departure and the institution of receivership. It would not be said that 178 Radio Pictures had failed to do Its part to alleviate the crisis. On February 13* Kahane dispatched a letter to 16 Aylesworth outlining a variety of money-saving moves. Eight highly paid individuals, including writer Howard Estabrook, montage specialist Slavko Vorkapitch, and pro duction manager Sam Jaffe (who had been the subject of vehement conflict between Selznick and Aylesworth), were being dismissed. This, alone, would save $7*500 a week. The writers' payroll had been cut in half in less than six months, picture costs were being reduced, and average weekly overhead was $9,243 less than .it had been during the 17 first six months of 1932. Most importantly, long-range commitments to stars, directors, writers, stock company players, etc. had been cut back from a figure of $2,172,610 on November 1, 1931 to $751,340 as of January 1, 1933* "The Studio was never in such good condition so far as com- 18 mitments are concerned," wrote Kahane. All this looked marvelous from an accounting standpoint, but how would it affect the quality and commerciality of RKO productions? Nothing was said about this. In March, the Hollywood studios banded together and imposed substantial salary cuts on their employees. Merian Cooper explained the circumstances in a telegram to Kath- atine Hepburn: Present nationwide bank situation has so curtailed incoming available *cash and has so frozen bank de posits that not one of major companies is in posi- 179 tion to carry on as at present this shortage of money has stopped flow of funds necessary to continue pro duction. . . . Only alternative to closing is have every employee in every branch accept fifty percent reduction of salary for eight week period commencing March sixth. Employees in all studios have voted unanimously to accept such cut.19 The situation was not quite as Cooper described it. Many employees refused to accept the cut in pay,, forcing the studios to close down for a few days while negotiations 20 were conducted. - The workers were finally convinced and the pay cuts effected. In mid-April, the studios made good 21 their promise and restored full salaries. There is no record of how much RKO saved during the period., but the figure must certainly have been substantial. The first few .months of Cooper's production rule revealed further economizing. He cut average shooting time on pictures from 30-8 days (the Selznick figure) to 22.6 days, with corresponding reductions in the cost of produe— 22 tion. At the end of the year, Cooper presented the fol lowing figures to the RKO board of directors: Negative Costs LeBaron: Average of 43 pictures $>*4-2,000 Selznick: " " 33 " $293,000 Cooper " ’ ’ 28 " $204,000 Estimated Profit or Loss LeBaron: Average of 43 pictures Loss $60,000 Selznick: " " 33 " Loss $11,000 Cooper: " " 28 " Profit $94,000 ^ 180 The comparisons,, based on production records beginning with the 1930-1931 program., reflected very favorably on Cooper. It should be noted, however, that the production chief had been ill and absent from the studio for several months (see pages 188-191). Thus, he was not entitled to full credit for the studio's apparent turnaround. Personnel As part of its new policy of refraining from long term contracts, RKO decided to pursue high-priced talent on a "per picture” basis in 1933* Thus, with the exception of Fred Astaire and Francis Lederer (signed by Selznick), no important names were signed to exclusive contracts during the year. An arrangement was worked out between the studio and director John Ford. The initial agreement was for one picture (The Lost Patrol). Later in the year, B. B. Kahane signed Ford to direct three additional films. The terms were quite favorable to the studio. They differed on each picture, but basically Ford would earn a small salary and a percentage of the gross receipts after each production had 24 returned twice its negative cost. This was considered a coup for RKO as Ford received as much as $50,000 a picture to direct at other studios. Ford was sorely needed, because RKO lost its best director in 1932. When Selznick took a position at MGM, he 181 convinced George Cukor to come with him. RKO let Cukor go,, with the proviso that he would return later In the year to direct Little Women. The commitment was honored, Cukor handled the picture during the summer, and the results were beyond RKO's fondest hopes. Only then did the executives realize what a mistake they had made, but nothing could be done. George Cukor now belonged to Louis Mayer and Irving Thalberg. The only other important figure to join the company was an executive. In August, Joseph R. McDonough, an ex ecutive vice-president of RCA, was appointed general manager 25 of Radio-Keith-Orpheum. McDonough had been employed by RCA since 1924, working his way up the company ladder from its accounting department. He was considered to be David Sarnoff's right-hand man. McDonough had a reputation as a tough, shrewd businessman with excellent organizational abilities. His job would be to help with the RKO reorgani zation, and also to take some of the pressure off Merlin Aylesworth. Aylesworth was still trying to juggle the twin orbs of RKO and NBC, a task simply beyond his capabilities. As McDonough became acquainted with his new job, he would take on more and more of Aylesworth's former duties. With respect to stars already under contract, Con stance Bennett came in for the strongest inspection in 1932. In June, it appeared that Darryl Zanuck's new Twentieth 182 Century Company might steal Bennett away from RKO. B. B. Kahane reported the situation to Aylesworth and then made the following recommendation: Despite the fact that Bennett is probably slipping in popularity and is a "tough dame., " our need for per sonalities is such that we ought not to lose her. Af ter all we have made a large investment, paying her the big salary we have for all these years and no mat ter what the story is a Bennett picture is readily ac cepted by exhibitors as an "A" picture and is given ,rA, r playing time. 26 By November, Miss Bennett ’ s.appeal had declined so dras tically that Kahane changed his mind. The film that con vinced him was After Tonight, an espionage story which did very poorly at the box office. Kahane wrote Ned Depinet that even though the company had promised two more Bennett pictures, he doubted even one should be made: If it is a fact that Bennett can no longer gross enough to get us out on a $3 0 0,0 0 0. or $3 2 5,0 0 0. nega tive, I do not think we ought to make a picture with her even though we have sold one. We can replace the picture on the program with another Harding, or pos sibly get another set-up to take its place that will be more attractive .to exhibitors.^7 Constance Bennett left RKO but continued to make movies for other studios. She never regained the stardom she had en joyed earlier in her career, though she was hardly as "washed up" as Kahane believed her to be. If nothing else, this story illustrates the all-encompassing faith that studios held in the star system. A true star could bring the people in to see the most insipid story— or so it seemed. But when a star lost her magical, magnetic powers, 183 little could be done to bring her back to public favor. No one seemed to consider the notion of very carefully picking the proper vehicles for a star's talents and withholding her from anything that was not very good. After all* the studios had commitments* and so a Constance Bennett would be rushed through one film after another to fulfill them. This kind of thinking would diminish Katharine Hepburn's standing and ultimately cost RKO her services in the latter part of the decade. Speaking of Hepburn* this strong-willed actress had her first clash with company executives in 1933- The stu dio held great hopes for her; after A Bill of Divorcement and Christopher Strong, she had delivered performances in Morning Glory and Little Women that were the talk of all Hollywood. On the morning of November 14* she finished work on a film directed by John Cromwell called Spitfire. There were still a few scenes to be done* but since the scenes were not considered essential and since the studio had promised Miss Hepburn she could leave for the east on that day* it was determined to close the picture down. Hepburn* however* had different ideas. Kahane described what transpired in a letter to J. R. McDonough: Hepburn stated that the additional scenes ought to be made and that if we decided to omit them she would never return to Hollywood. When it was pointed out to her that this would be a breach of her contract and that she could be enjoined from working on the 184 stage or in pictures* she replied that she realized this but was satisfied to give it all up and "get mar ried and raise a couple of kids." For the extra day's work to do the scenes in question* she demanded $10*000. She said that if we desired to do so we could withdraw the participation which we recently voluntarily gave her* and that she realized in demand ing $10*000. now she might be Jeopardizing a possible $2 5*0 0 0. or more* but that she had made up her mind that if she worked one minute after the 1 5th she would have to be paid $1 0*0 0 0 . 2 8 Part of Hepburn's disenchantment apparently related to her salary (roughly $2*0 0 0/week* when she worked) which* she realized* was well below her current value to RKO. The company had given her a small percentage of the profits of Spitfire as an act of good faith* but this evidently was not satisfactory. Now she had the president of the studio over a barrel* and he backed down. Kahane authorized the additional scenes and a $10*000 payment to Hepburn. Hard-nosed J. R. McDonough was outraged by Miss Hepburn's "gun-play*" as he put it. He fired off a letter to Kahane* criticizing him for giving in and instructing him to immediately withdraw the actress' participation in the film's profits: I do not agree with you that not paying Hepburn's de mand would have Jeopardized the biggest asset the com pany has. I believe we have now Jeopardized the asset by submitting to her first demand. If you will remem ber when you were in New York I hazarded the guess that Hepburn would employ such arbitrary tactics against us. I believe our submission to the first of her demands has allowed her to open a breach which from now on she will attempt to widen at every oppor tunity . 29 185 Kahane argued vociferously against further alienating the actress by withdrawing her percentage of profits., but McDonough held firm. A letter was sent to Hepburn, advis ing her not to expect any more money from the film. Inter estingly, more than one year later Hepburn coyly inquired when she would be receiving a check for her 12 1 / 2 percent of the gross receipts of Spitfire. The request was made directly to McDonough who crumbled and coughed up a check for $10,445 which was forwarded to her. B. B. Kahane must have smiled when he received a carbon of McDonough's con genial letter to the star, informing her that any subse- 10 quent payments would be made on a monthly basis.^ Production Unit production was supposed to be implemented when Merian Cooper took over, but for reasons unknown the con cept slipped into the background. Instead, RKO announced that as many as fifty-two features might comprise the 1 9 3 3- 1934 program, and the studio was prepared to produce all of them: "I believe there will not be very many Inde pendently made pictures on our new program," said Mr. Kahane. uThe bulk will be produced in our studio under the supervision of Mr. Cooper and his staff of associate producers. We may arrange deals with”out side producers, if they have the proper stories, per sonalities, and so on. We might arrange to release pictures as would be financed by outside producers, or we might even aid in the financing. But we have no definite intention of going out for Independent productions."31 186 Nevertheless, it was privately hoped that Cooper might use his considerable contacts to lure someone, like John Hay Whitney for example, into an independent filmmaking arrange ment with RKO. Cooper's production plan was to delegate authority to a group of associates who would oversee the individual productions. He promised not to interfere with their work. J Chief among the associate producers would be Pandro Berman. Merian Cooper's contract, finally signed in May, gave him a salary of $1 ,5 0 0 per week "plus 2 0^ of the net profits resulting from the distribution of the pictures produced by him or under his supervision.Berman was so highly regarded by Cooper that the production chief granted him one-eighth of his own profit-participation and convinced the studio to add another 2 1/2 percent. Thus, Berman now would receive 5 percent of the studio's net profits plus a salary of $1,250 a week.^ Kahane felt Berman was well worth the expense, telling Aylesworth, "I have a very high regard for his judgment, showmanship and ability. 10 Specifics of the 1933~193^ program were revealed at the company's Eastern sales convention in late June. One of the interesting bits of information was that RKO planned to drop westerns completely from its program. The popularity of westerns had fallen of late, and most of the studios were cutting back in this area.^ RKO had made a series of 187 very cheap,B westerns, starring Tom Keene, but Cooper felt It was time to eliminate them. On the other hand, musicals were about to make a comeback. That staple of the early years of the company had been in disfavor until recently. The new trend-setter was Forty-second Street, a Warner Brothers backstage story which proved an unqualified success and sparked renewed in terest in the genre. In late May, the Motion Picture Herald predicted "a veritable deluge of screen musicals" would be produced during the next few months.RKO was not going to be left behind. Melody Cruise opened at about the time the convention commenced and appeared to be a box-office smash. The next effort would be an "aerial musical" en titled Flying Down to Rio.^^ Literary properties would continue to play an im portant role in the company's plans. Ann Vickers by Sin clair Lewis, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham, and Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson were all listed as coming attractions. Other high lights included sequels to Bring 'Em Back Alive and King Kong, and films featuring Francis Lederer, John Barrymore, and Ann Harding. The hoped-for independent arrangement with finan cial tycoon John Hay Whitney had apparently been concluded. Those in attendance at the convention learned that Whit ney' s Pioneer Pictures would complete the "first Techni- 188; color special*" to be personally supervised by Merian 4o Cooper and released through RKO. Production hummed along nicely after the convention. One of the methods Cooper employed to get decent pictures 2pi at minimal costs was called "pre-editing." "Pre-editing" simply meant that more time and effort went into pre- production* thus eliminating unnecessary scenes that would probably be cut anyway. This saved time and footage and* logically* production expenses. The key to the concept was having a complete and polished script ready well in advance of a start of a picture. Cooper had no intention of re peating the Bird of Paradise mistakes. In September* the studio was jolted by the news that Merian Cooper had suffered a heart attack. B. B. Kahane described the state of affairs to J. R. McDonough in a let ter* dated October 5: I understand the doctors have told Mr. Cooper that if he will remain completely quiet for three weeks or so and then take it easy for the following three weeks* he will be all right. It will take time to rehabilitate the muscle which has caused the heart trouble. During the latter three weeks of the six week period* I understand that Mr. Cooper will be able to be consulted about business affairs . . . but the doctors think he ought not to return to the Studio until six weeks or so have passed.^2 Pandro Berman was asked to fill the gap until Cooper re turned. He accepted. RKO tried to keep the news of Cooper's illness quiet--without notable success. David Selznick heard that 189 his friend was very seriously Incapacitated and might not be able to go back to work for a long time, If ever. He then began probing to discover if RKO would like him to return as production chief. Selznick was, apparently, quite unhappy at MGM where Mayer and Thalberg still dominated company affairs. Kahane wrote McDonough that Selznick de sired to return to RKO, then added that this uis a 'crazy' business and most of the 'nuts’ are out here.The com ment apparently alluded to the wild rumors about Cooper's condition, because Kahane asked McDonough to consult David Sarnoff about Selznick's availability. McDonough later replied that Selznick "is definitely 'out1 as far as we are concerned," and thus RKO once again fumbled an exceptional 44 opportunity. Under the circumstances, however, no other action could be contemplated because everyone fully ex pected M. C. Cooper to be back at work in a few weeks. They were wrong. Even though his recuperation pro gressed satisfactorily, Merian Cooper had been considerably frightened by the attack and decided to continue resting In Honolulu until December 11.^5 rko officials had little choice but to grant him further disability leave. The situ ation seemed to alarm them even more than the initial heart attack had. Perhaps Cooper would never return. Even if he did, would he be able to handle a full program of pictures? The company had to prepare itself for any eventuality. 190 Strangelyj J. R. McDonough decided to conduct an Informal survey to ascertain If Cooper was really the right man for his job. One would think the RKO officials might have evaluated Cooper before offering him the position, but apparently the necessity of a rapid switch in production chiefs had made this impossible. Ben Kahane was asked for his assessment of the man. The only fault Kahane found with Cooper involved story development: My main concern with Mr. Cooper is that he has been responsible for the absolute waste of thousands of dollars on writing and story costs. We have had to charge off an unusually large amount of money this year because of scripts not turning out satisfactorily and having to be abandoned, and we still have a number of stories that I do not think will be made, and in connection with which we have incurred very substan tial writing costs. I would estimate that we would have to charge off at least another $200,000. on the present program.^6 Other industry insiders provided McDonough with more sweeping criticism of Cooper's abilities. Terry Ramsaye called him a trcapable but inconsistent producer": His chief value is and always will be in the produc tion of an occasional picture of a special type. He is miscast in the chief executive position of a large studio, and probably would be ready to admit this.^7 Leland Hayward, an agent who handled Katharine Hepburn and Fred Astaire among others, was even harsher: Cooper is essentially a trick picture producer. He is not well grounded in dramatics and not equipped to supervise the operations of a full studio output. His particular value to any motion picture company is in production of three to five adventure and novelty type pictures per year. He is of a restless nature, 191 not In the best of health., and physically Incapable of withstanding the terrific grind connected with the production of forty to fifty pictures a y e a r . 48 Three unnamed Paramount executives concurred with the other appraisals, stating that Merian Cooper "is not a good ex ecutive, does not possess any particular artistic ability and . . . his efforts are most productive when confined to h49 trick pictures. The opinions were rather surprising, because Coop er's initial performance at RKO looked very good. As noted earlier, the Cooper films were being made more cheaply and returning greater profits than those of his predecessors. Of course some of his successes, like Me1ody Cruise and Little Women, had been started by Selznick, and Berman had carried on admirably during his convalescence. Neverthe less, there seemed no reason to dump Cooper if he wanted to continue as production chief. In December, he announced that he was fully recovered and ready to return to the helm. Around the middle of December, Merian Cooper went to New York and addressed the RKO board of directors. A memorandum prepared for the board outlined his production 50 philosophy and his plans for the future. His avowed production preference was, as the experts had predicted, films with a "minimum of dialogue and a maximum of spec tacle."^'*' These pictures, he argued, are more universal in expression and, therefore, fare better in the world market 192 than other types of productions. He recommended the fol lowing as an example of a spectacle with the !tepic univer sal quality” he was talking about: For example,, an Africa Covered Wagon, showing the British trek to open up Rhodesia., with Zulus, in stead of Indians; lions, elephants and other animal hazards to the settler, instead of deserts, mountains, etc. of Western United States. There are literally hundreds of such pictures which can be made with uni versal appeal and with a maximum of action and a mini mum of dialogue, equally good for the United,States, England and the rest of the world.52 While admitting that such pictures would be costly, he re minded the board that King Kong and Little Women would never have been made if the studio had been locked into a "rigid appropriations system. In addition to revealing his personal preferences. Cooper stated that first priority for the new year would be getting picture production back on an annual rate of forty-eight films. The average had fallen to twenty-eight due to Cooper's illness, and he quoted fig ures showing that the studio could not make money on only twenty-eight pictures. The cost of studio and distribu tion' overhead alone would absorb all the profits. This last information is very revealing. It shows that RKO had to release a certain number of movies each year to have any hope of making money. It' was costly to run a studio, a world-wide distribution organization, and a chain of theaters. Without the constant product--on the order of one picture a week--the enterprise was doomed. 193 With this kind of arrangement,, it seems obvious that expedi ency would have to take precedence over quality in the studio's thinking. Harry Cohn, Columbia's resident mogul, explained the situation to a young film editor in his own unique style: Listen, kid, . . . I make fifty-two pictures a year here. Every Friday the front door opens on Gower Street and I spit a picture out. A truck picks it up and takes it away to the theatres, and that's the ball game. Now, if that door opens and I spit and nothing comes out, you and everybody else around here is out of work. So let's cut out the crap about only good pictures. How many of those pictures I spit out do you think that I think are any good? . . . I run this place on the basis of making one good picture a year. . . . The rest of them I just have to keep spitting out.55 One marvels that, working under such demanding conditions, the studios were able to produce as many fine motion pic tures as they did. The Films Merian C. Cooper's preference for adventure and spectacle was hardly manifest in RKO's 1933 Cooper produc tions. Women dominated the studio's cast of players and, thus, melodramas, romantic comedies, and sentimental fables were the standard releases. Undoubtedly, RKO's production head would have traded Constance Bennett, Ann Harding, Irene Dunne, and perhaps Hepburn, as well, for one virile male lead of Clark Gable or Gary Cooper caliber, but no such arrangement was possible. Richard Dix and Joel McCrea 194 were the only heroic possibilities on call* and they simply didn’t measure up. Dix' s declining public Image had rele gated him mainly to B releases, while McCrea appeared to be more suited to romantic dramas and comedies. So— like it or not— RKO continued to be a female-oriented studio. Irene Dunne gained stature in The Silver Cord, a Sydney Howard play directed by John Cromwell. This tale of suffocating mother love translated into two battles, the first between Dunne and Laura Hope Crews over Crews' son, played by Joel McCrea, and the second between Crews and Prances Dee who loves the other son, Eric Linden. The film was packed with long, rhetorical speeches, and included some unintentionally humorous moments — such as the mother imploring her sons to come back for their overcoats as they rush off to rescue Dee, who has attempted suicide. The Silver Cord did, however, provide Irene Dunne with the op portunity to deliver one of her best performances, thus raising her stock in the constantly shifting polls of Holly wood popularity. Miss Dunne's portrayal of the title char acter in Ann Vickers bolstered her career even further. On the other hand, Constance Bennett was sliding in the opposite direction. Miss Bennett's appearances in Bed of Roses and, especially, After Tonight damaged her seri ously. In the former, the star was monumentally miscast as a callous reform school alumna determined to have her "bed 195 of roses" no matter what the cost. Before the obligatory reformation, she is made to seem so crude and despicable that audience identification and sympathy for her evaporate. The omnipresent Joel McCrea and John Halliday portray the love interests. Bennett was much more suited to high soci ety parts (as in Our Betters) than to the low-bred Lorry Evans’ role in Bed of Roses. Story., rather than casting,, was the big problem in After Tonight. Bennett is quite satis fying as a beautiful and versatile Russian spy operating in Austria during World War I. Romantic conflict turns on the far-fetched device of Miss Bennett falling in love with an Austrian counter-intelligence officer (Gilbert Roland) whose job is to trap all foreign agents. Coincidences of this kind predominate in the poorly structured, synthetic script. Gilbert Roland's wooden acting takes the edge off the love story, thus calling further attention to the inadequacies of the plot. After Tonight lost almost $100., 000 for RK0 5 6 and proved to be Miss Bennett's finale with the company. The films of Ann Harding indicated her career was in a kind of suspended animation. She showed no signs of moving up to challenge Garbo, Crawford, or the other top stars, but she did not seem to be losing popularity either. Harding's most successful 1933 production was Double Har ness, another John Cromwell-directed adaptation of a stage play. The resourceful heroine of this light comedy traps a notorious playboy (William Powell), marries him, then loses him, wins him back, but loses him again before finally re capturing him for, presumably, the last time. Although the filmmakers perhaps attempted to wring too much out of this romantic duel, the film succeeded on the whole. The Right to Romance was not nearly so good. Ann Harding plays Dr. Margaret Simmons, Manhattan's foremost plastic surgeon, who has allowed her professional dedication to bury such nat ural inclinations as romance and having a good time. On vacation in California, she runs into an amateur aviator (Robert Young) who awakens her to life's blissful possibili ties. They marry, then everything goes wrong including the movie. Conflict emerges between the sober woman and the carefree man, but there is little humor or genuine pathos to embue their disintegrating alliance with interest. The Right to Romance was mediocre melodrama. One of RKO's best films of 1933.5 Morning Glory, featured its rapidly ascending female star, Katharine Hep burn. Hepburn plays a garrulous New Englander who arrives in New York with one burning ambition: to be an actress. After a series of disappointments, she gets her chance when a blond star (Mary Duncan) attempts to strong-arm producer Adolphe Menjou for more money just before the curtain rises on his new play. Menjou fires his star, Hepburn takes her place and triumphs. Lowell Sherman directed the film and 197 once again demonstrated his feel for the show business milieu and his sure-handed touch with actors. Miss Hep burn's performance earned her her first Academy Award. The stage origins of the story (it was based on a play by Zoe Akins) are evident in the first two scenes which must run for at least twenty minutes each. However, ■ some sophisticated comedy and Hepburn’s evanescent portrayal of Eva Lovelace make the scenes fly by. A love triangle involving Hepburn with both Menjou and writer Douglas Fair banks, Junior, works less well but is never allowed to dis figure the essence of the character study. One wonders if Miss Hepburn got the idea for her own "$10,000 holdup" on Spitfire from the actions of the Mary Duncan character in this film. Needless to say, Hepburn's real-life maneuver was more successful than that of her fictional rival. RKO's comedies were still among the least satisfy ing in Hollywood, but two' deserve mention. Professional Sweetheart, starring Ginger Rogers and Norman Foster, was an audacious satire about radio programming. Rogers por trays Glory Eden, the Purity Girl of the Ippsie-Wipsie Radio Hour sponsored by a man named .Ipswich / (Gregory Rat- off), who is the wash-cloth king. A much publicized ro mance develops between Glory and Jim Davey (Foster), a Kentucky hayseed, with their subsequent wedding broadcast live. Zany complications naturally follow when Glory falls 198 in love with rustic living. It takes a merger of Ipswich's concern with its hated rival, the Kelcey Dishrag'Company, to get Glory back on the air for the Ippsie-Kelcey Clothie program. One wonders what Merlin Aylesworth and David Sar- • noff thought of this wild romp at the expense of radio. An answer to the Wheeler-Woolsey difficulties was discovered in Dip1omaniacs. The two comedians did not de part from their farcical formula in this insane story of Willy Nilly (Wheeler) and Hercules Glub (Woolsey) who are sent to a Geneva conference as representatives of the Adoop Indians. The usual musical Interludes* scheming villains* and vaudeville patter were included. The difference was the cost of the picture--a mere $3^1*287 as opposed to Hold ' Em* Jail1 s $5^-6* 7^4. ^ At such a low figure* the Wheeler- Woolsey efforts were sure money-makers. In this case* a profit of over $100*000 was realized. Thrillers did comprise a portion of the 1933 re~ leases* but most were relegated to B status. Ace of Aces was typical of Merian Cooper's preferences. It was based on a story by the author of Wings, John Monk Saunders* about a sensitive artist (Richard Dix) who becomes a hardened aerial killer during the war. The plot was stale and heavy-handed* suffering badly when compared to other air borne adventure narratives including The Lost Squadron. More pleasing was Headline Shooter, a comic melodrama about 199 a newsreel cameraman (William Gargan) who records such disasters as fires and earthquakes. The film has some of the quality of The Front Page with Prances Dee, as a comely newspaper reporter, providing the romantic interest. As in The Sport Parade, Robert Benchley adds genuine hilarity to the proceedings as a radio announcer. Deluge proved to be a forerunner of the modern disaster films. Something re sembling Noah's flood strikes the world, toppling skyscrap ers and otherwise wreaking devastation. Most of the action takes place somewhere about forty miles from "where New York City was." Here a battle develops between hero Sidney Blackmer and villain Fred Kohler over Peggy Shannon, pre sumed to be the only woman still alive in that part of the world. Most of the special effects were crudely executed, but they surpassed the fatuous plot, frenzied acting, and mundane dialogue. Murder mysteries and gangster films filled out the 1933 offerings. Emergency Call, starring Bill Boyd, fo cused on a group of racketeers who use juveniles as fake victims of auto accidents, then force the innocent drivers to pay heavy damages. The search for a dead gangster's hidden million dollars propels the action in Before Dawn. This cheaply-made spine-tingler included a haunted house, a clairvoyant (Dorothy Wilson), and a superfluity of mur ders and "accidental" deaths. Writer Ruth Rose and her 200 husband, director Ernest B. Schoedsack, who also collabo rated on the King Kong sequel, contributed Blind Adventure to the program. This mystery drama set in London's West End was a strange, muddled fiction about thugs and thieves who live in close proximity to highly respectable British ers. An American, played by Robert Armstrong, stumbles upon the hive of criminality, and a flurry of bewildering events follows. The creators tried but failed to achieve a jocular tone; the end product was labored and disappointing. Melody Cruise Melody Cruise merits special attention because it rekindled the studio's interest in musicals and marked the first feature directed by a blossoming RKO talent, Mark Sandrich. Sandrich first came to the attention of Lou Brock, a man with international experience as a film sales man who had been in charge of the short film unit at RKO for several years. He hired Sandrich as a writer before giving him a chance to direct two-reelers. Brock was so impressed he sent a memo around during the Selznick days, stating that Sandrich was taking less than three weeks to both write and direct his excellent shorts: "a remarkable record."^ After assisting Norman Taurog on Hold 'Em, Jail, Sandrich was handed Melody Cruise as his initial feature assignment. The film was also Lou Brock's first feature as 201 a producer, though the RKO executives still considered him as supervisor of the shorts. When Melody Cruise was finished, Ned Depinet, head of distribution in New York, began to hear good things about it. He wrote to B. B. Kahane soliciting an opinion: We here in the home office are getting ourselves pretty well steamed-up about MELODY CRUISE. We have a strong hunch that this picture is going to do busi ness and we want to get behind it and spend some ex tra money in advertising to impress exhibitors with the importance of the picture and put them in the proper frame of mind to sell the show in a big way to the public. Will you please give me the low-down about this show just as soon as it is previewed and tell me frankly if you think the picture warrants the extra adver tising . 59 Kahane’s reply was less than optimistic: Prom all I have heard around the lot and from the rushes I have seen, I do not expect this to be an important picture. Mr. Cooper has not much en thusiasm for it. The trouble with the picture is that it has been badly cast. We tried desperately to get Ben Lyon or Jimmy Dunne, or some other screen personality, for the leading part but could not get any one worth-while. For what the picture cost us, I am quite sure we will come out with a fair profit, but I doubt very much if it is a big enough picture to warrant any un usual expense in exploitation on your part.6° On this occasion, Depinet's instincts were better than Kahane's. As often is the case in initial features, Sandrich indulged in a wide variety of camera pyrotechnics including trick wipes, split screens, and superimpositions. But he did not allow these cinematic gimmicks to disturb the story or musical sections. Charles Ruggles, Kahane's 202 "unfortunate" lead, and pal Phil Harris take a steamship from New York to California. Ruggles' job is to keep mil lionaire Harris out of the matrimonial clutches of design ing females. The job is complicated when the two friends find a blonde and a brunette in their cabin. The girls had one too many and passed out while the other visitors were going ashore. Prom here on, the film assumes the trappings of classic farce with Ruggles emerging as a polished and witty practitioner of the form. The musical numbers were largely forgettable, but Sandrich infused the action with such energy and joie de vivre that it became one of RKO's biggest hits of the year. Although the cost of production was only $1 5 8,907^ Melody Cruise realized profits of almost f . 1 $200,000 . - 1 Little Women Without question, Little Women was the smash of 1933 for RKO; it was also one of the most important pic.tures ever produced by the studio. David Selznick initiated the project in the fall of 1932. His initial concept involved modernizing the Louisa M. Alcott novel, but he rapidly had his mind changed for him. Selznick described the circumstances in a wire to Ned Depinet: In connection with "Little Women," I was personally very strong for modernizing this story until I was flooded with protests from women who had read the 203 book., whereupon I had the questionnaire put on the radio to determine whether I was wrong. The protests I received plus the response on the radio., clearly indicated to me that it would be almost as great a mistake to modernize this story as it would be for example, to modernize "A Tale of Two Cities1 ' or "Uncle Tom's Cabin."o2 Years later, with his eyes firmly focused on posterity, Selznick recalled the situation a bit differently. This is an excerpt from a letter he wrote Spyros Skouras in 1956: When I scheduled the first Little Women for produc tion, the heads of the RKO circuit (then affiliated with the RKO Studios) actually suggested that I should modernize it! The gigantic success of Little Women opened up costume pictures, after years of exhibitor-inspired prohibition of them. 63 When Selznick left RKO, Merian Cooper kept the proj ect alive. Although this type of film was not Cooper's forte, he assigned Kenneth Macgowan to produce and sup ported his efforts wholeheartedly. Cukor was brought back from MGM, and extra money was obtained to upgrade the cast. The filming proceeded a bit slower than anticipated, and the picture went over budget, but it was still a relatively smooth, trouble-free production. Before shooting was even completed, enthusiasm for the picture began to build. In July, Cooper wired Depinet: Just want to emphasize . . . that LITTLE WOMEN looks to me from rushes like our most Important picture of the year, and think it should be sold as such. If big exploitation campaign Is put behind the picture, I think it is liable to be better than any of you all realize. Would suggest emphasizing . . . the four little women, namely, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Prances Dee and Jean Parker. The four of 204 them together are as charming as anything that has ever been on the screen., and Hepburn gives an even better performance than in MORNING GLORY. . . . Cer tainly it should be sold as big as KING KONG* if not bigger.64 The high hopes were confirmed when RKO previewed Little Women on October 3 0. Audience response was thunderous^ and reviews in Variety, Hollywood Reporter, and the Los Angeles ■ 6 s Times raved about the production. ^ It opened at the Radio City Music Hall in November, breaking all house records. The Motion Picture Herald reported that on Saturday of the first week, at one in the afternoon, "3,000 people waited in the street, with 1,000 'standees' in the lobby. Thirty 66 mounted policemen were called to keep crowds in order." Although Cooper was, at that time, recuperating from his heart attack, he deserved much of the credit for the success of the movie. David Selznick wired to congrat ulate him, and Cooper wired back: My only good point in the picture was deciding to shoot the works on it . . . and in letting no one bother Cukor regardless of how many days he was be hind shooting time; also in insisting on getting as many motion picture names as possible, regardless of the cost, and not stinting In any way on~_it.s.physical production. As you and I both know, the chief credit in any picture basically goes to the director and the writ ers, and certainly no one could have done a better job than George. You proved yourself right in back ing him against the field, and he is undoubtedly one of the greatest directors in the picture business. 67 Little Women was received enthusiastically wherever it played. It gained "blockbuster" status by earning nearly 205 $1 million in profits.^ The final cost to the studio had been a remarkably inexpensive $413*937. It also started a new trend toward the "classics" and toward costume pictures; all the Hollywood studios soon began scrambling after such properties. David Copperfield and a host of other 1930s features can be called the progeny of Little Women. For once., RKO's timing was impeccable. The movie industry had come under considerable fire in 19 32 and 19 33 f°r present ing a variety of sexually titillating (Mae West was the chief exponent) and violent (the gangster genre) films 69 which many Americans considered morally degenerate. ^ Their wrath ultimately forced the Implementation of the Motion Picture Production Code (mentioned in Chapter IV). Little Women was just the kind of film the "blue-noses" felt should be produced, and they proclaimed It, sent their chil dren to see it, made It a part of school curricula. Need less to say, RKO derived the ultimate benefits. Little Women has aged very gracefully, unlike such other "big" RKO films as Rio Rita and Cimarron. It Is still enchanting, a quaint mixture of nostalgia and sentiment that, I suspect, will always seem fresh. The movie's great strength is characterization and the interplay among the characters. Of course, Hepburn Is triumphant as tomboyish Jo, but she receives excellent support from sisters Bennett, Dee, and Parker. Joan Bennett, as Amy, who Is introduced 206 in school holding an "I am ashamed of myself" sign, steals several scenes from the others. The structure of the film is highly episodic., without major conflicts to orchestrate, but it holds one's interest because the characters are so appealing. Photographically, the picture is like a series of finely etched tintypes evocative of life in a simpler, more auspicious^world--New England during and after the Civil War. The only significant flaw is the introduction of a love interest for Jo very late in the development of the film. Paul Lukas essays the role of a G-erman professor whom Jo meets at a New York boarding house. He critiques her writing, but little time is spent building the rela tionship before they are united at the end. It seems a rather artificial way of providing closure for all the stories we have been involved with. Still, all in all, Little Women was a singular triumph for RK0--a fine film that paid its way handsomely. Flying Down to Rio After the success of Melody Cruise, RKO began film ing its first big musical In some time: Flying Down to Rio. Once again, Lou Brock was chosen to produce from his origi nal story. Mark Sandrich was considered as director, but Thornton Freeland won the Job. At the request of Ned Depirfet, post-production was rushed so that the picture could open in New York during the Christmas holidays. After 207 the film was previewed on December 6, Kahane sent Depinet the following telegram: Previewed Rio last night. Although if we had time could improve picture by additional cutting decided not to hold picture any longer. Think novelty of production plus beautiful music of Vincent Youmans and smartness of whole production should give us fair amount of success. Incidentally Fred Astaire steals picture and think properly handled we have created another new and fresh screen personality.70 Once again, Ben Kahane underestimated the potential of a musical. Flying Down to Rio was more than a "fair suc cess"; it brought in profits of over $5 0 0,0 0 0.^ There is no need to discuss the production of the picture. Arlene Croce, in her exemplary study of the Astaire-Rogers musicals, covers the making of all their 72 films in detail. To state the obvious, Flying Down to Rio was more important to RKO for making Astaire a star and introducing the Astaire-Rogers team, than for its contribu tion to the studio coffers. Astaire received fifth billing but was given ample opportunity to display his talents. As Kahane stated, he overshadowed the stars of the picture, Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. This is not a denigra- ' tion of their work, however. Both Raymond, as a flying song writer, and Del Rio, as a gorgeous Brazilian engaged to marry Raul Roulien, deliver engaging performances which pay off nicely within the confines of the whimsical narrative. But Astaire was a natural-born star. Flying Down to Rio cannot compare with the best of 208 the Astaire-Rogers efforts. Still, it has a kind of extrav agant exuberance which makes it endearing. Among numerous elements that could only occur in the imaginative world of the Hollywood musical, we find Raymond extemporizing a beau tiful love ballad to Del Rio on the piano which he has had installed in his private airplane. This takes place, in the moonlight, on a Caribbean island which the two lovers think is deserted (it turns out to be Haiti). Also we have the famous aerial ballet climax with scores of females, an chored to the wings of the airplanes, dancing and doffing their clothes for all of Rio to see. For the record this is done to foil a plot by three Greek gangsters who are always seen in shadow. Finally, there is Raul Roulien's flamboy ant exit from Del Rio's life, accomplished by leaping from a commercial airliner high in the clouds. Fortunately, he remembers his parachute. Flying Down to Rio was, and is, a lot of fun. And in the captivating "Carioca" number, a team was cemented that would be RKO's "class act" for years to come: Fred and Ginger. Son of Kong Amazingly, RKO managed to complete a sequel to King Kong during the same year the original was released. In February, Ruth Rose, wife of director Ernest Schoedsack, was hired to write the story. In order to keep the nature of the project secret, her script was given the innocuous 209 77 title, Jamboree.1u Production began April 5 and was com pleted on the last day of August. The film opened in New York in late December. Working this time without Cooper, Schoedsack han dled the direction, and Robert Armstrong, Prank Reicher (the ship's captain), and Victor Wong (the Chinese cook) reprised their original roles. Helen Mack took Pay Wray's place and a villain, played by John Marston, was injected to provide some tension. No tension emanated from the I'great ape's offspring, who turns out to be a cuddly teddy \ bear of a beast scarcely thirty feet tall. He and Arm- IV ^ s't-rong make friends when Armstrong helps the albino simian free himself from a quicksand bog. Prom that point on, sonny hangs around, protecting Armstrong and Mack from sev eral horrible deaths and mugging for the camera whenever he has the opportunity. The negative cost of Son of Kong was only $2 6 3,333, 74 and its cheapness proved its undoing. The first three- quarters of the film is tepid melodrama set in an exotic port to which Armstrong and Reicher have fled in order to escape the multitudes of New Yorkers trying to sue them. A series of unlikely events leads them back to Kong's island where they, along with the girl, the villain, and the cook, are summarily dumped by the ship's mutinous crew. Finally, the special effects experts get their chance to show off. 210 Their work is simply not up to par, however, and the vari ous monsters., as well as the final devastating earthquake which destroys the whole island,, cannot compare to the bril liant magic tricks performed in the original. Since most of the technical crew also worked on King Kong, the rush to complete and the paltry budget probably compromised their artistry. Besides a weak script and bad acting, especially by Helen Mack and John. Marston, the major failing of the film was making the title character so cute and sweet that he is robbed of the primordial energy which animated his father. Dino De Laurentiis made the same mistake in his remake of the first film. Both Son of Kong and the 1976 King Kong are reduced to the cartoon level--to pure "kiddie shows which is an epithet the initial picture managed to surmount easily. Son of Kong did earn over $100,000, but it was 7S still a general letdown, to its makers. Merian. Cooper had 76 expected the film to gross much more. Executive Realignment in. 193^- Merian C. Cooper returned to work at the studio in. January 193^- He approached the job with gusto, bombarding his producers and directors with memoranda about the neces sity of volume production, about shooting schedules, proper picture length, omission of unnecessary sets, and meeting 77 tentative start dates. The year, 1933^ had shown signif- 211 leant Improvement for RKO. Losses for the organization were $4, 384., 064--less than half of the deficit of the pre- r y O vious year. The film company's losses had been reduced even more dramatically, from $4,426,,177 in 1932 to $300,134 79 in 1933* Thus, it appeared that with Cooper back in charge, conditions would stabilize and, hopefully, continue to improve. The feeling of equilibrium was short-lived, however. In early February, Cooper's health started to fail again, and he immediately resolved to take an extended va cation in the Hawaiian Islands. This precipitated a major studio restructuring. At first, it was reported that Cooper go had resigned as the production head. Two weeks later, however, the trade papers divulged that he would return to D-| his position after the Hawaiian respite. Pandro Berman would once again pinch-hit for Cooper while he was away. In addition, conferences between Merlin Aylesworth, J. R. McDonough, and the studio executives in Hollywood resulted in the naming of McDonough as president of RKO Radio Pic tures. Ben Kahane, who had occupied the position, was made president of RKO Studios, a subsidiary. Ned Depinet was also given a promotion; he now became president of the RKO Distributing Corporation. According to Aylesworth, the purpose of the new setup was to change "the form of the operating organization so that executive activities might O p be coordinated in Hollywood." Kahane1s job would continue 212 much as before with McDonough assuming some of Kahane's ad ministrative duties as well as taking responsibility for all of Aylesworth's managerial functions. This would free Aylesworth to devote himself exclusively to the company's financial problems. Plans called for McDonough to divide his time between the New York office and the Hollywood studio. Once again, the studio carried on while awaiting the return of its production boss. In early April, J. R. Mc Donough received the following news from Cooper: I regret to say my return looks quite a time off. I did splendidly out here at first— swimming four or five times a day, and really having a marvellous vaca tion. Unfortunately, I got caught in the flu epidemic with half the rest of Honolulu, and have to start all over again recuperating. At any rate, I am not going to start drawing salary this time until I feel 100$ efficient--or anyhow 97.2$. I think you should know, however, that it does not look as if I shall be back to work in April, as I had h o p e d .84 David Sarnoff received a copy of a similar letter from Cooper to Aylesworth and scribbled, "all this is very dis- Q j~ tressing to me" on it. The company executives wanted Cooper back, and they wanted him desperately. On April 16, Merlin Aylesworth cabled congratulations to Cooper whose wife (former RKO actress Dorothy Jordan) had given birth to their first child. Aylesworth added the following sugges tion to his cablegram: Hope you can return to Hollywood with your family as soon as possible. Honestly believe if you can get 213 back to the office, the work can be so arranged that you can guide the program without getting Into detail which pulled you down before.. Three or four hours a day twice a week to start with and short days for the first month or two should put you on your feet. . . . Your wise counsel Is much needed at RKO Radio Studios and this doesn't mean full responsibility until you are in good health.86 Cooper did return in May. J. R. McDonough was then on the West Coast and reported his impressions of the man in a telephone conversation to A. H. McCausland of Irving O r y Trust. ' According to McDonough, Cooper looked healthy, but his behavior seemed very erratic. "One day he wants to make any number of pictures and the next day he decides he 88 had better not make any," said McDonough. McDonough in formed Cooper that he could not go on working half of the year, and that the RKO management needed some assurance of his intentions. Merian Cooper gave them his decision by electing not to continue in full charge of production. In stead, an agreement was concluded with McDonough for Cooper to produce two special films for the 1 9 3 ^ -1 9 3 5 program. The first of these would be The Last Days of Pompeii, based 89 on the Bulwer-Lytton novel. v Thus, Merian C. Cooper retired after sixteen months as RKO's nominal production head. He had actually func tioned in the position for less than half of that time. Pandro Berman, who had done a good job filling the gap, con tinued to run the filmmaking operation. It was well known, however, that Berman disliked the job and wished to have 214 his own autonomous unit so that he could devote himself totally to ten or so pictures a year. In mid-June, a blow-up occurred which gave Berman his wish. Berman ad dressed a vitriolic memorandum to B. B. Kahane, complaining about interference he was receiving--especially from J. R. McDonough--and about the studio's policy of lending out 90 such stars as Irene Dunne and Ann Harding. Not only was RKO receiving nothing but vague promises in return, Berman admonished, but the policy was destroying production sched ules as well. Berman, who was then only about thirty years old, seemed to feel RKO had betrayed him personally: I honestly do not see what benefits can come to the company in my being called Executive Producer, which is a ridiculously empty title under the present cir cumstances. The Company has never adopted these tactics when they were dealing with men who had no interest but a selfish one, and men who spent the company's money blindly for personal glory. Why the company should decide now to thwart every move of one who is most conscious of its desires for economy and efficiency, as well as quality, I cannot under stand. I have not asked for this position, but was forced into it against my will out of a sense of loy alty and a desire to be helpful to those I thought my friends.91 Pandro Berman asked for an immediate "show-down" on the matter. Kahane was, apparently, infuriated by the memo. He shot back a reply the following day, relieving Berman of charge of production and granting his request to head his 92 own unit. Kahane prefaced the memo with references to a "nervous and mental strain" which seemed to have affected 215 Berman, and then proceeded to counter every charge the young executive had made. The policy of lending stars to other studios was not disruptive to production, Kahane argued., and RKO had benefited from It. He cited the acquisition of QQ John Boles from Pox for two pictures, as an example. J With respect to McDonough, Kahane Interpreted the situation differently than Berman had: You also claim that you are getting Interference from Mr. McDonough. What you call Interference, Mr. Mc Donough does not consider Interference at all. As President of the Company and with responsibility as such, Mr. McDonough Intends to continue to get Into, matters of production and discuss stories, properties and policies with you and other producers when he Is here.9^ It Is hard to determine who was right about the Inter-studio arrangements. But It seems that Berman had a valid gripe about McDonough, notwithstanding Kahane1 s rationalization'. McDonough emerges, in his letters, memoranda, and in the descriptions of others, as a tough-minded organization man, a sort of efficiency expert who certainly had his place within the RKO structure. But to thrust this Individual into a creative post where he could directly Influence the company's production policies was foolhardy. J. R. Mc Donough had no training and no experience in this area; he had, in fact, been working for RKO less than a year-. And yet suddenly he found himself in a position to pass Judg ment on story selection, casting, and other vital matters. No wonder Pan Berman was outraged. 216 Later In June, Time magazine called RKO "Holly wood's most mismanaged studio," in) an article discussing Qg Berman's resignation as production chief. The story also reported that Benjamin Bertram Kahane, himself, would take charge. Thus, a new regime was born in the summer of 193^- It would have approximately the same longevity as its two antecedents. Miscellaneous Matters The first half of 193^- was not especially eventful. The company continued in equity receivership, ■ but satis factory progress was apparently being made. The reduction in 1933 losses and a consolidated profit of $498,131 for the first quarter of 193^ indicated RKO was slowly working its 96 way out of debt. No formal plan of reorganization had yet been presented to the court, however. When President Franklin Roosevelt signed new bank ruptcy laws into effect on June J, 193^* Radio-Keith- Orpheum became the first corporation to file for relief under the statutes.^ Paramount joined its neighbor, fil ing a similar petition a few days later. The new code, known familiarly as "77B," did not materially affect the receivership situations of either company. Both RKO and Paramount continued toward reorganizations that would al leviate their financial difficulties. The state of affairs at Radio City also showed im 217 provement. On the first anniversary of the policy change to film programsj RKO announced that more than six million 98 people had attended the Music Hall during the year. Two million additional admissions had been paid at the RKO Roxy. The theaters had booked films from several studios, but RKO pictures predominated. Attendance records still belonged to Little Women, which played the Music Hall for three weeks and then moved to the Roxy for four more. Hepburn's other vehicles, Christopher Strong and Morning Glory, had also enjoyed successful runs at the Music Hall. A sad note was sounded when S. L. (Roxy) Rothafel resigned as managing director of the Music Hall In Janu- 99 ary. The Music Hall had been one long nightmare for Roxy since the ill-fated premiere. After recuperating from ill ness, he returned to work but encountered considerable pres sure from RKO theater executives who felt his stage .shows were overly extravagant, "too long," and "lacked humor. Rothafel disliked this kind of allegation and quit, though he defended himself at the end: The budget at all times was adhered to. At no time were the stage shows in excess of the budget allow ance . 101 Radio City lost the name of one' of its theaters as well. With the departure of S. L. Rothafel, the RKO Roxy became known as the RKO Center. Merlin Aylesworth's dream of radio-movie symbiosis 218 reappeared in "Hollywood on the Air." This was an NBC weekly program* emanating from the RKO studio and utilizing a stock company composed of RKO players* which premiered in 10P the spring. RKO had tried a program called "RKO Theatre of the Air" in the early days of the studio* but it had not been especially successful. Even though the talent lineup of the new offering was definitely second-class (Chick Chandler* Tom Brown* Thelma White* Dorothy Grainger* and others) and stars of the first magnitude would participate only occasionally* industry opinion was largely negative. .The Motion Picture Herald announcement of the show trum peted: BROADCASTERS ORGANIZE RAID ON HOLLYWOOD FILM TAL ENT In June* Victor Shapiro* a Hollywood columnist* reported that exhibitors were upset because "any broadcast by film folk keeps patrons at home. RKO was unmoved by the criticism. At about the same time "Hollywood on the Air" was being launched* the studio began desperately attempting to develop a picture featuring a number of radio talents. The title was tentatively to be The NBC Revue of 193^; later* Radio City Revels was adopted an order to provide extra advertising for the entertain- I 105 ment complex. ^ Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were pro jected as the stars of the film with Joe Penner* Block and Sully* and other NBC favorites making appearances. Something like the Paramount "Big Broadcast" films was en- 219 visioned. The studio failed to put the package together in 193^j but the idea continued to hold a high priority for several years. Personnel The first few months of the year produced some in teresting developments in the relationships between RKO and Fred Astaire and RKO and Katharine Hepburn. Astaire had gone to England after the completion of Flying Down to Rio. He was appearing in the London stage presentation of The Gay Divorce when he began to receive the pleasing news that Rio was a hit. Something else that he heard vexed him* however. He wrote his agent, Lela'nd Hayward, on February 9, 193^: What’s all this talk about me being teamed with Ginger Rogers? I will not have it Leland--I did not go into pictures to be teamed with her or anyone- else, and if that is the program in mind for me I will not stand for it. I don’t mind doing another picture with her but as for this team idea it’s out I I’ve just managed to live down one partnership and I don’t want to be bothered with any more. I'd rather not make any more pictures for Radio if I have to be teamed up with one of those movie "queens."106 Three days later, Astaire dispatched another letter to Hay ward telling him to "squelch the idea of teaming me with 10 7 Rogers." Astaire had received several more clippings about the "new team" in the interim. Leland Hayward responded to his client reassur ingly: 220 I don't think R.K.O. have any intention of team ing you with Ginger Rogers. When Pandro Berman came through New York on his way West from Europe the last trip, I talked to him several times about "The Gay Divorce" which they were negotiating for at that time, and told him you were not terribly keen to play for ever and ever with Ginger Rogers. Pandro said there was nothing obligatory about having you do same, that she was popular, pretty and good in her pictures, but if you felt so vehemently about not having her with you, they probably would not use her. However, they have no intention of making it a permanent team.108 Hayward once again conveyed Astaire's feelings to Pandro Berman, who wired back: Tell Astaire hold his water with regard to teaming. He is not yet ready to be a star in his own right and if we want to bolster him with good support for next few pictures think he should thank us. Ginger Rogers seems to go rather well with him and there is no need assume we will be making permanent team of this pair except if we can all clean up lot of money by keeping them together would be foolish not to.109 Berman's remarks proved prescient. Astaire's dis taste for the teaming notion abated when the pair became a giant success, and he began to receive a percentage of the profits of their films. Nevertheless, the dancer continued to pressure the studio to allow him to make films with other actresses and finally was able to get a clause in his contract stating that he only had to make two films a year with Ginger Rogers. The Hepburn matter also came up in February. Now that she had become a star, a renegotiation of her contract was in order. The parties were apparently close to an agreement when Miss Hepburn discovered that RKO had exerted 221 • some pressure on Paramount to prevent her from making a series of personal appearances in their theaters. This so infuriated the actress that she blitzed RKO with a personal letter charging that the two companies were acting in "il legal restraint of trade.She ended the epistle with the following candid comments: In many respects, I would greatly regret it if my contract with you was broken because of your fraud., collusion, or unfair business tactics, because my as sociation with your operating personnel has been most pleasant and I would leave them with genuine regret. I propose, however, to stand upon every right which I possess, for I have noticed that your company is not at all meek in taking a position, whether it is right or wrong. H I Once again, Katharine Hepburn proved to be a tough-minded, highly volatile businesswoman. While Fred Astaire had Leland Hayward take care of all his studio disputations, Miss Hepburn, who was handled by the same agent, was never loath to involve herself personally in the action. If a lesser player had behaved in this fashion, the studio would undoubtedly have fired her. But Hepburn was too valuable. Kahane set about appeasing her, and a satisfactory contract was eventually worked out. From this point on, RKO would be very careful in its relations with Katharine Hepburn. The studio officials now understood that she had much in common with the iconoclastic, impetuous characters who were becom ing her screen specialty. 222 Production The last months of the Cooper regime were rather uneventful from a production standpoint. The company had been especially penurious since the start of receivership, and this policy was beginning to take its toll. Almost all the films RKO was making were undistinguished low-budget projects. The studio was meeting its commitments in terms of the number of pictures produced, but had practically abandoned the field of bidding for the choicest, most ex pensive literary properties. Finally, Pandro Berman became so concerned about the situation that he dispatched a tele gram to J. R. McDonough, imploring him to purchase Roberta for the 193^-1935 season no matter what the price: Think you can get it for sixty or sixty-five thousand and while you passed up all important properties of the year . . . feel I have reached time where we are desperate and moreover that in Roberta we will have property that is far more valuable than anything that has been purchased this year by other companies. We cannot make a go of this business without competing once in a while and this is the time to do it.H2 B. B. Kahane also wrote McDonough at about the same time. Mentioning Where Sinners Meet, Family Man, Let's Try Again, Great American Harem, Murder on the Blackboard, We're Rich Again, and Hide in the Dark as examples of the mediocre offerings on the studio schedule, he asked McDonough to approve an extra $50,000 for the $175,000 budget of Down to IIP Their Last Yacht. This Lou Brock musical production might, according to Kahane, qualify as a class A picture if 223 the extra money was forthcoming. And the company definitely needed something to add sparkle to its current program. McDonough agreed to the extra funding, but the results were not at all what Kahane had hoped for (see pages 233-234). Stingaree and Of Human Bondage were the only films that Pandro Berman had confidence in. The former starred Richard Dix and Irene Dunne, in a singing role. Berman re marked that he "could have wished for better work . . . in connection with writing and direction," but he still ex pected Stingaree to be a "money picture."'*''^ The acting production chief was not as certain about Of Human Bondage, at least from the money-earning standpoint: "Of Human Bondage" from the rushes looks very big. It will probably be one of the best pictures we have ever made. Its box-office I cannot vouch for as it will depend entirely upon whether the public will ac cept a fine realistic picture which has as its prin cipal star Leslie Howard.115 One of the studio's biggest problems, during this period, was a scarcity of good producers. With Berman forsaking individual productions (his real love) for over all program supervision, that left Kenneth Macgowan, Lou Brock, and a few lesser names. Lou Brock, who had been promoted to features exclusively after the successes of Melody Cruise and Flying Down to Rio, had become tempera mental and was causing both Berman and Kahane unending grief. Each of Brock's pictures was going over budget. 224 Kahane described the new Brock policy in a letter to Mc Donough: Berman and I have had to adopt a new rule with respect to Brock's productions. First of all., we do not feel we can assign him more than one picture at a time. Secondly, we will assign him a writer and let him work on the script until he has brought in a satisfactory script and the Production Department brings in an es timate that is within the appropriation, and we will not allow him to make any commitments for directors and members of the cast. This is far from an ideal way of proceeding with productions.1 1 6 Kahane added that the RKO "producers staff is really ex tremely weak" and that he and Berman had been "desperately trying to find some available producers who can be relied upon. They had been unsuccessful, principally because the company could not afford to pay the requisite salary for a good, experienced supervisor. So, the movie machinery sputtered on while everyone waited for word from M. C. Cooper. Planning for the 1934- 1 9 3 5 program was a major order of business, but very little was finalized until Cooper announced his departure. In late May, about the only sure things that could be pre dicted of RKO were Hepburn vehicles, musicals, and an ex cess of second-rate productions. The Films On the whole, RKO releases during the first half of 1934 were adequate. Compared to It Happened One Night, Queen Christina, House of Rothschild, and some of the other r ' ' 225 specials from competing studios, they seem pallid, but their inexpensive budgets protected against heavy losses. Only one of the pictures (Down to Their Last Yacht) would be considered a disaster. Except for Of Human Bondage, however, this was a highly undistinguished period for RKO. One of the first releases of the year was Man. of Two Worlds. This amusing tale of a Nanook-like Eskimo and his introduction to British culture starred Francis Lederer in his first Hollywood role. The studio hoped to build Lederer into a star, thus filling an important gap at the top of its foster of male performers. Why RKO's braintrust chose this property--in. which Lederer plays the Eskimo--to launch his career is difficult to understand. Perhaps the executives feared that Ledererrs European accent would be a handicap so they provided a part which required him to speak only a smattering of English. At any rate, Francis Lederer played the Eskimo Aigo with an ingratiating blend of innocence and bemusement, and Man of Two Worlds turned out to be a pass able comedy. It did not, unfortunately, boost Lederer to the'top in the way that A Bill of Divorcement had elevated Hepburn. He would make several more films for RKO without ever reaching prime box office status. Hips, Hips, Hooray represented the first Wheeler- Woolsey effort of the year. As usual, Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar provided the nutty story as well as the music and lyr- ■ 226 ics. The two comedians portray travelling salesmen ped dling a new brand of lipstick that comes in several flavors. Along the way, they become involved in a cross-country automobile race. This allows director Mark Sandrich, handling his first Wheeler-Woolsey film, plenty of oppor tunities for Mack Sennett-type gags. Made on a small bud get, Hips, Hips, Hooray was successful but ordinary. The company's other stabs at humor were no better. Long Lost Father featured free-lance performer John Barry more as a sly swindler in a convoluted plot involving the courtship and marriage of his daughter (Helen Chandler). Ernest B. Schoedsack proved that his strengths were defi nitely adventure and spectacle rather than comedy by di recting the picture in highly pedestrian fashion. Zasu Pitts, who had become a character actress and comedienne following a number of serious performances in silent films (Greed, among others), had support from Edward Everett Horton, Pert Kelton, and Ned Sparks in Sing and Like It. This burlesque concerned a gangster who sponsors the sing ing career of Miss Pitts. Despite the fact that her war bling is dissonance personified, the mobster exerts so much pressure that she becomes a success. The movie was essen tially a one-joke affair with the joke commencing each time the singer opened her mouth. Finishing School, according to the New York Times, was a "haphazard tedious story" 227 which "can scarcely be classed as intelligent entertain- 1 1 Q ment.'r The presence of Ginger Rogers., Prances Dee, Billie Burke, and Beulah Bondi failed to bring this film to life. Prank Buck returned from the jungles of Ceylon, Malaya, and Northern India.in January and began shaping 100,000 feet of rough negative into the sequel to Bring 'Em 119 Back Alive. The result, entitled Wild Cargo, opened in late March. This time, Buck focused on the ingenious methods employed to trap animals--including elephants, tigers, leopards, and a giant tapir--rather than skirmishes between various beasts. One bit of excitement was a fight to the death between a panther and a python with the snake emerging victorious. Again, the Van Beuren organization produced and, although the film did not cause as much stir as Buck's initial compilation, it made a profit of approxi- 1 90 mately $100,000 for RKO. In addition to Wild Cargo, the interests of Merian Cooper were most clearly visible in The Lost Patrol, John Ford's first picture for RKO. The story was based on Philip MacDonald's book about a British patrol that loses its bearings in the Mesopotamian desert and is slowly picked apart by unseen Arab sharpshooters. Victor McLaglen and Boris Karloff headed the all-male cast of this atypical Ford production. Unlike most of the John Ford canon, The 228 Lost Patrol is absolutely unremitting in its sense of hope lessness and futility. Even the solace of religion., so prominent in Ford's work, is missing here. Karloff, who constantly mouths Biblical phrases, finally loses his mind and marches out to face the Arabs dressed as John the Bap tist. They gun him down without a moment's hesitation. Victor McLaglen plays the section sergeant who attempts to mold his men into a patient fighting force. His efforts are less than successful; at the end, when relief finally comes, McLaglen is the only one left alive. He has, at least, managed to bury all his companions. The Lost Patrol is an odd picture, not only for Ford but for Hollywood in 193^. It seems utterly depressing and pessimistic, and there is little dramatic payoff. Nevertheless, the film was a modest financial and critical success for RKO. The company's other dramatic presentations mainly featured female stars. Irene Dunne headed the cast of This Man Is Mine, a standard love triangle which unfortunately utilized Ralph Bellamy as the apex. Dunne battles with Constance Cummings for Bellamy's affection and finally wins, though one wonders why the two superior women expend so much energy on him. Stingaree also starred Miss Dunne in a tale about an Australian opera singer who falls for an unconventional bandit. The outlaw, called "Stingaree," robs not for profit or to aid the poor, but chiefly to 229 satisfy his sense of the absurd. After Dunne becomes world-renowned, Stingaree steals the gold-braided uniform from the Governor General and attends her celebratory con cert dressed as the high official. Stingaree was a highly improbable fable, but it did provide Richard Dix with his best role in years, as the bandit, and gave Irene Dunne the opportunity to demonstrate her vocal talents. The film was one of RKO's better achievements of early 193^- Ann Harding played the title character in The Life of Vergie Winters. This tear-jerker dealing with the sacri fices of an unwed mother was a throwback to Rockabye and other melodramas manufactured to appeal to the female audi ence. John Boles, on loan from the Pox Company, plays a United States Senator who is also the father of Vergie's daughter. He had not performed for RKO since the days of Rio Rita. Vergie Winters was barely adequate, even in the limited terms of soap opera. It did realize a profit of $87,000.121 The remainder of the films are worthy of only brief mention. Success at Any Price, an adaptation of a play by John Howard Lawson, was the unoriginal story of a man who spits on the laws and mores of his time, pushes rapidly to a position of wealth and power, then falls victim to his own ruthless tactics. Douglas Fairbanks, Junior, handled the lead. One could read Lawson's own social and political 230 convictions into the tale. He was a committed Communist who later became a member of the famous "Hollywood Ten." The Crime Doctor, an interesting mystery, told the story of a criminologist who engineers a murder and expertly pins ' the blame on his wife's lover. Otto Kruger gives an appro priately cold-blooded performance as the "crime doctor" who finally gives away his-, perfect deception when he realizes the depths of his wife's love for the victim. Unfortu nately, the filmmakers compromised the deft story by in cluding an epilogue in which it all turns out to have been a fiction written by the criminologist for publication. Finally, another diverting mystery was Murder on the Black board, with Edna Mae Oliver playing a sleuth who is also a schoolteacher. She had introduced the character of Hilde- garde Withers in an earlier film, The Penguin Fool Murder, which was moderately successful. Murder on the Blackboard also proved winning with Miss Oliver's imperious demeanor eliciting laughter and respect as she pursues a murderer. Spitfire Lula Vollmer's play, Trigger, was bought by RKO with the intention of starring Dorothy Jordan as the unin hibited mountain girl, Trigger Hicks. When Katharine Hep burn learned about the property, she became enamored of the character and used her influence with Pandro Berman to 122 secure Trigger for herself. John Cromwell was assigned 231 to direct* and the film was made in late: 1933* Production culminated In Miss Hepburn's celebrated "$10*000 holdup*" described earlier In this chapter. These facts contradict Charles Higham's remarks that the studio forced Hepburn to play the part and that she "reluctantly agreed" to do it.^^ Hlgham's "authorized" biography of Hepburn Is glutted with such fancy. He even asserts* at one point* that David Selznick returned to RKO 124 from MGM and personally supervised Little Women. Higham* unfortunately* is one of the most prolific writers about Hollywood with a volume on Warner Brothers to his credit* as well as biographies of Hepburn* Laughton* Ava Gardner* and C. B. DeMille. He is a marvelous raconteur who never allows facts to interfere with his story spinning. The problem is that Hlgham's information* along with that of a bevy of similarly non-research-oriented writers* often be comes accepted fact and can be found in its undetected falsity in later articles and books. With respect to Hig ham' s study of Katharine Hepburn* let it be said that there are errors of fact and interpretation relating to prac tically every RKO film he discusses* and the reader should be warned that he enters a realm closer to fiction than his tory when he picks up the book. Spitfire turned out to be a major catastrophe for RKO. The picture actually earned money* largely because of 23S the actress' popularity, but it started a trend which would result in strong public disenchantment with Katharine Hep burn. Her portrayal of Trigger Hicks must surely be one of the worst performances of her career. Put simply, she was completely miscast as the uneducated, poverty-stricken mountain girl who mixes quaint oaths with hymn singing and flings rocks at the very people for whom she prays. Miss Hepburn's rendition of a Southern accent is both far off base and nearly unintelligible. And the story turned out to be an asinine hodgepodge about primitive religion, superstition, and poverty, interlarded with a thoroughly un exciting love triangle involving Hepburn with Ralph Bellamy and Robert Young. When seen today, it is astounding that Katharine Hepburn wanted to appear in this mess, or that RKO desired to produce it. Apparently, she felt challenged by a part that was the exact opposite of her wealthy, proper New England upbringing. And the executives probably felt that the essence of Trigger Hicks was rebellion mixed with vulnerability, those qualities that Hepburn seemed most at home with. Whatever the thinking, Spitfire was a miscalculation that would plague RKO and its best actress for several years to come. An interesting footnote relates to the title of the picture. The company had never liked Trigger, the working title, and had offered a $50 prize to any employee who 233 could come up with a better one. When this contest failed to produce anything, the studio reluctantly previewed the picture as Trigger. One of the "civilians" who attended the preview sent in an evaluation card which suggested that "Spitfire" might be appropriate. Pandro Berman, was ec- staticj he wired New York and received permission for the 123 switch. For once, a sneak preview had yielded more than an estimation of the public’s acceptance of a movie. Down to Their Last Yacht Producer Lou Brock insured his downfall by his man agement of Down to Their Last Yacht. Kahane and Berman had squeezed considerable extra funds out of McDonough for the film, but once again Brock allowed the picture to overrun its budget. Kahane was particularly enraged by Brock's sanguine disregard for proper authorization: For instance, the budget called for twenty-one danc ers for a period of two weeks and nineteen dancers for a week and a half. You [Brock] actually used fifty-six dancers and I am informed that you ordered the additional dancers and committed the company to the obligation without . . . any proper authoriza tion. Similarly, you engaged forty singers instead of twenty-eight as provided for in the budget.126 In the same memo, Kahane stated emphatically that Brock was not "to engage any people, add any scenes, make any expendi tures, or incur any obligations not called for by the ap proved budget unless you first obtain from Mr. Berman or 127 myself authorization or approval." 234 Much can be forgiven an indulgent producer if his efforts are successful. And both Melody Cruise and Flying Down to Rio had done well. But Brock's luck ran out with this picture. Kahane described his reaction to the pre views in a letter to Ned Depinet: At both sneak previews of the picture the- reac tion of the audience was unusually unfavorable. I never felt so sick at heart and disappointed at the reaction given any picture as was given "Down To Their Last Yacht."128 Brock and others at the studio tried to repair the damage with additional editing and sound work, but the movie was beyond help. The basic idea of millionaires forced to live on their yacht and work for a living had possibilities. Soon, however, the plot disintegrates into a South Sea island story with contemporary social overtones. At the end, the yacht is blown to bits so rich and poor can live together and think about nothing but "love." Sidney Fox, Mary Boland, Sidney Blackmer, Polly Moran, Sterling Holloway, and others do their best under the circumstances, but their best is not enough to save the sinking production. The singing, dancing, and scoring add sound and fury, but no entertainment value, to the proceedings. Directed by Paul Sloane, Down to Their Last Yacht chalked up a loss of $200,000 for RKO . 1 2 9 235 Of Human Bondage The most important picture of the time-even though it lost money for RKO--was Of Human Bondage. The company acquired the W. Somerset Maugham novel during the Selznick days but had trouble casting the important role of Mildred. It was feared that allowing Hepburn or Ann Harding to play this demanding., but totally unsympathetic, part might dam age their careers. Finally, the studio borrowed second- string actress Bette Davis and the picture made her a star. RKO thus created a box office name for another organization, Warner Brothers, which had Miss Davis under contract and reaped the benefits. Davis was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Mildred, losing to Claudette Colbert. The actress won the 1935 award for Dangerous but always considered it a "consolation prize" awarded because she had IPO been passed over the year before. Pandro Berman's assessment of the film is highly accurate: The picture was quite brilliant and beautiful, and, in my opinion, a complete failure with audiences. It was too early for that story to be accepted by audiences. The girl was vicious and too unpleasant to be acceptable to them. And they never’ forgave Leslie Howard for taking her back as often as he did. However, the critics loved it.131 John Cromwell directed the picture and apparently also sug gested the casting of Davis. Thus, he doubly atoned for Spitfire and some of his other RKO mistakes. The plot dealt 236' with emotional enslavement. Leslie Howard, as clubfooted medical student Philip Carey, is obsessed with despicable Mildred, who abuses him unconscionably. The plot builds to a climax which must surely stand as one of the great explo sions of human passion in screen history. The protagonist finally summons the courage to tell Mildred she disgusts him, whereupon Mildred erupts in a venomous assault which both reveals the depths of her ignominy and lays bare many of the flaws in Carey's character. Afterwards, she tears his apartment apart, destroying his paintings and books, and even burns the bonds that sustain him. In this one scene, it is possible to watch the baptism of a great ac tress and a major star. Pan Berman was regrettably correct about Of Human Bondage being too rugged for the 193^ audience. Today the film is considered a minor classic but it represented a $ 4 5 ^ 0 0 0 loss to the c o m p a n y . " ^ 2 Conclusion The Kahane-Cooper period ushered in an atmosphere of uncertainty and instability which would permeate RKO for years to come. Merian C. Cooper's physical condition was the root cause of the problem. With Cooper in absentia throughout much of his regime, studio production plans were constantly up in the air. Employee morale was certainly affected by this. If Cooper returned, would he rubber 237 stamp the tentative proposals of Kahane and Berman? Or would he toss them out, preferring to build a program based wholly on his own predilections? Whose job would be safe if he did the latter? Compounding the insecurity was the receivership situation which hung over RKO ominously. Although respect able progress was reported, what if the studio’s fortunes suddenly suffered another reversal? Since the end of re ceivership still appeared far off, it was at least possible that a bad year could wreck RKO completely, putting it out of business for good. Even if one preferred not to con sider this nightmarish potentiality, the effects of receiv ership were already depressing enough. The company had ceased bidding for the most prestigious properties and had suspended signing expensive talent to long-term arrange ments. RKO was, thus, beginning to stagnate, beginning to fall far behind Metro, Warners, and other companies in the quality of its product. After a much ballyhooed debut. Radio Pictures were now considered only a notch above Uni versal, Columbia, and other "Poverty Row" offerings. For tunately, the Astaire-Rogers pictures were about to catch fire; they alone- would raise RKO above the morass during the next several years. Would the establishment of the McDonough-Kahane regime stabilize the company? Not likely--it was a well- 238 known fact that Kahane had taken charge of production largely by default because Berman did not want the Job, and McDonough was still an unknown quantity whose major task,, so far, had been to ride herd oh company expenditures. And soon, a new element (Floyd Odium and his Atlas Corporation) would further complicate the corporate power structure. The quality of disequilibrium which had developed in 1933“ 1934 was not going to go away. Throughout the remainder of the decade and into the early 1940s, instability would be a fact of life at RKO. 239 Footnotes B. B. Kahane* letter to Merlin Aylesworth* "RKO*" 23 January 1 9 3 3- p "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 j P* 28. 6 Ibid. 7Ibid. * p. 2 9. 8 "Reorganizing of RKO Underway*" Motion Picture Herald* 11 February 1933j p. 16. Q ^"Committees Named in RKO Suits." "^"RKO Reduces Theatre Holdings* " Motion Picture Herald, 17 June 1933 j P* 27. 77M. H. Aylesworth* memorandum to H. R. Lamb* "RKO*" 23 June 1933. 1 2"RK0 Roxy Second Run*" Motion Picture Herald* 27 May 1933, P. 17- 78"RKO Net Loss for Year Is Halved: 5 8 of 162 Owned Houses Dropped*" Motion Picture Herald* 11 November 1933* pp. 5 6-6 0. 1^'Ibid. * p. 5 8. 7 8Ibid. * p. 6 0. 16 B. B. Kahane* Letter to M. H. Aylesworth* "RKO*" 13 February 1933• 1 7Ibid. l8Ibid. 240 ■^Merian Cooper, telegram to Katharine Hepburn, "RKO., " 9 March 1933- 2®"Hollyday," Time, 20 March 1933, PP• 41-42. 21 "7 Companies on Pull Pay," Motion Picture Herald, 15 April 1933, P- 9- 22 W. L. Brown, report on Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corpora tion, "RKO," 18 July 1933- 23 Merian Cooper, memorandum to the Board of Directors, "RKO, " 18 December 1933- 04 B. B. Kahane, telegram to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 10 October 1933- 2 3"J. R. McDonough, Realist," Motion Picture Herald, 12 August 1933, P- 17- 2 B. B. Kahane, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 6 June 1933- 2^B. B. Kahane, letter to Ned Depinet, "RKO," 10 November 1933- pO B. B. Kahane, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 15 November 1933- 23J . R. McDonough, letter to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 17 November 1933- 30 J. R. McDonough, letter to Katharine Hepburn, "RKO," 22 January 1 9 3 5- 31"Cooper Giving Free Hand to His Staff," Motion jPicture Herald, 1 April 1933, P- 18. 3 2B. B. Kahane, telegram to William Mallard, "RKO," 15 April 1933- 33"Cooper Giving Free Hand to His Staff." 34 B. B. Kahane, letter to Merlin Aylesworth, "RKO," 10 May 1933- 3 3Ibid. 33Ibid. q 'j J "Westerns on Way Out as Public Taste Changes," Motion Picture Herald, 1 April 1933j. p. 9* 241' q O "84 Features with Music Available for Booking in Next Few Months," Motion Picture Herald, 20 May 1933, P- '9- ^9"Radio Schedules 52 for 1933-34, " Motion Picture Herald, 1 July 1934, p. 33. Ibid. 4l W. L. Brown, report on Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corpora tion, "RKO," 18 July 1933. 4? B. B. Kahane, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 5 October 1933- 4 s B. B. Kahane, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO, " 7 October 1933. 44 J. R. McDonough, letter to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 16 October 1933. 4s B. B. Kahane, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 23 October 1933- 46 B. B. Kahane, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 10 November 1933• 47 Memorandum to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 17 November 1933- ^®Ibid. 4 9Ibid. 50 Merian Cooper, memorandum to the Board of Directors, "RKO," 18 December 1933- 5 1Ibid. 5 2Ibid. 9^Ibid. 54 3 Ibid. 55 Quoted in Thomas W. Bohn and Richard L. Stromgren, Light and Shadows (Port Washingtin, N.Y.: Alfred Publishing, 1975), P. 236. .... ... . - ... .... . . . . ... ^ "Picture Control Sheet, " "RKO," 13 January 1934. ■^Ibid. 58 Lou Brock, memorandum to Prank 0 'Heron, "RKO," 3 November 1932. ■^Ned Deplnet, letter to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 27 April 1933. ^B. B. Kahane, letter to Ned Depinet, "RKO, " 1 May 1933- 6 i "Picture Control Sheet." 62 David Selznick, telegram to Ned Depinet, "RKO," 18 October 1932. 6s David 0. Selznick, Memo from David 0. Selznick, ed. Ruby Behlmer (New York: Viking Press, 1972), pT 415• 64 Merian Cooper, telegram to Ned Depinet, "RKO, 28 July 1933. ^B. B. Kahane, telegram to Ned Depinet, "RKO, " 31 October 1933- 66 'Little Women's Sets Music Hall Record," Motion Picture Herald, 25 November 1933* p. 46. ^Merian Cooper, letter to David Selznick, "RKO," 2 November 1933. 68 "Picture Control Sheet." ^ C f . Robert Sklar, Movie-Made America (New York: Random House, 1975)j PP• 161-187. 70 B. B. Kahane, telegram to Ned Depinet, "RKO," 7 December 1933- ^"Picture Control Sheet." 72 Arlene Croce, The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book (New York: Galahad Books, 1972). 75 Merian Cooper, memorandum to Daniel O'Shear "RKO," 7 February 1933• ^"Picture Control Sheet." ' ' 243 75Ibid. 76 1 Merian Cooper, telegram to Ned Deplnet and J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 6 January 1934. 77 M. C. Cooper, memoranda to All Producers and Di rectors, "RKO," 11 January 1934 and 16 January 1934. ^8"Irving Trust Report Notes RKO Gaining," Motion Picture Herald, 26 May 1934, p. 12. 79Ibid. Rn Victor Shapiro, "The Hollywood Scene," Motion Pic ture Herald, 10 February 1934, p. 16. O-j "McDonough to Head RKO Radio; Cooper Again Produc tion Chief," Motion Picture Herald, 24 February 1934, p. 19* 82Ibid. 83Ibid. Ril Merian Cooper, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 2 April 1934. R ^ ^Merian Cooper, letter to Merlin Aylesworth, "RKO," 2 April 1934. 86 Merlin Aylesworth, cablegram to Merien [sic] Cooper, "RKO," 16 April 1934. Gy J. R. McDonough, memorandum of telephone conversa tion with A. H. McCausland, "RKO," 17 May 1934. Ibid. 8q •AT. R. McDonough, telegram to A. H. McCausland, "RKO," 20 May 1934. ’ -^Pandro Berman, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, "RKO, " 12 June 1934. 91Ibid. 92 B. B. Kahane, memorandum to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 13 June 1934. 93Ibid. "ibid. ""Plots and Plans, " Time, 25 June 1934, p. 40. 96 "Irving Trust Report Notes RKO Gaining." 97 "RKO, Paramount Ask Reorganizing," Motion Picture Herald, 16 June 1934j > P- 12. ""More than 8,000,000 Attended Radio City Houses In First Year," Motion Picture Herald, 20 January 1934* p. 27. ""Rothafel Resigns Post as Director of Music Hall, " Motion Picture Herald, 13 January 1934, P- 22. 100Ibid. 101Ihid. 102 "Broadcasters Organize Raid on Hollywood Film Tal ent, " Motion Picture Herald, 14 April 1934, P- 9- 103- Ibid. Victo Picture Herald, 2 June 1934, p. 31- i nix Victor M. Shapiro, "The Hollywood Scene," Motion 105 Pandro Berman, telegram to Net Depinet, "RKO," 10 April 1934. ^"Fred Astaire, letter to Leland Hayward, "RKO, " 9 February 1934. 107-pred Astaire, letter to Leland Hayward, "RKO, " 12 February 1934. 1 Leland Hayward, letter to Fred Astaire, "RKO," 16 February 1934. 1("pandro Berman, telegram to Leland Hayward, "RKO, " 26 February 1934. 119Katharine Hepburn, letter to RKO Studios, Inc., "RKO," 13 February 1934. 1 1 R . , Ibid. 112 Pandro Berman, telegram to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 31 March 1934. 777B. B. Kahane, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO, " 22 March 1934. 114 Pandro Berman, letter to Ned Depinet, "RKO," •27 March 1934. 115Ib±d. 11 f , B. B. Kahane, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 30 March 1934. 117Ibid. 11 8 Mordaunt Hall, "Girl Students," New York Times, 30 April 1934, p. 11. 119 ^"Buck Brings Back Films and Animals of Malay jungles," Motion Picture Herald, 13 January 1934, p. 2 3. 120 "Profits of Additional Features of Any. Significance |from 1929/30 through 1935/36," "RKO." (Typewritten list.) 121 Ibid. 122 Pandro Berman, telegram to Katharine Hepburn., "RKO, " 3 June 1936. 727Charles Higham, Kate (New York: ¥. W. Norton, 1975 p. 59. 124 Ibid., p. 50. 125 Pandro Berman, telegram to Merian Cooper, "RKO," 5 December 1933- 1 2 6 B. B. Kahane, memorandum to Lou Brock, "RKO," 25 April 1934. 127Ibid. 1 2 8 B. B. Kahane, letter to Ned Depinet, "RKO," 14 July 1934. 129"p^Qfits of Additional Features." ISO Bette Davis, The Lonely Life (New York: G. P. Put nam's Sons, 1 9 6 2), p. 185 -• 246 1^'LMike Steen., "A Louis B. Mayer American Film Insti tute Oral History of Pandro S. Berman," n.d., p. 20. The American. Film Institute Archives, Beverly Hills, California. "^^"Profits of Additional Features." CHAPTER VI THE McDONOUGH-KAHANE REGIME (1934-1935) Except for the emergence of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as vital stars, very little of consequence trans pired at RKO during the last half of 1934. J* R- McDonough set up a permanent office in Hollywood, and B. B. Kahane began devoting himself to specific production problems and decisions. Apparently, the company wished to maintain a low profile concerning the new studio configuration. The fact that Kahane was not functioning as production chief received only passing mention in RKO publicity. Perhaps some feeling of embarrassment existed since Kahane, a former president of the company, now was handling two separate jobs (he was still president of "RKO Studios"). , This was ob viously cheaper than hiring another man to manage picture [making, but it raised the question of whether RKO was not spreading itself rather thin at the top. Receivership The predicament of equity receivership remained relatively unchanged. Some of the theater problems were ironed out, and termination of the arrangement with the Radio City houses was effected. Actually, RKO wished to 247 ■ ' " ' ” 248 continue running the Music Hall and RKO Center., hut when its lease expired on September 1, terms agreeable to both RKO and the Rockefeller interests could not be reached.^ The studio would still supply films for presentation in the theaters, but actual operations now fell to the Rockefellers and their man, ¥. 0. Van Schmus. A plan of reorganization for Radio-Keith-Orpheum 2 was finally started in November. Federal Judge William Bondy, stating that "RKO had begun to show a profit for the first time in many months," instructed the trustees to commence formulation of a reorganization plan "if the com- o pany's earnings continue their improvement."J Neverthe less, no end to receivership was yet in sight; it would take considerable time to come up with a viable plan. Production. When B. B. Kahane took charge of RKO production, he rapidly formalized Merian Cooper's associate producer sys tem. This meant that each staff producer would be responsi ble for a set number of features with Kahane maintaining overall supervision. In essence, this represented a varia tion of the "unit production" concept because each produc er's group was relatively autonomous. All productions were, however, financed by RKO and, therefore, Kahane and McDonough had the authority to step in and influence the process whenever they felt such action necessary. 249 Pandro Berman headed the list of associates; he was given a unit of thirteen pictures which contained, by and large, the studio's most important and highest budgeted 4 presentations of the coming season. Kenneth Macgowan was assigned six films, Lou Brock four, and Merian Cooper, a minimum of two. The balance of the program would be di vided among Richard A. Rowland, B. H. Fineman, Cliff Reid, Glendon Allvine, and H. N. Swanson. Swanson later became the most important writers' agent in Hollywood. Most of the B productions would be made by the last-named individ uals. Except for Lou Brock, whose extravagance put an end to his RKO career before he could finish the four promised pictures, the producers fulfilled their obligations as out lined in the above announcement, issued in late June of 1934. Also in June, the company held its sales convention at a familiar site, the Drake Hotel in Chicago. A program of fifty features for the 1934-1935 season was revealed, along with a commitment to "clean" motion pictures. Moral rectitude on the Hollywood screen was still a hot issue at this time, thanks mainly to the recently-formed and belli cose Catholic Legion of Decency. Corporate president- Merlin Hall Aylesworth assured the attendant personnel that "RKO has made clean pictures in the past and will continue to 6 make them." 250 Katherine Hepburn and Irene Dunne were considered the company's top stars. They were scheduled to appear in three "specials" each. Such RKO veterans as Ann Harding and Wheeler and Woolsey maintained their positions on the program,, but one name associated with RKO from its earliest days was missing. Apparently, Richard DIx's winning per formance In Stingaree had not resuscitated his career; the studio elected not to renew his contract. Directors assigned 193^-1935 features included John Cromwell, John Ford, Mark Sandrich, and a newcomer named George Stevens. Among the promised titles were The Little Minister, Joan, of Arc, and The Forsyte Saga, each starring Hepburn; The Last Days of Pompeii and She, Cooper's two productions; and Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in The Gay Divorcee, Radio City Revels, and Roberta. Irene Dunne was also set to appear In Roberta as well as The Age of Inno cence and another untitled production. Francis Lederer, still considered to have strong leading-man potential, was named to star in The Three Musketeers, with John Ford ten tatively set to direct, plus Romance in. Manhattan, and El Dorado. The Wheeler-Woolsey project would be Kentucky Ker nels, and three properties that might recapture the charming flavor of Little Women were proposed: Anne of Green Gables, Freckles, and Laddie. The association with John Hay Whitney's Pioneer Pictures had not, as yet, produced any films for RKO to 251 distributej but the plan was still alive. The goal re mained production of the first feature in three-strip Tech nicolor. At that time, Pioneer was working on a short. La Cucaracha, which would serve as a test of the viability of a feature undertaking. Cooper’s The Last Days of Pompeii was mentioned as the probable choice for the full-length 7 color experiment. Lee Marcus, whose service to RKO dated back to the company's beginnings, was named as the new supervisor of the company's short films, but nothing else of consequence was revealed at the convention. RKO's production machine would continue to roll on, largely under its own consider able momentum, without any noteworthy changes for the rest of the year. The Films Excepting The Cay Divorcee, RKO's late 193^ releases were ever bit as jejune as those that had been introduced during the first half of the year. The comedies were especially limp. Probably the best of them, Cockeyed Cavaliers, starred Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. As usual, there was nothing new here, but the film did have an above-average script by Edward Kaufman and Ben Holmes and inspired direction by Mark Sandrich. Cockeyed Cavaliers was set in feudal England. The surreal istic comedy of the team seemed to work better when trans J 252 dated to some faraway place and epoch. Here, the British costumes and setting added an extra dimension to the bur lesque. The story of a pair of impostors who invade the jestate of the Duke of Weskit also provided the filmmakers with an opportunity to parody the famous scene in MGM's Q,ueen Christina in which Greta Garbo reveals her true iden tity to John Gilbert. Cockeyed Cavaliers was funnier than most of the Wheeler-Woolsey films--i'f only by a little. We're Rich Again was ruined by a character named Arabella, whose incessant yammering turned out to be irri tating rather than funny. Marian Nixon played the role, much to her disadvantage. During the infrequent moments jwhen Miss Nixon was absent from the screen, Edna May Oliver, (Edgar Kennedy, and Billie Burke injected some humor into the labored story of a formerly wealthy family seeking to marry a daughter off to a well-to-do stockbroker. William ■Seiter directed in disappointing fashion. Seiter also candled The Richest Girl in. the World, a much more agreeable effort. This time, he had a better property and better actors to work with. The story was by Norman Krasna, destined to become one of Hollywood's most respected writ ers. It concerned a wealthy girl who switches places with her secretary to assure that men will pursue her for reasons other than her money. Miriam Hopkins, an accomplished comedienne, portrayed heiress Dorothy Hunter with Pay Wray 253 as the true secretary and Joel McCrea as the principal love Interest. The film had a few moments of genuine hilarity and audiences found it entertaining; it earned a profit of Q $60,000 for RKO. Their Big Moment and Strictly Dynamite were both sadly lacking. The former starred the newly developing team of Zasu Pitts and Slim Summerville and dealt with Miss Pitts' discovery of real psychic abilities in the middle of a phony seance. James Cruze, director of the first im portant epic western. The Covered Wagon, further weakened his faltering reputation by overseeing this muddled effort. Jimmy Durante's malapropisms and famous profile were about all that Strictly Dynamite could offer. He plays a radio comedian who is running out of jokes. Durante hires a writer (Norman Poster) and soon finds himself in the midst of a marital squabble involving the writer's wife (Marian Nixon) and his fiery inamorata (Lupe Yelez). The story by Robert T. Colwell and Robert A. Simon was not witty enough to sustain the film. It joined the multitude of other for gettable comedies that RKO produced since its beginning. Two of RKO1s most prestigious films were cursed by the ultimate Hollywood sin: they were boring. The Foun tain, an adaptation of a Charles Morgan best seller, di rected by John Cromwell, featured Ann Harding, Brian Aherne, and Paul Lukas in a sad story about marital sacrifice and the cruel nature of war. Lukas is a German officer serving ■in the First World War. His wife, played by Harding, falls Jin. love with a British soldier (Aherne) while her husband I ■is away fighting. Nevertheless, she remains true to him. 'Lukas returns, a one-armed victim of poison gas, and Harding bravely attempts to nurse him back to health. Unfortunately, the husband discerns that his wife no longer loves him and is only caring for him out of a sense of duty and pity. jThe film, adapted from a novel by Charles Morgan, was in telligent, tasteful, and beautifully photographed, but it •lacked drama and was laboriously paced. The Age of Innocence was similar in theme to Back Street and The Life of Vergie Winters. It focused on a love affair wrecked by the severe moral constraints of Vic torian society. The two lovers are acted by Irene Dunne and John Boles with the complication being that she has divorced her husband. Since this impediment prevents their marriage, Boles marries Julie Haydon instead but continues his affair with Dunne. Finally, Dunne terminates the rela tionship, abandoning Boles to his wife . ‘ though >the love be tween them has not been extinguished. The problems of the picture are obvious, even in this brief synopsis. The social code operative here had become completely passe with the upshot being ponderous, emotionally empty histrionics rather than the romantic tragedy envisioned. The Age of 'Innocence lost nearly $100,000 for RKO.^ 255 Less pretentious, and quite a bit more affecting, was Wednesday's Child, the pathetic story of a youth who is the victim of his parents' decomposed marriage. Adapted from a play by Leopold Atlas, the story tells how the boy (Frankie Thomas) is forced to testify during the divorce action and soon finds himself in military school because neither father nor mother has room in their life for him. An uplifting, if unsatisfactory, ending provides for the father (Edward Arnold) to take the boy out of school and make a home for the two of them. Despite this sentimental ized denouement, Andre Sennwald of the New York Times called Wednesday's Child, "among the finest dramas of the new season.It still has a fine reputation. Anne of Green Gables turned out to be the biggest surprise of the year. Modestly budgeted ($226,000), this Kenneth Macgowan production was designed as a facsimile of Little Women. It had the same tone, the same small-town atmosphere, the same concern for character. Apparently the audience for this type of soft, homespun picture was still extant and enthusiastic; Anne of Green Gables earned a profit of $271,000.''"^ The RKO publicity department pulled off a minor coup related to the film. A largely unknown actress, Dawn O'Day, was cast in the main role of Anne Shirley, the quixotic young heroine of the L. M. Montgomery novel on which the film was based. Realizing the inherent publicity value, Miss O'Day's stage name was changed to .. — - Anne Shirley. The actress would keep this cognomen for the remainder of her career., thus identifying herself forever with a role she played warmly and beguilingly. The Gay Divorcee Fred Astaire did not originally want to make The Gay Divorcee, a film of crucial importance both to his career and to RKO. In November 1933j he wrote Katharine Brown, RKOTs New York story editor: I'm anxious to do my "next picture--but hope they will not make it "Gay Divorcee." "I'd really rather not do that story even though it has worked out so well for me In. the theatre. So much of it Is held up by "hoofing," which of course cannot be done as advantageously on the screen. Hope you'll use your influence to make them get an original story, espe-> eially for the next thing I do.^2 Pandro Berman saw the play in London, convinced Astaire it would make an excellent screen vehicle, and bought the rights for the studio. Although Claire Luce and others were discussed as the female lead, Ginger Rogers got the role--Astaire's objections notwithstanding. A final _e was added to the movie title to satisfy the Hollywood censors. Production commenced in the summer of 193^ with Berman in charge rather than Lou Brock. Nevertheless, the old bugaboo of escalating costs reared its head, and the final figure was almost $100,000 over budget. The over run was rapidly pardoned when the film opened in October. Ned Depinet wrote J. R. McDonough an estatic memo, calling Divorcee a "smash hit" and quoting comparative figures to |show that the film was going considerably better than Fly- I 1-4- ing Down, to Rio had. It eventually made $583*000* thus fbecoming RKO' s most successful picture of 193^.^ The Gay Divorcee was significant for several other reasons. The plot became basic formula for most of the later Astaire-Rogers efforts. Astaire is smitten with Rogers Immediately* but she resists him. A misunderstand ing about his true Intentions pushes them further apart until finally all misconceptions are clarified and the two lovers unite in the end. The dance numbers often contain* in microcosmic fashion* the attract!on-antagonism polarity which drives the Astaire-Rogers plots. Writes John Russell Taylor: Again and again the movements [of the dance routines] play out a small drama of difficult courtship: Astaire beckons and enchants with mesmeric hand- movements* Rogers almost against her will drifts into concerted movement with him* a close rapport Is established and grows in romantic abandon to a point where everything stops* a pause* a decisive moment after which Rogers breaks away* or tries to* and has to be summoned back.16 Interwoven with the essential romantic plot* The Gay Di vorcee contained several humorous subplots of a quasi- screwball comedy nature featuring Edward Everett Horton* Alice Brady* Erik Rhodes* and Eric Blore. The silly sub plots* along with the actors* themselves* would also re appear in many of the subsequent musicals. Finally* the fundamental Astaire-Rogers production team coalesced on The Gay Divorcee with producer Pandro Berman and Mark 258 Sandrich, who directed a majority of the films, topping the group. Other important members were studio art director Van West Polglase, who took overall responsibility for the quintessential art deco design of all the pictures, musical director Max Steiner, and cameraman David Abel. According to Arlene Croce, choreographer Hermes Pan also contributed, 17 but received no credit. The importance of The Gay Divorcee to RKO cannot be overemphasized. At this point in its history, the studio desperately needed a first-class attraction, something to lend prestige to "Radio Pictures" as well as assure box- office victories. It had been hoped that Katharine Hepburn would emerge as a powerful star, able to sustain the com pany with her considerable talent, but now it seemed she would never become a dominant force in Hollywood. Hepburn was a great actress, but she was not destined to be a great star for RKO. The team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, on the other hand, was rapturously embraced by the moviegoing public almost overnight. The Gay Divorcee proved to RKO that their new musical team could become a top-line attraction--something so alluring that exhibitors would scramble to book all the company's pictures just so they could count on having two or three Astaire-Rogers "specials" a year. The studio had finally discovered the ticket to class and respectability for years to come. To day, the Astaire-Rogers pictures are generally accepted as 259 the best Hollywood musicals of the 1930s. The Little Minister The company’s holiday release was The Little Minis ter, based on the novel and play by Sir James M. Barrie. Katharine Hepburn., who had not been initially interested in the part., delivered an enchanting performance as the gypsy girl* Babbie. Her love for the new cleric of a Scottish village results, in a near-tragic situation, but everything ends happily. John Beal was competent as the "little minister," whose rigidity and maternal fixation are gradually erased by his relationship with Babbie. Pandro Berman produced with Richard Wallace directing from a script by a number of RKO writers. Miss Hepburn even made sugges tions for the ending, some of which were adopted. The Little Minister cannot compare with the best Hepburn pictures, but it was a definite improvement over Spitfire. Once again she played a fiery outsider, but without the coarseness and stupid gullibility of Trigger Hicks. And the Scotch brogue Hepburn affected was executed more successfully than her wretched Carolina accent in Spitfire. RKO had high hopes for the picture. Unfortu nately, the film was the costliest production of the year and also the most expensive Hepburn had ever appeared in: -j O $648,000. Much of the budget went for the construction of the very authentic Scottish township. The film opened to good reviews and to excellent business at first. But after the initial week, paid admissions began to fall off, and The Little Minister eventually landed in RKO1s negative column, a $9*000 loser.^ A Year of Transition--1935 The Depression was beginning to ease throughout America. Major studios had charted an increase in movie attendance throughout 193^-* thanks partly to such strata gems as double features and ’ ’give-away" nights. With busi ness conditions improving, all the Hollywood companies were producing more pictures and RKO was no exception. This severely strained the existing studio facilities, as J. R. McDonough explained in a letter to M. H. Aylesworth: We have been renting the Pathe facilities to inde pendent producers because it is so far distant from this studio that we cannot afford to use it unless we set up separate production units there. Our own ranch is not used much because of its great distance from the studio and also because of its lack of dressing room facilities, restaurant facilities, etc. The result is that we are confined largely to the use of this Gower Street studio as to RKO productions. Its ten stages do not afford us enough room to keep pictures constantly in work. I mean by that it seems impossible for us to keep a steady flow of pictures shooting due to the difficulty of preparing some pictures while others are shooting.20 McDonough requested- an appropriation of $150,000 to $200,000 to build two or three additional stages. This expansion, he believed, would provide the necessary "elbow 21 room" and pay for itself in two or three years. It took longer than McDonough had hoped, but finally the RKO board 261 of directors allocated $500,000 for the project. The work was completed in 1936, adding three sound stages, dressing rooms, an. electrical storage building, scene docks, a num ber of film vaults, and a three-story office building to 22 the RKO physical plant. Vaudeville, a component of RKO business affairs from the beginning, was in its death throes in 1935- The combination of variety acts and movies had been declining for years, its anachronism speeded by radio and talking pictures, and the new, controversial "double-feature" pol icy proved lethal. Many theaters simply replaced the live acts with a second film. Thus, vaudeville sank to its low est point, continuing to exist only in the largest cities. The Loew's circuit, which five years before had scheduled shows in thirty-six of its houses, used vaudeville regularly in only three theaters in 1 9 3 5* RKO held out longer than most of the other chains. It still featured stage bills in Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Rochester, and Boston, but dropped the Brooklyn, Detroit, and Schenectady oh combinations. During the next twelve months, most of these houses would adopt film programs exclusively, as vaudeville faded from the American scene. One of the chief causes of vaudeville’s downfall— radio--once again linked up with RKO to make headlines late in the year. A newly completed National Broadcasting Com pany studio, strategically located next door to the RKO 262 plant in Hollywood;, was dedicated in gala ceremonies. Will Hays., A1 Jolson, May Robson, Jack Benny, and Merlin Ayles worth were on hand for a celebration, broadcast throughout 25 the country. There existed, at this time, a more condu cive atmosphere for movie-radio cooperation; in the film capital. Recent months had witnesses MGM's use of a broad cast hookup to plug The Broadway Melody of 1936 with Para- 26 mount following suit for its Big Broadcast of 1936. Believing that his message of "wedlock" between radio and screen, would be received more warmly on this occasion, Merlin Aylesworth proclaimed: Those engaged in production for the screen will now have opportunity to offer their talent directly through the medium of radio. . . . It will carry the entertainment of the world's greatest personali ties into the forgotten corners of the earth.^7 Nevertheless, there was still plenty of resistance to Aylesworth's beliefs. If motion picture stars appeared regularly on. radio broadcasts, it seemed logical that this could diminish their box-office appeal and subtract from nightly theater attendance. The Motion Picture Herald, ever mindful of the dilemmas of exhibitors, editorialized: Radio competition is not a theory but a fact. Whether it Is liked by the industry or not, it is here and doubtlessly is going to stay. We do not regard the situation as one warranting violent alarm, but neither do we construe the circumstances as justifying any high note of exulation on the part of Hollywood. . . . Before this we would like to have seen some evidence that what is called co-operation in this case means something like a reasonable divi sion of benefits between the two high contracting parties. 263 As a footnote, It should be mentioned that RKO' s last radio experiment, the "Hollywood-on-the-Air" program had bombed, largely because none of the company's major talent could be 29 convinced to appear. The program was no longer on the air. " For the record, two other Items of Import occurred in 1935- RKO acquired distribution rights to the new "March of Time," a dramatized news featurette produced by Henry R. Luce's Time magazine. As Arthur Knight has writ ten in The Liveliest Art, the "March of Time" was instru mental in broadening the popular appeal of documentary film: Rightly called "a new kind of screen journalism," it stood midway between the ordinary newsreel and the probing social analysis of the British documen tary school. It dramatized the news, getting be hind the headlines to offer pertinent background information and editorial opinion.30 For several years to come, the "March of Time" accompanied RKO feature releases, appearing on an average of approxi mately one issue per month. Secondly, rumors floated around Hollywood through out the year that RKO and Paramount would merge. Not since the company's early days, when hints of amalgamations with other studios surfaced on a regular basis, had the prospect caused such excitement. By the end of the year, however, the possibility of a merger had been laid to rest for good. RKO was going to continue to operate as a self-sufficient studio. 264 j Receivership Developments Paramount Pictures had a plan for reorganization accepted in early 1 9 3 5. * thus ending its period of court 31 supervision on April 5- RKO's receivership lingered on, however, despite definite evidence of progress. A disclo sure of financial operations for 1934 revealed a small loss ($310,575) which compared very favorably with the $4.4 mil- | lion deficit of the year before. RKO Radio Pictures, Incorporated, the film production company, actually showed a profit of $570,378 for the year.^ Without question, RKO had made impressive headway toward rehabilitating its cor porate and financial operations. What was needed was for some financially responsible group to step forward and propose a definite reorganization plan. Apparently, Wall Street insiders had always expected RCA to do this, since it still held the controlling inter est in RKO. But RCA evidently felt disinclined to bail its offspring out again. Memories of the disastrous 1931 intercession were still too fresh. Therefore, by mid-year, other financial groups began to examine the potentials in herent in the RKO situation. Leading the interested par ties were the investment banking house of Lehman Brothers, which had been concerned with RKO financing for some years, 34 and Floyd B. Odium's Atlas- investment trust. Atlas-Odlum had already participated in the Paramount reorganization. The fact that RKO reported a net profit of $388,002 for " ' " 265 the first twenty-one weeks of 1 9 3 5 no doubt made the company 3S look even more attractive as an investments The Atlas-Lehman Transfer The breakthrough finally came in October. Atlas Corporation and Lehman Brothers purchased half of RCA's controlling interest in RKO., with an option to buy the 36 other half within two years. Without question, Floyd Odium was going to play a dominant role in the future of RKO. Odium was a major American financier, director of Foreign Power Company, United Fruit Company, and the Italian Superpower Corporation. He was no stranger to movie enter prises, either; besides Paramount, Odium's Atlas Corpora tion held considerable investments in Warner Brothers, Fox 0 7 ' Film, and Loew1s Incorporated (MGM). First priority for the new RKO mogul would be promulgation of a reorganization plan to remove RKO from the onus of "77B." Odium assigned the task to N. Peter Rathvon, a vice-president of the Atlas Q O Corporation. Rathvon’s job would not be easy. There were still many large claims against the company, including one of $8,700,000 from the Rockefeller Center. The Motion Picture Herald reported: The huge Rockefeller Center claim arises out of RKO’s liability under leases for the Music Hall and Center Theatre, which held RKO liable for the un amortized cost of the theatres in the event of a default under the lease. Although allowance of the claim at $8,700,000 is being contested by Irving 266 Trust Company., as trustees for RKO, factors in the reorganization are reported not hopeful of obtain ing any appreciable reduction in the amount.39 A rapid revamping of RKO was predicted by the new interests, but the Rockefeller claim plus other complications would cause the receivership to drag on for several more years. New Executive Alignment The entry of Floyd Odium into the RKO organization, presupposed a shakeup of the company's officers. The first step was the naming of Leo Spitz to the presidency of Radio- Keith-Orpheum. Merlin Aylesworth, the former president, moved upstairs, replacing David Sarnoff as chairman of the RKO board of directors. Newsweek reported that Spitz's closest friend was John Hertz, a partner in Lehman Brothers, but also stated that film exhibitors considered him "the country's foremost authority on how to turn moviehouse losses into profits. " ^ 0 A native of Chicago with a back ground in law, Spitz had served as a counsel to the Balaban and Katz theater chain and to the advisory board of Para mount. His advice concerning the reduction of long-term theater leases and methods for cutting expenses was credited 4l with making that company's reorganization possible. Upon assuming the RKO post, Spitz "let it be known that the company’s operating organization would not be dis turbed, at least pending a study of its corporate needs, and that the survey would be as much for reorganization '267 42 purposes as to familiarize himself with operations." He left for Hollywood in mid-November to study studio opera tions first-hand. Spitz remained for about a month, meet ing the heads of other studios and consulting with J. R. McDonough, B. B. Kahane and other members of the West Coast staff. By the end of the year, the executive line-up was complete. Samuel Briskin was made vice-president in charge of RKO production. Briskin came to RKO from Columbia where he had been general manager of the Cohn studio for eight years. - Before that, he had worked in the sales department of C. B. C. Film Corporation, the company that became Co lumbia. Since much of his,‘’ industry experience ha'd been out side the creative sphere, Sam Briskin's production abilities were hard to predict. It had been rumored for two months that Briskin would succeed "unofficial" production head Kahane. December 23 was his first day on the job, and he sent Leo Spitz the following wire: Herewith first days report. Arrived studio ten thirty a.m. Left six. Spent day informally dis cussing matters with Ben [Kahane] and Mac [McDonough]. Expect continue do this for balance week per your suggestion. This should make everybody happy as fits in with your plans. 3 Spitz evidently hoped for a smooth transition. J. R. McDonough, B. B. Kahane, and Ned Depinet were all slated to remain with the company, although their precise duties appeared amorphous at this point. Each was made a vice- 268 44 president of the corporation. Another RKO regime was about to assume command. Personnel RKO lost two of its most important producers in 1935. After completing his "specials., " She and The Last Days of Pompeii, former production head Merian Cooper as sumed the post of executive vice-president of Pioneer 4d Pictures. Cooper, of course, had originally interested "Jock" Whitney in setting up Pioneer, so the move was not unexpected. It was believed that Pioneer would continue to make films for RKO release following its trailblazing color effort, Becky Sharp. Little happened, however, thus ending any concrete relationship between Cooper and RKO. The studio officials were probably not unhappy; She and The Last Days of Pompeii both turned out to be costly failures. They contained none of the magic of Cooper's crowning achievement, King Kong. Kenneth Macgowan. left the studio In August to accept a position with the newly formed Twentieth Century- Fox company. He had proved a man of intelligence and re finement, and such RKO productions as Topaze, Little Women, Wednesday's Child, and Anne of Green Gables reflected his inherent taste. After working for Darryl Zanuck at Fox, Macgowan later became chairman of the Theatre Arts Depart ment of U.C.L.A. A collection of his memorabilia in the '269 U.C.L.A. Research Library reveals much about him as an in dividual and as a producer. While making Anne of Green Gables, for example, Macgowan corresponded with Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of the original novel. His letter contains a sincere desire to produce a "lovely and popular" 46 picture, one that Montgomery could be proud of. Not many producers go out of their way to please faraway writers, but Kenneth Macgowan was a gentleman. RKO would miss him. In order to bolster its withering staff, RKO pro moted several employees to producer status. Zion Myers, who had served as Pandro Berman's assistant on Roberta, became a producer as did Edward Kaufman, a former staff writer. Lee Marcus was given overall supervision of the B pictures in addition to his short film duties. Robert P. Sisk-even became a producer. He had served for some years as the company's head of publicity. RKO's only talent acquisitions of consequence in 1935 were composer Irving Berlin, who would work on the Astaire-Rogers series, and French-born opera singer Lily Pons. Kahane and McDonough were evidently influenced by the success of Grace Moore, another operatic star, in One Night of Love and other Columbia releases. They hoped to duplicate Harry Cohn's accomplishment with vehicles espe cially tailored to Miss Pons's talents. Unfortunately, the studio leaders discovered too late that Grace Moore's popu larity was ephemeral. Coming on the heels of Miss Moore, 270 Lily Pons never developed into a box-office attraction. Berlin,, however, contributed mightily to the company's musicials. An individual who would soon generate substantial screen charisma was passed over by RKO around this time. Bob Hope had appeared in the stage version of Roberta and wanted to repeat his performance on film. After RKO bought the rights, Hope approached Pandro Berman asking for the part. Since Berman already had Fred Astaire in mind, he turned Hope down. If Berman had cast the comic, Hope might have become a Radio Pictures star instead of a Paramount star. Berman, thinking back, called his decision one "of 47 the mistakes you make." Pred Astaire's relations with RKO grew somewhat strained in 1935. His extraordinary rise to the top-- making him, without question, RKO's premier male star-- meant that another contract renegotiation was in order. The company officials were quite willing to work something out, but. Astaire became skittish because of the ingress of Ployd Odium and the Lehman interests into RKO operations. He conveyed his feelings to agent Leland Hayward who spellec them out in. a letter to B. B. Kahane: He [Astaire] feels the company is unsettled, due to the recent acquisition of a certain amount of it's [sic] stock by new interests. He feels that working in pictures as he does is such a personal relation ship with the people in charge of the company, that to undertake to do this at some future date at which 271 time It Is now unknown who will be running the company or who will be making the pictures, is asking too much of anyone in his position. He might have a complete understanding as to his work., his efforts and his am bitions with the people now running the company, only to find at some future date that the new owners and operators would feel entirely different.^ It is possible to interpret this as a ploy on the part of Astaire and Hayward to secure better terms from RKO, but the dancer's motives were quite possibly pure. Astaire was a perfectionist, a man who cared deeply about his art, and it is completely in character for him to have misgivings about a company as unstable as RKO. After all, his future was dependent on the studio just as, to a significant ex tent, RKO's future was dependent on him. The contract dis cussions were held in abeyance until the new regime assumed control. The only true breakthrough of 1935 came in the directorial ranks. George Stevens had-been an RKO employee for several years following his apprenticeship with comedy producer Hal Roach. Like Mark Sandrich, he began work in Lou Brock's short film unit where he managed comedies star ring Grady Sutton, Edgar Kennedy, and others. The shorts won him a chance to direct a Wheeler-Woolsey film, Kentucky Kernels, but it was a Katharine Hepburn picture that pro pelled him into the limelight. As the following telegram from Pandro Berman to Ben Kahane proves, it was Berman's idea to use Stevens on Alice Adams: -~2y 2- Have inspiration on Alice Adams. Believe George Stev ens man to do this job. Think I can handle Hepburn. Great idea for the company and fully confident he can develop in this picture as Sandrich did in Gay Divorcee. If you are willing gamble a little with me on this, please advise.^9 The gamble paid offj Alice Adams proved to be Hepburn's first hit in some time,, and George Stevens began his prog ress to the top of the Hollywood directorial ranks. Production As usual, the first half of 1935 was spent mapping out plans for the 1935-1936 season. J. R. McDonough took an active part in the formulations. In January., he wrote Merlin Aylerworth stating that he planned to deemphasize "over-sweet sentimental" stories such as Anne of Green 5 0 Gables, Laddie, and Freckles. Although Anne of Green Gables had been especially profitable and McDonough ex pected the two other films to do well, he believed- that this type of screen entertainment was approaching the end of its cycle. McDonough intended for RKO to "concentrate as much as possible on the adventure, fast moving, quick 51 dialogue type of story from now on. Mr. McDonough had overlooked a crucial factor. RKO still did not have the requisite thespian talent to special ize in adventure pictures. With the exception of Astaire, who was hardly the King Solomon's Mines type, the studio's important stars were still all female: Katharine Hepburn, Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, Ann Harding, and Barbara Stanwyck, who had joined RKO on a non-exclusive basis. Richard Dix did return to the company for B picture roles in'1935- This suggested that fast-paced, action movies would probably be the province of Lee Marcus' modest-budget unit. The announcement, in June, of plans for the 1935- 1936 season confirmed this fact. The major films promised included three Katharine Hepburns, Mary of Scotland, Sylvia Scarlett, and Quality Street; two Astaire-Rogers musicals, Top Hat and Follow the Fleet; Love Song (the working title), in which Lily Pons would make her debut; two Ann Harding productions; an untitled Irene Dunne vehicle; and adapta tions of two stage plays, David Belasco's Return of Peter Grimm and Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars. T h i s group of pictures hardly indicated a switch in emphasis to male-oriented action dramas. As a matter of fact, the 1 9 3 4 - 1 9 3 5 program had contained more adventure and spec tacle, with Merian Cooper's The Last Days of Pompeii and She as well as The Three Musketeers comprising important ele ments. J. R. McDonough's preferences notwithstanding, RKO would continue to produce pictures designed for the female market, as it had since the days of the Pathe merger. The film industry entered a "remake" phase in. 1935- The Motion. Picture Herald reported that fifty-four remakes had been released recently or were scheduled for produc- 55 tion. Most were new versions of silent pictures. RKO 274 contributed to the list with The Three Musketeers, The Last Days of Pompeii, Bunker Bean, Quality Street, Seven Keys to Baldpate, and The Return of Peter Grimm. All these had an earlier production history., although the title was the only thing that Pompeii had in common with an Italian silent. Remakes had always been a Hollywood fixture,, but the un precedented number suggests that the studios were running short on originality during this period. Possibly to al leviate the problem, an influx of Eastern writers descended on Hollywood shortly after this. Among these individuals were Nathanael West, William Faulkner, Paul Galileo, Lil lian Heilman, Charles Brackett, John Collier, James Hilton, and Irwin Shaw. RKO production operations functioned smoothly until Floyd Odium entered the company's affairs in October. From that point on, McDonough and Kahane became extremely hesi tant to make contracts, approve purchases of story material, 54 and so on. The two men realized that changes were cer tainly on the horizon, and deemed it imprudent to effect any major commitments. After Samuel Briskin. took charge of production in December, it would take him several weeks just to get the machinery back in gear. Once again, RKO's penchant for periodic transformation had damaged its on going filmmaking activities. 275 The Films As alwaysj there were disappointments--such as the failure of Cooper's two spectaculars, She and The Last Days of Pompeii--but 1935 was still a vintage annum for RKO. This was the year of Roberta, of the highly praised Informer, and of one of the most successful pictures in the company's history, Top Hat. The anxiously-awaited, pioneering three- color Technicolor effort, Becky Sharp, also premiered dur ing the year. The following survey of the rest of the 1935 product precedes more detailed discussions of the especially significant pictures. Perhaps one of the reasons for the strength of the 1935 releases was their diversity. Never before had RKO offered such a wide variety of pictures. Comedy, which often predominated in former years, was deemphasized. Wheeler and Woolsey continued to be the major RKO humorists with three films, Kentucky Kernels, The Nitwits, and The Rainmakers, but the team was definitely approaching its twilight. The pictures were now produced on miniscule B picture budgets. In addition, the verbal component of the duo's comedy, heavily dependent on sexual double-entendres, had been restricted almost out of existence by Joseph Breen and his ever-watchful Production Code office. All that remained was slapstick, making their work appealing to the "kiddies" but not generally to adult audiences. Kentucky Kernels represented the best of their 1935 films. George Stevens, directing his initial RKO feature, turned out a well-made story, about the comedians 1 adoption of a little boy (Spanky McFarland, the famous "Our Gang" trooper) and their subsequent journey to Kentucky to claim the youth’s inheritance. Predictably, the local residents do not take kindly to the pair of former vaudeville magicians, forcing the boys to strain their wits in order to keep their skins. Noah Beery, Mary Carlisle, and Lucille LaVerne contributed to this passable farce. Ginger Rogers appeared in a pair of romantic come dies, as well as the renowned musicals. Romance in Man hattan principally belonged to Francis Lederer. He plays a boisterously optimistic Czech immigrant who maintains his smile and positive outlook despite a succession of bar riers which he must overcome to earn a living in inhospit able New York. Rogers portrays a Broadway chorus girl 'who befriends the helpless foreigner and, following relentless Hollywood logic, eventually comes to love him. The picture was light, refreshing, and unquestionably more successful than. In Person, the other Rogers' pleasantry. Here she plays the role of a film personality who adopts outlandish disguises to avoid her clamoring admirers. George Brent, on loan from Warner Brothers, takes up with the "star" and, to her great surprise, is not impressed when he discovers her true identity. All in all, this Pandro Berman produc tion directed by William Seiter was rather pallid. The 277 release of In Person during the holidays In New York prompted Andre Sennwald of the New York Times to caption his review,, "Pre-Christmas Turkey. " A pair of low-budget musical comedies were sched uled in 1 9 3 5 to take advantage of the public's enthusiasm for the genre. Both Hooray for Love and To Beat the Band, turned out to be mediocre efforts, fathoms beneath the studio's A musicals. The former surveyed the misfortunes of Gene Raymond* a producer of musical entertainments* who eventually ends up bankrupt and in Jail. An upbeat ending in which Raymond wins Ann Sothern. and gleefully watches his show turn into ,a smash cannot salvage this lackluster effort. The music* by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh* was insipid and sloppily integrated into the film's dr a-: matic action. Only Lionel Stander's performance as Chowsky. a Russian orchestra conductor* enlivened the proceedings. Even Helen. Broderick and Eric Blore* so efficient in the Astaire-Rogers pictures* could not do much with the silly mishmash* To Beat the Band. This marital farce* directed by Ben Stoloff and featuring Matt Malneck's and Johnny Mercer's music* appears to have been thrown together in a big hurry. Its comedic moments were few and its story did not even make sense. Ann Harding delivered one of her best performances in. Enchanted April, a sentimental romantic comedy produced by Kenneth Macgowan. The picture managed to balance syrupy 278 romantic sequences with wild,, zany comedy elements. The story takes place in an Italian villa on the Mediterranean where Harding and her .husband, Prank Morgan, have gone to work out some problems in their relationship. Surrounding them are a plethora of eccentric characters headed by Reginald Owen, whose self-imposed grandiloquence becomes a Joy to poke fun at. Despite some very enthusiastic re views, Enchanted April did not live up to expectations at the box office. The picture, thus, hastened Miss Harding’s demise as a Radio Pictures Star. Lily Pons made her debut in I Dream Too Much as a provincial French girl who falls in love with an American composer, played by Henry Fonda. A fine score by Jerome Kern, as well as a sprinkling of arias from various operas, provided Miss Pons ample opportunity to display her vocal talents. No expense was spared In the production, but the picture nevertheless flopped. Pandro Berman, who produced, recalls, "We hand-tailored the story to suit her talents, as such naturally it was not the best kind of motion picture to make. . ... We were, perhaps, a little bit too high-brow in the attitude we took toward her and her music and the 56 story. Katharine Hepburn's 1935 productions charted a path from the calamitous to the sublime. The disaster, released in May, was titled Break of Hearts and co-starred Charles Boyer. This heart-rending narrative of the amorous rela- ' ' ■ ■279 tionship between a famous orchestra conductor and a woman composer turned out to be a threadbare string of cliches directed, in flaccid fashion, by Phillip Moellar. It is difficult to determine who was ultimately responsible for this hapless enterprise, though apparently Pan Berman forced the picture on. Hepburn against her wishes. After Spitfire, the respectable but financially disappointing Little Minister, and Break of Hearts, Miss Hepburn desperately needed a strong vehicle to revitalize her fading fortunes. She got it in Alice Adams, the film that gave George Stevens first-line director status. Booth Tarkington1s Alice, the lovely small-town girl snubbed by society because of her father's lack of money and ambition, proved a character well-suited to the actress' talents. Although her own upbringing had been very different from that of Alice Adams, Hepburn played the part with a poig nant blend of self-deceptive idealism and agonized frustra tion. Stevens' training in comedy was evident in the film's best scene. The Adams family invites Alice's beau, a proper-born young man (Pred MacMurray), to a dinner which degenerates into one of the most hilarious, and at the same time painfully lacerating, fiascoes in American cinema. While we chortle, as things go from bad to horrible, we also squirm uneasily in our chairs because the sense of overwhelming embarrassment seems top palpable. The only false note in the production is a counterfeit happy ending 28 (3 requiring MacMurray to suddenly confess his love to Hepburn and her to respond., "Gee Whiz]" Nevertheless, Alice Adams was certainly a significant picture to RKO. It returned Miss Hepburn to the public's good graces and earned a profit of $l64,000.8^" Two higher-caliber whodunits were included in the- 1935 releases. Edna Mae Oliver continued her impersonation of schooIteacher-cum-detective Hildegarde Withers in Murder on a Honeymoon. Provided with a witty screenplay by Seton Miller and Robert Benchley and strong support from James Gleason as police inspector Oscar Piper, Miss Oliver de livered a solid performance in p'erhaps the best of the "Murder on ..." mysteries. Star of Midnight featured William Powell as Clay Dalzell, a character seemingly plagiarized from Nick Charles, whom Powell had impersonated so winningly in MGM's 1934 film, The Thin Man. Dalzell is a debonair lawyer sus pected of murder. He sets about solving the crime to es tablish his own innocence but is constantly thwarted by the police and by a group of gangsters, both of whom are shad owing Dalzell for reasons of their own. Ginger Rogers plays Powell's romantic consort. She does not team with him as well as Myrna Loy did In The Thin Man, but her work is better than adequate. Star of Midnight must have ap pealed to more than hardened mystery lovers. It earned a profit of $265,000 for RKO.58 281 Melodrama maintained its position as an important, if undistinguished, component of the studio's program. The Silver Streak told the unlikely story of a breakneck, 2,000-mile train trip which must be made in nineteen hours in order to deliver iron lungs to a Nevada town where an epidemic of infantile paralysis has broken out. If nothing else, this picture deserved an award for the most outrage ous plot fabrication of the year. The People's Enemy also had something new— a thoroughly repulsive gangster as a central figure. Bowing to pressure from religious groups and the movie censors, Hollywood studios no longer dared to glamorize or heroize underworld leaders. Here, newly- signed RKO performer Preston Poster plays Vince, a gangland millionaire so despicable he deserts his wife and child when they need him most'. Naturally, the rat receives his just reward in the end, while Melvyn Douglas becomes bene ficiary of the suffering wife (Lila Lee). Radio's sweet, sentimental pictures fell short of Little Women and Anne of Green Gables, but they made re spectable profits for the studio. Laddie starred John Beal as the title character in this adaptation of Gene Stratton- Porter's rural idyll. As is often the case in this sort of entertainment, the structure was episodic, but the inci dents failed to be completely involving and the results were on the dull side. George Stevens directed--not his finest hour. Freckles, based on a novel by Stratton- 282 Porter's wife., was somewhat more agreeable. Torn Brown plays Freckles, an orphan who secures a watchman's job in an Indiana ‘lumber camp around the turn of the century. The plot concerns a burgeoning romance between Brown and Carol Stone and the rescue of an impish youngster (Virginia Weidler) from a group of bandits. Freckles had little re lation to life in the real world, but it proved a tolerable homespun fantasy. It will be remembered that J. R. McDonough felt convinced this type of picture was losing its appeal.-.^ Critics were evidently tiring of them, as this review of Grand Old Girl, an RKO release of similar ilk starring May Robson, attests: Miss Robson's new film . . . makes its assault upon that most poorly insulated of all human emotions, the grandmother instinct. It is remorseless as the dentist's drill. It asks you to weep over the spec tacle of a dear old lady who has just been kicked out of her high school job after thirty-eight years of devoted service. Comrades, are we going to let this dear old lady get kicked out like that? Look at her sitting there at her desk in the deserted classroom, this dear old lady that never done nothing to nobody. Comrades, are we mice or are we men? Weep, comrades, weep.59 Westerns reappeared in 1935^ and two of them were more than cheap "programmers." The Arizonian had a story and screenplay by Dudley Nichols (who would later write the classic Stagecoach). Richard Dix regained his hero status as marshal Clay Tallant who brings order to Silver City in 1880. He is joined in his war against evil by 283 reformed outlaw Tex Randolph (Preston Poster). Together they protect the honest townfolk, show proper reverence for womanhood (especially Margot Grahame)^ and vanquish the enemy. Past-paced and filled with action., The Arizonian stood out among the westerns of its day. Annie Oakley, a fictionalized biography of the famous female sharpshooter, was also effective entertain ment. The picture delved into the protagonist's romantic problems with Preston Poster again on hand to portray the object of Annie's affections. Barbara Stanwyck tackled the major role with vigor. A humorous subplot, which today would probably be considered in bad taste, involved the baffled attempts of an Indian chief, travelling with the Wild West show, to cope with urban life. Amazingly, G-eorge Stevens directed Annie Oakley. It was his fifth feature released during the year. RKO's biggest adventure picture did not measure up to the westerns. The Three Musketeers had originally been envisioned as a Francis Lederer vehicle to be directed by John Ford. When it finally reached the screen, however, it had direction by Rowland V. Lee and featured Walter Abel, Paul Lukas, Moroni Olsen, and Onslow Stevens. The produc tion cost over $500,000 but never generated much excitement. It stands today as one of the more anemic versions of the Dumas' tale which has been filmed many times. The picture 8 0 did manage a small profit ($30,000) for RKO. 284 Two other films deserve brief mention. Kenneth Macgowan's final RKO production was The Return of Peter Grimm. A generally bland remake, Grimm told the story of an. old man (Lionel Barrymore) who is forced to come back from the grave to set his affairs in order. The ghostly carry ings on were ripe for burlesque, but Macgowan and director George Nicholls, Jr., decided to play everything soberly. This determination, plus the deficient acting of Helen Mack as Grimm's adopted daughter, added up to a regretable coda for Macgowan's RKO career. Fang and Claw, another Frank Buck jungle documentary, was also distributed by RKO in 1935. Buck's imagination was beginning to run. dry, appar ently. Despite its exciting title, the picture only made $48,000 for the studio. Roberta Pandro Berman's fierce determination to secure Roberta as a major RKO production paid off handsomely. The picture boosted the careers of Astaire, Rogers, and Irene f , 2 Dunne and brought $770^000 into the RKO coffers. Even before he made The Gay Divorcee, Fred Astaire heard about the play and wrote Merian Cooper: There is a show called "Roberta" which I am told would make a suitable thing for me with of course some revision. The part is that of a football player who falls heir to a gown shop in. Paris j called "Madame Roberta" & he goes over there to take charge of the business. As I could hardly be a football hero--it has been suggested to me 285 that the character could be changed to that of a track star or something to suit my size.°3 The part that Astaire mentioned was eventually played by Randolph Scott, who did have the physique of a football player. Astaire took the role of Huck Haines, dancing bandleader of the "Wabash Indianians." Pan Berman had to go to New York during part of the production, so he designated his assistant, Zion Myers, to fill in. Myers did an excellent job of keeping director William Seiter moving ahead and informing Berman of all developments. On one occasion, Berman actually rewrote a problematic scene— in which Astaire confesses his love for Rogers in sly, humorous fashion--and wired the scenario to Myers in time to have it shot by Seiter the following morn- 64 ing. Pandro Berman was a creative producer in the fullest sense. After filming was completed, the studio executives became convinced they had another big hit on their hands. Ned Depinet, visiting the West Coast in February, wired Jules Levy about the sneak preview: First batch preview cards last night's ROBERTA came in and unanimously favorable, lauding picture to skies. . . . Comparisons odious but I think ROBERTA better all round entertainment stronger box office attraction than DIVORCEE. Jerome Kern, who had written the original play with Otto Harback, concurred with Depinet's appraisal. He sent the following telegram to Berman: 286 Thanks for wonderful evening. It certainly was unique experience to find motion picture version of one of our plays something to be proud of in stead of otherwise. Every department of the studio ,-concerned in Roberta Is to be congratu lated. The picture opened in. March at the Radio City Music Hall and quickly became one of the big hits of its day. Compared to the other Astaire-Rogers films (except Flying Down to Rio), Roberta is clearly out of balance. This is really Irene Dunne’s picture; she is the star and » her love affair with Randolph Scott represents the central element of the plot. Astaire and Rogers are brilliant when on screen. They simply are not there enough. One espe cially wishes for more Ginger Rogers in. Roberta. Her por trayal of phony Polish countess Scharwenka is a delight., signaling her development as an outstanding screen comedi enne. This is not to say that Irene Dunne is Inadequate as Stephanie., the dress designer who happens also to be a real Russian princess. She performs and sings admirably, with out much support from wooden Randolph Scott. Still, the screen turns electric whenever Astaire and Rogers appear; they deserve to be the focus, as they would be in the rest of their RKO "team" pictures. Roberta bogs down into an interminable fashion show near the end. The only Item of interest concerning this sequence is the appearance of Lucille Ball as one of the models. This represents, apparently, the first RKO appear- 287 ance of the actress who would, more than twenty years later, purchase the entire studio for the production of television programs. The Informer Little was expected of the film version of Liam O'Flaherty's novel, The Informer. It was made on a minis cule budget ($243,000) as the first picture of John Ford's new three-picture RKO deal. The subject matter was Ideal for Ford, a close student of Irish literature and history, and the resulting film became the most prestigious that RKO had ever produced. The Dudley Nicholas screenplay, Ford's creation of the constricted, fog-shrouded ambience of Dublin during the Black and Tan occupation, and Victor McLaglen's stunning portrayal of gutter Judas, G-ypo Nolan, elicited hosannas of praise from critics all across the country. The National Board of Review named The Informer best film of 1935* and It won four Academy Awards: Direc tion (Ford), Adaptation (Nichols), Male Performance (McLaglen.), Musical Score (Max Steiner). Metro's Mutiny on the -Bounty somehow managed to grab the "best picture" Oscar, although that film won no other major awards. The Informer performed erratically on its first run. Subsequent releases, buttressed by the floodtide of critical encomia, turned the picture Into a respectable 67 money-maker. A final tally revealed profits of $290,000. The reputation of The Informer has declined drasti cally in recent years. Andrew Sarris calls the film "dated" and refers to its "calculated expressionism and maudlin 68 sentimentality. " Before his death., even Ford dismissed the film as not one of his favorities, stating "it lacks go humour— which is my forte." ^ The film has been., in actual ity, unfairly denigrated. While the symbolic content is, indeed, heavy-handed, one cannot deny the consummate skill with which every detail is handled and the ultimate power of the drama. It remains an affecting cinematic accomplish ment. And considering its tiny budget, The Informer is something of a miracle production. Few filmmakers have ever done so much with so little. Becky Sharp Hollywood’s most eagerly awaited 1935 feature was the first three-strip Technicolor special, Becky Sharp. The film had been in the works since 1933 when John Hay Whitney and his cousin, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, formed Pioneer Pictures at the suggestion of their friend, Merian C. Cooper. The Whitneys were not simply interested in making motion pictures; as the company named suggested, they wished to blaze new trails in the entertainment indus try. Color films seemd the next logical step in the evolu tion of the cinema, leading "Jock" Whitney to decide to produce the initial feature in a new, "perfected" Techni- color process. ________ 289 Color^ of course, was nothing new. The Motion Pic ture Herald listed fifty different color processes that had 70 been utilized with varying degrees of success. Techni color had been available to movies since the early 1920s, and many films had been produced, either partially or wholly, in the company's two-color process during the late twenties and early thirties. RKO's own Rio Rita and Dixiana were among these pictures. But all the earlier processes--including those of Technicolor--had been flawed. They failed to create vivid and realistic color images. Three-color Technicolor fi nally solved the problem: As explained by medical experts, the human eye receives its color impressions through three primary nerve centers, each of which transmits to the brain one primary-color impression, the three colors thus received--red, yellow and blue--being termed the pri mary colors of the subtractive process. All other color impressions are made up of varying combinations of these three--green, for example, being an over lapping of blue and yellow impressions. If three black and white negatives of a scene are made, recording on one plate all the red elements, on another all the yellows and on a third all the blues, the selective action of the three-color sensory nerve centers of the eye is duplicated. If, then, positive transparencies from the three superimposed are made, the resynthetizing [sic] brain action is duplicated and the image of the scene in natural colors is ac complished . The earlier two-color process was generally con ceded to be more or less color-blind, giving a fair suggestion of actual color. It could not, however, give natural color because it omitted one-third of the primary color components. In an effort to use colors which in some measure partook of the missing third, most colors were rendered with more or less distortion, while others were impossible to reproduce. 290 In addition, the two primaries generally were exag gerated. 71 When the three-color process was made available in 1933., Walt Disney became the first producer to use it. His color "Silly Symphonies" '...whetted' the Interest of the studios and it was only a matter of time before someone completed a "natural color" feature. Not'.all the RKO executives were enthusiastic about the notion. Both Pandro Berman and B. B. Kahane were ac tively hostile, believing that "color would not add enough value to the negative to compensate" for the large added 72 costs involved. They also apparently worried about the possibility that a three-color picture might produce an avalanche of color features--just as The Jazz Singer- had precipitated the rapid conversion to "talkies." If this happened, the average budget of RKO features would sky rocket. To begin with, three times as much film had to be shot, and processing and printing charges were also higher. The extra expense would vary from picture to picture, but there could be no question that color meant considerably higher production costs. The two men at RKO who believed most strongly in color were Merian Cooper and Kenneth Macgowan. Since Cooper was 111 throughout much of the Becky Sharp germina tion period, Macgowan. became liaison between the studio and Pioneer Pictures, as well as the "line" producer of the 291 film. RKO entered Into a deal with Pioneer to distribute the picture. The company really had nothing to lose; the Whitneys were putting up all the money for production. RKO provided only studio facilities and Macgowan's services. The first Important decision facing Whitney and Macgowan involved the choice of a property. It had to be something exemplary., a story with enough style and excel lence to merit special treatment. Hamlet , Joan of Arc, Tristan and Isolde, The Three Musketeers, and The Last of the Mohicans were only a few of the titles considered be fore Becky Sharp finally won. The film would be based on Langdon Mitchell's play which., of course, had been drawn from Thackeray's classic novel, Vanity Fair. While discussions concerning the crucial property dragged on, Macgowan convinced Whitney to make a short film as a kind of "trial run." Talented set-and-costume de signer Robert Edmund Jones--whom we remember from the early days of the Radio City Music Hall--was hired to function as art director. He had worked closely with director Lloyd Corrigan on La Cucaracha, completed in the summer of 193^• The short was a flimsy tale about a Mexican girl (Steffi Duna) whose perseverance enables her to win the affection of a handsome dancer. Nevertheless, the film was quite beautiful in its use of color and was greeted with enthusi asm. La Cucaracha also fulfilled its purpose, as Macgowan wrote Whitney: 292 As things turn out,, it seems to me the making of "Cucaracha" was really very fortunate. We have learned far more about the difficulties and costs of a feature than we ever could have with ordinary tests or even with the shooting of one sequence from our intended picture.'3 John. Hay Whitney was pleased and decided definitely to make the feature. After Becky Sharp was chosen and Miriam Hopkins signed to play the lead, a director had to be hired. Richard Boleslavsky became the first choice, but it proved impossible to borrow him from MGM. Gregory La Cava, Rowland V. Lee, Lloyd Corrigan, and Prank Tuttle received consideration. When the decision-making ended, ) the job belonged to Lowell Sherman. It had been years since he last made a picture for RKO. Production began, in December 193^.> and turned out to be fully as jinxed as Bird of Paradise had been. At first, the bright lights aggravated the eyes of the actors, especially Miss Hopkins. Then Sherman developed pneumonia, 7b and,to everyone's shock, died in early January. The versatile actor-director, who had played the villain in D. W. Griffith's Way Down East as well as directing Mae West in She Done Him Wrong and Hepburn, in Morning Glory, was only forty-nine years old. Rouben Mamoulian, hired as Sherman's replacement, threw out his predecessor's footage and started over. About two weeks after this, Miriam Hopkins came down with pneumonia and was taken to the hospital. She fortunately ' 293' recovered, but her absence delayed the picture consider- 75 ably.1^ The budget continued to escalate, and problems kept cropping up even after the completion of shooting. Post-production work revealed the sound track was deficient, forcing the re-recording of much of the film and necessi tating further delays in its release. Macgowan wrote Whit ney: It Is a bitterly ironic fact that In a picture in. which we thought we would have to worry about color, we have ended in spending three weeks of time and considerable money and a good deal of heart-ache over sound.76 The final cost of Becky Sharp was $1,09^-^811.^ The release of the picture in June brought forth a near-unanimous, double-edged response. The quality and artistic usage of color received unqualified praise while the dramatic elements of the film were deemed woefully in adequate. Jones and Mamoulian. had carefully worked out color schemes to underscore the varying moods of the drama. One tour de force was the Duchess' ball which takes place on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo: Prom the pastel serenity of the opening scenes at the ball, the color deepens into sombre hues as the rumble of Napoleon's cannon is heard in. the ballroom. Thenceforward It mounts in excitement as pandemonium seizes the dancers, until at last the blues, greens and scarlets of the running officers have become an. active contributing factor in the overwhelming cli max of sound and p h o t o g r a p h y .7 o Unfortunately, less care was given to the story which proved thoroughly uninvolving, despite tolerable performances by 294 Prances Dee, Nigel Bruce, and Cedric Hardwicke. The public responded apathetically to Becky Sharp. Miriam Hopkins was badly miscast, and the adaptation failed to realize the dramatic strengths inherent in the material. Gone With the Wind, which was obviously inspired by Vanity Fair, managed to bring the elements to life and movie audi ences to life also. But Becky Sharp, even with its gorge ous color, was simply a dull show. Thus, color did not supplant black-and-white overnight, although other studios used it for occasional "specials" throughout the rest of the decade. Since RKO had invested nothing, its distribu- ■ 7 9 tion of the picture actually showed a profit of $ 1 1 2,0 0 0. Whitney and his Pioneer Pictures, however, must have taken a pretty sound financial beating on the experiment. Despite the hiring of Merian Cooper as vice-president later in the year, Pioneer did not remain in business much longer. She and The Last Days of Pompeii Merian C. Cooper's last two RKO spectaculars floun dered disappointingly. She, the H. Rider Haggard fantasy about eternal youth, had been analyzed by the RKO story department in 1932. A reader named Twitchell reported: Viewing this story, even in the light of a "horror" possibility, I fail to see that it possesses the slightest value to the screen today. It is so old fashioned, so highly improbable, so stilted, that I don't think anything could be done with it to make it worth while. NOT RECOMMENDED. 0 295 Nevertheless, Cooper was convinced She had exciting possi bilities and prevailed upon J. R. McDonough to purchase the rights. He may have been right; the film has been, remade three times. Universal owned the property but parted with It for $20,000 of RKO' s money. Cooper wanted Joel McCrea and Prances Dee for the Important roles of Leo and Sally, two of the three (Nigel Bruce as Holly was the other) who stumble upon the kingdom of Kor, ruled by "Hash-A-Mo-Tep" (She Who Must Be Obeyed). Neither McCrea nor Dee was available so Cooper settled for Randolph Scott and Helen Mack. For the role of She, Cooper chose Helen G-ahagen, a virtual unknown to motion picture audiences. In order to Include some additional moments of ex citement, such as a glacial avalanche, Cooper transplanted the story from Africa to the Arctic. This was a mistake for the tale was about Victorian Africa. Direction was handled by Irving Pichel and an architect named Lancing C. Holden, the producer apparently being fond of directorial teamwork. Production proceeded in. a tense atmosphere. Cooper evidently feuded with J. R. McDonough throughout the making of this picture and The Last Days of Pompeii. For example, McDonough was asked by Cooper if he could - exceed the original budget by approximately 1 0 percent on She. . . McDonough held firm: I know you have told me for some time you would like to spend from $40,000 to $5 0 ,0 0 0 more on the picture 296 than your contract permits. My answer to that is still the same, namely, I expect you to make for RKO in accordance with your contract the great picture you promised us for $500,000. 1 The friction between McDonough and the producer may have been a significant factor in Cooper's decision to leave RKO. When, finished,, She contained several impressive elements: fabulous sets, striking costumes, and marvelous special effects. But its liabilities outweighed the posi tive aspects. Ruth Rose's screenplay, with additional dia logue by Dudley Nichols, supplied nothing to contradict Twitchell's earlier assessment of the story. The acting of Scott and Mack turned out to be especially limp--even for them--and the decision to impose a bathetic moral posture on the drama was misconceived. Miss Gahagan per formed the title role with majesty and proper wistfulness, to no avail. She lost $180,000 and aborted Gahagan's brief 8 2 motion picture career. Years later, she would gain prominence in another realm--politics--during a bitter race for the U.S. Senate with Richard M. Nixon. The Last Days of Pompeii was better than She, but it cost substantially more ($8 1 8,0 0 0) and also lost more Oo ($240,000). The plot bore no resemblance to Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton.'s novel of the same name, other than the climactic destruction of the city by erupting Mount Vesuv ius. Instead, the Ruth Rose screenplay based on a story by James Creelman and Melville Baker appeared to be heavily 297 influenced by Cecil B. DeMille's religious epics, espe cially The Sign of the Cross. It told the story of Marcus,' a blacksmith, who becomes obsessed with money and power after the tragic death of his wife and son. On a trip to Judea, Marcus' adopted son, Flavius, is healed by Jesus, but Marcus refuses to act when he sees the healer about to be crucified. Back to Pompeii, Marcus acquires fabulous wealth but loses the respect of Flavius, who falls in love with a slave girl and risks his life for her wretched people. Flavius' death in the arena is prevented only by the eruption of Vesuvius. Marcus undergoes a spiritual awakening and is mortally wounded while preventing the soldiers from stopping the escape of his son and the slave girl. As they sail away, Marcus has a vision of Christ and hears him say, "He that loseth his life for my sake shall never die." Preston Foster performed adequately as Marcus. The finest acting of the film, however, belonged to Basil Rath- bone as Pontius Pilate. His compelling portrait of a clever, haughty man forever tortured by the memory of the innocent teacher he sent to death must surely be the fore most representation of Pilate on film. None of the other performers in Last Days approach Rathbone in excellence, but thankfully there were no embarrassments of the Mack- Scott level in the film, either. 298 One of the disappointments of the picture is the relatively meager level of the spectacle. The scenes in the arena are less than dynamic, and the special effects simulating the devastation of Pompeii are not up to the usual level of Willis O ’Brien and his team of wizards. Considering the respectable budget, this is hard to under stand. The ultimate responsibility for the failure of the picture must lie with Cooper and director Ernest B. Schoed- sack, however. They simply failed to achieve the proper mixture of DeMillean decadence and sanctification which made films of this type almost certain successes. The Last Days of Pompeii turned out to be considerably less than spectacular. A footnote: RKO re-released She and The Last Days of Pompeii on a double-bill in 19^-9 • They did well, recoup ing their original losses. Top Hat Top Hat is today considered by many to be the quin- te'ssential Astaire-Rogers musical. It had a solid score by Irving Berlin, fine direction by Mark Sandrich, excellent supporting performances by Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore, and Erik Rhodes, exceptional art design by Van Nest Polglase and Carroll Clark and a plot that was one incredibly elaborated romantic misunderstand- ing--thus, a. pristine example of the Astaire-Rogers formula. 299 The script j by Dwight Taylor and Allan Scott., was loosely based on a screenplay entitled Scandal in Budapest, written by Karl Noti. After a first reading. Fred Astaire was less than Impressed. He wrote Pandro Berman: In the first place--as this book Is supposed to have been written for me with the Intention of giving me a chance to do the things that are most suited to me--I cannot see that my part embodies any of the necessary elements except to dance-dance-dance. I am cast, as a straight juvenile & rather a cocky and arrogant one at that--a sort of objectionable young man without charm or sympathy or humor. I cannot see that there is any real story or plot to this script. It is a series of events patterned too closely after Gay Divorce, without the originality &. suspense of that play. I have practically no comedy of any consequence except in the scene in the cab. I am forever pawing the girl or she Is rushing into my arms. Astaire's criticism continued at lengthy but apparently Berman was able to calm the star during personal confer ences. Some additional polishing brought the script up to acceptable standards. Production was completed In early summer of 1935., enabling the studio to get the picture ready for release as the first offering of the 1935-1936 season. This was a particularly important factor. Ned Depinet had often expressed a desire for a major hit to kick off the com pany's program. With a blockbuster lead, the Distribution department would have a much easier time selling the entire slate of RKO films to exhibitors. Depinet got his dream in Top Hat. It launched a big sales year and even brought . 300 four separate lawsuits from exhibitors claiming they should have the film as part of the 1934-1935 commitment. Ac tually,, the exhibitors had a reasonable point. The company had promised two Astaire-Rogers films., Roberta and Radio City Revels in its 1934-1935 contracts. Since Radio City Revels was never produced, the theater owners felt entitled to Top Hat without having to book the entire RKO product . . of the new season. Nevertheless, a judge in Ohio ruled in the studio's favor: "Top Hat," in the opinion of Judge Skeel, is a 1935-36 feature picture by reason of its production number and also its national release date, it having previously been agreed that the motion picture season opens officially on September 1st. "Top Hat" was re leased September 6th . 8 5 Top Hat became an immediate and unprecedented (for RKO) smash hit. It easily surpassed all the attendance records of the Radio City Music Hall, bringing in over 86 $244,000 in two weeks. W. G. Van Schmus, managing direc tor of the huge palace, wrote Pandro Berman in appreciation: I want to congratulate you from the bottom of my heart for this great achievement. I expressed my self to Mac [J. R. McDonough] when he was here and also saw Fred Astaire . . . and told him of our great pleasure. I wish you would kiss Ginger Rogers on both cheeks for me and tell her that I agree with the critics of the New York papers who stressed her performance and placed her on equal partnership in this wonderful team. There is something so thor oughly human about her performance it appeals to the people. Fred Astaire, of course, has his top posi tion and nobody can take it away from him.°7 Indeed, Top Hat secured a top position for both Astaire and Rogers. In late December, the duo was accorded fourth 301 place on the Motion Picture Herald1s list of "biggest money on making stars of 1934-35-" It was the first time any RKO performers had appeared In the "top ten." Fred and Ginger were definitely money makers. It Is arguable whether Top Hat represents the best of the Astaire-Rogers efforts., but the film certainly was the most successful. It earned a profit of $1,295,000, thus making it the top box office picture produced by RKO during the 1930s.89 Conelusion It Is understandable that Floyd Odium, the ultimate authority at RKO after October 1935* would wish to place his own men In the company's key positions. And so he did, hiring Leo Spitz as corporate president and Sam Briskin as vice-president in charge of production. It might, however, have been to Odium's advantage to have analyzed the situa tion more carefully before making changes. The McDonough- Kahane collective that was uprooted had turned In a very creditable performance in 1935. The final financial state ment showed profits of $684,733 •9<^ It was the first year RKO had made money since 1931* and film production deserved a large share of the credit. Still, one is hesitant to bestow too many laurels on B. B. Kahane and J. R. McDonough. Under their associate producer system, the production work was basically "farmed 302 out" to othersj especially Pandro Berman. And Berman had an extraordinary year, numbering Roberta, Alice Adams, and Top Hat among his several successes. Certainly Kahane and McDonough were involved in. story selection, casting and general production matters, but they were not like David 0. Selznick--they did not scrutinize every aspect of their pictures. Thus, it is difficult to determine just how responsible the two men were for the happy results of 1 9 3 5- All of this is, in the final analysis, mere aca demic speculation. For whatever reasons, Floyd Odium de cided to rejuvenate the RKO corporate body, and he consid ered neither McDonough nor Kahane vital to RKO’s well-being. Berman, on the other hand, was untouchable. His unit would ride out the administrative retrenchment completely intact and unscathed. 303 Footnotes "^"RKO Payments Await Agreement, " Motion Picture Herald, 13 October 1934j P» 43. ^"Reorganizing of RKO Is Started," Motion. Picture Herald, 3 November 1934* P* 15* S Ibid. 4 "Irving Trust Is Named Permanent Trustee of RKO," Motion Picture Herald, 30 June 1934* P* 38. ^"RKO Schedules 50 for New Season," Motion Picture Herald, 23 June 1934, p. 12. ^Ibid. ^Ibid., p. 1 8. 8 "Profits of Additional Features of Any Significance from 1929/30 through 1935/36," "RKO." (Typewritten list.) ^Ibid. Andre Sennwald, "Wednesday's Child," New York Times, 15 December 1934, p. 9* ^"Profits of Additional Features." 12 Fred Astaire, letter to Katharine Brown, "RKO," 6 November 1933. 13 B. B. Kahane, memorandum to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 25 September 1934. ^Ned Depinet, memorandum to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 22 October 1934. 45"pr0fits of Additional Features." 16 John. Russell Taylor and Arthur Jackson, The Holly wood Musical (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971)* P* 43. 17 'Arlene Croce, The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book (New York: Galahad Books, 1972), p5 39* 1 O "Profits of Additional Features." _ - 3 -0; - . 1^Ibid. 20 J. R. McDonoughj letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 21 January 1935- 21 Ibid. 22 Perry Lleber, "History of RKO Radio Pictures," "RKO," 27 May 1946, p. 6. 27 "Vaudeville Sinks to Lowest Ebb as 'Back to Film' Movement Grows,” Motion Picture Herald, 31 August 1935, P . 17. 24 Ibid. 25"'pree Delivery' of Screen Talent Hailed at NBC Coast Opening, " Motion Picture Herald, 14 December 1935, p . 2 8. 26 "Hollywood Back on the Air to Exploit Pictures and Players," Motion Picture Herald, J September 1935, p. 15. 27"'Pree Delivery' of Screen Talent Hailed at NBC Coast Opening." pp. Martin Quigley, "Radio Competition," Motion Pic ture Herald, 14 December 1935, P* 29. 2Q Hollywood Back on the Air to Exploit Pictures and Players." ■^Arthur Knight, The Liveliest Art (New York: Mac millan, 1957), P. 249. 31 "Improved Receipts and Product Lead the Parade in Review of 1935," Motion Picture Herald, 4 January 1936, p . 65. ^^"RKO Loss Cut to $310,575 in 1934," Motion Picture Herald, 15 June 1934, p. 63* O O RKO Admissions up $46,065 Weekly," Motion Picture Herald, 20 July 1935, p. 54. "RKO- Loss Cut to $310,575 In 1934." "RKO Admissions up $46,065 Weekly," p. 5 6. 305' 36 "Odium and Lehmans Buy Large Part of RCA's Control of RKO," Motion Picture Herald, 19 October 1935, p. 54. 37Ibid. 33"Rathvon Named by Odium to Handle RKO Revamping," Motion Picture Herald, 26 October 1935, p. 46. 3^"Rockefeller Claim Stirs RKO Action," Motion Pic- ture Herald, 2 November 1935, p. 34. 40 "The Men Who Revived Paramount Go to Work on RKO," Newsweek, 16 November 1935, p. 30. 41 Ibid. lip "Spitz Starts Duties with RKO; Says Depinet Will Retain Post," Motion Picture Herald, 16 November 1935, p. 24. 43 Samuel Briskin, telegram to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 23 December 1935- 44 ^ "Briskin at Radio, Motion Picture Herald, 28 De cember 1 9 3 5, p. 9* ^3"Cooper at Pioneer as Vice-President," Motion Pic ture Herald, 5 October 1935, p. 15. 46 Kenneth Macgowan, letter to Mrs. Ewan MacDonald (Lucy Maud Montgomery), 14 August 1934. "The Kenneth Macgowan Collection," U.C.L.A. Research Library, Box 31, file 1. Los Angeles, California. 47 'Mike Steen, "A Louis B. Mayer American Film Insti tute Oral History of Pandro Berman," The American Film Institute Archives, n.d., p. 191. Beverly Hills, Califor nia. 48 Leland Hayward, letter to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 16 October 1935. ^Pandro Berman, telegram'to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 14 March 1935. BO J. R. McDonough, letter to M. H. Aylesworth, "RKO," 18 January 1935. 51Ibid. 306 52 "RKO Expands Production Plans," Motion Picture Herald, 22 June 1935j pp. 65-66. 8 8 "Studio Schedules Revised to Include 54 Hit Re makes," Motion Picture Herald, 9 November 1935^ p. 43. rIl Samuel Briskin, letter to Leo Spitz, RKO," 29 January 1936. 55 ^Andrew Sennwald, "Pre-Christmas Turkey," New York Times, 13 December 1935j p. 31. 8 8Steen, "Oral History of Pandro Berman.," p. 215. 57nprofits of Additional Features." 5 8Ibid. C Q ^Andrew Sennwald, "Grand Old Girl," New York Times, 26 February 1935j p. 16. 60, "Profits of Additional Features." 8lIbid. 62T, . . Ibid. 63 Fred Astaire, letter to Merian. Cooper, "RKO, " 26 January 1934. 64 Pandro Berman, telegram to Zion. Myers, "RKO," 17 December 1934. 65 ^Ned Depinet, telegram to Jules Levy, "RKO," 4 February 1935- 66 Jerome Kern, telegram to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 8 February 1935* 67"profits of Additional Features." 88Andrew Sarris, The American. Cinema (New York: E. P. Dutton., 1 9 6 8), p. 45. 8^Peter Bogdanovich, John Ford (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 9 6 8), p. 59. ^"50 Color Attempts In 50 Years," Motion Picture Herald, 1 June 1935j p. 45. 307 "First 3-Color Feature Awaits Public Verdict," Motion. Picture Herald, 25 May 1935j P- H. ^Macgowan^ letter to John Hay Whitney, 21 June 1934. "The Kenneth Macgowan Collection.," Box 29* file 14. 73Ibid. 74 "Lowell Sherman., Actor, Director, Dies in Holly wood, " Motion Picture Herald, 5 January 1935* P- 44. Becky Sharp' in. Color May Open Movies' Third Era," Newsweek, 22 June 1935* p. 22. ^Macgowan, letter to John Hay Whitney, 16 May 1935* "The Kenneth Macgowan Collection," Box 29, file 15. 77 John Speaks, letter to Kenneth Macgowan, 29 June 1936. "The Kenneth Macgowan Collection," Box 31* file 3. Andrew Sennwald, "Becky Sharp," New York Times, 14 June 1935* p. 2 7. 79"profits of Additional Features." 8®Twitchell, "Story Report on She," "RKO." fti J. R. McDonough, memorandum to Merian Cooper, "RKO," 8 February 1935• ftp "Profits of Additional Features." 83Ibid. 84 Fred Astaire, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," n.d. 8ft -^"Exhibitors Lose 'Top Hat' Fight," Motion Picture Herald, 9 November 1935* P- 24. 88"Improved Receipts and Product Lead the Parade in Review of 1935*" P- 6 7. 8?W. J. Van Schmus, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 18 September 1935. OQ "The Biggest Money Making Stars of 1934-35*" Motion Picture Herald, 28 December 1935* p. 13* 89"pr0fits of Additional Features." 90 ^ "Attendance Revenues, Profits Continue Rising Survey Shows," Motion Picture Herald, 2 May 1935, p. 6l'.____ CHAPTER VII THE SPITZ-BRISKIN REGIME (1936-1937) The first year of Odium stewardship turned out to be a stormy, volatile period. Management shake-ups, now becoming regular company events., had always proved disrup- tive, but this one churned the waters more than most. Leo Spitz and Sam Briskin were both unknown quantities as far as RKO's employees were concerned, and this certainly com pounded the usual trepidation that accompanied executive realignment. The present situation was quite different from the placing of M. C. Cooper or J. R. McDonough or B. B. Kahane into positions of authority, because each of these men. had prior service with the company. Spitz and Briskin did not. Morale at the studio fell to a low point in January 1936, amidst rumors that Sam Briskin planned a thorough "house cleaning." The problem was such that B. B. Kahane sent Briskin a memo asking him for a statement "to correct - the impression . . . that the studio is due for one of the biggest shake-ups in film history.It is impossible to determine if Briskin actually made such a statement. With out question, however, the rumors were unfounded; no 308 - 309 indiscriminate "firing squad" appeared on the scene, and RKO continued to function with essentially the same team of employees as before. Neverthelessj difficulties beset the studio through out 1936j as we shall see. Among the problems of the new regime would be relations with the company's biggest stars, the production of a group of disappointing pictures, and the continuing inability of the organization to free itself from the stigma of receivership. Soon, it would become apparent that 1 9 3 5 represented a kind of golden year for the company, rather than a stepping stone to greater ac complishments. Despite the steadily improving business climate and the great success of such films as Follow the Fleet and Swing Time, 1936 must be considered one of the more difficult and frustrating years in RKO history. Receivership A proposal for reorganization represented the para mount company goal in 1936. During the initial months of the year, a series of postponements in the receivership hearings were necessitated by the inability of N. Peter Rathvon and others working on the problem to formulate a suitable plan. The single most important factor delaying formulation was Rockefeller Center's huge claim against the company: The claim is based on a 20-year lease made by RKO with Rockefeller Center in 1931j which provides 310 for an annual rental of $950.,000. Under articles of the lease RKO was also held liable for the unamortized construction costs of the Music Hall and Center Thea tre. The claim was filed for $12,185,000 and,, after hearings last year, was reduced to approximately $9,150,000. As the claim now stands Rockefeller Center is the largest unsecured creditor of RKO and as such would be a power in the reorganization of. the company. The status of the huge claim has been the principal obstacle to the development of a plan, of reorganization for RKO and it is apparent that until the claim is disposed of little or no progress on a plan can be made. Thus, until negotiations between the Rockefeller interests and RKO could produce some kind of settlement, reorganiza tion of the company would be impossible. Nevertheless, Leo Spitz told RKO1s June sales convention that the reorgan- ization would be effected by January 1937- The process dragged on into the fall when, suddenly, significant pressure was brought to bear on the situation. RKO's earnings had escalated, and its stock was rising: The rapidly increasing earnings of RKO, which are being reflected in the market value of its stock, were said to be a factor in the current demand for an im mediate presentation of a plan. A sharp rise in the market value of the stock would complicate the provi sions for treatment of stockholders. . . . The same consideration applies in lesser degree to any credi tors who are designated to receive common stock of^ the new RKO company in settlement of their claims. Even so, the Rockefeller problem remained the major obstruc tion. Until some compromise settlement of the $9,100,000 claim could be reached, no reorganization plan would be present ed. An apparent breakthrough finally came in November. Rockefeller Center agreed to accept 500,000 shares of 311 common stock in the reorganized Radio-Keith-Orpheum as pay ment for Its claim, thus clearing the way for the long- 5 awaited plan. The plan was complicated. Basically, how ever, it called for $33*000,000 in new capitalization, cor porate simplification through merger of several subsidiary companies (RKO Studios, Inc., the RKO Distributing Corpora tion,. the RKO Pathe Studios Corporation, Ltd., and three others) into RKO Radio Pictures, Incorporated, and the is suance of new common stock.^ Shareholders would receive one-half new share and each share of the old RKO stock they held. The company's other creditors (in addition to Rocke feller Center) would also receive stock equal in value to the amount of their claims. In addition to cancelling the $9*100,000 debt, the Rockefeller Center arrangement once again gave RKO a par ticipation in the operation and profits of the two Radio City theaters. A new rental rate of $2 per square foot (reduced from $2.75 per square foot) was agreed upon for 7 the office space which RKO occupied in Radio City. The agreement between RKO and the Rockefellers was set for twelve years. According to the Motion Picture Herald, "The reor ganization plan should not meet with any serious opposition O and may have the court's approval by March 1." This was optimistic, to say the least. Several problems would soon become apparent, problems that would considerably delay the 312 company's emergence from receivership. Nevertheless, one important fact was now clear. No matter what happened, the Rockefellers would play an important role in the future development of RKO. The big question was who would assume ultimate control of the studio's fortunes. Would it be I . , Ployd Odium of Atlas Corporation., who was basically in charge at the moment, or David Sarnoff of RCA, which still had a considerable interest in RKO, or the Rockefellers? RKO had suddenly become the plaything of three very power ful financial concerns. The Executives There were two important changes at the top level of company management in 1936. Early in the year, Merlin Aylesworth resigned as president of the National Broadcast ing Company, though he continued to serve as vice chairman Q and a director of the radio network. Aylesworth's stated reason for this was his desire to devote more time to the movie company in. his new position as RKO chairman of the board. It was expected that Aylesworth would expend con siderable energy on the reorganization problems, but it appears he devoted himself primarily to an old pastime-- preaching the gospel of radio-film symbiosis. (Aylesworth's new "campaign" is described later in this chapter.) Mr. Aylesworth severed all ties with NBC in Oc tober. ^ Finally, after almost four years as a high 313 official of the movie concern, he would be able to give his undivided service to RKO and its problems. It seems strange, however, that Aylesworth made the decision at this time. There really was not very much for him to do, or very much he could do. The company now rested firmly in the hands of Floyd Odium's men— Leo Spitz and Sam Briskin-- and Aylesworth represented something of an excrescence on the corporate body. Based on all available information, it appears that Aylesworth did not become a vital force in the company's new affairs. Instead, he apparently functioned primarily as David Sarnoff's watchdog, scrutinizing the decisions of the Odium executives and reporting on them to the head man of RCA. It is a huge irony that RKO, which had desperately needed Aylesworth's full-time attention when he functioned as corporate president, now had him completely, but regarded him as essentially superfluous. J. R. McDonough and B. B. Kahane were also expend able, since Sam Briskin had taken over studio operations. McDonough stayed on, in a much diminished capacity, but Kahane decided to depart in August 1936. Columbia Pictures offered him a newly created vice-presidency, and Kahane quickly accepted the Job.^^ It must have been an emotional decision for the former president, who had worked for RKO since its inception and had contributed substantially to the company's successes. Certainly Kahane had made mis takes over the years, but his record compares favorably to the performance of most of the other RKO executives. He functioned in many capacities for the studio and handled them all efficiently and enthusiastically. Perhaps Kahane's greatest achievement was the spectacular 1 9 3 5 production year--the only full year he served as head of RKO produc tion. But a new management had decided to replace him, and he had to spend the first seven months of 1936 in a sub servient position. It was time to get out,, and Kahane knew it. He would be given a chance at Columbia,, and he would make the most of it. Radio-Film Cooperation Merlin Aylesworth once again began to push for more radio-movie cooperation in 1936. Calling radio the "best friend" of motion pictures, the RKO executive proposed a 12 new working arrangement to aid both industries. Ayles worth was in a better position to make his plea than ever before. Many motion picture stars were now appearing regularly on radio, despite the grumblings of the studio moguls. Joan Crawford, Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, and Marion Davies were only a few of the performers realizing tremendous salaries (up to $ 2 5 ,0 0 0 per week) for their 13 broadcasting efforts. ^ RKO's biggest star, Fred Astaire, signed an agreement with the Packard Motor Car Company in 1936 for a series of radio shows which, due to a personal request from Pandro Berman acting in Aylesworth's behalf, 315 l4 were presented over the NBC network. In addition to denying that radio "de-glamorized" Hollywood's stars, Merlin Aylesworth refuted the traditional contention that broadcasts cut into box office receipts: The motion picture is grossly mistaken when it says that the radio keeps people in their houses, thereby cutting off potential theatre patronage. . . . Except in the summertime, Saturday and Sunday even ings are still the best.days for box office grosses. Yet there are more good radio programs broadcast on those evenings than any other night.-*-5 Aylesworth!s prescription for mutual cooperation was simple: more utilization of radio to exploit pictures, more freedom of access for radio use of film personalities, more tech nical assistance from film companies in the development of commercial television. Despite the fact that Mr. Aylesworth was not sup posedly connected more closely with RKO than with NBC, several movie executives began to feel they had a "double agent" in their midst. These men had often criticized Aylesworth politely in the past for his championing of radio; now, they denounced him forthrightly. Jack Cohn, vice-president of Columbia, became a spokesman for the con servative film executives. In August 1936, he answered Aylesworth calling his mutual cooperation philosophy "ridic- 16 ulous" and charging "treason within the ranks." Cohn went on. to debunk the contention that radio "plugging" helped to sell pictures and urged "drastic steps to force 17 producers to bar their stars from the air." He also 316 spoke sympathetically of exhibitors whose business had seemingly been damaged by radio cooperation. Cohn con cluded : Radio is competition for the motion picture., and no arrangement can be worked out for an amicable ar rangement under which both will benefit. We have met the competition, in the past and we will continue to meet it in the future. And we will do it when and if television becomes a commercial reality. But we are treading on dangerous ground, selling ammunition to the enemy, when we lend pur stars for the enhanc ing of competing programs.-*-® Predictably, no solution to this controversial sub ject was forthcoming. Most of the studios reluctantly al lowed their stars to continue the broadcasts, rather than alienating them by banning such appearances. There is no evidence that radio was used for more movie advertising or that film technicians became actively involved in the per fecting of television. Merlin Aylesworth!s outspoken ap proval of radio probably did him and RKO little good in the highest circles of the movie industry, however. Prom its birth, RKO's total commitment to the motion picture had been suspect; Aylesworth's sweeping attempt in 1936 to convince movie people of the glorious opportunities radio afforded them meant that the uncertainty would continue. No doubt many RKO employees wondered where Merlin Hall Aylesworth's final allegiance resided. Was it with RKO? Or NBC? Or possibly RCA? 317 Personnel Difficulties with its biggest stars and the signing of a distribution agreement with Walt Disney highlighted RKO' s personnel developments in 1936. Lost amid turbulent contract negotiations with Fred Astaire and Katharine Hep burn and the jubilant addition of Disney was the departure of one of the studio's most talented employees: Max Steiner, Steiner was a pioneer of motion picture music, a genius whose scores for King Kong, The Informer, Gone With the Wind, and other films are now considered classics. If his creations tended, on occasion, to be overwhelmingly il lustrative to the point of banality, it must be remembered that he was one of the hardest workers at the studio, scor ing many pictures each year. The wonder is that so much of his music sounded fresh and inventive. One of Steiner's gifts was an ability to interweave well-known songs and classic material with his own original compositions. Max Steiner is the only film composer singled out for special praise by John Baxter in his Hollywood in the Thirties. Baxter treats Steiner as the patriarch of movie scoring, the man principally responsible for making music "a crea tive part of the cinema. Nevertheless, Max Steiner felt underpaid and under- appreciated at RKO. In 193^-j he signed a contract with the company in order to get enough money to help his mother out of a difficult political situation involving the Nazis in 3i8 20 Vienna. As he later revealed in a memo to B. B. Kahane, he was "very unhappy" with the contract and would never have signed it if he had not been faced with his "mother's fi- 21 nancial troubles. " The unhappiness festered., manifesting itself in emotional outbursts and rather unpredictable be havior. Although he signed another agreement with the studio in the latter part of 1935j> Steiner began to seem more trouble than he was worth. In May 1936, the RKO exec utives agreed to cancel the contract, thereby freeing Steiner to take a Job with Warner Brothers. Once again, one of Hollywood's creative geniuses had slipped away from RKO. The studio almost lost another prodigy in 1936. As mentioned in the last chapter, Fred Astaire had severe misgivings about his future with RKO. The company was too volatile to suit him, and he apparently felt ill-at-ease with the new production, regime. Negotiations on his new contract stalled In late January because some of the clauses he insisted upon were considered Impossible by Briskin, Spitz, and others. Chief among these clauses was one which would have given Astaire the right to name the 22 leading lady in each of his pictures. Apparently, he was still uncomfortable with Ginger Rogers. Astaire, at this time, had two years of obligation remaining to RKO. Thus, when it began to look as if no compromise were possible, Briskin started formulating plans 319 "to crack through with as many pictures as possible in the next two years, even if it meant carrying one or two on the shelf after his [Astaire's] contract with us was up." The RKO lawyers were instructed to go over Astaire's present - contract carefully to determine how many pictures could he required of him. In the course of this scrutiny, a ques tion. arose concerning "whether or not because of the pecu liar wording of the contract," the studio had to begin photography on the next Astaire picture (Swing Time) by 24 February 12, or breach the agreement. The RKO legal staff decided that it would be sufficient to start dance rehearsals by that date. Since the film was not nearly ready for principal photography (there was not even a com plete script), Sam Briskin breathed a giant sigh of relief. To be safe, though, he sent the contract to the law firm of Mitchell, Silberberg, and Knupp for an. opinion. Briskin was shocked by their reply: There was no doubt in their minds that if RKO failed to commence photography by Febru ary 12, Fred Astaire would have just cause to terminate his obligations to the company. Briskin, in consort with the lawyers, came up with a plan to avert the disaster. Taking into account Astaire's perfectionist character, the company informed him that shooting on the new picture would begin on February 12 without the customary rehearsal period for dance routines. The ploy worked. In a letter to Leo Spitz, Briskin de- 320 scribed Astaire as jumping "clear out of his skin, " and agreeing quickly to an alteration in the contract: We succeeded to-day in getting a letter which, in the opinion of our attorneys, unquestionably protects our rights under the contract and eliminates our wor ries as to a breach. Incidentally, we ascertained that Astaire and his managers were aware of this clause In the contract and were quietly praying and hoping that we would not attempt to start photo graphy of the picture. ^ The battle did not end there. On February 26, 1936, Alfred Wright, Astaire's attorney, sent the following let ter to RKO: Upon the direction and with the authority of Mr. Fred Astaire . . . I hereby notify you that, because of your failure to submit for his approval, the ad vertising used in connection, with the pictures pro duced by you in which he appears . . . , because of your continued and continuing violations of the pro visions of his contract resulting from using or li censing the use of his name and photograph in adver tising other than in connection with motion, pictures in which he appears, and because of your failure to pay to him the amount of money due under the terms of his agreement with you . . . , and for each of said reasons Mr. Astaire has elected to and does hereby terminate his said contract (as amended) with you and I hereby notify you of his election so to.do. The studio responded by sending Astaire a check for $10,000 (owed him for his percentage participation in Top Hat) and having its law firm prepare a letter stating that there had been no breach of contract. Apparently this pla cated the dancer because he chose not to pursue the matter. In March, a new deal was finally concluded giving Astaire a substantial salary increase, a larger percentage of the profits of his films, and the right to choose his female - ~321 27 costar in at least one picture each year. Catastrophe had been avertedj Fred Astaire would continue to perform in pictures exclusively for RKO., at least for a few more years. The Katharine Hepburn situation was altogether different. While Astaire was still riding the crest of na tional popularity, Miss Hepburn's reputation took a nose dive in 1936. The principal reason was a film entitled Sylvia Scarlett, examined in some detail later in the chap ter. Suffice it to say at this point that the picture, released early in the year, severely damaged her box office credibility. The press took considerable delight in Hep burn's flop because she had not been accommodating to its membership over the years. RKO's executives reacted by starring the actress in Mary of Scotland, an. expensive pro duction, and by pleading with her to give out more inter views and be more gracious to her interviewers. B. B. Kahane described the situation in a letter to Ned Depinet: Here we are about to spend around $800,000. to $900* 000. on "Mary of Scotland" in the hope of bring ing Hepburn back--giving her Frederick [sic] March to support her, John Ford to direct, and not stinting in any way on the production. We certainly ought to be entitled to her co-operation in combating the ill effects of "Sylvia Scarlett" and the bad publicity resulting from her attitude towards the Press. Any one but Hepburn would see readily that she has reached a point in. her career when she needs all the help pos sible to stay up where she is, but Katharine is just one of those peculiar girls who is not logical or normal in her viewpoints and attitude.28 . . . . 222 Hepburn did. open up somewhat with the press, but,, otherwise., she continued to be stubborn and less-than- rational. At least, this was the opinion held by the men running the studio. While Mary of Scotland was in produc tion, she began to make new demands through her agent, Leiand Hayward. She asked for more money, a larger profit participation in her pictures, and the right to approve her scripts. It was the last request which struck terror into the hearts of her employers. Hepburn had had unofficial script approval on all her pictures. As Sam Briskin in formed Leo Spitz in a telegram, the only film she had been 29 forced to do against her will was Break of Hearts. In fact, she had insisted upon the production of the two pic tures that had disfigured her the most: Spitfire and Sylvia Scarlett. This fact alone indicated to Briskin that O Q "her judgment [is] of no value." He further suggested the ruinous position In which the studio might find itself If Hepburn's request were accepted: Know of no one In business who has script approval and you can obviously see that this would result in huge cost in preparing script plus commitments to director, actors, etc. that might be wasted If, at last minute, she refused approve script.-^1 Part of Katharine Hepburn's di s grunt lenient evi dently related to RKO's decision not to purchase Gone With the Wind, then on the auction block, and star her as Scar lett O'Hara. In the same telegram to Spitz, Briskin con veyed the studio's position regarding this famous property: This very dangerous picture to make from commercial viewpoint as great similarity to So Red the Rose and subject matter has always proven unsuccessful. Ber man advances additional reason which very good., namely Hepburn must have extremely sympathetic role as she basically unsympathetic on. screen and, if make Gone With the Wind with her which is very unsympa thetic role, picture will be unsuccessful and, in addi tion,, do great damage to Hepburn's c a r e e r . 32 In retrospect. It may seen that RKO blundered outrageously by passing up the property that became the biggest block buster of the studio era. But Briskin and Berman were prob ably correct in their reservations. Had RKO made Gone With the Wind, it would not have been the lavish spectacular fashioned by David Selznick, would not have had Clark Gable as Rhett Butler (imagine Richard Dix in the part), and Hep burn might very well have overpowered the role of Scarlett to the point of audience antipathy. This Is, admittedly, meaningless conjecture; perhaps we should simply say that RKO was just not in a position--either financially or in terms of available talent--to make Gone With the-Wind. Katharine Hepburn, however, found this difficult to accept. Refused script approval by the studio, Hepburn tested her bosses by calling her next project, A Woman Rebels, "mediocre" and remaining in New York as the start date grew closer and closer. Finally, Pandro Berman was forced to send her a strongly-worded wire in which he sur veyed the actress' career, reminded her of her not incon siderable errors in story selection--and emphasized his own perceptivity: ” ......... " ’ '324 I think you are making loig mistake in this whole mat ter. . . . If you will recall, there has never been a picture you have made about which I have been honestly enthusiastic from my own opinion that has turned out badly. I have strongly advocated production of Morn ing Glory, Little Minister, Alice Adams and Mary of Scotland from wholehearted enthusiasm for these sub- jects.33 Operating from the position that his instincts had, so far, provied infallible (Mary of Scotland, which would further diminish Hepburn's stature, had not yet been released), con cerning the actress 1 career, Berman proceeded to lavish praise on A Woman Rebels. He called it "box office," "sympathetic in character," and "different from anything 34 you have done. In closing, the producer urged his star to come out to Hollywood and immediately set to work on the picture and expressed confidence that she would thank him within six months. Evidently, Hepburn reevaluated her position and decided to comply. She made the film. Later, much to Berman's chagrin, her misgivings proved well- founded. A Woman Rebels became the third Hepburn failure of 1936, surely the worst year In the career of one of America's foremost actresses. Walt Disney's foresight regarding television was a prime factor in his decision to join RKO. Disney's award- winning cartoons had been distributed by United Artists for the past five years. His U.A. contract was up for re newal and negotiations were proceeding agreeably when they suddenly came to a halt over one small detail. Disney 325 indicated he might wish to retain the television rights during the distribution period for his pictures, and the United Artists board of directors, particularly Sam Goldwyn 35 and Mary Pickford, refused to give in on the matter. ^ As Tino Balio reports in his history of United Artists, this "foolish quibble over a minor detail" gave RKO an opportu nity to propose an even better deal to Disney which was accepted.^ Sam Briskin had worked with Walt and Roy Disney around 1930 when the brothers were using Columbia as a distribution outlet. Briskin made the initial contact and wooed them with an. arrangement whereby RKO would advance $^3^500 for the production of each Disney cartoon and split the profits fifty-fifty with Disney after the production 37 cost was recouped." A separate arrangement was made for distribution of Disney’s pioneering animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was then in production. For once, RKO's close ties with radio and its sponsorship of television development proved helpful. Although the specific contract provisions regarding video rights are vague, television was definitely on Walt Disney's mind. He issued the following statement when the deal was an nounced: In looking to the future, and that includes tele vision, we believe our association with RKO offers greater opportunities for the broader and more expansive fields of d e v e l o p m e n t .3° While assuring film producers that television, did not________ represent a threat to their business, an ecstatic Merlin Aylesworth praised Disney for concerning himself with future developments: Disney, as others, is looking forward to future television and is wondering what is going to happen. That is the extent of his interest right now. Being primarily an artist, he is considering the possibili ties of a new medium for his art. He is not alone among film producers who have shown interest. Irving Thalberg likes to talk about television for hours.39 It is fascinating to reflect on Disney's prescience. In 1936, he was already analyzing the possibilities of an un known medium which he would eventually utilize more com pletely and successfully than any other "film person." Almost lost amid the tumult regarding RKO's Disney coup was the fact that the studio already had a deal with the Van. Beuren Corporation to distribute its "Rainbow Parade” series of animated short subjects. This turned out not to be a problem. Disney still owed United Artists fifteen cartoons and could not begin delivering under the 40 RKO contract until January 1937- Thus, there would be time to phase out the Van Beuren efforts. M. H. Aylesworth indicated that the non-animated short films produced by Van Beuren and distributed by RKO would "most likely . . . „4l be retained." Walt Disney was only one of several new producers who joined RKO In 1936. The Spitz-Briskin regime felt Pandro Berman needed help. Berman was the only producer with any credibility on the RKO lot, and it was decided • ~ " ' ‘ 327 that other proven showmen should be brought In and given units such as Berman controlled. This would hopefully re sult In an upgrading of the studio's product. Walter Wanger^ who had a personal stock company of Henry Fonda., Sylvia Sidney., Charles Boyer., Joan Bennett, and others, Ben Schulberg, formerly production head of Paramount, and Junior Laemmle, who had run production at Universal were all considered as unit producers, but no deals were consummated. RKO was still hard-pressed finan cially and could not offer these high-powered individuals the lucrative contracts they had come to expect. Instead, the studio signed Edward Small and his Reliance Pictures Company. Small would both produce for RKO and permit his independent Reliance films to be distributed by the company. Like Disney, Small had previously used United Artists as the distributor of his pictures. Also joining RKO as a unit producer was Jesse Lasky. A pioneer of the motion picture industry, Lasky was now entering the twilight of his career. The announcement of his signing mentioned a "long-term con- 1, 42 tract, a circumstance that RKO would soon regret. Nego tiations were also completed between the studio and producer-director Howard Hawks in 1936. The company hoped to get at least two or three pictures a year from Hawks. He would manage only one, however, during his stay at RKO. The one, Bringing Up Baby, is now considered a screwball comedy classic, but it was felt to be an unmitigated 328 disaster by the studio heads (see Chapter VIII), thus aborting Hawks’ s career with the organization. One valuable executive did join RKO during the year. Sid Rogell had been studio manager of RKO Pathe be fore that organization was completely absorbed by RKO in. 1933. He had also served as production manager on a number of pictures and produced a series of John Wayne westerns for Warner Brothers release. Rogell was named RKO studio manager in 1936^ meaning that he would be in charge of scheduling., coordinating the work of the technical depart ments and handling many other logistical details. His tenure with the company would last (except for a brief period in 19^-2) until 1950. The only other personnel matters of note were the close of Ann Harding's RKO employment and the signing of George and Ira Gershwin. Harding had been with RKO since the Pathe merger,, but her drawing power had faded consider ably. Prior regimes had considered Miss Harding overpaid; in 1936, when her contract ran out, she was simply let go. With respect to the Gershwins, it came down to a choice between them and Vincent Youmans, who had written the score for Flying Down to Rio. Since Youmans' music had helped to launch the Astaire-Rogers team, the studio unquestionably owed him a great deal. But he had become undependable, with health problems compounded by a weakness for the bot tle. In a letter to Leo Spitz, Pandro Berman argued per- — 3 29 suasively that the Gershwins were "definitely responsible, high-class people" who would probably do a superior job to Youmans, even if he worked at peak efficiency. Thus, one of the great names in Twentieth Century American music-- Gershwin— became allied with RKO in 1936. Production Sam Briskin had developed a reputation as a tough, stubborn, aggressive executive at Columbia Pictures. His no-nonsense approach had helped pull Columbia up from the depths of Poverty Row to a position of respectability. He was, in the words of director Prank Capra, a "hit-first type. Briskin faced numerous challenges in his new posi tion of authority at RKO. The year 1935 bad been a fine one for RKO releases, but future planning bogged down to ward the end of that year. Thus, except for the continuity provided by Berman's unit, Sam Briskin found himself with a rather untidy situation on his hands. Most of the films in progress when Briskin took over the studio were mediocre efforts designed to fill out the 1935-1936 program. Except for Follow the Fleet, none of these pictures turned out to be particularly successful or good. Several that were promised as A efforts--such as Sylvia Scarlett, The Witness Chair, and The Lady Consents--fell far short of top quality, thus raising the ire of exhibitors who had purchased the 330 RKO product for the full year. Briskin refused to accept the blame for this situation, but admitted that he had not been able to do much about it. Writing company sales man ager Jules Levy in April., Briskin stated: I fear that there is nothing to do but to complete the program and plan ahead sufficiently in advance for next season to have plenty of A pictures that are really A's, and to release them in such a manner that at least every fourth, fifth, or sixth picture will really be an A. . . . You will have to bear with me and remember that these things were either prepared or in work when I entered the Studio, and, therefore, there was nothing to do but to salvage the money al.-x ready invested, except in such cases where it looked absolutely hopeless, * and make the best of the situa tion . ^5 Indeed, RKO promised more Class A productions in its preliminary announcement concerning the 1936-1937 season. Of the forty-eight features to be made, about half were 46 supposed to be A's. Only fifteen top-star and budget films had been promised for 1935-1936, and the studio had failed to provide that number. But by this time the new regime had become fully operational and better results could be expected. An A picture meant well-known stars and a respect able budget, but it did not necessarily mean a film of high artistic quality. However, at the insistence of Pandro Berman, RKO in 1936 began thinking along the lines of pro ducing some high-brow entertainment. In a letter written to Leo Spitz, Berman made a strong case for the purchase of an anti-war play. Idiot's Delight, by enumerating the 331 box-office successes of such artistic Warner films as Mid summer Night 1s Dream, The Petrified Forest, and The Story 47 of Louis Pasteur. Spitz wrote back, promising to try to purchase Idiot’s Delight (he was unsuccessful), even though he felt the reports on the Warner pictures were greatly 48 exaggerated. Nevertheless, Spitz expressed a personal commitment to "quality product" if "made in such a manner „4Q as to have wide appeal." v Unfortunately, RKO's prestige films were not able to attract a decent audience. Mary of Scotland, the most artistically ambitious film of 1936, was a bitter disappointment to the studio, and Winterset also failed to stir much excitement. By 1937j the company had backed away from its brief love affair with cultured motion pictures. Briskin was handed $13,000,000 to complete forty- one pictures (the other seven would be independently pro vided) during the 1936-1937 season.^ This was the largest appropriation given a studio head in RKO's history, yet Mr. Briskin was still having problems in the fall of the year. The prime difficulty involved locating and translat ing to the screen exceptional story material. If fine mate rial existed, RKO was not having much success acquiring it. A letter from Spitz to Briskin, written in September, indi cated that the studio expected nineteen A releases during the season, to be made at an average of approximately $510,000 each.^^ Prom the start of the program until '332 December, however, only one A picture, Swing Time, was re leased by RKO- The company, and Sam Briskin in particular, was not living up to its promises. A peculiar combination of inadequate story material and a paucity of A-level talent had reduced RKO, once again, to a second-rate operation'-'/at/ • best. The Astaire-Rogers musicals were about the only thing RKO executives could smile about as 1936 came to a close. The Films Comedies had always been a substantial, if usually undistinguished, component of RKO1s program, but the new studio executives decided to cut back drastically in this area. Evidently, Sam Briskin was partial to crime melO-<~" \ dramas because they dominated the 1936 releases. Of the few comedies manufactured by the studio, it seems important to mention Silly Billies and Mummy1s Boys, two of the last Wheeler-Woolsey efforts. The venerable comic duo had enjoyed remarkable longevity by RKO standards, but they were nearing the end. Now their pictures were made on tiny budgets (never more than $250,000) and yet they were failing to turn a profit. Mummy1s Boys, for example, cost $237j000 tout lost $ 5 7*000.The problem had been intensi fying for several years; a kind of comedic rigor mortis had set in, and neither the comedians nor their writers or di rectors seemed able to shake it off. They continued to rely on the same tired plot formulas, the same hackneyed 333 verbal repartee,, the same uninspiring parodies of other movies and movie genres (such as the western and the horror film). Silly Billies, featuring Woolsey and Wheeler as a dentist and his assistant invading Gold Rush territory,, was compared, unfavorably, to a "popeye" cartoon by the New York Times. It seemed obvious that RKO's oldest surviving stars would not survive much longer. Anne Shirley., though not a major star, now held a position of importance'.-.in. RKO' s acting company. The studio shaped three sweet-and-innocent comedies to her talents dur ing the year. Chatterbox was probably the best; somewhat reminiscent of Morning Glory, it presented Miss Shirley as a stage-struck Vermont girl invading the show business world of New York. Her Broadway debut in. "Virtue's Reward" is a total fiasco, but she nevertheless manages to find happiness in the arms of Phillips Holmes. M 1Liss bore little resemb lance to the Bret Harte novel, about a rip-roaring mining camp, from which the film was taken. The book's tough core was softened and transformed into an idyllic romance involv ing Shirley with schoolteacher John Beal. Make Way for a Lady, the final Shirley .release of the year, called for the ingenue to meddle innocently in the private affairs of her widowed father (Herbert Marshall). Misunderstanding his true needs and feelings, she almost succeeds in arranging a marriage between Marshall and a woman he detests. The plot was painfully thin, even, for a B picture. 334 The preponderant crime films were,, unfortunately, not much better than the studio's sputtering comedies. We're Only Human and Muss 'Em Up both focused on Preston Poster playing hard-boiled detectives. Muss 'Em Up was the classier production with Pandro Berman in charge and Charles Vidor directing. Leaning obviously toward Dashiell Hammett, Poster plays the protagonist, Tip O'Neil, with wit, tough ness, and a sense of humor. The mystery is set in motion, by the murder of a millionaire's pet dog, then covers kid napping, ransom demands, and murder. This picture managed to overcome its miserable title; well-paced and cleverly plotted, Muss 'Em Up was a better-than-average thriller. Thanks to the .Hays Office and its ban on sympa thetic gangsters, Hollywood turned to government crime fighters--G Men, T Men, etc.--as protagonists for several law and order melodramas. The gangsters were still around, of course, but now they were uniformly cloaked in stereo typic malevolence. Special Investigator was typical of this cycle of largely forgotten pictures. In it, Richard Dix plays a brilliant lawyer who compiles a remarkable record defending the worst members of the mob. Dix reexamines his "successes" when-his G-man brother is machine-gunned by the criminals. Our hero joins the Department of Justice, going "under cover" to get appropriate revenge. Based on an Erie Stanley Gardner novel, Special Investigator was blandly pre dictable crime fare. 335 No better were other RKO formula films of this type. The Big Game was a muddled expose' of college football "fixes." Produced by Pan Berman and directed by George Nicholls, Jr., the film Is best-remembered as the Initial screenwriting effort of a young Brooklyn youth destined for success in the field of popular fiction: Irwin Shaw. The picture hardly suggested the potential of its screenwriter; it tried, and failed decisively, to incorporate a standard college romance into a foolish thriller about a gangland attempt to kidnap the star quarterback on the eve of the "big game." Wanted: Jane Turner, a B picture directed by Cliff Reid, at least featured a coherent story and taut direction. This one was about mail theft and presented the postal authorities, with whom stars Lee Tracy and Gloria Stuart are allied, as the heroic element. Night Waitress had all the familiar ingredients--public homicide, cops and robbers, a shadowy, waterfront setting. The elements were combined without a whit of freshness and imagination, however, making this Margot Grahame vehicle one of the year's dullest of ferings . Ann Harding's last two pictures provided a woeful finale to her lengthy RKO career. The Lady Consents was an indifferent "weeper," a tale of marital perseverance and understanding. Miss Harding plays the wife of a wealthy surgeon (Herbert Marshall) who takes a fancy to beautiful 336 Margaret Lindsay. As could fee expected, the wife steps gracefully aside allowing her husband to play out the ro mance and discover the basic error in his judgment. The trite plot was not transcended, although the film did fea ture delicate direction by Stephen Roberts and above- average performances. The Lady Consents could almost be considered high art compared to The Witness Chair, Harding’s final RKO pic ture. The plot of this courtroom saga had something to do with the actress’ righteous murder of an embezzler who is about to elope with the innocent daughter of her beloved employer. A flashback structure was employed, perhaps to add zest to the mediocre story, but only succeeded in stretching the plot to the point of absolute triviality. The picture was a rather large embarrassment to the studio; Sam Briskin, while accepting responsibility, rationalized the failure in a letter to Jules Levy: THE WITNESS CHAIR was a very poor script, and commit ments aggregating $101,000. had already been made by the time I entered the Studio. It was the last Hard ing and we had a deadline date1 to contend with, and we decided that in view of the many problems that it should be made as cheaply as possible and gotten out of the way.54 Implicit in these remarks is the idea that, since Ann Hard ing's days as an. RKO star were over, it would have been foolish to push extra hard to make a fine picture. After all, if The Witness Chair had been exceptional and breathed new life into her career, some other organization (in this 337 case the British studio, Capital Films, which had signed the actress for her next two pictures) would have been the bene ficiary. All too often this attitude--that declining tal ents should be put out to pasture as rapidly and decisively as possible--would crop up at RKO and other studios. It was a brutal, and often stupid, method of handling delicate situations. Bad tastes were left in a variety of mouths, and the ultimate result was generally a terrible picture for the studio to market. The RKO westerns released in 1936 were among the most interesting films of their kind made by any company. Two of these deserve special mention. Powdersmoke Range was billed as "The Barnum and Bailey of Westerns," bringing together most of the reigning cowboy stars (Hoot G-ibson, Bob Steele, Harry Carey, Tom Tyler) with a couple of real old-timers (Bill Desmond and William Parnum) Based on. one of the "Three Mesquiteer" novels by William Colt MacDonald, the picture was loaded with action in the finest traditions of the pure "horse opera." Even more important was The Last Outlaw, a minor masterpiece largely forgotten even by the genre's dogged aficionados. The theme is the losing of the west with Harry Carey playing a famous bad man who gets out of jail after serving twenty-five years. Things have deteriorated a bit in his old hangout of Broken Knee, now called Center City. It seems progress has brought with it bad manners, ...... “ “ ' ' ' ’ ” 3 3 8 noise pollution, incompetent politico sheriffs, and, most ridiculous of all, dude cowboys who sing to people from the movie screen. The Last Outlaw pokes affectionate fun at the new west while developing a plot that demonstrates the su periority of certain simple, old-fashioned western virtues and abilities. The film was actually far ahead of its time. Ever since Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1 9 6 1), the end of the west has been the major preoccupation of the genre. It is slightly unnerving to see a picture tackle the theme in 1936, and even more surprising that The Last Outlaw succeeds in its good-natured satirical approach. This Robert Sisk production, directed by journeyman Christy Cabanne, merits more attention than it has received from chroniclers of the western genre. If RKO were a leader in any Hollywood specialty at this juncture, it had to be the musical. The Astaire- Rogers efforts were the cream of each year's program. Un fortunately the less-expensive musical productions fell far below big league status. Walking On Air was probably the best of the B musicals, sporting an engaging script and tolerable music by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby and bubbly performances from Gene Raymond and Ann Sothern. Neverthe less, the studio had little faith in the picture; it opened in New York as part of a double feature. Independent producer Sol Lesser began making a series of musicals for RKO release starring eight-year-old 339 wonder boy* Bobby Breen. Two of these, Let 1s Sing Again and Rainbow on the River, were presented in 1936. The plots of Breen's films were mawkishly sentimental, forcing the young tenor-cum-soprano to suffer bravely until the inevitable uplifting denouement. Along the way, the stories would creak and groan, yielding outlandish opportunities for Breen to show off his vocal talent. Breen had gotten his start on radio with Eddie Cantor and, thus, came to the movies a thoroughgoing professional entertainer. Though he never challenged the sovereignty of child superstar Shirley Temple. Breen quickly gained a following among undiscriminating lovers of musicals. Except for Follow the Fleet and Swing Time, the year's most eagerly awaited musical was Dancing Pirate, the second and last Pioneer three-strip Technicolor feature to be distributed by RKO. Feeling that they had erred in choosing a serious, "artistic" piece of material (Becky Sharp) for their first color production, the Pioneer execu tives decided to go far in the other direction. They picked a trifling fantasy about a Boston dancing master shanghaied by a crew of picturesque, though harmless, pirates. The plot was really just a flimsy excuse for a parade of exotic settings and costumes comprising an exhaustive tour, through the spectrum of color possibilities. Directed by Lloyd Corrigan, designed by Robert Edmund Jones, and starring Steffi' Duna (all had worked on the pioneering Technicolor 340 short, La Cucaracha), Dancing Pirate turned out to be pretty but disappointing. Lacking an interesting story, witty comedy, and an exhilarating score (Rodgers and Hart were responsible for this misfire), the picture died quickly at the box office proving, once and for all, that color alone could not guarantee success. Luckly, RKO had not invested its money in the film. Still, the studio only earned $15^000 as its distribution fee, a clear, indication 57 of the pathetic performance of Dancing Pirate. The failed feature also meant the quietus for Jock Whitney's Pioneer Pictures. The enterprise, formed to introduce color to the screen., had accomplished its purpose but the results had proved less than earthshaking. Pioneer had not brought about a color revolution as many predicted. Black and white would continue to dominate Hollywood production for years to come. In a year cluttered with expensive failures, one notable success was produced which must have surprised even the studio officials. The Ex-Mrs. Bradford was another thinly disguised reworking of the "Thin Man." formula. In this instance, William Powell plays a famous surgeon, sus pected of a series of murders by police inspector James Gleason. The doctor is naturally forced to solve the crimes to clear his name. Jean Arthur handled the obliga tory spouse role with clever assurance, abetted by that superb refugee from the Astaire-Rogers series, Eric Blore, 341 as the butler. The mystery was nimbly structured and the humor urbane and ingratiating, yet the film really offered nothing new. Once again the audience encountered William Powell, solving a puzzle gracefully and sparring wittily with Arthur rather than Myrna Loy or Ginger Rogers. Never theless, movie patrons of the time were apparently hungry for this type of entertainment. The Ex-Mrs. Bradford, which cost a modest $369^000, returned a profit of $350,000.^® Only the two Astaire-Rogers vehicles generated more earn ings for RKO in 1936. Follow the Fleet and Swing Time Follow the Fleet opened in February at the Music Hall. The film departed from the usual Astaire-Rogers blueprint somewhat. For once, mistaken identity did not drive the plot forward, and Astaire and Roge'rs were por trayed, less than convincingly, as slightly impoverished individuals worried about money. The usual comic partici- pants--Erik Rhodes, Eric Blore, Helen Broderick, Edward Everett Horton.--were also missing, their function taken over by a romantic subplot involving Randolph Scott and Harriet Hilliard. Still, the basic style of the picture was not very different from the previous successes. Irving Berlin supplied a fine musical score which, if not as be witching as his Top Hat creation, nevertheless worked nicely within the context of the story. Pandro Berman, of course, produced and Mark Sandrich directed with firmness and assurance. Follow the Fleet was not without weaknesses. Ran dolph Scott, playing Astaire's sailor buddy, "Bilge," was clearly out of his depth, and his stolid performance proved more damaging than similar work in Roberta. The missing humorous contingent left a noticeable gap, making this one of the least funny of the Astaire-Rogers cycle. But no one could fault the efforts of the stars. The Navy uniform provided a dynamic alternative to Astaire's usual tuxedo, and he and Rogers quarreled and made up and, above all, danced with their usual joie : d.e vivre. If the slightly altered formula, the deemphasized comedy, or the perform ance of Randolph Scott disappointed audiences, no evidence could be deduced from the box office receipts. Follow the Fleet made $930,000 for RKO.^ Finding an acceptable title for the next Astaire- Rogers vehicle proved to a major difficulty. Originally, the studio had planned to call the picture I Won't Dance, but Ned Depinet of Distribution objected strenuously. He believed I Won.'t Dance to be a "negative" title which would 60 surely damage box office prospects. After an agonizing two and one-half months in which Swing High, Never G-onna • Danee, Swing Time Waltz, and other possibilities were con sidered and rejected. Swing Time was finally agreed upon. Depinet was still not pleased, feeling that "swing music may 343 be outmoded by [the] time [the] picture [is] ready for re lease, " but he accepted the decision of Berman and Astaire, who favored the title, so that he and his staff could launch 61 the advertising buildup immediately. This was early sum mer and the film was scheduled for a Labor Day release; once again an Astaire-Rogers picture would launch the new RKO program. Swing Time is now considered by many critics to be the best of the Astaire-Rogers musicals. It has gained this recognition primarily because of the dance numbers--espe- cially "Bojangles of Harlem," In which Astaire dances with a triplicate shadow in a bravura example of creative special effects, and "Never Gonna Dance," perhaps the most excit ingly representative wooing-and-surrender number in the entire cycle. The score by Dorothy Yost and Jerome Kern, which includes "The Way You Look Tonight," "A Pine Romance," and "Pick Yourself Up," Is also one of the finest. The humorous element, if not as pronounced as in Top Hat or The Gay Divorcee, seems considerably brighter than in Follow the Fleet. Helen Broderick is again In attendance, as Is Eric Blore briefly, and Victor Moore joins the proceedings as "Pop," Astaire's sidekick. A brilliant spoof occurs near the beginning of the picture when Astaire takes a "hoofing" lesson from Rogers at the Gordon Dancing Academy, pretend ing to be a clumsy bumpkin. She throws up her hands, claim- int she could never teach this clod anything and is promptly fired by her boss (Blore) for incompetence (i.e., refusing to accept money from a sucker). Astaire then proceeds to prove that Ginger is the best teacher in the world by danc ing a complicated routine which produces one of Blore’s in comparable stunned expressions of amazement. The biggest shortcoming of Swing Time was its story. The Astaire-Rogers plots had never been much more than cleverly orchestrated excuses for the musical and dance set pieces., but this one was even flimsier and sillier than earlier examples. Astaire plays a gambler, "Lucky" Garnett., whose big problem is to keep from earning $2 5,0 0 0, where upon he will be required to marry his hometown sweetheart (Betty Furness). He is in love with Rogers, of course, who actually pursues him during part of the picture. Astaire, however, has decided he must resist Ginger (who also has a not unappealing beau) ' / until he straightens out the sweetheart situation, making for an unnecessarily con voluted set of relationships. The resolution to these ro mantic complications is decidedly less satisfying than one expects. George Stevens directed Swing Time, his one picture with the Astaire-Rogers team. Generally his direction is undifferentiated from that of Mark Sandrich, except in one respect. There seems to be a slightly more parodic feel to this film, especially regarding the stars. In one scene, for example, Astaire sings "The Way You Look Tonight" to Rogers who is in the bathroom* her hair covered with shampoo suds. She becomes so caught up in the romantic mood that she exposes her disheveled self to Astaire* making for an instant double take and then a moment of supreme embarrass ment for them both. Whether this was a Stevens’ invention or the idea of writers Howard Lindsay and Allan Scott is impossible to determine* but it does seem typical of Stev ens who had directed that sublimely mortifying dinner scene in Alice Adams. Swing Time played three weeks to capacity crowds at the Radio City Music Hall. It also did strong business in its initial release throughout the country* but the fall off in attendance came sooner than expected. Perhaps the inade quate plot accounted for this. Fred Astaire* in his auto biography* states that he believed all along Swing Time was not the best of the team's pictures and interpreted the slight diminution in profits as an indication that "the 52 cycle was running out its course." Despite the fact that Swing Time cost more than any previous Astaire-Rogers mu sical ($886*000) and made less than either Top Hat or Follow the Fleet ($830*000)* the RKO executives were still over- 6S joyed. ^ The profits realized on Swing Time made up for a plethora of losses generated by the company's other produc tions . 346 Sylvia-Scarlett, Mary of Scotland., A Woman Rebels' The most devastating losses were suffered by Kath arine Hepburn’s three 1936 releases. The first of these, Sylvia Scarlett, is a favorite cult picture today, but, in. its time, it was considered by many to be the worst film RKO had, ever made. In one sense, Sylvia Scarlett could almost stand, as a powerful argument in favor of strong studio control. George -Cukor, whose last RKO film had been the triumphant Little Women, was brought back and given a free hand to film the story without the slightest studio interference. Hepburn was also sold on the property and, coming off the success of Alice Adams, was in a position to assert herself more than usual. Together, they made the picture their way while the RKO executives, including Pan Berman who produced, sat back and hoped that the Little Women magic would once again operate. What a shock it must have been to all when the film had its initial preview. Both Cukor and Hepburn have simi larly described the audience's violent,antipathy and the unrestrained anger of Pandro Berman when the picture was 64 first screened. There was even talk of scrapping Sylvia Scarlett entirely, but the production had been, too expensive to bury In some film vault. It was released early in the year, prompting a flood of' bad reviews, irate letters from exhibitors and movie patrons throughout the country, and ' ”347 anemic box office receipts. In February, Ned Depinet wrote 6 5 B. B. Kahane about the film's pathetic performance. ^ Kahane replied: It [Sylvia Scarlett] is just a bad picture., and it has undoubtedly hurt Hepburn. No one, of course, could have foreseen that a combination like Berman, Cukor, Hepburn, Cary Grant and Brian Ahearne [sic] could produce such a "flop." Our only hope is that "Mary of Scotland" . . .will turn out to be an out standing production and enable Hepburn to retrieve some prestige. It Is easy to understand why the film performed so poorly. After a diverting opening in which Hepburn, Grant, and Aherne attempt to become "con artists" in Victorian England, the film goes off in a variety of unexpected di rections, all held loosely together by the central theme of illusion versus reality. Miss Hepburn masquerades as a boy throughraost of the action (the reason for the disguise disappears after she and her father arrive In England near the beginning of the picture, but It never seems to occur to her to give it up) and is actually wooed by both men and women. Garbo's transvestite performance In Queen Christina had been appealing to audiences, but Hepburn's kinky imper sonation was evidently repellent. The confused and appar ently purposeless narrative, the absence of a single sym pathetic character, and a blurred, implausible resolution also contributed to the film's failure. One minor victory was scored by Cary Grant. Playing a disreputable cockney, Grant was able to demonstrate a flair for comedy and an 348 expanded acting range which had not been manifest in his previous pictures. According to one Grant biographer, this performance was crucial in the actor's rise to Hollywood stardom. ^ Without question, Sylvia Scarlett is one of the most bizarre, atypical motion pictures ever produced by a major studio. It is -hard to imagine this picture bqing made by MGM, Warner Brothers, or any of the other companies. Only at RKO, where hits were few and far between and produc tion philosophies in constant flux, would a gamble like this have been taken. In this instance, the company was burned badly, but at least one can admire its boldness. This same type of risk-taking, in a slightly different con text, would result in Citizen. Kane. As indicatdd earlier, Mary of Scotland was carefully calculated to undo the Sylvia Scarlett damage and bring Miss Hepburn back to public favor. Using Maxwell Anderson's drama as a basis, Academy Award winners Dudley Nichols and John Ford collaborated on a motion, picture that fairly reeked of prestige. RKO was determined to shoot the works on the historical spectacular and spared no expense. The final budget.amounted to $864,000; of the films produced 68 in 1936, only Swing Time cost more. When shooting was completed, word-of-mouth around the studio indicated RKO had a hit. A large•advertising • campaign, was designed, and the preview reaction was totally 349 en.couragin.g_, as Berman indicated to Spitz in. the following wire: Very happy report had wonderful preview Mary Santa Barbara last night. . . . Had spontaneous applause during picture and enormous round of applause at finish which did not expect account sadness of execution. Definitely a sock with audiences of all types. Not necessary have highbrow gang to appreci ate it. Couldn't be more pleased.°9 The company decided to experiment by releasing the,film in late July, traditionally a taboo period for important, ex pensive pictures because the stifling summer heat tended to keep people away from movie houses. The idea was that since the other companies were tossing only low-level product into theaters at this time, Mary of Scotland would stand out in. dramatic fashion. Perhaps the attendant excitement would lure patrons to see Hepburn, regardless of the summer dol drums . The concept seemed to work at first,* initial box office returns were very good. However, the film soon be gan faltering, and it rapidly became apparent that Mary of Scotland was going to flop. It did--to the tune of a $200,000 70 RKO loss. Had the release experiment backfired, causing the film to fail unnecessarily? Probably not, for there was a more fundamental problem at the core of the disaster. Mary of Scotland was a bore--long, ponderous, episodic, and ultimately passionless. The excitement that Nichols and Ford had forged from Liam O'Flaherty's Informer was totally missing here and even Hepburn's acting seemed oddly guarded 350 and bloodless. Only Fredric March's performance as Both- well was above average, contributing to Ford's reputation as a male-oriented director incapable of guiding strong actresses. It Is impossible to place the blame for the Mary of Scotland disappointment on any one individual. Berman., Ford, Nichols, Hepburn, and probably numerous others all contributed to this literate, Impeccably costumed and de signed exercise in ennui. Questions of fault aside, the upshot was that Katharine Hepburn's career had been further damaged, instead of resuscitated, by the picture. Something-• had to be done to return the actress to public favor before' the negative tide became irreversible. Pandro Berman's solution, was a novel by Netta Syrett entitled Portrait of a Rebel. As mentioned earlier in the chapter, Hepburn found the material "mediocre," while Berman believed In it strongly. The central character, Pamela Thistlewaite, seemed a perfect Hepburn heroine. A noncon formist in strict Victorian society, Pamela asserted her self on such subjects as a woman's right to work, to choose her own husband, to live alone, and to read whatever she pleased. In essence, however, the film turned out to be more tearjerker than treatise on the freedom of women. Hepburn has an illegitimate child (by Van Heflin) and, after the requisite amount of suffering, discovers her true feel ings for faithful suitor Herbert Marshall. 351 Its title changed to A Woman Rebels, the final pro duction confirmed the actress' worst suspicions. The di rection of Mark Sandrich lacked the grace and polish of his Astaire-Rogers films, making the story seem remote and insignificant, and holding little relevance for a 1936 audience. The decision to cast Hepburn, once again, as a fiery eccentric, courageously standing her ground against the forces of social dehumanization and intellectual steril ity was not prudent. Although she probably played the role better than any other actress could, this was precisely the Hepburn persona that was growing tiresome to audiences. The public demonstrated its aversion to the character and the picture by assiduously avoiding theaters which pre sented it. A Woman Rebels cost only $57^*000, a modest amount for a Hepburn vehicle; nevertheless, it lost 71 $222,000--even more than Mary of Scotland. Following her jubilant victory in Alice Adams, Katharine Hepburn.had starred in three successive pictures which had sabotaged her career totally. Almost like Helen Gahagen bathed in the flame in She, Miss Hepburn was withering away rapidly. Sam Briskin, Pan Berman, and the other RKO executives ap peared unable to do anything about her dissolving appeal and prestige. 352 Winterset RKO ' s final excursion into the realm of prestige pictures in 1936 was Winterset, Maxwell Anderson's thinly disguised rumination on the Sacco and Vanzetti case. Fighting considerable objections from a number of sources, story editor Katharine Brown convinced J. R. McDonough to 72 purchase the drama in 1935 for $27,500. Brown sold McDonough on the notion that the studio might get another Informer out of the property. Anthony Veiller, fast becoming one of RKO1s most highly regarded writers, went to work on the adaptation. His biggest challenges were the elimination of most of Anderson's blank verse and the substitution of a happy end ing for the original tragic denouement. When Veiller's script was finished, it was sent to playwright Anderson who lavished praise on it: The Veiller version of Winterset is extraordi narily ingenious in construction, and keeps the atmosphere so well that I begin to believe it may turn into one of the best pictures ever made. It has the weird power of The Informer, with the addi tion of an attractive love motive. The picture tech nique is an actual advantage in telling the story, especially in the early scenes. . . . Some of this is only skeletonized, and could be given more flesh and blood with a word or two here and there, but in the main. I like it and I'm sure it will be effec tive . 73 This must be one of the few extant examples of an artist actually complimenting someone else's tinkering with his work. 353 Alfred Santell was hired to direct and three members of the stage production--Burgess Meredith, Margo, and Eduardo Ciannelli--reprised their original roles. It was to be the first of many film performances by Meredith. The Veiller-Santell translation to the screen did not obscure the stage origins very effectively, but the impassioned out cry of.the play against injustice and mob hysteria was pre served intact. Even the ingeniously devised happy ending did not seem to offend critics, most of whom went overboard in their appreciation of the picture. Viewed today, the film's Hamlet (complete with ghost) storyline combined with a dramatic analysis of the Sacco-Vanzetti business seems hopelessly contrived, and the soaring dialogue sounds banal in its soft-headed romanticism. But in its day, Winterset was considered the final and most eloquent statement of the divinely unconquerable spirit of man. Although the film did not gain the reputation of The Informer and actually lost a middling amount at the box office, It was still re garded as a victory for RKO. Prospects for 1937 On the whole, the motion picture business had en joyed a remarkable year in 1936. Reports by United Press and other reliable sources indicated that industry grosses were $250,000,000 greater than the previous year, and esti mated weekly theater attendance had increased to 8 1,000,000. .. ^ 74 up 10,000,000 from the 1935 weekly average. The Depres sion had moderated throughout America with the movie studios reaping a remarkable percentage of the benefits. All the companies enjoyed fine years: Motion picture shares on the New York Stock Ex change gained $162,636,250 in market value during 1936 on a wave of prosperity that swept the industry and the country and promised further advance in the new year. With film earnings definitely "in the black" for the first time since the late depression^ the market value of listed picture stocks increased for the fourth consecutive year, totaling $825,456,250, as of the close on December 28. This compared with $666,8 2 0 ,0 0 0 at the end of 1935 and $402,973,125 at the close of 1934.75 The improving business climate enabled RKO to report a net profit of $2,514,734 for 1936.78 It seems slightly Incredible that the company could have earned so much money in a year when it produced, mainly, unpopular and inadequate motion pictures. The situation was not unlike the years 1930 and 1931 when RKO had done well in spite of mediocre productions. Moviegoing had once again, become a near national pastime; it would have been hard to lose money in such a year. This, plus the fact that the big hits (Follow the Fleet and Swing Time) were very big, brought prosperity to the formerly struggling enterprise. Significantly, the theater operation showed the biggest gain in profits-- $l,4l4,886 in 1936 as compared to $8 7 ,0 6 3 in. 1935-77 RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., the production entity, reported a profit of $1,088,384.78 So RKO sailed blithely into 1937 on the strength of its best showing since the early years of the company. The corporate logo., affixed to the beginning of each picture., now proudly proclaimed "RKO Radio Pictures Presents,, " in stead of just "Radio Pictures Presents." This was in line with the consolidation of various subsidiaries into the producing concern (see page 311), but it also suggested a slight change in corporate identity. Now known principally as "RKO," rather than "Radio," the studio could begin to assert an independence from broadcasting and a full commit ment to film which had been questioned in the past. Executive Shifts The symbolic detachment from radio was further aug mented in February when Merlin Aylesworth quit the company to join the executive staff of the Scripps-Howard chain of 79 daily newspapers. The move was not unexpected; after Floyd Odium and his associates took over RKO, Aylesworth was, in effect, "kicked upstairs." Though chairman of the RKO board of directors, he had really not had much to do with the running of the organization. Like B. B. Kahane, J. R. McDonough, and other representatives of the old order, he had been allowed to stay on, devoid of power and author ity. Uneasy in this role, Aylesworth decided to move on to other challenges. It was ironic that Merlin Aylesworth chose this 356 particular moment to desert the world of motion pictures. For years, he had been lobbying for a. "marriage" between, the film industry and radio. A week before his departure, the Motion. Picture Herald ran a story indicating that his efforts had finally borne fruit: Increasing attention is being given by producing and distributing companies, large and small, to organ ized use of radio facilities as an outlet for public ity, either institutional or for a particular picture. The home office publicity forces have geared their ma chinery to manufacture ideas and material designed to turn the air outlet to best advantage and in many cases the radio release bureau has become one of the most important cogs in the department. The story proceeded to outline the various uses of radio by Columbia (once in the forefront of opposition to the idea), MGM, Paramount, Twentieth Century-Fox, RKO, United Artists, 81 Universal, Warner Brothers, and lesser companies. Merlin Aylesworth had finally won, his ideas had been vindicated. The victory must have seemed rather hollow, however, for now he had to forget about show business and turn his atten tion. to the prosaic world of print journalism. Taking his place as chairman of the RKO board would be Leo Spitz. Much more shocking than the departure of Aylesworth was the announcement in October 1937^ that Sam Briskin was resigning as head of RKO production. The Hollywood trade papers had run stories in August indicating that Briskin’s 82 contract was to be extended for three more years. However, the October bombshell repudiated this, stating that the re- On newal papers had never been signed. 357 No reasons were presented for Briskin's withdrawal. A number of factors lay hidden beneath the surface, and all contributed to the production chief's undoing: 1. Briskin and RKO's one illustrious producer, Pandro Berman, had had repeated differences 84 over policy. 2. Leo Spitz had become more and more involved in production decisions, and he and Briskin disagreed on certain significant matters. 3. Briskin had hired a number of producers, most of whom turned out to be undependable and less- than-talented. He also demonstrated an inabil ity to control certain profligate producers, such as Howard Hawks. 4. He had failed, during hiw two years at the helm, to develop a talent pool (especially in the act ing area) of any consequence. 5- The films made by Briskin’s regime had been largely second-rate and unprofitable. Some of these elements will be examined in more detail later in this chapter (see "Personnel" and "Production"). How ever, the emphasis in the above list should rest on factor number five. Ultimately, the performance of any studio head is measured by his releases. During Sam Briskin1s steward ship, RKO took a giant step backwards with the 1937 pictures being even more inadequate than those sent out in 1936. The motion picture industry had entered another boom period; everyone was making profits, even RKO. But the one area of the RKO machinery which had fallen down and was minimiz ing the corporation's income was production. Sam Briskin could not be blamed for all of the problems* but production remained his responsibility and he had to answer for the succession of misfires. Evidently a good deal of pressure was put on him to resign because a settlement was agreed upon which paid Briskin $84*000* spread out over twenty-one 85 weeks* after he left the company. ^ First reports indicated that Leo Spitz might assume control of Hollywood studio operations.^ It soon became clear that Spitz did not wish to devote himself totally to production* though he intended to be heavily involved; in stead* RKO was going to depend on an old standby to run the film factory: Pandro Berman. Berman must have accepted the job reluctantly. Although he had headed up the studio be fore* during Merian Cooper's two separate convalescence periods* Berman had always preferred to concentrate on his own unit of ten to twelve pictures a year. Uncertainty generated by Berman's expressed partiality is evident in this ambivalent letter* sent to the new production head by story editor Lillie Messinger: I am in a quandary. . . . I don't know whether to congratulate you or not. Maybe I'm psychic* but I feel you did not really want to take over so much production. You've been working so hard that it seems to me just a burden you are taking over out 359 of necessity. So I'll reserve my congratulations until I see you and know whether you do want it. All I can say is that it's swell for me. . . . AND FOR RK0.y7 Just how "swell" the new production setup would be remained a question mark. No one doubted Berman's ability; he was one of Hollywood's proven picturemakers. But would he be content spreading his energies over an entire program of films, rather than concentrating on a few? Over and above this consideration, an obvious problem was evident. Once again, RKO had embraced a fresh point of view, had decided to move in a new direction. Less than two years after Spitz and Briskin had taken charge, RKO was entering a. new phase. The change would necessitate an obligatory "grinding of gears" period which, if history was an accurate indicator, meant that the studio was in for more discord, confusion, and difficulty. Almost ten years after its birth, the company was still groping for a guiding philos ophy and continuity of management.- Receivership An area of difficulty that Briskin had to worry about throughout the year and Berman would have hovering over his shoulder for some time to come was the unresolved receivership situation. Financial experts had predicted optimistically that the reorganization plan submitted by Atlas Corporation would be approved early in 1937- Instead, 360 involved parties began bombarding the court with objections to the plan. This mass of litigation so swamped Judge Bondy, tying up the proceedings completely, that in April the Judge was forced to appoint a "Special Master" to im pose order on the hornet's nest of stockholder and creditor 88 complaints. The unenviable job went to George W. Alger. He was instructed to "divide creditors and stockholders into classes according to the nature of their claims" and then evaluate the "fairness and feasibility of the proposed O Q [reorganization] plan in light of the various objections." Leading the list of complaints was the proposal to present 500.,000 shares of new RKO stock to Rockefeller Center in settlement of the Center's $9^150,000 claim against RKO. Creditors argued that the Rockefellers had been given preferential treatment, that RKO had no business continuing its financial arrangement with the giant thea ters, and that they (the creditors) had been offered much less generous settlements. Stockholders expressed concern that Rockefeller Center would control "one-fourth or one- fifth of the entire stock equity" in RKO if the plan gained 00 acceptance. H. C. Rickaby, attorney for Atlas Corpora-;, tion, attacked the malcontents, calling them an "insignifi cant minority." He also defended the Rockefeller Center agreement in his summation before Special Master Alger: He pointed out that all creditors accepted the set tlement and that rejection of the settlement might require a new plan to be written. Mr. Rickaby said - - -3~ 6 1 that few New York first run houses earned large prof its but that the Music Hall's value to RKO was "a national advertisement." The plan was characterized as fair., equitable and feasible. . . . He added that he regarded rejection of the plan and continuation, of the trusteeship as "inconceivable."91 Settlement of the Rockefeller claim, while the major source of contention, was not the only one. Conversion privilege for stockholders of the proposed new debentures and pre ferred stock and the lack of physical appraisal of the com- 92 pany's assets were also prime issues. The hearings floundered for months. An amusing incident transpired in August, in the midst of the inquiry. Special Master Alger decided that since he was becoming an authority on. a motion, picture company, he ought to begin offering advice about RKO's story selection. Alger con tacted N. Peter Rathvon and suggested that Sam Briskin and his staff consider two properties: Young April, a novel by Edgerton Castle, and Hell and High Water, a story published in Argosy magazine. Rathvon. wrote Briskin, mentioning the two items, and concluded: It might be useful for the record If you would write me a note that you are much obliged to Mr. Alger for these suggestions and that you will have someone in your story department check them up immediately. Later we will face the problem of what to do when you find they are no good.93 Sam Briskin obliged, dispatching his "grateful" note on. q4 August 9» On August 21, he sent a second letter to Rath- von with the story department evaluations. They were, of course, negative. Briskin ended his letter by instruct- .......... " 362 ing Rathvon to "please tell Judge Alger that although these two stories did not fit the studio program., should he have any further suggestions to make, we would be very happy to Q6 receive them. I bring up this anecdote to Illustrate a bizarre aspect of the movie business. Surely no other enterprise has had so many "Instant experts," people with only a smat tering of experience in the field--or perhaps none at all-- who decide they know what a company should be making. Mer lin Aylesworth adopted that attitude soon after he joined RKO, as did J. R. McDonough. Now a court official, in structed to untangle the snarled web of a film enterprise's financial affairs, was telling the studio what it should be doing. One can imagine what Briskin would have said to Alger about his "helpfulness," if the studio head could have spoken frankly. Finally, in mid-November, Alger issued a preliminary 07 report on the RKO reorganization plan. The only major change was a recommendation that Rockefeller Center's claim be reduced from $9^150,000 to $5.? 100,000 and that the Rocke feller interests receive 38,250 shares of new RKO preferred stock and 76,500 shares of new common stock, in place of the 500,000 shares of new common which the plan originally pro- 08 posed. Obviously, the revision was designed to placate the disgruntled creditors and stockholders who felt the Rockefellers were being accorded special treatment. Alger's "363 recommendations were tentative in nature--they did not con stitute an official or accepted revised draft of the pro posal. Now Judge Bondy would take over againj attorneys would have the opportunity to argue for or against Alger's ideas in Bondy's federal court. Preliminary reports indi cated the Rockefeller officials would not contest the re ductions, thus clearing the way for rapid acceptance of the Q Q scheme. ^ The "final" hearings in Judge Bondy's court rejected Alger's Rockefeller solution. The claim of $9^150,000 was upheld, though the stock which the Center was to receive was reduced from 500,000 shares to 460,000.^^ Neverthe less, sources suggested that approval of the plan was immi nent. Objections were still numerous, especially among small stockholder groups, but none of the major creditors filed fresh complaints. One unforeseen problem surfaced at the end of the year. The Atlas Corporation had been expected to take over RKO1s affairs completely during De cember 1937, by exercising its option to purchase RCA's remaining stock holdings in the company. This purchase would have given Floyd Odium and his Atlas Company clear control of RKO, thus shortcircuiting any power struggles among different factions over the studio's affairs. Odium, however, was evidently beginning to question the wisdom of his RKO investment. Instead of exercising the option, thereby smoothing the way fqr approval of his own reorgani- 364 zation. plan., Odium backed off and negotiated a one-year 102 extension of the option. Thus., Floyd Odium now had until December 31* 1938., to pay RCA approximately $6 million for Its still considerable holdings in RKO, and the receiver ship situation, which had already lasted over four years, would persist even longer. Personnel Talent development turned out to be one of Sam Briskin's principal weaknesses. During his tenure as head of production, no new RKO stars developed, no especially capable producers Joined the staff, no quality directors emerged. Instead, the company lost the services of such men as John Ford and Max Steiner; its major stars declined in popularity (Hepburn especially, but also the Astaire- Rogers team); and a number of second-rate producers were placed under contract. The producer situation was a definite sore point for Briskin. In 1937* he had Edward Small, Edward Kaufman, Howard Hawks, Cliff Reid, Jesse Lasky, Robert Sisk, Joseph Sistrom, Maury Cohen, P. G. Wolfson, plus, of course, Pandro Berman supervising pictures. Reid, Sisk, Sistrom, and Cohen mainly handled B releases under the administrative control of Lee Marcus, the head of the B unit. However, these men were not handling their films very well. The quality of the "programmers" had declined steadily since Briskin's ’ *365 arrival at RKO and, by August 1937.? the production chief had become rather desperate about the situation. Briskin suggested to Leo Spitz that he (Briskin) might take over Marcus' job and., utilizing two producers (probably Reid and Sisk) oversee the B pictures himself. Spitz vetoed the idea. The company president was a sup porter of Marcus and, quite rightly, explained to Briskin that supervising the B films could be a time-consuming 107 burden which would hamper Briskin's general performance. J In a letter to Briskin, Spitz did reveal his concern about 104 the producer situation. RKO had too many B producers, and not one had an impressive record. Something had to be done, but about the only definite idea was to get rid of Sistrom, an impossibility since the producer had ten months 105 left on his contract. RKO was stuck. As Lou Lusty, Sam Briskin's assistant, put it in a memorandum, "If it wasn't for the continued guidance and help from the front office, some of the gentlemen on the lot would never be able to finish a script--much less put it into production. Nevertheless, because of the contracts which RKO had given its producers, little could be done to remedy the situation until 1938. Problems also existed in the upper echelon of the A producers. Jesse Lasky had been a washout, and the studio 107 was biding its time, waiting for his contract to expire. Pinky Wolfson, after a brief shot at producing, was destined 366 to return to screenwriting,' an anonymity from which he had momentarily arisen. Edward Small had not jolted Hollywood as yet, but the jury was still out on him as well as Edward Kaufman,, who had produced some hits as well as misses. Ber man., of course, was untouchable regardless of his several slips of the past two years. This left Howard Hawks, a darling of the modern "auteur" critics. Hawks developed a quite different reputation at RKO. Howard Hawks had been with RKO almost a year, draw ing a salary of $2,500 per week, before he put his first 108 picture into production.. The film was especially impor tant to the studio because it starred Katharine Hepburn as a wacky socialite who pursues and eventually captures her prey, a paleontologist played by Cary Grant. Bringing Up Baby was designed, thereby, to introduce a new Hepburn persona--the screwball comedienne--and hopefully to rein- vigorate her flagging box office appeal. In order to have a chance to make a profit, however, the film had to be made on a reasonable budget. No Katharine Hepburn vehicle had a prayer of success, during this juncture in her career, if it cost much over a half million dollars. Hawks was well aware of this, but maneuvered and finagled until the budget topped $1,000,000. Sam Briskin simply was not strong enough to keep the director in line. The following memo written by- Lou Lasty to Briskin, as shooting was about to commence, serves both to confirm the basic "auteur" contentions about 367- Hawks' singlerninded devotion to his "vision" and to show why someone like Howard Hawks could have a devastating effect on a studio like RKO: I know, because the gentleman has said so in so many words, that he's only concerned with making a picture that will be a personal credit to Mr. Hawks regardless of its cost--and your [Briskin's] telling him the other day that it would be suicidal to make a Hepburn picture for seven or eight hundred thousand dollars I know made no impression on him at all. . . . Hawks is determined in his own quiet, reserved., soft-spoken manner to have his way about the making of this picture. . . . With the salary he's been getting he's almost indifferent to anything that might come to him on a percentage deal--that's why he doesn't give a damn about how much the picture will cost to make--and you know so well that you couldn't even break even if a Hepburn show cost eight hundred grand. All the directors in Hollywood are developing producer-director complexes and Hawks is going to be particularly difficult.109 The picture (released in 1938 'and* discussed in the next chapter) is now considered a preeminent example of the screwball genre and one of RKO's finest films. But Bringing Up Baby was nothing but trouble in its time: it did not make a profit,, it did not help Hepburn's career, and it brought a quick end to the relationship between RKO and Howard Hawks. In addition, the blows it dealt Sam Briskin, as well as his problematic relations with the other RKO pro ducers, hastened his demise as head of studio production. A tragedy struck the world of music in 1937 when George Gershwin died at the age of thirty-eight. Gershwin finished the score for A Damsel In Distress--his second RKO musical--and then seemed to disappear. Fred Astaire, real izing that he had not seen the famous composer during the 368 shooting of the picture, decided to pay Gershwin a visit. He discovered that Gershwin had suffered terrible headaches while working on the music for Damsel. Gershwin died a few weeks later, following an operation. The great composer never saw A Damsel in Distress which was issued several months thereafter. A Damsel in Distress proved to be an unlucky film in another regard. The female lead was Joan Fontaine, RKO's prime candidate for future greatness. After she played a small role in Quality Street, Gus McCarthy of the Motion Picture Herald had singled out Fontaine as a "star of to morrow. Starved for talent with box office magnetism, RKO decided to push Fontaine quickly--perhaps too quickly-- to the forefront. She was featured in A Damsel in Distress, opposite Fred Astaire and supported by George Burns and Grade Allen. It was Astaire's first RKO production with out Ginger Rogers and since Fontaine had neither the vocal nor dancing abilities of Miss Rogers, audiences deemed her and A Damsel in Distress disappointing. Joan Fontaine would become a star eventually but it would be after she left RKO. Once again, faulty thinking on. the part of the studio's creative planners had tarnished, rather than nur tured, a valuable asset. RKO' s other talent decisions were also generally uninspired. A pair of radio comedians, Joe Penner and "Parkyakarkas," were put under contract. Neither clicked 369 with moviegoers, forcing Leo Spitz to write Briskin in September 1937? suggesting ways in which the studio's in- 112 vestment in the pair might be "salvaged." Meanwhile., a future star was languishing in bit parts, unnoticed by the studio brass. It would take RKO years to perceive Lucille Ball's potential. Kate Hepburn's career continued to de cline,, and, more devastating from RKO's point of view, the Astaire-Rogers team was apparently losing its grip on the public. The gross receipts of their films were decreasing, and the duo dropped from third to seventh in the exhibitors' 113 poll of the top stars. To compound the difficulty, Astaire began again to lobby the studio for a dismantling of the Astaire-Rogers combination. After working sans Rogers in A Damsel in. Distress, Astaire feared "all that 'well they're back together again' talk" which would surely 114 arise if he did his next film with Ginger. RKO, however, could not afford to grant Astaire's wish. Astaire-Fontaine had not proved a winning ticket so it would be back to basics--and Ginger Rogers was one of the basics. About the only positive note, from the viewpoint of personnel, re corded in 1937 was the return of Irene Bunne to the fold. She had been making films for Universal and other companies for the past year or two. Now she returned to RKO and be came a big star. 'Unfortunately, the 1937 film that caused the breakthrough for Miss Dunne was not produced by RKO; it was Columbia's The Awful Truth. 370 A large percentage of the blame for the failure of RKO to develop a solid stock company during this period must lie with production chief Sam Briskin. RKO had always been notoriously weak in this area., and Briskin failed not only to upgrade the talent but, in fact, to maintain the level of adequacy that he inherited when he took over the job. Still, Briskin was not wholly at fault. The following tele gram somehow sums up the myopia affecting the entire group of officials running the company at the time. It was writ ten by Ned Depinet to President Leo Spitz and concerns a cowboy performer who had been appearing in B westerns since the early 1 9 3 0’s: Jules [Levy], myself believe would be mistake dis tribute John Wayne westerns. He is in same category as dozen others with disadvantage having been sold cheaply and our opinion little prospect of gaining popularity. . . . He is one of poorest of so called western stars, seems miscast and his pictures doing little at Universal. We believe would be better to go ahead with George Shelley who has not been Iden tified with cheap western pictures and with whom we would have chance building . . . worthwhile singing western star like Autry. H 5 And, of course, we all remember George Shelley. Production Production concerns in 1937 primarily involved the B group of pictures. The reason for this was both obvious and alarming. An A picture was determined principally by its star or stars. The quality of the;_story played a part in the determination, as well as the reputations of the 371 director and producer and the budget of the production. Nevertheless, if a picture lacked box-office "principals," it became difficult to sell as a top production to the theater owners. RKO could only turn out a limited number of A films because it had a small group of top stars: Astaire, Rogers, possibly Dunne. Katharine Hepburn had faded and now occupied a kind of limbo between A and B status, although RKO management still insisted each Hepburn picture was an A. Joining Hepburn in the A/B limbo were such contract performers as Barbara Stanwyck, Jack Oakie, Lily Pons, Miriam Hopkins, and newcomers Penner, Parkya- karkas, and Joan Fontaine. The rest of the RKO stock com pany was definitely B level. Thus, the B pictures became a major concern; until the studio could develop or sign more stars, little could be done to upgrade the A films. Early in the year, Sam Briskin called a meeting of his producers. It appears that during this important ses sion, which included Leo Spitz, Ned Depinet, and other high company officials, a new policy toward B films was outlined. In essence, the Bs were to be broken down into two catego ries: "intermediates" costing between $300,000 and $400,000 which would generally be vehicles for potential stars and unusual stories such as The Informer or Winterset; and "programmers," designed to cost no more than $ 1 1 5 ^ 0 0 0 each and enable the company to fulfill Its product obligations. When news of the meeting was communicated to the trade 372 papers., no mention of the cheap productions was included. Instead,, Sam Briskin was quoted as saying that budgets for the B pictures "are to be increased from 25 to 30 percent in the effort to elevate films in this classification to the point where they can play first run and single feature 116 houses with success." Sam Briskin omitted the fact that., for most B productions, his producers had been, instructed not to expect musical scores, "extravagant" titles, crane 117 and dolly shots, or even, retakes. The producers were also being told to keep the footage down to 5^200 feet, because no more "money is grossed on a picture with a foot age of 6,200 f t. . . . and on the shorter script we can. save a day or two on the schedule and it means nothing to the H 8 gross on this type of picture." By May, Sam Briskin and Leo Spitz were growing un comfortable about the inexpensive B films. The quality of Behind the Headlines, Too Many Wives, and others was so low that audiences were actually razzing the films throughout the country.'*'1^ Briskin pointed this out to Lee Marcus, the head of the B production group: Personally, I have been, very disturbed in the past few months . . . about both the quality we were get ting in. some of these pictures and at the cost of them. I have never had any illusions about making great or outstanding pictures in. the "B" group and I am sure no one in New York expects us to win the Academy Award with any of these pictures. However, they are entitled to a' quality that is at least fairly g o o d . 1 2 0 Briskin proceeded to criticize Marcus for allowing the _ . . _ _ - - - . . . 373 budgets on these films to average between $120., 000 and $130*000* instead of the $1 1 5 * 0 0 0 figure that had been stipulated. Marcus responded with a profit analysis of the last 121 nineteen films made under his supervision. He had little to say about quality* preferring to concentrate on box of fice performance instead. Using this as a barometer* Marcus argued that the key to B picture success was not budget* but "names." Films that included.at least one known performer-- such as Lee Tracy or Sally Eilers or Robert Armstrong or Zasu Pitts--made money; those films without established 122 players inevitably ended in the red. The only exception to the rule was Yellow Dust* a Richard Dix film which* ac cording to Lee Marcus* "shows a loss* not due to cast* but 123 due to excessive negative cost." Marcus defended himself well; for a time* the B unit was left alone and Marcus was encouraged to work more names into his films. The June sales convention brought little information about B releases. In its announcement of fifty-six features for the 1937-1938 season* the emphasis was* as always* on. 124 the top RKO coming attractions. Stage Door* based on the Kaufman-Ferber play* was set to star Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers. Rogers would team again with Astaire in an untitled Irving Berlin musical* with Charles Boyer In Per fect Harmony* and "solo-star" in the musical* Irene. Astaire and Hepburn were also supposed to star alone In 374 films which Pand.ro Berman would produce. Other pictures mentioned included Irene Dunne in The Joy of Living^ Lily Pons in The Girl in a Cage; Radio City Revels, , a musical revue featuring Jack Oakie, Lucille Ball., Victor Moore, and others;' and the anxiously awaited Disney feature. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Sam Briskin did issue an, interesting statement at the convention regarding A and B production: As to the gradation of pictures in terms of the alphabet, we have had It definitely proven to us that public opinion is the conclusive marker. Our classi fication of a picture before it is put Into produc tion, either through budgeting Its cast or by studding Its cast with star names, has little bearing so long' as It clicks at the box office. I can only interpret this as a verbal smokescreen, manu factured by Briskin to conceal the fact that RKO planned to produce fewer A films than in the past. By making such a remark, Briskin was able to sidestep the question of just how many of RKO's fifty-six releases would actually be top- notch productions. In fact, only about fifteen were tar- 126 geted for the A category. In August, an ominous state of affairs presented It self to the RKO executives. Exhibitors were refusing to sign contracts for the 1937-1938 program. This was, accord ing to Leo Spitz, "due, of course, to our record of perform ance and although we are all certain that we are going to show a tremendous improvement, the exhibitors want to be 127 shown first." Part of the problem related to the fact that RKO was asking for better terms in Its contract. But' 375 then the other studios were also demanding a larger cut of the box-office intake. As Spitz suggested, the real diffi culty was the substandard nature of recent RKO productions. RKO was very much depending on Stage Door, a hotly antici pated film which would launch the new season, to woo exhibi tors into signing its contracts. The letter from Spitz to Briskin. which contained this sobering information also stated, openly and frankly, what RKO needed and expected from .its production chief: I believe you are satisfied now that the only thing all of us are interested in--and that includes Trus tees, lawyers, bankers, committees, etc.--is box-' office pictures. Nobody cares who makes them or .how they are gotten out.--the final result is the only t h i n g t h a t counts.-^^o In one year, Spitz had set aside his espousal of "quality" pictures and was demanding box-office performance. This was now the only criterion of relevance; RKO had become a pure business enterprise. The statement also contained an implied threat. If Briskin did not start producing money making pictures pretty soon, someone else would be found and given a chance. By September, the "intermediate" pictures had turned into a major studio plague. These films, mentioned promi nently at the beginning of the year as a nurturing arena for new talent and a perfect spot to treat unusual story mate rial, were losing money. 'Sam Briskin blamed the situation on rising costs, largely the result of the militant Holly wood labor situation: 376 It seems that every day there is a new organization formed and every day we are giving them something. You are familiar,, of course, with the labor deal and the strike situation we had which resulted in giving the painters a fifteen percent increase. . . . We are now dealing with the office workers, the film editors, and the assistant directors.-*-29 Related directly to picture budgets, this meant that "inter- mediate" films that cost $250,000 to $350,000 in 19 35 were' now ranging between $300,000 and $ 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 . The chances of turning a profit were very slim at these figures because the pictures remained, in essence, B releases. Briskin sug gested the rather radical idea of holding down A films to "six or eight," trying to make those few truly "great," and 131 eliminating the "intermediates" as far as possible. Leo Spitz evidently did not give the idea any credence. There 132 was no mention of the concept in his reply to Briskin. The production situation did not improve, causing Briskin to quit in late October. The depths to which the studio had sunk were eventually revealed in December 1937- At that time, A. H. McCausland from the Irving Trust Company wrote Leo Spitz suggesting he consider selling Gunga Din, one of the few exciting unproduced properties the company 133 owned. MOM had apparently made , a , firm offer which RKO had rejected, even though the studio was having difficulty casting the picture. Another negative factor was that the infamous Howard Hawks was scheduled to direct. When Spitz expressed a disinclination to part with Gunga Din, McCausland reminded the RKO president of the current state r "■ ■ *" • _ ~ ~ ----- 377- of the company's filmmaking business: With respect to Gunga Din, the question of whether or not this picture should, be made ties in with the ques tion of the picture company finances which,, as you appreciate., are in a very bad condition. We have been requested to loan additional money to the picture com pany to see it through to the end of the year, even in the face of the loan they received from the Bank of America. IS1) - This did not mean that RKO's other divisions such as Dis tribution and Exhibition,, were stumbling, but it was, never theless, a baneful sign. Once again, as in the early 1930s, the studio operation could not pay for itself. No wonder Ployd Odium backed away at this time and adopted a wait-and- see attitude, rather than investing several more millions in RKO Radio Pictures. The Films RKO, like its competitors, had always relied on certain established plot formulas in its picture production. In 1937.? the studio's releases became so "formularized," so lacking in freshness and variety, that the RKO reputation plummeted to a new low. Comedy once again assumed first po sition in its release efforts, and there was a dogged at tempt to introduce new faces and new combinations that might "click" with audiences. However, the results were generally the same: dismal. The newspaper milieu provided one tried-and-true source of humorous invention. RKO used it twice in 1937-- in Behind the Headlines and There Goes My Girl. Behind the 378 Headlines featured Lee Tracy playing the familiar role of “ r ' i indefatigable newshawk. His competitive streak places him in a difficult position with his girlfriend (Diana Gibson)^ who reports the news for a rival paper and takes umbrage at his successes. In the end, Tracy rescues her from a gang of thieves^ thus salvaging the relationship. There Goes My Girl was a pure plagiarism of The Front Page with a managing editor indulging in all sorts of dirty tricks to prevent the marriage of his star reporter to a rival newspaperman. About the only thing this film had going for it was its two leads--Ann Sothern and Gene Raymond--who had become an ap pealing team by this juncture. They were- considered the most successful of RKO's lower echelon pairs. Miss Sothern was also mated with Burgess Meredith in There Goes the Groom. This story also had a familiar ring to it. Sothern's family is in terrible financial difficulty and badly needs to coax a wealthy son.-in.-law into the fold. Meredith arrives from Alaska., where he has struck gold., and the chase is on.. Routinely directed by Joseph Santley, There Goes the Groom did give Meredith a chance to demon strate a comic flair that had not been hinted at in Winter- set . Victor Moore and Helen Broderick formed another RKO tandem. They played off each other in We're on the Jury, a perfunctory remake of the 1932 RKO release, Ladies of the Jury. Miss Broderick could always be counted on. for a solid 379 performance,, but Edna Mae Oliver had handled her role with superior aplomb in the original. Moore enjoyed some fine moments as real estate salesman J. Clarence Beaver, and the picture was congenial on the whole. Still., it seems a meas ure of the creative feebleness of RKO production that it had jfco recycle films made less than five years before. Moore and Broderick took charge once again in Meet the Missus, a lame farce about a henpecked husband whose wife becomes "Mrs. American Housewife," regardless of the fact that he does all the housework. Among the other mirthful efforts were Guy Kibbee in PonTt Tell the Wife and The Big Shot. In both, Kibbee plays a bewildered innocent who manages to overcome the evildoers-- stock manipulators In the first, gangsters In the second-- through sheer good fortune. Joe E. Brown came back to Gower Street in 1937- He had worked for the old PBO organization before it became RKO. His new films, however, probably made him wish for a return, to the silent days. Both When1s Your 'Birthday? and Fit for a King were sadly lacking in enter tainment value. When1s Your Birthday? was the better of the two, presenting Joe as an astrological expert who picks a winner in the races and is Immediately embraced by numerous jfanciers of the wager. The stars were definitely against him, however; Brown summoned up every trick in. his reper toire, but the scripts of this film and Fit for a King made nim a loser from the start. ! ' ' " " 380 | Rather sadly., the year brought an end to the most venerable comedy team In the studio’s history: Wheeler and Woolsey. Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey had worked for RKO since the beginning. At one time, they were considered a top studio drawing card. But a stale familiarity which crept In. after a few pictures, and an. Inability to pursue fresh farcical paths reduced their releases to a very low rung on the company ladder. Nevertheless, the amazing thing was that they held on as long as they did. On Again-Off Again and High Flyers, the 1937 efforts, were both made on. tiny budgets and lost money for the studio, as had their 1935 and 1938 endeavors. The films contained an occasional funny line, a gag or two which had not been used before, but mostly they were deja vu and bad deja vu at that. The pair's reign as an important comedy act was long past, and they must have known, it. The RKO executives certainly got the message; there would be no more Wheeler-Woolsey indulgence, no matter what the budget. The two pals were finished as an RKO act, and finished even as a third-rate comedy duo. Approximately one year after the release of High Flyers, 135 Robert Woolsey died of a kidney ailment. Tired conventions predominated in the area of straight drama as well. We Who Are About to Die was based on the true story of David Lamson who spent thirteen, months in San Quentin penitentiary before the Supreme Court re versed his murder conviction. Evidently screenwriter John ' ‘ ' ““ 381 Twist felt the material was not exciting enough, so he added practically every cliche imaginable: the framing of an innocent man, the devoted lover working with a clever de tective to find proof of innocence, outbreaks of violence within the prison walls, a last second reprieve as the hero is being led to his execution. Preston Foster and Ann Dvorak were the featured players in this strained melodrama. Foster also appeared in Sea Devils as a Coast Guard enlistee who comes into conflict with old salt Victor 'McLaglen over McLaglen's daughter (Ida Lupino), whom he ad mires. A straightforward action picture, spiced with num erous fistfights and an exciting rescue at sea, Sea Devils managed to transcend its mechanical origins. It made the largest profit of any of the 1937 RKO B pictures: $155^000.136 The same cannot be said for most of the other melo dramatic efforts. The Man Who Found Himself was the story of a doctor who renounces his Hippocratic oath, then comes bo his senses at the climactic moment. One new element was introduced--physician John Beal performs his crucial surgery while high in the clouds In an airliner. This factor, plus bhe appearance of RKO hopeful Joan Fontaine In a supporting role, failed to inject any electricity into the tired tale, however. China Passage was pure tedium, a badly orches trated shipboard mystery involving murder and the disappear ance of the precious "500" diamond. Danger Patrol and ”'382 Flight from Glory were like-minded adventure sagas. The latter presented villain Onslow Stevens recruiting maverick pilots to fly wretched airplanes over the Andes Mountains. Introduced into this suicidal atmosphere is beautiful Whit ney Bourne, the only woman in the vicinity, which makes for a modicum of emotional combustion. Less involving was Danger Patrol, about the tough breed who make their living transporting nitroglycerin, to squelch oil field blazes. Like Sea Devils, the plot focused on Harry Carey, as a vet eran of the business who forbids his daughter (Sally Eilers) to marry John Beal because Beal also is involved in the perilous vocation. At the end, Carey realizes the inevita bility of their love, gives the youngsters his blessing, and then takes over an especially dangerous mission from Beal, dying in the process. A few B pictures did prove pleasant surprises. Criminal Lawyer, for example, documented the rise of a gang land figure (Lee Tracy) to the position of District Attorney with insight and clever attention to detail. In the finest Hollywood tradition, the protagonist has a change of heart and tells all to a grand jury, just as he is apparently on his way to the governor's chair. Forgiving this mandatory obeisance to the production code and public expectations, Criminal Lawyer represented one of RKO's most incisive and carefully wrought dramas of the year. Super-Sleuth boasted one quality that immediately . .. . _ _ . .... 383 placed It a notch above the other studio releases: origi nality. Jack Oakle portrays a famous movie detective who, believing he actually embodies the cool powers of ratiocin ation. which his cinematic persona always displays, under takes to solve a "real" mystery baffling the Los Angeles police. This Pirandellian concept yields much genuine humor and even some suspense when Oakle unwittingly enlists the assistance of the very man he is trying to capture. The film manages to showcase the chasm between movie- inspired methods of crime detection and those that operate in the actual world. Seldom before had Hollywood mined this rich lode of comic possibilities. A slightly different approach to the same idea was offered in Hollywood Cowboy, one of a series of westerns starring George O'Brien. In this instance, O'Brien plays a cowboy star forced to stand back from the movie lights and become a real-life ranch hand for awhile. Unlike Oakie, O'Brien is presented as being completely capable of all the dauntless deeds expected of him by movie audiences. Even though the obvious illusion-reality disparity was-' thus eschewed, Hollywood Cowboy nevertheless proved a bracing entertainment and an interesting inside look at the world of the "horse opera." Border Cafe was another firm example of RKO's abil ity with the western. Seemingly inspired by The Last Out law, the picture played up a clash between modern era gang 384 sters (J. Carrol'Naish'-being the primary villain) and men still in tune with the code of the old West. Once again, Harry Carey was on hand to embody the dependable western virtues which, of course, triumph in the end. Although not quite on a par with The Last Outlaw, Border Cafe was an eminently satisfying genre picture. Turning to the studio's more "important" films* it seems appropriate to begin with the worst and then move forward. New Faces of 1937 was envisioned as the first of a series of musical revues, designed to introduce new RKO talent to the movie public. In this case, radio personali ties Joe Penner, Milton Berle, and Parkyakarkas were the Hollywood hopefuls topping the cast. Stringing its gags and Lew Brown-Sammy Pain tunes around a reliable backstage plot, the Edward Small picture was so poor in every con ceivable respect that it proved RKO's largest "backfire" of the year. Theater owners and audiences displayed such hos tility toward the picture in general, and Joe Penner and Parkyakarkas in particular, that the studio abandoned plans to produce a "New Faces of 1938." An attempt was made to undo the damage later in the year by presenting Penner and "Parky" in another musical comedy entitled The Life of the Party. Since both perform ers were under contract to.RKO, there was a real need to make them at least palatable to audiences. Actually the two comedians were on hand in this picture to provide 385 whimsical accompaniment to Gene Raymond's wooing of Harriet Hilliard. Helen Broderick and Victor Moore also lent their presence to the endeavor., but nothing seemed to help. About the only good thing that could be said of the film was that it only lost $111., 000 as compared to the $ 2 5 8 ,0 0 0 which was noted in red ink beside New Faces of 1937 on the studio's 1 3 7 ledgers. Joe Penner and Parkyakarkus had become a real liability to RKO. As mentioned earlier, company officials began, groping for a solution to this problem during the lat ter part of the year. Hitting a New High must have been a new low in. Hol lywood's treatment of operatic stars. Since signing Lily Pons, the RKO production machine had been desperately at tempting to popularize her obviously sophisticated appeal. Late in 1936, they had offered something called That Girl from Paris which required Pons to perform with a swing band. Prank S. Nugent of the New York Times was outraged by this, calling the film the "final impudent gesture of the 1936 ■j o O cinema." -5 Little did he realize what was on the horizon in 1937- In Hitting a New High, Lily Pons was forced to dress in a costume of feathers, twitter when, she talked, and answer to the name of "Ooga-hunga, the Bird-Girl." This turns out to be the idea of demon publicist Jack Oakie who presents the aspiring singer to the show business world as a sweet-singing missing link from Africa. Raoul Walsh's direction, musical numbers by Jimmy McHugh and Harold .. . . . Adamson, and the comic performances of such Astaire-Rogers stalwarts as Eric Blore and Edward Everett Horton could not salvage the ludicrous premise. Once again, Frank Nugent dipped into his poisoned ink well, beginning his review thus: During its production, the Lily Pons film, "Hit ting a New High . . . ," was known as "It Never Hap pened Before." We wish RKO-Radio hadn’t changed the title, for now we cannot express the devout hope it would never happen again.139 The picture was a financial, as well as critical, disaster. It lost $431,000 and assured the eventual demise of its pro- 140 ducer, veteran Jesse Lasky. The biggest box office calamity of the year was ac tually not a bad film. The Toast of New York starred Ed ward Arnold as "Jubilee Jim" Fisk, one of the tycoons who ruled Wall Street after the Civil War. A highly romanti cized biography, the picture traced Fisk's meteoric rise to power, his open warfare with fellow magnates Daniel Drew (Donald Meek) and Cornelius Vanderbilt (Clarence Kolb), the eventual rupture of his closest friendship (with Cary Grant) over a maniacal scheme that threatened the fragile economic balance of the entire nation, and finally Fisk's assassina tion. Arnold acted the main character with refreshing vigor. Jack Oakie added humor as a close associate, and Frances Farmer made a fitting object of Arnold's (and Grant's) affections. Only Cary Grant seemed a bit ill _ : at . ease in a role that was not well>drawn. Produced by Edward I ' ' ' " ' 387 jsmall and directed by Rowland V. Lee from a Dudley Nichols' screenplay, The Toast of New York was respectable entertain ment, and the studio had high hopes for it. The budget ($1,0 7 2,0 0 0), unfortunately, was far too costly for a film featuring Edward Arnold as the principal star; it lost a blistering $530,000 for RKO.1^1 The Plough and the Stars was the final film made under John. Ford's three-picture commitment to the studio. The experience soured him on RKO, and he never again worked as a contract director for the company. (Ford did, however, make a deal to release his independently produced Argosy films through RKO in the late 1940s. ) Problems arose on The Plough and the Stars after shooting was completed and Ford was vacationing on his yacht on the high seas. Sam Briskin and others previewed the film, and decided that some changes were needed. An assistant director was assigned to reshoot certain scenes. When Ford returned to Hollywood and discovered what had transpired, he instructed his lawyer, Harry Wurtzel, to notify RKO that he wanted "his name omitted as director, or in any connection with said pic tures [sic I or given credit as such on the screen or in 142 publicity, paid or otherwise." It turned out that Ford had no right to do this. Sam Briskin informed Wurtzel of the legalities and reminded Ford that he had asked the di rector not to take his vacation until after the initial 147 preview. ^ Two months later, Briskin wrote Ford a personal 388 letter which contained a definite fence-mending tone to it: I just returned from New York and everybody there is most enthusiastic about the picture [The Plough and the Stars]. They are all very doubtful as to its box office but, nevertheless, feel that it is a picture that we can well afford to be proud of and that., while it may not make us any money, it will certainly give us prestige. I am certainly hoping that,the boys in. New York are correct and, honestly, I agree with them.-*-^ There does not seem to be much evidence that Briskin ap peased Ford's anger. Years later, the director still ex pressed bitterness about the matter to interviewer Peter 145 Bogdanovich. The film garnered neither plaudits nor profits for RKO and ended any interest which the studio held in "pres tige" pictures. Dudley Nichols' adaptation considerably altered the ambiguous resonance of Sean O'Casey's play about the Irish rebellion in 1 9 1 6. And Ford could hardly blame RKO for a whole that seemed mostly surface with little substance. Barbara Stanwyck and Preston Foster played the lead roles of Jack and Nora Clitheroe--adequately, at best. Perhaps the most lasting contribution of The Plough and the Stars was the Introduction of several performers from Dub lin's own Abbey Theatre. The most famous, Barry Fitzgerald, would soon become a member of Ford's personal stock company and a fine Hollywood character actor. A more Important foreigner joined RKO In 1937- The British quota act required American studios to produce a certain, number of pictures in England In order to dis 389 tribute their Hollywood pictures throughout the British Isles. To -present fifty-six pictures in England during the 1937-1938 season, for example, RKO would be obliged to pro duce between five and nine pictures there, depending upon 146 their cost. To this end, British producer-director Herbert Wilcox was signed to provide RKO with much of the 147 necessary product. The agreement was actually consum mated after RKO began distributing Victoria the Great, an expensive and dignified biography of the British monarch which Wilcox had produced under his Imperadio Pictures ban ner . Victoria starred Wilcox’s future wife, Anna Neagle. With some degree of poetic license, the picture moved through most of the queen's sixty-year reign emphasizing her relations with Prince Albert, Lord Melbourne, G-ladstone, Disraeli, and other leading figures of her eponymous age. The film was not designed to set American audiences on fire, but it stressed Victoria's humanity without abandoning a worshipful tone and, therefore, proved reasonably appealing in a variety of markets. Exactly one hundred years after she ascended the throne, Victoria Regina proved she still had magnetism. RKO, based on. distribution, rights alone, 1 ) I Q made $100,000 on the picture. The company's "big star vehicles" proved largely disappointing. Vainly endeavoring to propel Katharine Hep burn back to the top, Pandro Berman chose Quality Street, 390 an adaption of James M. Barrie's play,' and assigned George Stevens to direct. Barrie, of course, had provided Miss Hepburn, with one of her most charming roles in The Little Minister, and Stevens had handled an earlier "comeback" pic ture, Alice Adams. This time the combination failed. The tale concerned one Phoebe Throssel, a lady teetering on the brink of spinsterhood, who flails about madly for a husband before all hope is gone. Miss Hepburn's performance of the role seemed to exhibit some of the frustration caused by her fading career; it was overwrought to a point near hysteria, reducing severely the sentimental and coyly amus ing intent of the material. Made on a relatively inexpen sive budget ($6l6,000), the film still lost $248,000.^^ It raised a major question in the minds of the RKO execu tives concerning whether the actress' option should be re newed when it came due in the fall of the year. Stage Door, in which Hepburn would be starred with G-inger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, and others, was considered the critical picture with respect to Hepburn's future with the company. The solitary Astaire-Rogers musical of 1937 was Shall We Dance. The picture contained many wonderful things: a superb score by the Gershwins (their first and last for the Astaire-Rogers team), a witty roller skating sequence, and an imaginative ending which is as good as any In the entire series. The script, unfortunately, seemed like a rehash of several earlier efforts, full of '.......“ ' 391 multiple misunderstandings and characters that had been glimpsed* perhaps* a time too often. Edward Everett Horton as Ast.aire ' s impresario and Eric Blore as hotel official Cecil Flintridge appeared* by now* to be sleepwalking through their impersonations. Dancing seemed to take a back seat to singing in this picture; since the strength of the Astaire-Rogers productions had always been the scintillating dance routines* this may have disheartened some members of the audience. The diminished frequency of the dances* the familiarity of the team's plot recipe* and the slightly warmed-over characters all perhaps contributed to an. indis putable shrinkage in the Astaire-Rogers audience. Shall We Dance returned a handsome profit of $413*000* but this was 150 well below the figures for the previous pictures. ^ Still* an Astaire-Rogers vehicle remained a sure winner. With so few other releases gathering profits* the studio could ill- afford to abandon them* regardless of Fred Astaire's oft- expressed wish to go "solo." Lending credence to the studio's argument against Astaire was the performance of his first RKO picture with out Rogers* A Damsel in Distress. Based on. a story by P. G. Wodehouse* graced with impeccable production values and a solid score by George and Ira Gershwin* and featuring the able support of George Burns and Grade Allen* the picture still emerged as a disappointment. ' Astaire was class and charm personified* but Joan Fontaine* still feeling her way 392| as an actress* was simply no match for him. While the Ginger Rogers persona complemented Astaire* Fontaine de tracted from his strengths. A "nondancer*" her shortcom ings were sadly obvious in this sequence* described by' Arlene Croce: She [Fontaine] wore a fixed smile of pain through the entire movie. One sees why in her one nondance with Astaire* "Things are Looking Up*" performed as they wander through a park. The director* George Stevens* hurls so many treetrunks between her and the lens that she looks worse than she is* and* as she and Astaire cross a pond* he cuts away from her in midleap* so that she appears to be taking a header into the water. -*-51 Lacking a romantic dancing partner* much of Astaire’s "hoofing" in the film was done with Burns and Allen* who turned out to be surprisingly talented. The funhouse se quence* featuring the three performers* was especially in spired; it won an Oscar for choreographer Hermes Pan. ' ■ Still* the absence of a leading lady of Rogers' caliber decimated the humor and slickness of the production. A Damsel in Distress ended up $68*000 in the red* the first 162 Astaire film ever to post a loss. ^ The Injury to Joan Fontaine's career was probably even greater* though impos sible to measure. She retired quickly to the lower reaches of RKO's thespian. roster. The Soldier and the Lady The RKO version of Jules Verne’s novel* Michael Strogoff* was not one of the studio’s major 1937 releases. 393t However, the unique circumstances surrounding its production make the film worthy of special attention. French producer Joseph Ermolieff contacted RKO in early 1936 with an unusual deal in mind. Ermolieff had already filmed Strogoff in Europe and released the picture successfully in both a French and a German version. He wished RKO to help him secure a Hollywood star (Frederic March or Ronald Colman were mentioned) to play the lead in an English version to be produced in London. RKO would be given first call on the American distribution rights if the studio could deliver the obligatory leading man. RKO!s interest was piqued. The studio approached March, who was disinclined to go, to London to do the picture. Meanwhile, several of the company executives looked at the French ver sion of Strogoff and were struck by the spectacular battle footage and the epic sweep of the drama. Pandro Berman was so impressed that he suggested RKO buy "the English speaking rights and the negative from Ermolieff and make the picture ICO in Hollywood." It was estimated that fifty to sixty per cent of the Ermolieff footage could be used without any Jar ring lapses In continuity. The panoramic war scenes, which would have been especially costly to reshoot, could easily be matched with the more intimate narrative sequences, for example. In the summer of 1936, an agreement was reached whereby Ermolieff sold RKO the right to make an. English 394 language Michael Strogoff and distribute the picture in America, the United Kingdom, and numerous other countries. Included in the $75., 000 purchase price were all rights to the original negative of the French version of Ermolieff's 1S4 Strogoff. The studio tried and failed to enlist- the services of a big star, so it decided to utilize the princi pal actor in the two European versions, Anton Walbrook, as Strogoff. Pan Berman, reasoned that the picture could be made for about $325,000. At that figure, Berman believed the film "would be a good vehicle in which to launch Wal- brooke [sic] and even if the picture does not make a profit we will be well ahead of the game if Walbrooke [sic ] should 155 'click.'" Thus, RKO was hoping to create a badly needed male star as well as a successful picture through this strange international experiment. The film was made in fall 1936. Pandro Berman as signed Mortimer Offner and Anthony Veiller to do the adapta tion., George Nicholls, Jr., to direct, and gave Walbrook such strong supporting players as Akim Tamiroff, Margot Grahame,. Pay Bainter, and Eric Blore. After very encouraging pre views, the film opened in Hollywood In February 1937. Busi ness was miserable at first, however. It immediately occur- ,red to Berman and several other RKO leaders that the problem was the title. Evidently the Russian sounding Michael Strog- pff, starring unknown European actor Anton Walbrook, created ■an impression that the film was foreign-made. Telegrams 395 flew madly from coast to coast before writer-producer P. G. Wolfson finally came up with The Soldier and the Lady. The entire advertising campaign had to be redone, involving an expenditure of approximately $5,000, but this was deemed a necessary loss and the film played better under its new, 156 more pedestrian name. It just about broke even, realiz ing a profit of $2,000 for RKO. Unfortunately, the hope that Walbrook would become a star failed to materialize. He performed well and his English was clear and respectable, but he did not have the necessary charisma to catch on rapidly with American audi ences. The film itself was a tolerable action-adventure, somewhat better than most of the studio's 1937 efforts. The original footage was very cleverly intercut with new mate rial making for a homogeneous production. The plot followed Strogoff, who is the Czar's personal courier, to Siberia in 1870 bearing a strategy that will defeat the rebellious Tartars. After an encounter with beautiful spy Margot Grahame, an emotional scene in which he is forced to deny his own mother (Pay Bainter), and a stomach-churning moment in which he,,is apparently blinded by one of villain Akim Tamiroff's men, Strogoff finally delivers the key message and Russia is saved. Comic relief provided by Eric Blore and Edward Brophy, as two unlikely journalists covering the action, was pretty silly, but, otherwise The Soldier and the Lady measured up to RKO's expectations. It did not, how 396 ever, lead to more cooperative ventures between Hollywood companies and foreign filmmakers. Stage Door Stage Door generated more enthusiasm and high ex pectations than any of RKO's other 1937 releases. The original material came from Edna Ferber and G-eorge S. Kauf- manj whose play about a group of young actresses waiting and hoping for their "big break" had opened on Broadway in 1936. The comedy-drama had a strong anti-Hollywood bias at its core, but Pandro Berman, immediately saw the potential in the material and convinced Leo Spitz to buy it. From early on, the piece was envisioned as a co-starring vehicle for Ginger Rogers and Katharine Hepburn. Morrie Ryskind and Anthony Veiller were assigned the task of transforming the play into a screen story., removing the nasty remarks about Hollywood in. the process. Then Gregory LaCava, who had managed My Man Godfrey and several other successes since leaving RKO years before, was signed on to direct. La Cava evidently rewrote much of the story and dialogue as he filmed, so that the final picture was quite different from the Ferber-Kaufman prototype. The picture had special importance to Katharine Hepburn. After several flops in a row, she had become a persona non grata to many exhibitors. Witness the follow ing telegram sent from Harry Brandt, president of the In.de 397 pendent Theatre Owners Association, to Sam Briskin in early 1937: Understand you are considering Katharine Hepburn in STAGE DOOR. Consider this collossal [sic] mistake. Believe you have very valuable piece of property in this play. Us T . sic} exhibitor with contracts in over sixty theatres with your company and interested in output of your company am advising strongly against Hepburn in this picture. Theatre owners of New York join me in voicing this protest to you.158 This was the opening volley in a war against Miss Hepburn (and other performers) which would become truly ugly by 1938. With respect to Stage Door, the message was clear: Hepburn better not fail this time. Her role., indeed, seemed molded comfortably to her talents. In a story that bore a marked resemblance to Morning Glory, she would play an idealistic character very much like Eva Lovelace, the part that won her an Academy Award. Adolphe Menjou would even be on hand, once again, as a philandering producer. To bolster the production, Miss Hepburn would be joined by Ginger Rogers, playing a sassy, sarcastic broad who meas ures success in purely material terms. The witty barbs they hurl at each other are among the finest in 1930s Amer ican comedy. Backing them both up in the most delightful boarding house imaginable are such performers as Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, Andrea Leeds, Gail Patrick, and the won derful Eve Arden, who seems always to have a cat straddling her neck. When the film was completed, Pandro Berman gushed satisfaction in every direction, calling Stage Door "the best picture in RKO' s history and I am including them 159 all." Berman was so excited he tried to twist some arms to get either a cover story in Time magazine or a "March of Time" segment produced about the picture. He was unsuccess ful, but the entire RKO publicity machine was thrown behind the release. Since Stage Door represented the first pic ture of the 1937-1938 season, it was gleefully believed that RKO was in for a big year. Surely hosts of exhibitors would buy the company's product in order to acquire this giant hit. Even before it opened, Hepburn's performance as sured that the company would not dump her, as had been con templated. Berman sent the actress the following wire after the first preview: A star was reborn last night which is going Gaynor one better. Seriously you came off tremendously and picture looks like s m a s h . 180 Hepburn had indeed delivered a strong performance, fitting in beautifully with the ensemble cast and displaying none of the annoying mannerisms which had vexed audiences of her recent productions. RKO renewed her option soon after Stage Door opened. Stage Door was both a hit and a disappointment. Ned Depinet, after seeing it, predicted the film would 1 /T - I gross $1.5 million in the United States alone. It opened big in the East, then slumped a bit in the Midwest __ ^ and South. When final figures were tallied, the result was 1 fi P a studio profit of only $81,000. Of course, this still meant the picture had done a lot of business because its - j production cost had been $952,000. Nevertheless, Pan Berman and Leo Spitz must have been disconcerted; their sure blockbuster had turned out to be a moderately success ful picture. It is, of course, impossible to explain what hap pened. The picture still holds together well when viewed today. Perhaps the games that Hepburn and Rogers play with Menjou, who is totally reprehensible, may have dismayed some members of the audience. In addition, there is a poignant subplot which climaxes in the suicide of Andrea Leeds after Hepburn gets the dramatic role Leeds had cov eted. Although La Cava handles the tragedy with restraint and feeling, it does not fit comfortably into the wise cracking atmosphere of the whole. Then again, perhaps audiences had developed a solid aversion to Katharine Hep burn and stayed away for this reason. Somehow this notion makes the least sense. When the material was right, and it was in Stage Door, Katharine Hepburn always proved a com pletely ingratiating actress. And teamed with Ginger Rogers, who held her own nicely, Hepburn displayed new di mensions of her talent. She had been challenged by.the desperate situation she faced, and she responded like a pro--indeed, like Terry Randall, the character she portrays 400 in the film, manages to respond to a shocking set of cir cumstances. Why the film failed to return huge profits to RKO and failed to put Hepburn back on top will forever re main a mystery. At least the Hollywood establishment recog nized its achievement. Stage Door garnered four Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress (Andrea Leeds). Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs The final RKO release of 1937 turned out to be one of the most successful pictures of all time. Walt Disney's first feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, had been eagerly awaited, but no one quite expected the avalanche of critical and audience approval which greeted its arrival. William R. Weaver of the Motion Picture Herald called its baptism at Hollywood's Carthay Circle theater, "the most 164 extraordinary world premiere in cinema history." Statistics issued by RKO indicated that the film had taken three years to complete at a cost of $1,500,000. A total of 570 artists worked on the production and some 250,000 drawings came together to create the finished prod- 165 uct. All the painstaking effort, however, was over shadowed by the extraordinary media blitzkrieg that accom panied the opening. There were features on Snow White (several of them cover stories) in Life, Time, McCall1s, Collier1s, Popular Science, .Town and Country, Better Homes 401 and Gardens, Popular Mechanics, and practically every Impor tant newspaper in the country. National radio broadcasts joined the parade., bombarding their listeners with the eight song hits from the picture. Snow White dolls, toys, books, and novelties soon swept the country, all bringing substantial royalties into Disney's coffers (but not 166 RKO's). RKO's distribution arm was not complaining; in five weeks, an estimated 8 0 0 ,0 0 0 people paid to see the triumph of animation at the Radio City Music Hall, meaning that almost half the cost of production had been grossed 167 at this one site. ' Throughout the rest of 1938, the Hollywood trade papers were filled with stories about the incredible per formance of Snow White. By July, it seemed definite that the film would post the highest domestic gross in the his tory of the business.Although financial records from the silent era were incomplete and notoriously unreliable, Snow White was sure to surpass such earlier successes as Warners1 The Singing Fool, Paramount1s Covered Wagon, and YIetro's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These pictures had accumulated known figures of $4.5 million or more.'*'^ When the smoke finally cleared. Snow White was indeed on top 170 having attracted $7., 7 5 1* 000 .in paid admissions. Strangely, RKO's profit was only $3 8 0, 0 0 0 . How ever, it must be remembered that the studio's healthy dis tribution percentage was subtracted before profits were computed; thus., RKO must have done very well on the arrange ment. Certainly, Sam Brlskln. had pulled off a major coup when he enticed Walt Disney to Join forces with the studio. Brlskln, however, was not around to receive the well- deserved hurrahs. He had left RKO Before the premiere of Snow White. The tenure of Snow White atop the list of all-time box-office successes would be short-lived. In 1939* Gone With the Wind was released and quickly eclipsed the former champion. But Walt Disney would not be outclassed by any of his Hollywood competitors. Having established himself as a major filmmaker with his first feature, the Disney magic would continue to penetrate every facet of American life for years to come. Perhaps the fundamental reason for Walt Disney's success is contained in a memorandum written by one of his employees in 1938: May I add that Walt built this Institution up to what It is today by concentrating on one Idea--that of giving quality entertainment no matter what the cost, and, as you know, in spite of many protests from the bookkeepers and financial departments, he has, up to this time always, without exception, been right. ^ 2 Perhaps RKO's executives should have scrutinized Disney's operation more closely. They might have learned a good deal. 403 Conelusion Judged purely on the basis of financial reports * It looked as If RKO had made Impressive strides since Floyd Odium gained the upper hand in the company's affairs. . Odium's hand-picked Spitz-Briskin. regime once again came through with a net profit for 1937: $1,821,165.'^^ This was about $6 0 0 ,0 0 0 less than the year before, but the figure still seemed very substantial, especially when compared to the disastrous 1932-1934 period. The figures were, regrettably, misleading. The year 1937 was a halcyon one for the entire film business, 174 the first year of industry-wide profit-making since 1930. Placed in this context, the RKO yield was less than spec tacular. In addition, the receivership situation was still unsettled. Roy Chartier of Variety called the RKO reorgani zation, "something that's been reported around the corner 175 for so long it must be on an awfully long corner." In deed, Odium's ,men. had not, as promised, brought a speedy end to the situation, and no end was yet in sight. The performance of Odium's appointees also left a good deal to be desired. Leo Spitz had, so far, displayed no special abilities or strengths In piloting the entire organization. And Sam Briskin's departure from RKO in October 1937 ' ) was a clear indication that he had failed to deliver. During Briskin's tenure as production chief, the ’ ” ’ ” ’ ~ *” ‘ ~ 4o4 • quality of RKO releases had declined considerably,, the com pany's roster of stars had been debased and no new person alities of note had been developed., and, worst of all, studio operations had begun to run in. the red again. The film unit reported a net loss of $236,909 for 1937. Briskin was not stupid, as his obtainment of Walt Disney showed, nor did he lack knowledge about the inner workings of Hollywood. But turning over the production machinery to him, a man who had never functioned in a purely creative capacity before and who had no prior service with RKO and, thus, did not comprehend its special demands, was a definite blunder. Sam Briskin was never able to straighten out the disordered state of affairs he found when he took over his position. Like so many RKO executives, he was out of a Job before he fully understood the Job itself. Looking ahead, there was ample reason for hope. RKO was still in decent financial shape overall; a few win ning pictures could bring studio .operations back into the plus column. The naming of Pandro Berman as production head also conjured up strong positive vibrations. Berman had taste, proven creative ability, and years of experience with the company. Although he did not enjoy the job of superintending fifty or so different pictures a year, it is hard to think of anyone in Hollywood who would have been more "right" for the position. RKO had. entered another period of uncertainty, hut at least Pandro Berman gave the company solid promise for the future. 40 6 Footnotes B. B. Kahane, memorandum to Sam Briskin, "RKO," 8 January 1936. 2 "RockefeHer-RKO Claim Settlement Hits a Stalemate, " ■Motion Picture Herald, 16 May 1936, p. 60. • 3 ^"RKO Reorganized by January--Spitz, 1 1 Motion Picture ■Herald, 27 June 1936, p. 40. 4 Street' and Broadway both Await RKO Plan," Motion Picture Herald, 24 October 1936, p. 48. ^"RKO Reorganization Plan Sets Capitalization of $33j000,000," Motion Picture Herald, 28 November 1936, p. 55* 6Ibid. ^Ibid. 8Ibid., p. 56. Q Kennedy to Study RCA Structure; Lohr Succeeds Aylesworth in NBC," Motion Picture Herald, 4 January 1936, P. 31. 10M. H. Aylesworth Quits at N.B.C. To Stay at RKO," ■Motion Picture Herald, 3 October 1936, p. 71- 1' L,iB. B. Kahane at Columbia Pictures as Vice-Presi dent, " Motion Picture Herald, 15 August 1936, p. 38. 12 James P. Cunningham, "Aylesworth 'On the air' for Radio-Screen Understanding," Motion Picture Herald, 18 July 1936, p. 45. 18"51 Million for Talent Is Radio Reply to Theatre," 'Motion Picture Herald, 5 September 1936, p. 13. "^Pandro Berman, letter to Fred Astaire, "RKO," 18 May 1936. "^Cunningham, p. 46. ^■8"Jack Cohn Answers Aylesworth; Urges War on Radio Appearances," Motion Picture Herald, 8 August 1936, p. 61. 407 17Ibid. 18T. • a Ibid. ^John. Baxter, Hollywood in. the Thirties (New York: A. S. Barnes, 1 9 6 8), p. 135- 20. 2 July 1934. Frank O'Heron, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, "RKO,” 21 Max Steiner, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 4 October 1934. 22Samuel Brlskln, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 29 Jan uary 1 9 3 6. "^Samuel Brlskln, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 31 Jan uary 1 9 3 6. 24 Ibid. 2 3Ibid. 2^Alfred Wright, letter to RKO Studios, Inc., "RKO," 26 February 1936. 2 7B. B. Kahane, telegram to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 25 March 1936. pR B. B. Kahane, letter to Ned Deplnet, "RKO," 12 February 1936. 1936. 2^Sam Briskin, telegram to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 28 May 30- Ibid. Ibid 31 3 2Ibid. 33 Pandro Berman, telegram to Katharine Hepburn, "RKO," 3 June 1 9 3 6. 3 4Ibid. 35 Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1976), P. 137- 3^Ibid. •57 '"Agreement Between Walt Disney Productions,, Ltd., and RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.," "RKO," 2 March 1936. oQ A1 Plnestone, "Aylesworth Doubts Obstacle > of Tele vision to Box Office, " Motion Picture Herald, l4 March 1936, p . 6 5. 39Ibid. "Aylesworth on the Disney Deal," Motion Picture Herald, 14 March 1936, p. 65- 41 Ibid. 42 "Jesse Lasky Joins RKO to Work as Unit Producer," Motion Picture Herald, 24 October 1936, p. 22. 43Pandro Berman, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 25 May 1936. 44 Prank Capra, The Name Above the Title (New York: Macmillan, 1971), p. 90. ^Samuel Briskin, letter to Jules Levy, "RKO," 6 April 1936. 46 James P. Cunningham, "What Exhibitors May Expect in New Season from 40 Companies," Motion Picture Herald, 4 April. 1936, p. 17. 47 'Pandro Berman, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 9 April 1936. 43 Leo Spitz, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 13 April 1936. 49Ibid. "samuel Briskin, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO, " 16 September 1936. ^Leo Spitz, letter to Samuel Briskin, "RKO, " 22 September 1936. 32"1936-37 Program,"- "RKO.''" (Typewritten list.) 33"Silly Billies," New York Times, 6 April 1936, p. 18. *409] -^Sam Briskin, letter to Jules Levy., "RKO, " 6 April 1936. 35 George N. Fenin and William K. Everson, The Western: From Silents to the Seventies (New York: Penguin Books, 1973), p. 203. 56 "Walking on Air," New York Times, 12 September 1936, p. 20. 57"profits of - Additional Features of Any Significance from 1929/30 Through 1935/36," "RKO." (Typewritten list.) ■^Ibid. ■^Ibid. 6 0 Ned Depinet, memorandum to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 6 March 1936. fti Ned Depinet, telegram to B. B. Kahane, "RKO," 12 May 1936. 6 2 Fred Astaire, Steps in Time (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1959), PP. 223-227. 63"profits 0f Additional Features." 64 Gavin Lambert, On Cukor (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1972), pp. 96-97; Charles Higham, Kate (New York: W. W. Norton, 1975), pp. 77-78. ^Ned Depinet, letter to B. B. Kahane, "RKO, " 4 February 1936. 66 B. B. Kahane, letter to Ned Depinet, "RKO, " 6 February 1936. 6 7 Albert Govoni, Cary Grant: An Unauthorized Biog raphy (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1971), p7 107• 68 "Profits of Additional Features." ^Pandro Berman., telegram to Leo Spitz, "RKO, " 8 June 1936. 70iiprOfits of Additional Features." 71Ibid. 410 7%jillie Messinger* telegram to J. R. McDonough* "RKO*" 2 December 1935- 78Maxwell Anderson.* letter to Harold Freeman* "RKO* " 28 April 1936. 74 ' "Higher Grosses* Earnings Presage Great Year Ahead*", Motion Picture Herald* 2 January 1937., p. 15. 75Ibid. 76"RK0 Reports Net of $2*514*734 for 12 Months*" Motion Picture Herald* 6 March 1937, p. 72. 77Ibid. 78Ibid. 7Q ^"Aylesworth Joins Scripps-Howard*" New York Times* 2 February 1937, p. 19- fto "Film Companies Blanket Radio with Exhibitor Aids*" Motion Picture Herald* 30 January 1937, p. 13. 8lIbid.* pp. 13-14. 8 2 "Briskin Contract Renewed by RKO*" Motion Picture Herald, 7 August 1937, p. 40. 88"Briskin Says He Will Quit RKO*" Motion Picture Herald* 30 October 1937, p. 18. O p - G. B. Howe* memorandum to Leo Spitz* "RKO*" 17 January 1938. 86 "Briskin Says He Will Quit RKO." 87Lillie Messinger* letter to Pandro Berman* "RKO*" 15 November 1937. OO "Special Master Named for RKO Report Hearing*" Motion Picture Herald, 26 June 1937, p. 14. 89Ibid. 90"Only $21*176*694 of Claims Against RKO Allowable*" Motion Picture Herald* 26 June 1937, p. 14. '411 ""Opposition to Plan for RKO Draws Attack," Motion Picture Herald, 3 July 1931, p. 38. ""Briefs Piled in Plan for RKO," Motion Picture Herald, 31 July 1937, p. 49. " n . Peter Rathvon, letter to Sam Briskin, "RKO, " 4 August 1937- "samuel Briskin, letter to N. Peter Rathvon, "RKO," 9 August 1937- "samuel Briskin, letter to N. Peter Rathvon, "RKO," 21 August 1937. "ibid. ""Cut in Claim of Rockefeller Center on RKO Pro posed, " Motion Picture Herald, 13 November 1937, p. 22. "ibid. "ibid. ^^^"New Moves Point to RKO’s Reorganization," Motion Picture Herald, 11 December 1937, p. 36. "Withdraw Charge in RKO Hearing," Motion Picture Herald, 25 December 1937, p. 22. 102_. . . Ibid. ■*-^8Leo Spitz, letter to Sam Briskin, "RKO, " 25 August 1937. 104Ibid. 105Ibid. ^■"lou Lusty, memorandum to Sam Briskin., "RKO, " 2 October 1937'- 107 Samuel Briskin, memorandum to Lou Lusty, "RKO," 2 October 1937- ~ \ G. B. Howe, memorandum to Ross Hastings, "RKO," 25 September 1937- "'""lou Lusty, memorandum to Sam Briskin, "RKO, " 10 August 1937. ' ' " 4l2 ■^^Astairej Steps In Time, p. 229- '^^'''Gus McCarthy,, "Stars of Tomorrow, " Motion Picture Herald, 11 September 1937- tip Leo Spitz, letter to Sam Briskin, "RKO," 17 Sep tember 1 9 3 7- llSn^e Biggest Money Making Stars of 1937., 1 1 Motion Picture Herald, 18 December 1937;, pp. 13-15- 114 Fred Astaire, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 25 November 1937- 115 -'ned Depinet, telegram to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 29 November 1937. 118 "'B1 Films Become Issue of Studio and Theatre," Motion Picture Herald, 13 February 1937, p. 13. 117 Lou Lusty, memorandum to Sam Briskin, "RKO," 28 January 1937- 118 Samuel Briskin, memorandum to Leo Spitz, "RKO, " 21 January 1937- 119 ^Samuel Briskin, memorandum to Lee Marcus, "RKO," 12 May 1937- 120Ibid. 121 Lee Marcus, memorandum to Sam Briskin, "RKO," 14 May 1937- 122Ibid. 123Ibid. 1P4 "RKO Radio Lists 56 Features and 198 Short Subjects for 1937-38," Motion Picture Herald, 19 June 1937., p. 45. 125 126 gus 127 Leo Spitz, letter to Sam Brlskln, "RKO," 6 August 1937. 123Ibid., p. 46. Lou Lusty, memorandum to Sam Briskin, "RKO, " 25 August 1937- 128T^ Ibid. ”413 12^Sam Brlskln,, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO, " 26 August 1937. "^^Sam Brlskln, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 14 Sep tember 1 9 3 7* 131Ibid. 73^Leo Spitz, letter to Sam Briskin, "RKO, " 16 Sep tember 1 9 3 7. 733A. H. McCausland, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO, " 11 December 1937- ^3^A. H. McCausland, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 22 December 1937* 733"Robert Woolsey Dies; Teamed with Wheeler, " Motion Picture Herald, 5 November 1938, p. 47- ■^^"1936-37 Program," "RKO." (Typewritten list.) 137"1936-37 Program," "1937-38 Program," "RKO." (Typewritten lists.) 733Frank S. Nugent, "That Girl from Paris," New York Times, 1 January 1937, p. 19* - L39-pranjc Nugent, "Hitting a New High, " New York Times, 27 December 1937.. p. 11. 1^0"1937_38 Program." l^l"1936-37 Program." 7^%Iarry Wurtzel, letter to RKO Studios, Inc., "RKO," 17 October 1936. 143 Sam Briskin, letter to Harry Wurtzel, "RKO," 19 October 1936. 144 , , „ Sam Briskin, letter to John Ford, "RKO, 12 December 1936. 7^3Peter Bogdanovich, John Ford (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 9 6 8), pp. 64-66. "Wilcox and RKO Talk on British Production. Union, " Motion Picture Herald, 7 August 1937j p. 5 6. - ----- Iii4 "Wilcox to Produce Three a Year for RKO," Motion Picture Herald, 27 November 1937, p. 38. "1937-38 Program." "1936-37 Program.” 1 5°Ibid. 151 Arlene Croce, The Fred Astaire and G-inger Rogers Book (New York: Galahad Books, 1972), p3 134. ■*■^^"1936-37 Program. " "^^Ned Depinet, letter to Sam Briskin., "RKO, " 5 June 1936. 154 Ned E. Depinet, letter agreement with Joseph Ermo lieff, "RKO,” 6 July 1936. 155 B. B. Kahane, memorandum to Sam Briskin, "RKO," 8 June 1936. 156 Ned Depinet, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 23 February 1937- •*•57" 1 9 3 6 -3 7 Program. " 158 Harry Brandt, telegram to Sam Briskin, "RKO," 8 January 1937. 15Q ^-'Tandro Berman, telegram to Ned Depinet and Barrett (McCormick, "RKO," 6 August 1937* ^^Pandro Berman, telegram to Katharine Hepburn, "RKO," 14 August 1937- 1 6l Ned Depinet, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 10 November- 1937- 162 • M 1937-38 Program." l6 3Ibid. ^\rilliam R. Weaver, "Build-Up for 'Snow White' Open ing Dwarfs Hollywood Predecessors," Motion Picture Herald, 25 December 1937, p. 21. l65Ibid. 415 166Mignow white' Grosses Half of Production Cost at Music Hall," Motion Picture Herald, 12 February 1938, p. 16. l67Ibid., p. 1 3- ^^'"Snow White' on Way to All-time Domestic Gross," Motion Picture Herald, 16 July 1938, p. 62. ^^^Sam Shain, "Grosses, Then and Now," Motion Picture Herald, 28 September 1940, p. 8 5. "1937-38 Program." 172 1 George E. Morris, memorandum to Gunther R. Lessing, "RKO," 30 April 1938. 173 iirko Net Profit at $1,821,165* " Motion Picture Herald, 23 April 1938, p. 51. 174 "First Industrywide Profit Making in Seven. Years Is Highlight of '37*" Motion Picture Herald, 1 January 1938, p. 49. 175 Roy Chartier, "The Year in Pictures," Variety, 5 January 1938, p. 11. "paramount Net $6,145*103 lor '37*" Motion Picture Herald, 30 April 1938, p. 4l. D, Zi'n A HISTORY OF RKO RADIO PICTURES, INCORPORATED J'5 ^ V,,2, 1928-1942 v by Richard Brownell Jewell A Dissertation. Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In. Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (C ommunlc at i on-C in ema) September 1978 Continued UMI Number: DP22246 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI DP22246 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. UMI Dissertation Publishing Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6- 1346 CHAPTER VIII THE SPITZ-BERMAN REGIME (19.38) Early in 1938, RKO once again found itself in tur moil. The corporation's trustee,, the Irving Trust Company, had finally decided to take an active role in the RKO man agement. Irving Trust was, in fact, said to have forced Sam Briskin's resignation.^ The upshot of this situation caused rumors to resound concerning RKO's executive align ment. It was reported, for example, that Merlin Aylesworth would he returning to replace Leo Spitz as corporate presi dent. Full charge of production might go to J. R. McDonough or even Ned Depinet although Pandro Berman, who held the position, was still a leading contender. The chairmanship of RKO was supposed to he assumed by N. Peter Rathvon, an 2 associate of Floyd Odium. Rathvon had been laboring on the receivership predicament for more than two years. The situation stabilized in late February. Both Leo Spitz and Pandro Berman were officially confirmed in their respective positions. Spitz, not Rathvon, would be the chairman of the RKO board. The only addition was the naming of J. R. McDonough as a vice-president and board 4l6 417 member to be concerned with financial matters at the stu- 4 dio. Irving Trust, during a series of conferences held in Hollywood and New York, had recommended that this opera tional group be given full control of the studio's future. The most interesting aspect of this set of circum stances was the return of McDonough to prominence. For merly president of the production arm of RKO, McDonough had faded to virtual invisibility after Floyd Odium gained com mand of the corporation. Now, suddenly, he was moving back to Hollywood, where he would, once again, be asked to focus a meticulous eye on the studio's expenditures. His appoint ment also suggested the renewed interest of David Sarnoff in RKO's affairs. McDonough had always been a "Sarnoff man"; since RKO had not thrived after Odium's officials gained sway, and since Odium, himself, had postponed his decision regarding acquisition of RCA's remaining RKO stock, it seemed quite logical for Sarnoff to enter the scene again, if only to protect his substantial interest in the movie company. As 1938 unfolded, David Sarnoff would, in deed, begin to devote more attention to the business of RKO. Receivership The RKO receivership, always a complex and frus trating state of affairs, became more confused and tangled in 1938. The various interested parties had never come to an agreement on the reorganization plan submitted in 1 9 3 7- ' 418 The early portion of 1938 was filled with delays in the proceedings, necessitated by uncertainty over the corpora tion's executives., controlling interests, and financial status. Federal Judge William Bondy was irked by the stall ing tactics: RKO has been reorganizing for five years now. In that time, creditors of the company have died, stock holders have changed and, I suppose, something has happened to the lawyers, too. It seems to me that this reorganization ought to be disposed of soon.5 The Judge was right, of course, but that did not mean anything would happen in the near future. The 1937 plan was already out of date and needed amending. It had been based on company earnings in 1 9 3 5, 1 9 3 6, and the first half of 1937 and presupposed that the RKO earnings would 6 continue at the same rate of Improvement. There had been a considerable decrease In profits during the latter months of 1 9 3 7 and this exasperating downward trend was continuing in 1938. Thus, the process would begin again; a new "amended" plan had to be drawn up before any positive ac tion could be taken. Judge Bondy attempted to stimulate the proceedings by mentioning, In court, that "unless a plan of reorganiza tion [is] formed, the company [will] have to be liqui- 7 dated." This remark was printed in various newspapers and caused repercussions at the Hollywood studio. The Disney organization expressed special anxiety. Gunther Lessing, 419 the Disney representative* contacted J. R. McDonough and forthrightly explained his concerns* which McDonough then conveyed to A. H. McCausland: He is doing business with a company which apparently is unable to get itself reorganized* a company that has no stability of organization or management; while he is pleased with the job that RKO is doing for the Disney product now* he is still concerned as to whether the company is a permanent factor with which to continue doing business.8 The situation was also having a damaging effect on the studio's relations with its contract players. As McDonough told McCausland in May* Fred Astaire's future association with the company was a question mark. Astaire* wrote Mc Donough* "is unwilling to commit himself . . . with any company whose management may be subject to change and whose . . Q financial set-up is indeterminate. The revised reorganization plan was finally submit ted to Judge Bondy in late May. It called for holders of the old common stock to receive one-sixth of a share of new RKO common for each share currently held* "plus a warrant to buy one share of new common at $15 a share for a period of ten years* or at the option of the holder to buy one- half share of new common at a price of $10 per full share for a period of five years."1* 1 General creditors were to collect ten shares of new common stock for each $100 in claims. Rockefeller Center* whose claim had been reduced* would still be granted 464*000 shares.11 The Atlas Corpo 420 ration promised to provide $1,500.,000 in new cash to the company and to underwrite a sufficient amount of new common stock. Rather than dealing with the plan himself, Judge Bondy referred it to Special Master George Alger who would, once again, be charged with determining its fairness. Alger suggested four minor amendments, called the plan "fair, feasible and equitable," and returned it to 12 Bondy in late July. Nathan Rosenberg, an attorney for H. Cassell and Company, indicated, that he would oppose the plan in Judge Bondy's court, but otherwise there seemed to be no organized resistance, either from shareholders or creditors. It finally, looked as if RKO might be wrenched free of receivership within the next few months. However, about the time the amended plan was due to be filed, Floyd Odium made an announcement which further muddied the waters. Odium was going to drop his option on RCA's remaining hold ings in RKO. He gave as his reason the $5*500,000 price which Odium considered "too high..This meant that the movie concern was not going to achieve the single-minded leadership of one individual or group; after all. Odium remained the principal stockholder, but RCA held about as much stock as Atlas and the Rockefellers also had a sub stantial block and stood to acquire another huge chunk through the reorganization. Even before Odium declined the stock, the RCA officials had indicated they would want par 421 ticipation on the board of directors and "management author- r t 14 ity in the reorganized RKO, If they remained Involved. A potential battle was shaping up between David Sarnoff of RCA and Floyd Odium of Atlas. No one could say what would come of this, but the probabilities were that RKO would emerge the ultimate loser. The reorganization plan went forward and, by Octo ber, prospects appeared very favorable. Although Judge Bondy was reserving his final decision, the plan had the agreement of all major creditor and stockholder interests and its acceptance seemed "virtually assured.""1 '^ Thank fully, no major war had developed between Sarnoff and Odium. Instead, a possible board of directors for the new company had been hammered out, giving representation to all the major factions. Both Odium and Sarnoff deferred to another group--the Rockefellers--who made the next major executive decision. They chose George J. Schaefer to succeed Leo 16 Spitz as the. head of a reorganized RKO. All reports suggest that Spitz was not fired, but allowed to return to his legal practice. For several months he had been voicing a desire to shed the RKO job. He was, no doubt, fed up with all the vexations it had caused him. Moving more swiftly than expected, RKO ac cepted Spitz's resignation and installed George Schaefer as 17 president in late October. 1 This strongly suggested that 422 the new reorganization plan was finally the one. There now appeared little doubt the plan would be formally adopted. By year's end,, however, final deposition was still incom plete; various postponements, technical details, and objec tions had again bogged down the hearings. Although the end looked to be on the horizon, the RKO receivership would continue into 1 9 3 9- Personnel Katharine Hepburn's association with RKO finally concluded in 1938. Early in the year the actress was loaned to Columbia to make Holiday, a George Cukor-directed picture co4starring Cary Grant. It was the first time the studio had ever rented Miss Hepburn out, always feeling, in the past, that she was too valuable. Harry Cohn of Colum-. bia paid RKO $50,000 for her services, as well as picking 18 up her salary for the duration of the picture's shooting. When Hepburn returned in the spring, her prestige had fallen to an all-time low. Bringing Up Baby, primarily because of its excessive production cost, had been released and was considered a giant loser. In addition, various ex hibitor groups around the country were voicing their dis taste for Kate. Perhaps believing that a role in an old- fashioned saccharine story, like Little Women, would elevate her appeal, RKO assigned Hepburn to Mother Carey's Chickens, a film that had been in preparation for several 423 months. There Is some evidence that this move was a ploy on the part of the executives to effect cancellation of Hepburn's contract. If this is true., the strategy worked. The actress refused to appear in Mother Carey, thus giving the studio the chance to suspend her and begin negotiations on the termination of her agreement. The negotiations were completed in early May, prompting the following telegram from Pandro Berman to Hepburn: It Is with great regret that I find a termination of your contract has been decided upon definitely. It Is not easy to turn aside from an association of years as pleasant as ours has been and while I am of the opinion that you will probably be better off with the choice of material and collaboration of all the indus try instead of just our studio, I deeply regret the fact that this had to happen. I hope you will be very happy In whatever association you make and that some day we may work together again.19 May 3.> 1938, the day the above telegram was sent, must have been severely trying for Katharine Hepburn. On that date, a paid announcement appeared in the Hollywood PO Reporter headlined, "WAKE UP! Hollywood Producers." It began: Practically all of the major studios are burdened with stars— whose public appeal is negligible--receiv- ing tremendous salaries necessitated by contractual obligations. Having these stars under contract, and paying them sizable sums weekly, the studios find them selves in the unhappy position of having to put these box office deterrents in expensive pictures in the hope that some return on the investment might be had. This condition is not only burdensome to the stu dios and its stockholders but is likewise no boon to exhibitors who, in the final analysis, suffer by the non-drawing power of these players. Among the players, whose dramatic ability is unquestioned but whose box 424" office draw is nil, can be numbered Mae West, Edward Arnold, Garbo, Joan Crawford, Katharine Hepburn and many, many others. Garbo, for instance, is a tre mendous draw in Europe, which does not help theatre owners in the United States. Hepburn turned in ex cellent performances in "Stage Door" and "Bringing Up Baby" but both pictures died.21 Joe Brandt's organization, the Independent Theatre Owners Association, sponsored the attack. It marked the opening of the famous "box office poison" campaign against a number of Hollywood performers. Hepburn, on her own, would formulate a personal battle plan to obliterate the stigma. In 1940, she made her triumphant comeback in The Philadelphia Story, a play which she personally purchased and then sold to MGM on the condition that she play the crucial role of Tracy Lord. The RKO distribution execu tives who, according to Leo Spitz had been "greatly re lieved" when Hepburn refused to appear in Mother Carey's 22- Chickens, would regret the precipitancy of their judgment. Hepburn returned to the Olympian heights of Hollywood star dom in the 1940s, earning a great deal of money for MGM in the process. Miss Hepburn's sparring partner in Stage Door, Ginger Rogers, also caused RKO significant difficulties during the year. Rogers had always been a loyal employee, willing to go out of her way for the benefit of the studio. In appreciation of her efforts, Leo Spitz and Pandro Berman decided to present her with a bonus of $10,000. Spitz 425 wrote Rogers on April 14* enclosing the check. The last paragraph of his letter read: I hope our relationship in the future will always re main as pleasant as it has heen in the past. I am certain that nothing will ever occur to disturb it.23 Mr. Spitz would be eating his words within two weeks. The next Astaire-Rogers picture* Carefree* was sup posed to begin dance rehearsals on April 18. Ginger Rogers had other notions* however* and informed J. R. McDonough she would not report. She had several grievances against RKO: a promise made by Berman that Mark Sandrich would never again direct any of her films (Sandrich was set to direct Carefree)* failure to deliver a script of the new film for her scrutiny* and the studio's refusal to renego- 24 ■tiate her contract. The conflict with Sandrich stemmed from various statements the director had voiced to Rogers and about her. For example* he had told Lela Rogers* Ginger's mother* that "if Ginger [does] not learn to im prove her singing and dancing she [will] at some future date find herself in great difficulties in the picture busi ness."2^ In addition* Sandrich had made the actress feel she was decidedly less important to the team pictures than 26 Fred Astaire. These* and a variety of other minor aggra vations* soured Ginger on Mark Sandrich. The script prob lem was easily taken care of. Although Miss Rogers did not enjoy script approval* a script of Carefree was sent her as 426 soon as one became available. As always,, money was the major hurdle. In this., the RKO executives refused to budge. When Ginger failed to appear on April 18, J. R. McDonough instructed the company lawyers to begin preparing documents necessary to sue her for breach of contract. Marathon negotiations between Berman, McDonough,, the law yers, and Rogers' agent, Leland Hayward, continued for sev eral days. They finally ended on April 21 when Ginger, Rog- 27 ers agreed to do the picture. She actually received few concessions: a promise to discuss amending her contract with RKO in September or October, six weeks vacation following Carefree, and delivery of her scripts in advance of the start date of each picture. No mention of Sandrich was made in the final settlement, but Berman dispatched a letter to the director on that very day, pointing out the ways he had antagonized Ginger and firmly suggesting that Sandrich be n O more careful in the future. This was, in actuality, an extremely close call for RKO. Ginger Rogers had become the queen of the studio, its biggest female star. Because she had spent so many years in pictures, because she had la bored in Astaire's shadow for a significant amount of time, and because she was not as flamboyant as Hepburn or many of Hollywood's other "celestial" females, it is doubtful that either RKO or Ginger realized how popular she had become. During the next few years, however, her appeal would rise 427 even higher, and her films would dominate the company's list: of box office winners. If RKO had lost Ginger Rogers at this point, the financial impact would surely have been catastrophic. A mass exodus of producers, in the works for many months, finally took place in 1938. One of the first to go was Howard Hawks. A meeting was held on March 17 to re solve the Hawks situation. At that meeting, J. R. McDonough informed William Hawks, Howard's brother and agent, that It would be best for RKO if the arrangement between' the studio 29 and the producer-director were terminated. ^ Although Mc Donough would not say so specifically, the studio's dissat isfaction with Hawks was based primarily on the budget over run on. Bringing Up Baby. Also, Hawks was scheduled to direct Gunga Din, a complex and extremely important pic ture, and there seemed no room for a profligate on this production. Howard Hawks was upset by this turn of events-~ not because he was leaving RKO and a fat $2,500/week salary, but because he would be unable to do Gunga Din. The film' was precisely the type of male adventure saga that he loved best. Nevertheless, the deal was cancelled upon payment of $40,000 to Hawks.^ This severance money was $20,000 less than the studio would have paid him if he had been kept on for the duration of his contract. Also departing the studio in 1938 were Edward 428 Kaufman, Jesse Lasky, and Edward Small. Lasky had been signed to produce six pictures over two years. He made 21 only two--both disappointments. Small had given RKO six pictures--some hits, most misses. His doom was no doubt sealed by The Toast of New York, a crushing fiscal disaster for the company. Small did leave behind one legacy: the Gunga Din project. He originated the idea, and his Reli ance Productions company acquired the rights to the poem from Rudyard Kipling's widow. After Small joined RKO, the rights to "Gunga Din" were assigned to the studio as part of a multifaceted arrangement. The deal represented Edward Small's major contribution to RKO. To replace these gentlemen, RKO instituted an ag gressive campaign to lure major talents into the organiza tion. The campaign produced notable results and one sur prising rejection. Ernst Lubitsch expressed a strong desire to join RKO in.order to work with Fred Astaire, but 22 was passed up by Leo Spitz. No one questioned the German director's genius or achievements, but Lubitsch was now regarded as an extravagant and difficult individual whose record at Paramount had been steadily declining during the past few years. Lubitsch signed with MGM instead, where he made the historic Ninotchka with Greta Garbo as his first production. RKO did manage to work out deals with two very "hot" producer-directors. Leo MeCarey, fresh from his 429 Awfu1 Truth success; and Gregory La Cava, the Stage Door director, were both added to the talent pool during the year. Their contracts gave them a large amount of freedom regarding selection of story material and casting which, no doubt, appealed to these veterans of the Hollywood wars. In addition, George Stevens was promoted to producer- director status and chosen to succeed Hawks on Gunga Din. The picture would be his biggest challenge so far. P. G. Wolfson once again emerged from the stable of studio writ ers to the coveted producer-writer status. Finally, an unknown was hired away from Sam Goldwyn and given a chance to direct films for the studio. His first--A Man to Re member- -indicated that RKO had stumbled upon a major new talent in Garson Kanin. All in all, 1938 was a felicitous year for producer and director acquisitions. A different story was written in the acting area. Besides the loss of Katharine Hepburn, the studio also watched helplessly as Fred Astaire’s reputation sank. Astaire was listed by Harry Brandt as being a member of the "box office poison" contingent. The story was picked up by Time and Newsweek, much to the dismay of Astaire and RKO.83 Actually, the charge was ridiculous. Only one of Astaire's films had ever lost money. Despite the studio's attempts to secure retractions from the Independent Theatre Owners Organization and Time, none were forthcoming. And by the end of the year., Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers had disap peared from the upper echelon of Hollywood's box office magnets. The studio foolishly gave up on Joan Fontaine in 1938. Jules Levy of the Sales Department, noting that Miss Fontaine had been chosen for Gunga Din, sent a strongly worded protest to Leo Spitz. After reporting that many of RKO's field men felt the actress had "little promise" and should be dropped from the studio roster, Levy added that he found Miss Fontaine "a very colorless personality [who] certainly should not be cast in as important a picture as GUNGA DIN.Spitz then wrote Pandro Berman, suggesting an unknown female replace Fontaine in the picture and re marking that he doubted the actress would ever make the s6 grade. He was badly mistaken. RKO had never had much patience for "grooming" its talent; if a performer failed to "click" immediately with audiences— as Astaire and Hep burn had— he was usually looking for work elsewhere pretty quickly. Often, these actors came back to haunt the studio later, and such was the case with Joan Fontaine. Inciden tally, she did play the role in Gunga Din, but it was an abbreviated and thankless part. Shortly thereafter, she was released. 431 Production In 19.38j Le0 Spitz and Pandro Berman achieved a goal that the studio had been working toward for some time. They almost completely eliminated the "intermediate" pic- turesj concentrating on films that were truly B grade (less than $275^000 production cost) or A grade (more than $. 7 0 0 *0 0 0 in budget). Of the year's releases* only Wise Girl* Mother Carey's Chickens* and The Mad Miss Manton would fit into the mid-range which had been so unprofitable in the past. Although the production year again proved disappointing* this was a sound fiscal concept which helped the studio move toward a more prosperous record in 1 9 3 9- Pandro Berman's job as head of production did not change his routine dramatically. Berman devoted most of his attention to the studio's top productions and continued personally to produce a small number of A pictures. The B films rested, almost totally* in the hands of Lee Marcus. In May* Leo Spitz became uneasy about the B unit and wrote Berman* asking him at least to assume responsibility for approving the major ingredients of the B films: I am fearful of your having to devote too much time to "B" production* but I think that you should* without loss in efficiency in your more important problems* be able to give enough time to "B1 1 product to be sure that stories* casting and direction meet with your approval. 38 Spitz's request was a tall order. Berman had to keep an eye on all the films (especially the A's) while devoting 432| special attention to such projects as Carefree and Room Service; he did not have time to read the script of every potential B and worry about the casting and staffing of these films. Indeed* it appears the production chief largely ignored Spitz's request. There is no evidence to indicate that he became any more involved in B picture decisions after Spitz's letter than he had been, before. On the A level* the studio concentrated totally on musicals and comedies. The only exception was Gunga Din* a big adventure yarn shot in 1938 but not released until the following year. The situation became a bit more compli cated in the B category. At the beginning of the year* Leo Spitz strongly advocated that Lee Marcus' unit focus on melodramatic action pictures which* Spitz felt* would pro- duce the best results of all "cheap" budget features. y Marcus responded with a group of crime and prison pictures which were generally above average* considering their mini mal budgets. By June* however* there were rumblings that the Hays office and/or the Legion of Decency might crack down on "crime" pictures* which had always been a staple of the studios but were now considered "overabundant.""^® Leo Spitz wrote Marcus about the potential danger. Spitz did not recommend abandoning crime subjects altogether but 4l cautioned Marcus to "watch your step in this direction." 433 J. R. McDonough and Lee Marcus then discussed the possible problem and came up with a list of nineteen future B pro ductions,, only six of which could be considered crime ori- 42 ented. Of these six, four were stories for the new "Saint" series. At this point in time, a new kind of film entered the studio's repertoire, the "exploitation" film. Again, Leo Spitz seems to have been the instigator of this special type of picture, though he evidently lacked the courage to push ahead aggressively in the area. Exploitation films dealt with subject matter of a topical, and slightly sensa tional nature, subjects that might prove especially titil lating to the audiences of the day. Smashing the Rackets, about a crusading district attorney who uncovers all manner of corruption, was the first of this type, scheduled for an August release. Set to follow were pictures about spies, 4l fake evangelists, air piracy, and the "beauty" racket. Working overtime, Lee Marcus came up with two more exploi tation ideas in August. After discussing them with Berman, he wrote Ned Depinet for a reaction: The first is to make a picture titled "CLIP JOINT." I know this title was disliked by Mr. Spitz previously, but nevertheless, we feel that it is defi nitely box office and exploitable. This picture would show all of the workings and ramifications and flim- flamming that takes place in a typical clip joint in a large city, such as rolling drunks, slipping knockout drops to customers, and then throwing them out when they squawk, showing the connections that taxi drivers have with these places, and doing a story which would 434 be as close to sensational as the limits of censor ship would permit. The second Idea Is to make a picture called "STRIP TEASE." This title certainly Is provocative and Is box office. The story would have to do with the life of burlesque girls, the heroine probably being a very nice girl, the heavy girl being a tough tease artist, using as a basis for authenticity the article that Fortune ran on Minsky's and strip tease some time a g o . 44 No one suggested such ideas had any artistic intent or so cial value; they were blatant sensationalism, designed to siphon dollars directly into the company's coffers. Even though Leo Spitz had stated, in no uncertain terms, that profits were his only interest, he backed away from Clip Joint and Strip Tease. Perhaps concerned about the compa ny's image or the probable difficulties that such projects would raise with the censor's office, he refused to give the green light on either project. The exploitation pic tures that RKO did produce were rather bland and poorly advertised and distributed. In a memo written in 1940, Lee Marcus recalled that when Leo Spitz finally got his wish, in the form of Smashing the Rackets, he and the sales force "didn't know what the hell to do with it."^ If Spitz had displayed more courage in his convictions, the studio's financial status might have improved dramatically. Charles Koerner, who would stress exploitable films when he took over the production reins in 1942, turned the company around almost overnight through their success (see Chapter X) . 435 Just before departing RKO., Spitz shifted gears again and began advocating a wholly different type of film. After heaping praise on Garson Kanin's first directorial job, A Man to Remember, in a letter to Pandro Berman, Spitz continued: The more recent pictures that seem to be doing the best business throughout the country are BOYS TOWN, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU and FOUR DAUGHTERS. It is noteworthy that all of them are down-to-earth simple stories. It seems that the public, in seeking refuge from the complex problems of life today, con fused as they are by the unrest and disturbances prev alent throughout the world, find escape for at least a couple of hours in a make-believe world, in which the way of life is simple and which they understand. This type of picture is apparently serving that pur pose .45 Spitz did.not come out and demand more pictures of the Man to Remember or Mother Carey's Chickens type, but the impli cation was clear. Leo Spitz's recommendations had cer tainly run the gamut in 1 9 3£>: from melodramatic action films through exploitation pictures to simple, down-to- earth, escapist entertainments. Leo Spitz's principal bequest to RKO was the con tinuing "series." Although other studios had been profit ing from inexpensive pictures that presented the same actors playing -the same parts a number of times, RKO had dawdled in this area. There had been the Hildegarde Withers mysteries--first starring Edna Mae Oliver and then Helen Broderick— but these had expired in the mid-thirties. While RKO had neglected the category, Universal introduced 436 Plash Gordon and a host of others., ' Sol Lesser continued his highly profitable Tarzan.series, Warners presented Torchy Blane, and Metro showed up everyone with the Hardy family. It was an intelligent, if totally unoriginal, move for Spitz to push for an RKO series or two in 1938. He got two:: the "Saint1 1 and "Annabel." "The Saint," based on a series of novels by Leslie Charteris, featured a suave private detec tive who solves homicides with the same self-possession and style that he displays while selecting the correct wine. Louis Hayward played the role in the original, The Saint in New York, which proved a definite’ triumph ($180,000 profit on a production cost of only $128,000), thus ensuring the 47 continuation of the series. ' Lucille Ball was chosen to portray Annabel, a Hollywood actress whose movie press agent (Jack Oakie) decides she must live her roles before she plays them. Thus, in the first effort, The Affairs of Annabel, Ball spends a month in prison before tackling a prison film, etc., etc. The Affairs of Annabel was also a minor success, meaning there would be, at the very least, a second chapter of her adventures. RKO had been a bit tardy in climbing on the "series" bandwagon, but it would make up for that during the next few years. Since there was no company sales convention in 1938, the announcement of the 1938-1939 program came later than usual. Deciding to make sure his schedule was "on 437 celluloid and not on paper," Pandro Berman waited until August to release a full description of the year's coming entertainments. Stating that RKO had "more notable at tractions in production and actually on film for early fall release than at any time in the company's history," Berman proceeded to name Room Service, Gunga Din, Leo McCarey's Love Match starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, and a new Astaire-Rogers musical as the top offerings soon to be 49 available. ^ Fifty other features were also promised. Berman's public announcement masked a number of problems. Gunga Din had far exceeded its budget, the Astaire-Rogers films were no longer sure box office winners, and the Leo McCarey picture (release title: Love Affair) would be forced to begin production without a finished script, a situation that always invited disaster. In addi tion, Room Service had not turned out as well as expected. Still, Berman had been In his job for less than a year and prospects for the future were already looking better than they ever had during the Spitz-Briskin period. Success stared RKO in the face when George Schaefer took command in October, and Pandro Berman deserved much of the credit. Unfortunately, Mr. Schaefer would not interpret the situ ation in quite that way. 438 The Films Without question, the most amazing member of the RKO staff was B film director Lew Landers who managed no less than eight different 1938 releases. Landers could handle a wide variety of material, but he specialized in the hard-hitting action pictures which Leo Spitz insisted upon for his "program" unit. Landers1 Initial contribution of the year was Crashing Hollywood, a story about a budding screenwriter (Lee Tracy) who is threatened by gangsters whom he unwit tingly exposes on the screen. Double Danger presented Preston Poster as a gentleman jewel thief lusting after the Konjer diamonds. Much superior to either of these films was Condemned Women, a conventional prison melodrama en livened by realistic detail, taut direction, and fine en semble performances from Sally Eilers, Anne Shirley, Lee Patrick, Esther Dale, and Louis Hayward. Anne Shirley also appeared with Chester Morris in Law of the Underworld, an other Landers special. Morris plays an honorable gangster who refuses to allow an innocent young couple to be blamed for a robbery and murder committed by his gang. Eduardo Ciannelli, firmly enthroned as RKO's nastiest mobster fol lowing his debut in Winterset, delivered his usual sneering portrayal as the heavy. Blind Alibi marked the return of Richard Dix to RKO after an absence of two years. Dix had 439 spent that time making uniformly bad B films for Columbia, and it was hoped that this picture would bring the former star back to prominence. Unfortunately, Blind Alibi was not one of Landers' best efforts and Dix found himself con stantly upstaged by another cast member, Ace the Wonder Dog. The main conflict between Dix and a bunch of blackmailers smoldered, but never managed to catch fire. Dix emerged winsomely in Sky Giant, an exciting airborne adventure dedicated to the brave lads who made the airways safe. Supported by Joan Fontaine, Chester Morris, and some first- class aerial footage, Dix easily adapted to the type of romantic role which had been his specialty in earlier years. All things considered, it was a year of solid achievement for Lew Landers. Every one of the aforemen tioned pictures made a profit for RKO with Condemned Women and Sky Giant bringing in more than $100,000 each.^ Only Annabel Takes a Tour, the second installment in the "Anna bel” series, recorded a paltry loss ($8,000) for the di- 81 rector. This film was also his most expensive production of the year, costing $186,000.-^ In Lew Landers, RKO defi nitely had a man who could make them fast, cheap, and rather well. Landers also guided the first of RKO's so-called "exploitation" pictures, Smashing the Rackets. The story was quite obviously Inspired by the career of New York Dis 440 trict Attorney Thomas E. Dewey. As Special Prosecutor Jim Conway, Chester Morris effortlessly uncovers a number of fraudulent operations, sweeping the big city clean in the course of an hour o'f screen time. Conway’s achievements come a trifle too easily, but the picture still succeeds on its own terms--a fast-paced, pugnacious entertainment. Tarnished Angel, the company's second voyage upon the sea of exploitation, fell well short of Smashing the Rackets. This time the focus is on a charlatan evangelist (Sally Eilers) whose true calling entails separating mem bers of the flock from their precious jewelry. Alas, in stead of following through on its expose, the movie allows Miss Eilers to "get religion," whereupon she actually heals a cripple and is soon completely regenerated. If Tar- nished Angel represents RKO's concept of an exploitation film, its studio leaders needed a solid course in the sub ject. The first of the company's new series was launched auspiciously with The Saint in New York, which opened in late May. Its hero (played this time by Louis Hayward; George Sanders would assume the part in most of the subse quent editions) leaves South America for New York. His mission is to halt the Machiavellian activities of the "big fellow," the kingpin of the metropolitan underworld. Like Chester Morris in Smashing the Rackets, the Saint ulti 2f4l mately sanitizes the city. His methods are smooth and witty (he takes care of one gangster while garbed as a nun), and the same epithets could be applied to the production. Pro duced by William Sistrom and directed by Ben Holmes from a solid screenplay by Charles Kaufman and Mortimer Offner, The Saint in New York proved a winning entertainment and stimulated immediate negotiations for the purchase of Leslie Charteris' other "Saint" stories. The studio's other series elevated Lucille Ball one notch on the talent roster. She had resided far in the background for almost three years, playing bit parts in the RKO A pictures and slightly larger roles in the Bs. Stage Door had provided some good exposure, and Lee Marcus was now ready to star her in a B comedy series. As Annabel in The Affairs of Annabel, Miss Ball plays a scatter-brained actress, in thrall to her Svengali-like press agent (Jack Oakie). His mimetic philosophy of acting lands her in prison, into a bizarre family situation, and into the clutches of a pair of "most wanteds." The farce was not especially fresh, but the performances of Ball and Oakie and the positive response of most critics to the film called, at least, for a second chapter. The spin-off was Annabel Takes, a Tour, the last RKO release of 1938- Again, the picture was above average and Oakie and Ball both de livered the requisite laughs. But the series had not con- 442 nected with audiences. The first "Annabel" had made a profit of only $20,000 and the second had lost a small S'! amount. J It was deemed prudent to retire the character at this juncture. Lucille Ball, however, had not been hurt by the short-lived series. She would continue to play leading roles in the company’s B films for the next several years. Unlike most of the other RKO productions--which were superior to their 1937 counterparts— the 1938 westerns represented a step backwards. A group of very inexpensive George O'Brien vehicles was released, all formulaic and devoid of any distinguishing characteristics. Bert Gilroy, newly promoted from the short unit, produced these films and David Howard directed most of them. The titles in cluded Gun Law, Border G-Man, Painted Desert, and The Rene gade Ranger. The best of the RKO cowboy tales was The Law West of Tombstone, a comedy that brought together a cluster of characters bearing more than coincidental resemblance to Judge Roy Bean, Billy the Kid, Calamity Jane, and the Clanton family. Harry Carey portrays the Bean character, dispensing justice from a barroom in the frontier town of Martinez. He and the trigger-happy Tonto Kid join forces to subdue the villainous McQuinn gang with the Kid ending up beneficiary of Carey’s daughter (Evelyn Brent). The Law West of Tombstone was neither as exciting nor as funny as 443 The Last Outlaw, but it was certainly much superior to the O'Brien westerns. Incidentally* the Tonto Kid was played by Tim Holt. Holt would later star in his own series of B westerns for the studio. RKO's contractual obligations to Joe Penner were fulfilled by featuring him in three middling comedies and then setting him free at the end of 1938. The best of the three was Go Chase Yourself. As Prank Nugent remarked in New York Times, "with the help of a bright script and a couple of experienced gag-men vacuous Joe Penner has man- ,.54 aged to turn out an amusing picture at last. Penner is Wilbur Meely, a thick-witted bank clerk who wins a trailer in a raffle. The trailer and clerk are soon seized by three bank robbers and from this point on, the slapstick events evolve In rapid-fire fashion revealing a zany., con tinuously inventive illogic. Given estimable support by Lucille Ball as his wife., and Fritz Peld and Tom Kennedy among others, Joe Penner managed even to bring smiles to the usually dour visages of Leo Spitz and J. R. McDonough. The picture brought home a profit of $47,000.-^ The comic Inventiveness that propelled Go Chase Yourself was notably absent In Penner1s two other produc tions, I'm From the City and Mr. Doodle Kicks Off. The former proffered the comedian as a circus bareback rider who fears horses and must be hypnotized to perform. This 444 situation leads predictably to his participation in a cow boy obstacle race— without benefit of hypnosis. Mr. Doodle Kicks Off was a woeful example of the "college comedy." It introduced Penner as the victim of his wealthy father's de termination to have a football star for a son. Naturally, Joe ends up running the wrong way in the big game, a kind of metaphor of his entire movie career. Penner's record indicated that RKO had made a giant mistake in plucking the Hungarian-American performer off radio and putting him in pictures. Nevertheless, Joe Renner's activities on Gower Street were not finished. Within a year, the new RKO regime would rehire the comedian for one more try. The move was more than slightly bizarre, considering past his tory. Mother Carey's Chickens, the picture that Katharine Hepburn refused to appear In, turned out to be a pleasant diversion: sentimental, humorous, and "wholesome" through and through. In the tradition of Little Women and Anne of Green Gables, the film related the saga of the Carey brood, left in desperate, impoverished circumstances when their father fails to return from the Span!sh-American War. There is no time in the story for wailing, however, as sisters Ruby Keeler (in the role planned for Hepburn) and Anne Shirley adeptly solve the financial problems while turning the heads of several local males. Performances In the "adorable" vein are contributed by three-year-old Donnie Dunagan as little brother Carey and Virginia Weidler as a neighbor girl whose mother makes her wear her shoes on the wrong feet three days a week so they will wear down evenly. Pay Balnter makes an endearing Mother Carey, and Walter Brennan portrays a crusty New England rustic with affection ate humor. One of the few "intermediates" of the year (pro duction cost: $358,000), Mother Carey's Chickens performed very satisfactorily, earning a $1 0 5 ,0 0 0 profit.-^ Even more surprising was the outstanding success of A Man to Remember, a picture as simple and warm as Mother Carey. The film was a collaboration between two rising Hollywood talents: screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and director Garson Kanin. Trumbo, a former baker, had accepted a posi tion as a B unit writer at RKO in April 1938. The film was 57 only his second assignment. 1 It was the first production for Kanin, a man with a Broadway background but no real film knowledge except the odds and ends he had picked up during 58 a one-year apprenticeship to Samuel Goldwyn. Actually, RKO did not gamble much on the newcomers. A Man to Remem ber had no stars (Anne Shirley was the major name in the cast) and was made in fifteen days on a budget of $118,000.-^ Utilizing a flashback structure, the picture surveyed the life of a deceased small-town doctor (Edward Ellis). The man gradually emerges as the epitome of self W 6 ' lessness, always ready to bend his life toward the demands of humanity. This testament to one small man’s accomplish ments was Imbued with dignity and amiability, without ever lapsing into a sentimentality invited by the material. The RKO executives knew they had something special in the pic ture and worked feverishly to book it into better theaters than the ones in which it was originally scheduled. As Leo Spitz had predicted., the final tally proved that audiences were ripe for this kind of uplifting entertainment; profits of $145,000 flowed in.60 The independent releases proved less than spectacu lar in 1938* Of course, Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs continued to perform astoundingly throughout the year, but Disney could not manage to get another animated feature ready for RKO release. Sol Lesser*s Principal Pro ductions furnished two Bobby Breen musicals: Hawaii Calls and Breaking the Ice. Although hardly a major contribution to film art, the pictures had a devoted and dependable audi ence and returned modest amounts to the company's bank ac count. Herbert Wilcox's Imperadio Company gave RKO two strange productions. The Rat was a true example of a "quota quickie,n a poorly made romantic melodrama directed by Jack Raymond and starring Ruth Chatterton and Anton Wal- brook. Wilcox had nothing to do with The Rat, but he did produce and direct Sixty Glorious Years, another picture 447 about Queen Victoria starring Anna Neagle. For some strange reason, Wilcox decided he had left out too much in Victoria the Great, so he included the neglected material in this "sequel.” Evidently the truly exciting events had been disposed of already, because Sixty Glorious Years trans lated into two very boring hours. The presence of Anton Walbrook, C. Aubrey Smith, and several other members of the original film’s cast, plus Technicolor imagery, failed to invigorate this patriotic, episodic homage to a dead leader. As mentioned previously, the studio's A pictures fell into two categories: comedies and musical comedies. RKO was finally able to utilize a picture title that had had high priority for several years: Radio City Revels. Signif icantly, the film opened at the Globe Theater in New York, not Radio City Music Hall. Blending together the comic talents of Milton Berle, Jack Oakie, Bob Burns, Helen Brod erick, and Victor Moore, director Ben Stoloff and four writers came up with a jumbled mess that amounted to much less than the sum of its parts. Oakie and Berle play a couple of talentless songwriters who steal tunes from Bob Burns, a composer able to function only while he sleeps. This was a pretty thin plot for an $810,000 picture, and 6 1 the public agreed. The film lost $300,000. Critic Bos ley Crowther called Radio City Revels "an unfortunate botchery of comic talents,” and it was one of Edward Kauf- 62 man's last productions for RKO. 448 Two other big-budget musicals also proved major let downs. Joy of Living was an Irene Dunne vehicle about a musical star whose family prevents her from enjoying life or her achievements. Douglas Fairbanks* Junior rescues the singer* acting the role of Instructor in the world's whim sical delights. The screenplay by Gene Towne* Graham Baker* and Allen Scott never rose above the. juvenile level* and the only saving grace of the film turned out to be its Jerome' Kern score (including "You Couldn't Be Cuter" and "Just Let Me Look at You") which Miss Dunne capably performed. Direc tor Tay Garnett managed to inject numerous slapstick gags into the affair but also succeeded in running up the budget to an absurd level. Final negative cost for this trifle was $1*086*000* and RKO was fortunate that the film lost only $314*000. 63 Carefree* the Astaire-Rogers special* also lost money ($68*000)--the first time one of the team's films 64 had ever failed to show a profit. Actually the pic ture had much to recommend it. The script (by Hagar Wilde and Dudley Nichols) was a clever spoof of psychiatry* the Irving Berlin score was infectious* and the dance rou tines (choreographed by Astaire and Hermes Pan) were as fresh as ever. One of them— a solo number which combines Astaire's dancing and golfing abilities— must be seen to be believed. Mark Sandrich directed the picture with his 449 usual polish* and there were a number of genuinely hilarious moments. When Ginger* under hypnosis administered rather sloppily by psychoanalyst Astaire* loses her inhibitions* the audience soon loses its composure as well. In short* Carefree turned out to be a solid musical* not just another reworking of the enervated Astaire-Rogers formula. Why did it lose money? Certainly* part of the reason was the over familiarity of moviegoers with the Astaire-Rogers team; Fred and Ginger were no longer the vital pair they had been in 1934 and 1935* An even more fundamental problem was the cost of their pictures. The budgets on these productions had been growing every year (principally because the sal aries paid director and stars had escalated rapidly)* and Carefree topped them all. The film cost $1*253*000* making it the company's most expensive undertaking of the year. v Unless a movie was truly spectacular* it remained next-to- impossible to make money on an enterprise of this magni tude. Carefree was good* but not good enough. Ginger Rogers was now the company's most prominent female performer. In addition to Carefree, she also topped the cast in two major comedy offerings in 1938. The best of the two was Vivacious Lady* a snappy tale about a young botany professor who impulsively marries a New York night club singer and then returns to his small college town to face the music. The professor's biggest problem is his 450 father., an erudite and formal gentleman who happens to be the president of Old Sharon University. The story unfolds in screwball fashion as the new husband waits and waits for the "right" moment to break the news. Meanwhile, the new bride grows more and more impatient . . . and frustrated. James Stewart./ borrowed from MGM for the picture, played the young professor with charming bewilderment, generated both by his wondrous blonde wife and his insoluble predica ment. Rogers is perfectly cast as Franoey, New York night club queen storming the world of academia. One scene— a no-holds-barred brawl between Ginger and Stewart's former fiancee (Prances Mercer) which takes place at the college prom— is especially memorable. George Stevens directed this slapstick clash of cultures, demonstrating his usual flair for comic subjects. This was also Stevens' first outing as producer, though Pandro Berman received the prin cipal producer credit. One of the best RKO comedies of the period, Vivacious Lady performed indifferently at the box 66 office. A profit of $75jOOO was earned. Still, this was a good deal better than Having Won derful Time, another Rogers vehicle which finished in the 67 red to the tune of $267,000. Arthur Kober's play, orig inally a gently satiric look at a Jewish summer resort, was transformed (by the author) into a romantic and decidedly goyish film equivalent. Excising the ethnic flavor of the 451 dialogue and such traditional bothers as faulty plumbing and cold water, the movie concentrated on the growing amour between Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks, Junior. Stage Door had considerable Influence on the proceedings. Once again, a group of madcap souls are thrown together by fate and allowed to knock heads In the hope that loads of laughs will emanate from the concussions. But this time Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Ann Miller, and several others were largely wasted. The script and Alfred Santell's direction simply could not replicate the magical chemistry of the Stage Door carryings-on. Having Wonderful Time had moments, but sadly they were few with ample dead space In between. The studio's final A comedy of 1938, The Mad Miss Manton, starred Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. Stanwyck had been under contract, off-and-on, since 1935* "but she was not considered an important cog in the RKO machinery. Often on loan to other companies (her 1937 appearance in Sam Gold- wyn's Stella Dallas had been one of these arrangements), the pictures she made for RKO were, on the whole, well below full A status. The Mad Miss Manton was no exception, an "intermediate" (negative cost: $3 8 3*0 0 0) about a screwball socialite who sets to solving murders and enjoys a success that even the Saint would envy.^ Stanwyck demonstrated finely honed comic timing as Melsa Manton, foreshadowing her more famous achievements in The Lady Eve and Ball of 452 Fire. The picture was a small triumph for everyone con cerned; especially screenwriter Philip G. Epstein., who pro vided a remarkable number of witty lines, producer P. J. Wolfson, and director Leigh Jason, whose RKO record hereto fore had been anything but noteworthy. Evidently Pandro Berman, Ned Depinet, and new president George Schaefer were not impressed; they soon let Barbara Stanwyck slip away to Paramount where she became a topflight box office draw. Bringing Up Baby Howard Hawks’s production, Bringing Up Baby, is one of the touchstone films that a studio is remembered for. However, like Citizen Kane, this film represented nothing but trouble during the period of its creation and for some time thereafter. The germination goes back to the spring of 1937 when story editor Bob Sparks introduced Sam Briskin to a witty story by Hagar Wilde, published in Collier’s 6q magazine. Briskin felt the story would cost too much to translate to the screen but expressed an interest in hiring 70 writer Wilde. Howard Hawks was then casting about for a property and, liking the story immensely, talked Briskin into letting him tackle it. Hagar Wilde joined the RKO staff shortly thereafter to work with Dudley Nichols on the screenplay. From early on, the picture was designed to star Katharine Hepburn and Gary Grant. Despite Briskin's warnings that the film would have 453 to be made on a moderate budget because of Hepburn's feeble drawing power., Hawks encouraged his writers to give full rein to their comic Inventiveness. The first estimating script came in at 242 pages, the revised draft at 194 pages., and the final shooting script at 202 pages. Given a cer tain amount of "overwriting," this still represented a mam moth amount of material. By the time the picture was ready to begin production in September 1937, the budget had been 71 set at $7^7,000 for a fifty-one day shooting schedule. This was certainly too much, from Sam Briskin's point of view, but the studio head had little choice in the matter. If he stopped Hawks at this stage, RKO would have to write off the substantial costs already accrued plus pay its com mitments to Hepburn,, Grant, and many others. Bringing Up Baby started shooting, and the situation soon evolved into a full-fledged nightmare. Hawks, working slowly and pains takingly, soon fell far behind schedule. Associate pro ducer Cliff Reid's job was to keep nudging the director in the right direction, but he proved totally impotent in his attempts to speed things along. Sam Briskin also failed to inspire the imperturbable Hawks. Briskin quit the studio while the film was still in progress. The original fifty- one day schedule eventually ballooned to ninety-three days 72 with completion finally attained on January 8, 1938. The final budget amounted to a ruinous $1,0 7 3,0 0 0 .^ 3 jt must 454 not have surprised Mr. Hawks very much -when J. R. McDonough began negotiations, shortly thereafter, to end the rela tionship between RKO and the director. The completed picture stands high on the list of screwball comedy 'achievements. Its story of a stuffy pale ontologist (Grant) whose life is turned topsy-turvy by a giddy heiress (Hepburn) literally defies synopsis. Suffice it to say that Bringing Up Baby remains a veritable treas ure chest of flawlessly executed slapstick gags, all molded together by the seamless direction of Howard Hawks. Movie makers have been plundering this picture ever since it was released, with Peter Bogdanovich’s What1s Up Doc? being both an homage to and an unqualified plagiarism of Bringing Up Baby. One hesitates to use the word "masterpiece" when speaking of such an entertainingly nonsensical piece of work, but there have been few Hollywood comedies as funny as this one. The RKO officials, however, definitely winced instead of laughing. Even the excellence of the production could not overcome Hepburn's stigma and the inflated nega tive cost. Bringing Up Baby lost $3 6 5 *0 0 0 for the company7^ Room Service The other big comedy of 1938j Room Service, turned out to be just as discouraging as Bringing Up Baby. In May 1937* this farcical play about a hotel that serves as a haven for three crazy and thoroughly unscrupulous drama 455 producers became a big hit on Broadway. A furious bidding war ensued among the studios for film rights. Lillie Mes- singer, Robert Sparks, and Leo Spitz all were sold on Room Servicers potential, and RKO eventually won the auction, paying an unprecedented $255^000 to authors John Murray and 7B Allan Boretz. The notoriously weak RKO male-talent roster caused problems in casting. After considering and rejecting Joe Penner, Parkyakarkus, Jack Oakie, Burgess Meredith, and others for the major roles, Sam Briskin decided to go out side and offer the Marx Brothers a shot at the picture. There was considerable resistance to the idea. Robert Sparks, producer Edward Kaufman, and even Leo Spitz at tempted to change Briskin's mind. Briskin, himself, felt unsure about putting Groucho, Harpo, and Chico into Room Service, but he believed this solution could provide some box office insurance. As he wrote Leo Spitz: For many reasons I would . . . like to see them [the Marx Brothers] in ROOM SERVICE. The primary reason is, of course, the question of cost. It Is my opin ion that it will cost somewhere around $800,000 to make ROOM SERVICE with ordinary name actors. . . . In spite of the fact that I know ROOM SERVICE will get plenty of road playing time and will be an im portant playing property by the time we make the picture, I am wondering if we can afford to make an $800,000 picture without any names. On the other hand, I think the picture with the Marx Brothers in it will cost about $1,100,000. From a purely busi ness point of view I think it is safer, when we are spending this kind of money, to have names In it.78 456 Sam Briskin had long departed when Room Service began shooting. Neverthelessj his arguments won out; the fren zied comics were cast in the three prime roles. With William Seiter furnishing direction and Pandro Berman personally supervising, the production phase went beautifully. Before shooting began, the estimated budget was reduced to $950,000 and Seiter actually brought it in for $884,000.^ For once, an RKO picture had been made for much less than anyone expected. The high spirits and pros pects continued when a print was screened for the New York executives. Ned Depinet wired Berman: Feeling mighty good today and still laughing over ROOM SERVICE which we saw this morning. Our crowd roared at many funny situations and thoroughly en joyed themselves from start to finish. You have done a fine job with this show. Please tell Bill Seiter, Marx Brothers and those responsible how happy we are over this riotous entertainment.78 Regrettably, audiences did not find the film as "riotous." The Marx Brothers represented part of the prob lem. Their brand of surrealistic humor was uniquely their own, and all of their scripts had been carefully written to the talents of the threesome. In the case of Room Service, the big question was whether to alter the established per sonae of the Marxes to fit the play, or to remold Room Service to accommodate the expected Marx characters. The latter path was chosen, thus jeopardizing a property that the studio had paid $255,000 to purchase. Instead of a fresh new comedy, Room Service emerged as just another Marx Brothers picture. The only obvious omission was the ab sence of usually obligatory musical performances by Harpo and Chico. Room Service still contains the outlines of classic farce. Groucho, the scheming bankrupt producer, is aided by Chico and Harpo in his inspired attempts to get a play off the ground and avoid the hotel supervisor's insistent endeavors to throw them and their troupe out for nonpayment of an incredible backlog of charges. Although Groucho's one-liners are not up to his usual high standard and Chico is given little to do throughout, the performances of the freres far surpass such supporting characters as hotel supervisor Donald MacBride, who shambles about muttering "jumping butterballs," and neophyte playwright Prank Albertson. Albertson is an embarrassment throughout, de spite the fact that he plays the focal point of the wild climax— a fake suicide scene devised by Groucho. It is also easy to see how the film was made cheaply. Fully 80 percent takes place on one set, Groucho's hotel suite. The stage origins of the piece are thus preserved, but the activities become highly claustrophobic after a time--prob- ably because what Is taking place is neither especially interesting nor laugh provoking. In short, Room Service turned out to be a substantial miscarriage. The most ex pensive property ever purchased by RKO, made on a respect 458 able budget* still resulted In a loss of $340*000."^ It was just a poor show. Conclusion The Spitz-Berman regime* lasting less than a full year* represented another transitional period for RKO. It was beginning to seem that all of RKO's regimes were transi tional In nature. Every year or two found different indi viduals in charge of the studio's functioning. There was definitely no mystery about RKO1s financial insecurity; without a continuity of management and a stability of opera tions* the company could never hope to function fruitfully. Perhaps George Schaefer would turn out to be RKO's long- awaited savior* but* to be sure* no one in Hollywood was betting on it. Schaefer was taking over at a trying time. RKO profits had fallen to $173^578 in 1938* primarily because 8o of the economic situation in America. Box office receipts had slumped during the spring and summer months for all the companies* the result of a recession that was now firmly 8l gripping the country. Certainly there was not as much cause for alarm as there had been in the dark days of the early thirties* but profits would definitely be harder- earned from now on than they had been during 193^ and 1 9 3 7- The growing totalitarian influence and burgeoning war clouds in Europe were also matters of utmost concern. Euro 459 pean film receipts had been declining for some time, prin cipally because of the growing intransigence of Germany and Italy. Thanks to the Nazis, Austria and Czechoslovakia were eliminated as markets for American movies during the 82 year. In addition, the British passed their new British Films Act in April 1938, thus adding new restrictions to American operations in that country.Closer to home, the big news was a suit, filed by the United States government in July, to force the major companies to divorce their the ater holdings from the production and distribution concerns and- to end the notorious practice of "block booking." A formal statement which accompanied the filing of charges against all eight studios read, in part: It is the belief of the Department of Justice that certain rearrangements must be made in the moving picture industry In order to maintain competitive con ditions in the future. Those rearrangements require a more constructive effort than mere prosecution for past practices. The aim of the civil suit which is now Instituted is to accomplish those arrangements under the guidance of the court. In the opinion of the Department, this can only be done by proceedings before a judicial tribunal.84 The action was taken at the instigation of Independent the ater owners who had long been complaining about the monop olistic operations of the majors. Although nothing concrete had been determined when the year came to an end, the future operations of RKO, as well as those of MGM, Warner Brothers, and the other companies, had become uncertain. On the bright side, Pandro Berman's first year in 460 full charge of production had resulted in an upgrading of the quality and general commercial performance of the com pany's pictures. Although there were numerous disappoint ments— especially on the A level--there seemed every reason to be optimistic about 1939- Movie business, in general, had taken an upturn at the close of 1938* and RKO had some very favorable looking pictures ready for release early in the new year. The biggest question mark of all was George Schaefer. How long would it take the new RKO president to analyze his company and formulate an enlightened program for the future? How would he get along with such old-time employees as J. R. McDonough and Pandro Berman? Would RKO finally pull free of receivership under his leadership? And what would Schaefer's relationship be to the three pow erful groups whose interest in RKO remained keen: Atlas (Odium), RCA (Sarnoff), and Rockefeller? Once again, an "outsider," a man with no prior RKO experience, had been brought in to pilot the corporation. Schaefer's task would soon take on herculean proportions, as we shall see. 461 Footnotes ^"Slbw Progress on RKO's 77B Reorg Brings Inside Stuff into the Open.," Variety, 12 January 1938, p. 2. 2Ibid. Q RKO Management to Stay, Headed by Spitz," Motion Picture Herald, 26 February 1938, p. 18. ^Ibid. ^"Lengthy Delay in RKO Reorganization," Motion Pic ture Herald, 29 January 1938, p. 46. ^"RKO's Creditors Study Amendments on Reorganization,'1 Motion Picture Herald, 5 March 1938, p. 28. 70. C. Doering, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 12 April 1938. Q J. R. McDonough, letter to A. H. McCausland, "RKO," 26 April 1938. ^J. R. McDonough, letter to A. H. McCausland, "RKO," 24 May 1938. 10"Revised RKO Plan Submitted, Court Orders Hearing," Motion Picture Herald, 21 May 1938, p. 24. 1 1Ibid. 1 P "RKO Plan Ready for Court August 1st," Motion Pic ture Herald, 23 July 1938, p. 57- "Atlas Option on RKO Stock Will Not Be Exercised," Motion Picture Herald, 30 July 1938, p. 33. 14 x Ibid. 15 "RKO Reorganization Plan Set after 4 years; $6,073*791 Cash on Hand," Motion Picture Herald, 8 October 1 9 3 8, p. 33. ■^"Schaefer Will Head RKO when Reorganization. Plan Is Approved," Motion Picture Herald, 15 October 1938, p. 16. 462 ^"George Schaefer Takes Over at RKO; Hearings Are Delayed to Nov. 22," Motion Picture Herald, 29 October 1938, p. 22. 1 Q J. J. Nolan, memorandum to Ross Hastings, "RKO," 8 January 1 9 3 8. 19 Pandro Berman, telegram to Katharine Hepburn, 3 May 1938. 20 "WAKE UPJ Hollywood Producers," Hollywood Reporter, 3 May 1938, p. 3- 21 Ibid. op Leo Spitz, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 28 April 1938. ^Leo Spitz, letter to Ginger Rogers, "RKO," 4 April 1938. 24 J. R. McDonough, telegram to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 16 April 1938. 25 Pandro Berman, letter to Mark Sandrich, "RKO," 21 April 1938. Ibid. 27 J. R. McDonough, memorandum to files, "RKO," 21 April 1938. 28 Pandro Berman, letter to Mark Sandrich. 29 "Hoss R. Hastings, notes of meeting in J. J. Nolan's office, "RKO," 17 March 1938. ■^J. R. McDonough, letter to A. H. McCausland, "RKO," 25 March 1938. 31 G. B. Howe, memorandum to Ross R. Hastings, "RKO, " 24 May 1938. 3^Leo Spitz, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 17 May 1938. "Dead Cats," Time, 16 May 1938, p. 57; "Hollywood in a Dither: Stars Scent a Pay-Cut Drive in. Exhibitors' At tack," Newsweek, 16 May 1938, p. 24. ............... " ' " ’463 ■^"The Biggest Money Making Stars of 1938," Motion Picture Herald, 24 December 1938, p. 13. ■^Jules Levy, memorandum to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 16 May 1938. ■^Leo Spitz, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 17 May 1938. 37"i937-38 Program," "1938-39 Program," "RKO." (Typewritten lists.) •^Leo Spitz, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 25 May 1938. ^^Leo Spitz, letter to J. R. McDonough, "RKO," 17 May 1938. ^Leo Spitz, letter to Lee Marcus, "RKO," 16 June 1938. Ibid. ho J. R. McDonough, letter to Ned E. Depinet, "RKO," 21 June 1938. 45 Ibid. 44 Lee Marcus, letter to Ned E. Depinet, "RKO," 4 August 1938. 45 Lee Marcus, memorandum to J. J. Nolan, "RKO," 7 March 1940. 46 Leo Spitz, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO, 7 Oc tober 1938. . ^7"i937_38 Program." ’ 48 "RKO Announces 54 Features and 199 Short Subjects for '38-'39j" Motion. Picture Herald, 13 August 1938, p. 6 6. ^"RKO Will Release 54 Feature Films, " New York Times, 11 August 1938, p. 12. 5 0"i9 3 7 _ 3 8 Program." "1938-39 Program." ^"1938-39 Program." 52Ibid. - - - - ^ ■^Ibid. ■^Frank S. Nugent, "Go Chase Yourself," New York Times, 15 June 1938, p. 27. ■^"1937-38 Program." 56Ibid. _ Bruce Cook, Dalton Trumbo (New York: Charles Scrib ner's Sons,, 1977)} pp. 122-123. 58 / Garson Kanin,, Hollywood (New York: Viking Press., 1967), PP. 1-21. ^"1938-39 Program. " 6°Ibld. 61 "1937-38 Program." 62 Bosley Crowther, "Radio City Revels," New York Times, 21 March 1938, p. 18. ^3"1 9 3 7 -3 8 Program." ^Ibid. 6 5Ibid. ap. "1936-37 Program," "RKO." (Typewritten list.) "1 9 3 7 -3 8 Program." ^^"1938-39 Program." 69 Robert Sparks, memorandum to Sam Briskin, "RKO," 9 April 1937- 70 Samuel Briskin, memorandum to Robert Sparks, "RKO, " 14 April 1937. 71 1 "Daily Budget Reconciliation.--Bringing Up Baby, " "RKO," 6 January 1938. ^"Shooting Schedule--Bringing Up Baby, " "RKO, " 27 December 1937. ^"1936-37 Program." --£65 ^Ibid. 7S Ligon Johnsorij letter to RKO-Radio Pictures, Inc.j "RKO," 16 June 1937- Samuel Briskin, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 20 August 1937. 77"1 9 3 8 -3 9 Program." ^®Ned Depinet, telegram to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 2 September 1938* ^"1938-39 Program. " "Republic, RKO Report 1938 Profits; Warner in $6,000,000 Refunding," Motion Picture Herald, 11 March 1939* p. 25. 0-1 "Pressures from Without Headline Film Year," Motion Picture Herald, 31 December 1938, p. 45. 83Ibid. 84 "U.S. Sues Majors to Divorce Exhibition and End Block Sales," Motion. Picture Herald, 25 July 1938, p. 12. CHAPTER IX THE SCHAEPER-BERMAN REGIME (1939) Although the Rockefeller Interests,, In conjunction with David Sarnoff of RCA, sponsored George J. Schaefer for the presidency of RKO, it appears likely that Ployd Odium approved of the appointment as well. Schaefer had pre cisely the background that Odium favored In his own execu tive choices. A businessman at heart, George Schaefer had spent more than a quarter century in the motion picture industry as salesman for the old World Film Company, booker, branch manager, district manager, general sales manager, and vice-president for Paramount, and vice-president and general manager of United•Artists.^ Given this training, it could be expected that Schaefer would concentrate on the promotion and marketing of RKO films, leaving the creative decisions In the hands of Pandro Berman and the West Coast staff. But the new RKO president had different ideas. He intended to involve himself in every aspect of the corpora- tion--especially production policies and strategies. Ap proaching his job with an energy (and, some felt, reckless abandon) never previously demonstrated by an RKO corporate 466 467 head, George Schaefer completely revamped the RKO filmmak ing emphasis and image within one year. In the process, Schaefer implemented a number of policies that would con tribute both to the everlasting fame of RKO and to its near ruination. Receivership The culmination of the agonizing receivership period finally was assured in 1939* The actual emergence of the company from "77Br t did not take place during the year., however. As before, petitions, objections, delays, last-minute changes, and other complexities interrupted the final reorganization, carrying it over into 1940. An indication that the long battle was drawing to a close came in January when Judge William Bondy approved - the 2 Atlas-sponsored reorganization plan. One of the provisions of the plan allowed stockholders who had already consented to its contents to withdraw their support within three weeks after the approval. This caused an initial delay which was compounded when additional hearings proved neces sary to determine if Irving Trust Company had to notify 20,000 stockholders of objections to the plan filed by Ernest W. Stirn, a holder of Class A stock.^ Another mat ter of concern was the makeup of the board of directors for the renewed company. A number of different groups were 468 demanding representation: RCA; the Rockefellers; Atlas; Time, Inc. which held some $1,250,000 worth of unsecured -RKO notes; minority stockholders; and other interested par ties. Judge Bondy had the unenviable task of weighing the relative strengths of the different factions, then approv ing a board that reflected the proper power structure. Summer arrived, but still nothing concrete had been accomplished. Judge Bondy continued to study the board of directors while three more objectors to the plan filed 4 suits against it in a New York circuit court of appeals. The proponents of the reorganization plan were vindicated in July, when the appeals court unanimously affirmed Judge Bondy's original approval. Bondy also approved a thirteen- member board, leaving only one matter to be disposed of: the capitalization plan for the new RKO. The Atlas proposal called for the Issuance of 2,230,000 shares of new common stock, which would be given to RKO creditors in settlement of their claims, and 4,367*- 554 shares, some to be reserved for option warrants and 6 some sold to raise working capital. This stock was to have an initial market value of approximately $4.00 per share. In addition, $13,000,000 worth of 6 percent cumula tive convertible first preferred stock of $100 par value 7 was part of the capitalization. Atlas promised to under write $1,500,000 of the new stock If the federal court 469 accepted the offer by August 29. The date came and went with proceedings still snarled, prompting Atlas to withdraw 8 its offer. Once again, the RKO reorganization had de scended into limbo. Judge William Bondy grew angry in October. Calling the proceedings "interminable," he insisted that immediate 9 progress be made. Seemingly in answer to Bondy's request, Floyd Odium revealed that Atlas had not abandoned RKO but needed more time to formulate a new capitalization proposal. The outbreak of war in Europe in September had considerably altered the future prospects of motion picture companies, and Odium wanted his staff to evaluate the situation before presenting a second offer to underwrite the RKO stock. In mid-December, Atlas submitted to Bondy its new offer to underwrite 500,000 shares of RKO common.at $3-00 per share.^ There was actually very little difference be tween this offer and the original one. Only the $3*00 price (down from $4.00) was different; according to Floyd Odium, the "changing world conditions" had necessitated a lower price than Atlas proferred in August.The pro cedure contained the following ground rules: An offer of shares must be submitted by December 31st to holders of unsecured claims and to Rockefeller Cen ter, Inc. These creditors will be allowed 20 days to exercise their option to buy the stock. Within two days of the expiration date of the option to credi tors, RKO must notify Atlas of the number of unsub scribed shares remaining. Atlas binds Itself to 470 purchase and pay for all unsubscribed stock at the $3 price within two to seven days after the notice from RKO.12 And so, 'finally, the long., debilitating process was drawing to a close. All indicators pointed to the emergence of a revitalized., independent RKO early in the new year. Pandro Berman Leaves On March 1, 1939j Pandro Berman dispatched the fol lowing letter to George Schaefer: I will not bore you by going into the detail of how long I have been attempting to accomplish this deed., and for what various reasons of loyalty and friendship I have restrained myself, but I simply want to sitafce that regardless of any circumstances whatsoever I do not wish to continue my employment in the motion picture business as of the expiration of my present contract in March, 1940. I am going to take off a considerable amount of time and travel around the world for my health, which my doctors have advised me will not stand many more years of the strain and responsibilities that I have been going through for the past ten years. . . . I know the only way to get peace of mind will be by severing all con nections with the industry until I am in a position to return.13 Berman's letter continues, informing his boss that he is happy with the company and with Schaefer as president, and that there are no ulterior motives behind his decision. It appears that there was more politeness than veracity in Berman's words. In truth, Pandro Berman was distinctly annoyed by George Schaefer's performance. Schaefer was insisting on the final say in all production decisions (see Production). Of course, Leo Spitz had also injected his 471 viewpoint into the operation of the studio, but to a lesser degree than Schaefer. Spitz had pretty much let Berman alone with respect to A productions, which were Berman's specialty. But Schaefer could not resist the temptation to meddle in the production chief's job, and Berman surely re sented the interference. Another sore point was Schaefer's decision to revive unit production. The concept (involving arrangements with independent producers to complete films which would then be distributed by the studio) had been introduced during the Selznick era, but never utilized on more than a limited basis. Now, George Schaefer felt a comprehensive unit sys tem might solve many of the problems of RKO and began ac tively recruiting independents early in the year. Pandro Berman was not, apparently, antagonistic to the unit con cept, but he was offended that George Schaefer began nego tiating agreements without once consulting him about the potential producers. As Berman told oral historian Mike Steen: I was always resentful of the fact that he■[Schaefer] did not discuss any of his deals with me. . . . I felt I had a lot to tell about an awful lot of people he was hiring whom I wouldn't have hired. . . . So, this really started me on my way out of RKO. I be gan to get burned up about it, and I resigned as a result.14 By summer, relations between Berman and Schaefer reached such an impasse that the two men were hardly com municating with each other. J. R. McDonough became the 472 intermediary, conveying all the important studio informa tion to Schaefer in New York. A supplemental agreement was worked out in September which allowed Berman to terminate 15 his obligations to RKO four months early. This agreement was later amended, so that Berman could continue working on two pictures--The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Vigil in the Night--until they were completed. Before the end of 1939* however, Pandro Berman finished his career with RKO. On December 28, 1939* Harry Edington, a former agent with limited production experience, was named to succeed Berman "in charge of all the important pictures to be made on the 16 RKO lot." Pan Berman forsook his world travel plans, signing a contract with MGM. The departure of Pandro Berman spelled the end of an era for RKO. In many ways, Berman was RKO. He had been there when the company was formed and had withstood the many changes and executive shufflings that transpired through the years. Beginning as an assistant, Berman be came the most respected employee in the studio. Based on the Astaire-Rogers musicals and the best of the Katharine Hepburn films, he gained a reputation for taste, intelli gence, and sound creative instincts. And he was a man just entering his prime. As we shall see in the discussion of the 1939 films, Berman’s final year at the helm became a kind of personal testament: the most memorable production 473 period in the entire history of the company. One should not overrate Berman's achievements or abilities. He made several major mistakes during his RKO tenure, -and he was not as sagacious as such brilliant producers as Darryl Zanuck, David Selznick, or the deceased Irving Thalberg. Still, these men also guessed wrong on occasion and they were not so very far above Pandro Berman. Certainly no one at RKO could compare to him and, thus, his loss represented a tremendous blow to the company. George Schaefer, however, seemed blithely unconcerned. It would be his studio from now on, and he would receive principal credit for future successes--that is, if there were any successes. The War in Europe The outbreak of World War II in early September caused panic at RKO corporate headquarters. It was esti mated that the warring nations of England, France, and • Poland represented 30 percent of the world revenue of Amer ican film distributors, and about 60 percent of their total 17 foreign revenue. 1 The closing of all theaters in these countries signaled the most immediate problem. While the situation was not expected to last, it seemed probable that film programs would be curtailed due to the vulnerability of cinemas to air raids. Another serious anticipated ef fect was that restrictions would be placed on the transfer 474 of earned funds by U.S. companies from the war zone. Prance immediately halted the outflow of money when it entered the conflict, and all the Hollywood companies remembered vividly that they had suffered from transfer restrictions during both the Spanish Civil War and the Sino-Japanese undeclared ”1 ^ war. The potential loss was infinitely greater this time because of the magnitude of the conflict. George Schaefer postponed a scheduled visit to the West Coast after the beginning of hostilities in order to study the European developments. Schaefer scrutinized the situation for a week, then sent wires to several important RKO employees. After describing the bleak conditions to Berman, the RKO president came to the point: » All this . . . puts us in position where we must watch every dollar and for that matter every nickel. . . . Indications at present are that there will be curtail ment of imports into England and possibly monetary re strictions and it is certain for some time to come we are going to be solely dependent upon returns from the Americas. . . . Show wire to Marcus and urge him do likewise on all his product. Present indications are that we will cut from eight to ten pictures out of his program. You can better appreciate the need of this when I let you know that we would have lost money on every important picture in the past five years had-we eliminated revenue from Great Britain, Prance, Poland.IS Berman was, at that time, producing one of the most demanding and lavish films ever undertaken by RKO, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The problems, as outlined by Schaefer, seemed so severe that Berman began to believe Hunchback would be one of the last of the big, expensive 475 pictures. It now appeared financially suicidal to make costly films when prospects for foreign revenue were so slender. Years later, Berman reflected on his belief: I was quite wrong because there were plenty [of ex pensive spectaculars] made after that. In any case, it seemed to me like the end of an era while we were shooting it [The Hunchback of Notre Dame].20 Actually, Schaefer had been wrong as well. His facts and figures were accurate, but he had failed to con sider the possibility that an increase in domestic attend ance might offset the losses in foreign returns. As the Motion Picture Herald reported:. Box office receipts always go up in wartime. The situation may result in cutting out some of the costly mistakes made at the top and in cutting down costs of some of the million dollar pictures that ought not to cost that much anyway. And it may give some new talent a break.21 Indeed, the war years proved to be the most profitable period in the history of the American motion picture in dustry, though top earnings came after the United States entered the fray as an active participant. George Schaefer, of course, could not foresee the coming halcyon days. He looked at the deteriorating world across the Atlantic and perceived nothing but problems for his business. Schaefer's first positive action was to re vive a strategy employed during the Depression: salary cuts. On September 25, 1939j this announcement was sent to all RKO employees: 476 RKO has devised a broad program of intensified effort and curtailment of costs to meet the grave situation confronting our company due to serious loss of revenue from abroad caused by the war in Europe. Temporary reductions in pay are unavoidable, but such reductions will be confined to employees in the higher brackets. No employee receiving $4,500 per year or less will be affected. Prom this point upward a graduated scale will apply, so that the largest salaries' will receive the largest percentage cuts.22 Employees earning in excess of $75,000 took the most sub stantial cuts— a reduction of 50 percent. This approach generated significant anger among those affected, mainly be cause several of the other studios did not resort to the same policy. The problem was not solved by salary cuts, however. The RKO earnings from abroad had been reduced substantially, and this loss of income would continue to influence all aspects of the corporation’s functioning. Personnel George Schaefer's unit production philosophy brought a number of new creative faces to RKO in 1939. The inde pendent deals varied considerably in substance, but they did have one common denominator. All, it seemed, were de signed to upgrade the quality and prestige of the company product. Several of the new employees would come from the New York stage world. One of the first independent teams signed was composed of Broadway theatrical impresarios Max Gordon and Harry Goetz. Their company, Max Gordon Plays and Pictures, would provide RKO with the services of the 477 two men as producers and give the studio an inside position 2S on the plays they produced. Schaefer was especially anx ious to secure the rights to The American Way, a well- received, patriotic drama which Gordon and Goetz controlled. The deal enabled RKO to acquire the property (for a fee of $250,000) plus Abe Lincoln in Illinois, another highly cov eted play. Also joining forces with RKO were the screenwriting team of Gene Towne and Graham Baker. They had written the script of the Dunne-Fairbanks disappointment, Joy of Living; now they were set to produce films through a company called The Play’s The Thing Productions. Swiss Family Robinson would be their initial undertaking. In addition, former silent comedy star Harold Lloyd agreed to make films for RKO release. And a new American-British producing concern, Imperator-Radio Pictures, was formed between Herbert Wilcox 24 and RKO. Wilcox also relocated his operations from London to Hollywood. The first film of the new company would be Nurse Edith Caveli, directed by Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle. Overshadowing these developments, however, was the addition of Orson Welles and his Mercury Productions Com pany . Orson Welles came to the attention of RKO execu tives in late 1937- Welles’s version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, presented in New York, so excited story editor Lillie Messinger that she wrote Leo Spitz about the 478 25 „ young director. v She concluded, There must be some place 26 in a Studio for this kind of talent.1 ' Spitz was not in terested in Welles at that time, but George Schaefer began to court him seriously around May of 1939. By then, Welles had become a national figure, largely because of his famous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast which petrified a goodly portion of the Eastern seaboard. George Schaefer finally signed Welles and his Mer cury Productions Company on July 22, 1939. The agreement was for two pictures which Welles would write, produce, direct, and act in. Many sources have called this deal a unique, "carte blanche" contract. It was certainly unique, but did not give Welles as much freedom as has been sup posed. For example, RKO had the right to approve the basic story and the budget, which was not to exceed the sum of $500,000. Otherwise, control of the productions, includ- 28 Ing the editing, would rest wholly with Welles. Unless the new director departed radically from the story, RKO could not interfere in the making of each film. This was definitely unprecedented; a neophyte filmmaker had been granted a contract with a Hollywood studio which guaranteed he would be able to work almost completely in freedom. It is important to bury one contention at this point. Pauline Kael, In The Citizen Kane Book, claims that Orson Welles was brought to Hollywood in hopes that he would 479 29 produce a miracle and save the floundering RKO. ^ In fact, RKO was not floundering and needed no miracles from Welles, although he gave them one of sorts. Orson Welles was hired by RKO because he had a reputation as an innovative, un orthodox artist who could be expected to add new excitement and aesthetic seriousness to the RKO program of releases. Of course, George Schaefer hoped Welles would make profit able films, but he was not counting on him to revivify the studio. Welles and his Mercury Productions group were part of Schaefer's new unit production policy, just like Goetz and Gordon, Towne and Baker, and others who would be join ing the company in the coming years. The only difference was that Welles's films would be financed by RKO, whereas the other arrangements called for a percentage of funding to come from bank loans or other outside sources. Without an understanding of this context, the entire Welles saga at RKO seems to be an aberration. It was, instead, simply part of George Schaefer’s master plan for the future. There was, and is, certainly room to question the wisdom of the plan itself. The individuals signed by Schaefer were not industry veterans. Some, like Welles and Goetz and Gordon, had no Hollywood experience at all. It is little wonder that Pandro Berman was shocked and angered by many of George Schaefer's maneuvers. Schaefer, during his initial year in office, made several rather outrageous 480 gambles. If they paid off, he would soon be elevated to full "mogul" status in Hollywood. But if they did not, chances were that RKO would be seeking new corporate lead ership In the near future. Part of the reason for entering Into so many Inde pendent arrangements was the sad condition of the RKO act ing company. With the departure of Hepburn and the strong possibility that Fred Astaire would soon be performing else where, the only big stars that could be counted on were Ginger Rogers and Irene Dunne. In 1938, the studio had made a deal with free-lance performer Cary Grant so that he would be appearing in one or two RKO pictures a year-. A similar arrangement was cemented with Carole Lombard in 1939. Nevertheless, RKO was having to borrow numerous per formers, and It seemed logical that prestigious properties, provided by notable Independents, would help to entice more stars into working at the studio. One newcomer did join the acting company, though only on a half-time basis. This was beautiful Irish Immigrant Maureen O'Hara, whose con tract RKO shared with Twentieth Century-Fox. Her first performance would be In The Hunchback of Notre Dame. By the end of 1939j RKO was a very different company than it had been one year before. The outbreak of the war stimulated George Schaefer to step up his recruitment of independent producers. His rationale was that it made more 481 sense to have Independents share in the risk of reduced foreign revenues and frozen funds, thus providing a smaller drain on the RKO cash reserves, than for the company to try to carry on in traditional fashion.^ We shall view the results of Schaefer's program in the next chapter. Production In January, George Schaefer and Ned Depinet traveled to California. After studying studio operations for a time, the two executives, along with Pandro Berman, left Hollywood for a few days in order to discuss the RKO production ap proach for the coming year. They chose La Quinta, a quiet desert community near Palm Springs, as the site of their conference. The deliberations produced the following tentative plans. The 1939-1940 program would cost $14,844,000, in cluding both features and short subjects.^ Twelve "big" pictures, made for a total expenditure of $10 million, would headline the releases. In addition, there would be six "in-between" films, budgeted at $200,000, twenty "B" pic tures ($125,000 negative cost), and six George O'Brien westerns, to be made for $85^000 e a c h . The scheme re flected a healthy distrust, developed in earlier years, of the true "in-between" or "borderline" picture--a film in the $300,000 to $700,000 range. None was to be produced. 482 As George Schaefer indicated to Andrew Christensen of Irving Trust later in January,, the most immediate neces sity was to acquire suitable story material for the expen sive pictures: Other than the one property,, THE HUNCHBACK OP NOTRE DAME., which we are purchasing, there is no ma terial ahead of us, either in story or original script form and we, therefore, have to start from scratch. We are proceeding to try to line up from ten to twelve worthwhile productions.33 Schaefer's decision to seek independent production deals was based, in large part, on the need of RKO to acquire "important" properties. In late. February, Schaefer wrote Pandro Berman, dis closing his plans "to release possibly eight (8) or ten (10) quality pictures, independently financed but produced on our lot.Schaefer also listed Ivanhoe, two George Stevens productions, two Leo McCarey productions, one Gregory La Cava production, and The First Rebel (later produced and released under the title Allegheny Uprising) as comprising the bulk of the company's own forthcoming A releases. Ber man was instructed to give his "undivided attention" to this group of "special" offerings, leaving the "program" pictures SB securely in the hands of Lee Marcus. ^ Marcus was to re ceive $4 million to produce twenty-eight pictures, and he was to determine the budget of each film, in consultation with J. R. McDonough. The last paragraph of Schaefer's letter to Berman is of special interest: 483 In connection with the approval of this budget* it is important to note that I am working on the prin ciple* with which the Board concur* that having ap proved the budget for the number of pictures indicated* thereafter the selection of material* stories* plays et cetera* and the producing of pictures is left entirely to the management.3 6 George Schaefer's performance already belied his words.and* as the year unfolded* he would become more and more involved in production decisions— from story selection to creative assignments to casting. No wonder the conflict between Schaefer and Pandro Berman deepened and intensified during this period. Schaefer's constant interference* as well as his cavalier decisions regarding the hiring of in dependents* disturbed the production chief intensely and* in essence* forced him to leave RKO. The RKO sales convention took place in June at the Westchester Country Club in Rye* New York. There* George Schaefer unveiled the most audacious production program in company history* promising to spend "a minimum of $21*000*- 000 on '39-'40 product. The $14*844*000 January esti mate had obviously proven inadequate. The enumeration of coming attractions suggested that the studio and its affili ated independents had been busy acquiring well-known lit erary properties. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ivanhoe, The American Way:* Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Swiss Family Robinson* James Fenimore Cooper's The Deerslayer* Tom Brown's School Days* and Anne of Windy Poplars (from a novel 484 by the author of Anne of Green Gables) were all scheduled o Q to be produced. Several of the new unit arrangements were announced at the convention, Including the ones with Towne and Baker and Gordon and Goetz, but nothing was said about the acquisition of new acting talent or the future rela tionship of Bred Astaire to the studio. These were problem areas, and the less said about them the better. Still, an impressive group of names was trumpeted for the 1939-1940 releases: Charles Laughton, Raymond Massey, Carole Lombard, John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Anna Neagle, Douglas Fairbanks, Junior, Ginger Rogers, and Cary Grant. With the exception of Ginger Rogers, none of these talents had a long-term contract with RKO. Still, the studio had managed, one way or another, to secure their services and that was the im portant thing. The situation changed radically in early September. Facing the inevitability of foreign warfare, George Schaefer began to worry about his mammoth production budget. On September 3, Schaefer wrote J. J. Nolan, his newly desig nated studio adjutant: We must be careful of all our commitments and it is quite possible that there may be drastic revisions on our entire budget and program due to the interna tional situation, therefore, proceed slowly as to final commitments. However, keep uppermost in mind that we must drive through but be ready to halt and pull in our reins at a moment's notice.39 Notice came shortly thereafter, in the form of full scale armed conflict (see pages 473-476). Schaefer's immediate 485 feeling was that "we cannot from this point on make pictures that cost more than $500,000, if the revenue is to be cur- 40 tailed in Europe." This meant a radical revision of the studio’s production plans. Nothing could be done about the expensive pictures, such as Hunchback and Abe Lincoln, that were already in production. But savings could be effected elsewhere. For example, The American Way, a popular stage play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart which RKO acquired in the Gordon-Goetz deal, was put on the shelf. The play had an "Americanism" theme, highly topical at the time, but its estimated production cost was more than $1 million. Even though the studio had already invested $250,000 for the rights, Schaefer believed the high production cost made it too risky to proceed further. Orson Welles's first scheduled picture, Heart of Darkness, was postponed for the same reason. Welles was working on his script, an adaptation of the famous Joseph Conrad short novel, when the war broke out. Like Berman, he received a pessimistic wire from Schaefer, urging him to make every effort to trim the budget of the picture to its bare minimum. Welles's reply to Schaefer read, in part: You have my word that because of conditions as you explained every cent will be counted twice in HEART OF DARKNESS. No single luxury will be indulged, only absolute essentials to effectiveness and potency of story. Because you have entrusted me with full au thority in this, I will be the more vigiland [sic j and painstaking about costs.^1 486 Neverthelessj the preliminary budget figures on Heart of . - 42 Darkness came to a staggering $1,057.,761. This was not only more than twice as much as RKO could afford to spend on films, it was also double the amount which Welles's con tract allowed him to spend. George Schaefer did not order immediate cancellation of the project, however. He wanted to keep Welles happy, and he wanted to get some pictures from the young Paust. New negotiations were conducted which eventuated in the following plan: Heart of Darkness would be kept on the company's schedule while efforts were made to cut at least $250,000 off the cost. Meanwhile, Welles would prepare another film, which he would write, direct, and star in for nothing. Thus, the package of two pictures could probably be made for a reasonable figure since the second film would certainly cost much less than $5 0 0,0 0 0 .^ 3 This film had as its proposed title, The Smiler With a Knife. In mid-December, the ongoing revision of Heart of Darkness had reduced the budget by $73^000 with more eliminations expected, and Welles was working fever- 44 ishly to finish his Smiler script. It appeared that RKO would be producing two Orson Welles pictures for 1940 re lease . The concern for economy manifested itself in other ways. The first eight months of 1939 had been a period of prodigality, of unparalleled expenditure on studio opera- 487. tions. But after the war erupted., the kinds of worries that had plagued RKO during the Depression returned. The corpo rate president, for example, began to fret about the total footage of pictures and the amount of eliminated material between first-cut and final-cut. Schaefer sent J. J. Nolan a memo listing five films, completed after January 1, 1939j that showed a 20 to 37 percent elimination between rough- cut and final-cut. Noting that such eliminations add "that much more expense to the cost of production," Schaefer 45 asked Nolan to suggest ways of preventing the wastage. ^ Once again, the studio executives were pinching pennies, worrying about details and mechanical problems rather than the overriding necessity of producing good pictures. Prom the production standpoint, the RKO that pre pared to enter a new decade in late 1939 had a remodeled script and a fresh cast of characters. The script included a major role for independent production. Indeed, the com pany was beginning to challenge United Artists as a haven for independents and would continue to woo autonomous units into the family in the early 1940s. Veteran Pandro Berman would be missing from the troupe, his place taken by Harry Edington. However, the principal figure in production from now on would be George J. Schaefer rather than Edington. Schaefer would, in essence, be making all important deci sions even though his office remained in New York rather 488 than Hollywood. Schaefer* in consort with Edington* J. R. McDonough* and J. J. Nolan* now had the responsibility of developing a new production philosophy that would take into account the problematic European marketing situation and the distinct possibility that the United States could be at war in the near future. Helping him in this regard was con siderable momentum which had been generated by the RKO pro duction machinery during 1 9 3 9. As we shall see in the next section* the 1939 releases elevated the status of RKO and* taken as a whole* brought in impressive profits as well. However* the majority of these pictures had been started before Schaefer joined the company. Thus* Pandro Berman deserved most of the credit for their success* and he would never be part of the RKO team again. So--RKO was starting afresh* entering a new period in its history. Finally* a corporate president was going to run the movie concern firmly and forcefully* but it was still anyone's guess whether George Schaefer's venturesome ideas would actually succeed. The Films It is both appropriate and unfortunate that RKO en joyed its greatest production year in 1939. Certainly bet ter pictures were made by the company in other years* but taken as a group* the 1939 releases are unrivaled. Covering the spectrum from adventure to comedy to romance to musical 489 biography and classic literature,, the studio produced a number of memorable and financially rewarding productions. The unfortunate aspect of this is that the other studios were also enjoying an extraordinary annum. Had RKO produced its 1939 pictures in any other year, the company surely would have been the envy of the industry, earned numerous accolades, and realized even more substantial prof its. But a quick overview of the competition explains why the achievement of RKO became lost in the tumult. The mightiest success of the year was Gone With the Wind, David Selznick's epic of the Civil War. Gone With the Wind proved to be the box office blockbuster of this period in film history, but it is a testament to the film's romantic in tensity that it was also considered the best picture of the year. Competing for that honor were such other triumphs as Stagecoach, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Young Mr. Lincoln, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Destry Rides Again, The Wizard of Oz, Drums Along the Mohawk, Only Angels Ay ^ . A A K ^ Have Wings, Wuthering Heights, Northwest Passage, Dark Victory. Juarez, Union Pacific, The Women, and The Roaring Twenties. Adding the prideful contributions of RKO— Gunga Din, Love Affair, Bachelor Mother, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame-- to the list makes it seem a true annus mirabilis, the pin-, nacle period of achievement in studio system history. The films released in 1 9 39 alone are proof that the studios were 490 more than restrictive, creativity-wrecking factories hammer ing out movies like Detroit does cars or Chicago, sausages. The majority of RKO releases were neither especially good nor bad. When a company released approximately one new film every week, it was impossible to be consistently on target. The pictures based on, or inspired by, earlier stu dio releases were among the weakest RKO offerings of 1939* There seems to be a general rule that applies here: remakes simply do not work as well as originals. The freshness is gone, and the critical establishment invariably points out inadequacies in later versions as compared to their pre cursors. Of course there are exceptions, such as the Warner Brothers Maltese Falcon of 1941 (the third company version of the story), but in nine cases out of ten a re make fails--with audiences, as well as those who evaluate films for a living. The idea behind remakes was simple: substantial sav ings could be effected by recycling properties already owned by the company. Thus, story costs were saved (except for the usual rewriting required) and the films could be made cheaply. There was a fallacy in this thinking, because every 1939 remake and "inspired” picture lost money at the 46 box office for RKO. And for good reason. The Girl and the Gambler was based on Willard Mack's The Dove, which had been released in 1932 as Girl of the Rio. It featured Leo Carrillo (reprising the part he performed in the original), 491 Tim -Holt, and Steffi Duna as the cabaret singer first played by Dolores Del Rio. Lew Landers’ direction was not up to his usual standard with the result being a torpid melodrama full of hackneyed dialogue and miserable performances. Bad Lands, also directed by Landers, turned out to be John Ford's old Lost Patrol transposed to a western setting. In this case a posse, headed by sheriff Robert Barrat, is pinned down by an Apache war party. One by one the members of the posse are picked off, just as Victor McLaglen’s Le gionnaires had been decimated by Arab sharpshooters in the original. Although definitely better than The Girl and the Gambler, Bad Lands was nothing to boast about. Neither was Three Sons, an update of the 1933 Lionel Barrymore,'ve hicle, Sweepings. Edward Ellis handled the Barrymore role adequately, but the story--about a department store owner who is disappointed by his children’s disinclination to take over the business— was not worth redoing. One has to wonder about the reasoning behind such choices. Surely, the studio had superior properties to rework. The two most obviously "inspired" films were Career and True Confession. Career was a rather blatant plagiarism' of A Man to Remember. In the latter, Edward Ellis had played the role of a saintly country doctor whose many sac rifices aided the lives of an entire community. In Career, Ellis is a storekeeper but, otherwise, the plot is the 492 same: he saves the local bank from ruin^ protects an Inven tion made by the town drunk* advises and consoles his own wife and son when life deals them problematic hands. The other star of A Man to Remember* Anne Shirley* also par ticipated in the new effort* In case anyone should miss the similarity between the two pictures. Produced by Robert Sisk and scripted by Dalton Trumbo* Career was not really a bad picture. It was simple* piously but not preten tiously uplifting* designed to tug gently on the heart strings of middle America. Still* there was something shoddy about the anxiety of RKO to "cash in" on an earlier success--and one so recent. At least Career was not an embarrassment to its source. True Confession* on the other hand* looked rather pathetic in the context of The Informer. As in John Ford's famous RKO picture* Victor McLaglen plays a man who cannot escape the fury of his conscience. In this case* McLaglen has committed murder* told his priest of the deed in the confessional* and then watches in agony while another man is convicted of the crime and sentenced to die for it. The film even contains an equivalent of the wake scene in The Informer* as McLaglen is introduced into the home of the innocent victim bound for the electric chair. True Con fession added a subplot involving the priest (Joseph Calleia) and his own struggle with the inviolable sanctity 493 of the confessional. Nevertheless,, the picture failed to generate either the dramatic or psychological intensity of The Informer, and critics were quick to point out all the 47 "borrowings" from the Academy Award-winning triumph. All in all, the disinterment and re-animation of older RKO films proved singularly unrewarding. Leo Spitz's fondness for "exploitation" pictures carried over into the early part of George Schaefer's term. Pacific Liner was actually more "disaster" film than "ex ploitation" vehicle. It told the story of the ill-fated S.S. Arcturus which sails from Shanghai with Asiatic Cholera as one of the passengers. Victor McLaglen., playing chief engineer Crusher McKay, leads a diverse group into battle against the plague. Chester Morris and Wendy Barrie, as doctor and nurse, respectively, perform more than their share of heroics. Although no major achievement, Pacific 48 Liner was an exciting yarn which earned $8 5j000 for RKO. Boy Slaves, a lurid tale that reeked of exploitation, turned out to be an angry, unrelieved indictment of peonage on the turpentine farms of the South. Although some of the events were melodrama of the lowest order, P. G. Wolfson, the producer-director, nevertheless managed to hold to his guns, never compromising the anti-Hollywood image of a brutal world of exploiters and their prey. The biggest problem facing unusual pictures like Boy Slaves was the 494 expectations of the American film audience. Although it received good reviews and cost only $189*000* the film drew poorly* losing $6 3 *0 0 0 and thus diminishing the chances ' 4q that more pictures of its type would follow. Beauty for the Asking began as an expose of the "beauty racket*" but quickly abandoned this approach in favor of a routine love triangle featuring Lucille Ball* Patric Knowles* and Frieda Inescourt. Sticking more closely to the original tenets of "exploitation*" They Made Her a Spy featured Sally Ellers as an Innocent damsel recruited by the Intelligence Corps to trap a foreign agent. This picture actually did double service. Besides Its exploitation angle* They Made Her a Spy also Included a good deal of blatant preachment about the glories of America— Its freedom* its opportunity* its permanence. Fittingly* the climactic action occurs at the top of the Washington Monument. This "Americanism" theme may be found In a remark able number of Hollywood films produced in 1939 and the early 1940s. It was a response to the totalitarian threats in Europe and the Far East* and an attempt to inspire pa triotism in the face of the growing probability that the U.S. would become involved in global hostilities. Examples of the theme are manifest in several RKO releases* includ ing Gunga Din (examined at length later in this chapter). Conspiracy* for example* depicted a mythical Central Amer- 495 lean country run by a fascist dictator and swarming with secret police. Heroine Linda Hayes decides to commit her self to the revolutionary cause, a sure sign that liberty will eventually be reinstated. Conspiracy was not a very effective example of American propaganda, but then neither was Allegheny Uprising, a much more expensive undertaking. Allegheny Uprising was based on the story, "First Rebel," by Neil Swanson. P. J. Wolfson wrote and produced this tale of James Smith and his "Black Boys" who defy the mandates of the British King (in the early 1700s), thereby asserting the preeminence of such virtues as freedom, jus tice, and fair play. The fascist influence can be seen in the character of Captain Swanson (George Sanders), an Eng lish officer who places half the region in chains— without warrant and without trial--in an attempt to stifle the up rising. The implicit patriotism, however, is smothered by a deficient script, lukewarm direction (by Room Service director William Seiter), and lackluster performances. In hopes of recapturing the excitement of the John Wayne- Claire Trevor combination in Stagecoach, the pair were cast as rebel leader Smith and his love-sick devotee, Janie. Trevor's part was largely an embarrassment; she stalks John- Wayne throughout the proceedings. As one character ob serves, Wayne has lived "with Indians too long," and seems thoroughly disinterested in Trevor's advances. Perhaps he can not concentrate on more than one thing at a time* and the British are the principal focus of attention. Indeed., the woodenness of Wayne's performance (so inferior to his Stagecoach acting) suggests that this may be the case. At any rate, Allegheny Uprising turned out to be a colossal botch, losing $245,000 for RKO.^ George Sanders’ wasted work in Allegheny Uprising was partially counterbalanced by his casting as "the Saint" in the continuing series. "The Saint"'was a hit, and it became a bigger success when Sanders assumed the lead role from Louis Hayward. President Schaefer, realizing he had a money-maker in the stylist detective, continued to support these films even though they had been the brainstorm of his predecessor, Leo Spitz. In The Saint Strikes Back, Simon. Templar (the Saint's real name) tackles the San Francisco underworld in order to solve a series of ingenious homi cides. Given active support from Wendy Barrie, Barry Fitz gerald, and Jonathan Hale, and strong direction by John Farrow, Sanders settled into the role with aplomb. The second installment of the year, The Saint in London., was actually produced on. British soil as part of the quota-plan arrangement. The result was another smart entertainment, crackling with wit and suspense. The plot dealt with in- ■ trigue on an international scale which the hero is able to unravel as fecklessly as a domestic puzzle. Thankfully, from the point of view of RKO, The Saint in London was fin- 497 ished and Sanders was back in America before the real war broke out in England. A new RKO series was launched during the year. Actually., the "Dr. Christian" films were produced by Stephens Lang as one of the independent arrangements worked out by Schaefer. The first edition featured Jean Hersholt as an humble, self-sacrificing country doctor, more than slightly reminiscent of the Edward Ellis character in A Man to Remember. Meet Doctor Christian utilized a proven for mula— one that has worked in other film and television series--built around a number of medical crises which are all magically dispatched by the talents of the kindly phy sician. Hersholt imbued the protagonist with proper dig nity and erudition, thus guaranteeing moderate success and the continuation of the doctor’s operations. One other RKO film was, in a sense, the beginning of a new series. Bandleader Kay Kyser introduced his musicians and his "Kollege of Musical Knowledge" in an addled produc tion, That's Right, You're Wrong. Kyser, a broadcasting personality of some renown, combined a slapstick quiz show with swing music in a fashion that appealed to numerous radio listeners. That's Right, You're Wrong had little in the way of plot; in fact, it presented Kyser and his band going to Hollywood to make a picture but never getting one off the ground because of the inability of two screenwrit 498 ers (Edward Everett Horton and Hobart Cavanaugh) to invent a suitable story. Mostly., the film was a pretext to ex hibit Kyser and friends,, playing music, asking questions, and generally making fools of themselves. Included were a few satirical thrusts at Hollywood with Adolphe Menjou (typecast as a producer), Lucille Ball, and May Robson, as well as the writers, representing the movie colony. The David Butler-directed picture would be totally forgettable except for one fact: it earned a profit of $2 1 9,0 0 0, thereby guaranteeing that RKO would sponsor more pictures 51 starring Professor Kyser. The studio did not concoct as many comedies as usual in 1939* hut most were respectable. Fifth Avenue Girl, produced and directed by Gregory La Cava, failed to approach Stage Door in quality. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant trifle which furthered the comedic career of Ginger Rogers. Miss Rogers plays a jobless unfortunate who runs into an unhappy millionaire (Walter Connolly) in Cen tral Park and is subsequently installed as a member of the tycoon's household. This causes numerous eruptions among members of his staid family, all of whom suspect the worst about the relationship between Connolly and Rogers. Al though the film offered nothing original, the script (by Allan Scott), the direction, and most of the performances coalesced in diverting fashion. Only Tim Holt detracted somewhat from the whole, miscast as the head of a giant 499 corporation. With audiences, Fifth Avenue Girl was an un qualified success. It garnered profits of $310,000 on a production cost of $6 0 7,0 0 0.-^ The studio decided to give Joe Penner another chance in 1939. After dumping Penner the year "before, RKO rehired the comedian and starred him in a Robert Sisk production, The Day the Bookies Wept. Surprisingly, it was quite good--by far the best film Penner ever made. The plot, about an alcoholic racehorse (Hiccup, out of Bourbon, by Distillery) whose love of beer motivates him to win the big race, does not sound very promising. But a crackling script by Bert Granet and George Jeske and inspired direction by Leslie Goodwins made this the showpiece of the B-grade farces produced that year. Even Mr. Penner proved that he could be funny, not just goofy, in his role as the trainer of the thirsty nag. Garson Kanin directed the biggest comedy success produced by RKO that year, Bachelor Mother (explored later in the chapter), as well as a charming John Barrymore ve hicle, The Great Man Votes. Barrymore’s career and physical condition had deteriorated enormously since his last RKO production, which made him perfectly suited to the role of Gregory Vance in The Great Man Votes. Vance had been a Harvard educator and published scholar, but his ambition dissolved after the death of his wife. Now he is a lush, 500 working as a lowly night watchman. Much of the film's humor is spawned by Vance's two precocious children (Peter Holden and Virginia Weidler). Assisted by their teacher (Katharine Alexander), the pair inspire their father to re gain his self-respect by casting the crucial ballot in the mayoralty election. The climax represents an unorthodox surprise, suspenseful and heart-warming without seeming overly contrived. With The Great Man Votes, Garson Kanin demonstrated, one more time, that he deserved recognition as one of the most important directors at RKO. A note of trivia: in the picture, Barrymore gets his whiskey from the Rosebud Dairy Company (it is the prohibition era). Could the name and symbol of the company have been the inspira tion for the most famous "magguffin" in motion picture history? The obligatory melodramas produced by RKO were not without inspiration, either. On the B level, the best was definitely Five Came Back, a precursor of the Airport- formula "disaster" films. New York Times critic Frank Nugent called the picture "a rousing salute to melodrama, suspenseful as a slow-burning fuse, exciting as a pinwheel, spectacularly explosive as an aerial bomb. ^ Twelve pas sengers are on board an airplane which crashes into head hunter territory in South America. Since the title indi cates how many will make it out alive, the audience is forced to guess if Lucille Ball, Chester Morris, Wendy 501 Barrie, Joseph Calleia, John Carradine, C. Aubrey Smith., or certain other passengers will be among the lucky survivors. Another superior effort from producer Robert Sisk and di rector John Farrow, the real accolades belonged to Dalton Trumbo, Nathanael West., and Jerry Cady who prepared the rousing script. Costing $225,000., Five Came Back eventually earned a remarkable $2 6 2 ,0 0 0 for RKO.-^ Richard Dlx showed up in two histrionic efforts. Twelve Crowded Hours and Reno. Neither was comparable to Five Came Back, although Twelve Crowded Hours had moments. It proffered Dlx as an underworld-shaking reporter who nimbly unmasks the local villain (Cyrus Kendall) and ex plodes a policy ring. The ubiquitous Lucille Ball is in attendance to applaud his accomplishments. Reno, despite a screenplay by John Twist and direction by John Farrow, was unworthy of the meekest clapping. A "tragedy" about a man accused of cheating by his own daughter (who is unaware she is prosecuting her father), the preposterous story tried but failed to delineate the growth of a gambling capital and its devastating effects on family relationships. Sorority House proved to be an efficient offering. Protagonist Anne Shirley endures all the agonies of a young pledge who sincerely believes her life will be ruined if she fails to become a full-fledged Gamma. At the end, she realizes the superficiality of the enterprise and tears up 502 her treasured invitation. Once more., a script by Dalton Trumbo represented the prime ingredient in the success. After the film was completed., Pandro Berman was so impressed that he wrote Lee Marcus a memo, verbalizing his personal commitment to talented writers: It seems to me that the crux of the difficulty in making pictures lies in the writing. A boy like Trumbo., who can deliver scripts like MAN TO REMEMBER or SORORITY HOUSE, is worth his weight In gold as com pared with the writers who deliver the average scripts, and I think we should make a concerted effort to try to find new writers with talent . . . because without good writing nothing seems to come off, and it seems possible In Hollywood to obtain better actors and bet ter directors without as much difficulty as we have In getting good writers.55 The Class A melodramatic show produced by the stu dio was In Name Only, an adaptation of Bessie Breuer's novel, Memory of Love. John Cromwell returned to RKO to handle the direction. Given a sterling cast topped by Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, and Kay Francis, Cromwell was able to transform a cliched story about a loveless marriage into a poignant drama of emotional torment. The plot was well- worn: Francis has married Grant for his wealth and position, an intolerable arrangement which drives him into the arms of widow Lombard. At first, Francis agrees to give him a divorce. Later, she recants, threatening to sue Lombard for alienation of affection and refusing ever to set her husband free. Not unexpectedly, all problems are resolved at the end. The picture succeeded mainly because of Crom 503 well's reticent handling of the material. Even Kay Francis., cast in the role of domestic monster, underplays admirably. Thus, instead of a lugubrious soap opera, In Name Only emerged as a mature study of love and passionate inhumanity. Critics praised it, and so did moviegoers: it earned a profit of $150,000. 56 Brief mention should be made of several other RKO releases. The Girl from Mexico was a very inexpensive slapstick romp starring Lupe Velez. Its slight success evidently interested the RKO executives, for they launched a new series (the "Mexican Spitfire") starring the manic actress in 1940. The Flying Irishman turned out to be a very expensive publicity stunt. The studio promotion de partment worked overtime when Douglas "Wrong-Way" Corrigan was signed to star in a movie based on his famous flight from New York to California via Ireland. The screenplay, by Ernest Pagano and Dalton Trumbo, naturally dealt with all of Corrigan's adventurous life and had an engaging, tall-tale quality about it. Unfortunately, the script could not obscure the performance of neophyte "star" Cor rigan who proved incapable of playing himself. Corrigan's work merits consideration as the worst example of acting ever displayed in film. Although The Flying Irishman cost a.-respectable $359*000, it was firmly fixed in the minus category from the start, losing the substantial sum of $237,000.57 504 As before* the studio distributed six George O'Brien westerns during the year. All were purely conventional and hardly worthy of comment. For record purposes* the titles were Trouble in Sundown* Racketeers of the Range* Timber Stampede* Fighting Gringo* The Marshal of Mesa City* and The Renegade Ranger* which did feature Rita Hayworth in an early costarring role. The same remarks apply to Sol Les ser'.s saccharine Bobby Breen .musicals* Fisherman's Wharf and Way Down South. Lesser also introduced the "Peck's Bad Boy" series (in hiatus for several years) to RKO theater audiences with Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus. Starring Tommy Kelly and aimed* like the Breen films* at undiscrim- inating filmgoers (mostly juveniles)* the picture charted the adventures of a Huck Finn-like hero whose facility for pranks seems his only raison d1etre. Existing on a much loftier plane was Herbert Wil cox's first Hollywood production* Nurse Edith Cavell. Hav ing produced a silent version of the story which caused significant controversy in Great Britain because of its ugly portrayal of war* Wilcox resurrected the pacifist drama in response to the darkening world situation. His timing proved impeccable.; a few days before the picture opened at Radio City Music Hall* World War II erupted in Europe. Anna Neagle plays Cavell (Dame Sybil Thorndike had portrayed her in the original)* a saintly woman who works 505 to transport refugee soldiers out of German-occupied Bel gium during the initial global conflict. The story turns out to be more anti-war than anti-German,, a bit overbearing in its pontifications, though few could argue with the sentiments expressed. Assisted by a supporting cast that included Edna Mae Oliver, George Sanders, May Hobson, Zasu Pitta, and H. B. Warner, Neagle pounded home the message in a dramatically satisfying fashion. Although Nurse Edith Cavell was not a major success (profit: $34,000), RKO ex ecutives counted it among the films which brought a new 58 stamp of prestige and seriousness to the studio in 1939. Gunga Din One of the finest productions in RKO history, this rousing tale, based on the Kipling poem, ranks near the top of the Hollywood action-adventure genre. The story of the making of Gunga Din is long and complicated. Rights to the poem were purchased from the Kipling estate by Edward Small's Reliance Pictures in 1936. The cost, 4,700 pounds plus 100 pounds for the rights to a song entitled "Gunga Din" written by Kipling and Gerard Cobb, were assumed by RKO as part of its production deal with Small.59 After some preliminary script work by William Faulkner, Howard Hawks was given the directorial assignment. Hawks interested two of the industry's foremost screenwrit ers, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, in the project, ar 506 ranging to meet them in New York in fall 193^ to work on the screenplay. The three cloistered themselves at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel., but made little progress for the first six weeks. Sam Briskin, production head at the time, was becoming desperate when he received the following tele gram from the triumverate: Have finally figured out tale involving two sacri fices, one for love, the other for England, which neither resembles BENGAL LANCERS nor CHARGE OP THE LIGHT BRIGADE and contains something like two thou sand deaths, thirty elephants and a peck of maha rajas. We have this now in a cocktail shaker and have poured out some thirty five pages of glittering prose.60 Briskin's reply, wired the same day, revealed a notable ab sence of humor: Can't understand your going so far wrong as to write story which does not resemble BENGAL LANCERS and CHARGE OP LIGHT BRIGADE. Are you boys slipping? Be sides, when I want something out of a cocktail shaker I don't want prose. 61 While the writing continued, Briskin began trying to line up a suitable cast in hopes that shooting could begin before the end of the year. As ever, the big problem was finding virile male stars to play the three principal leads. RKO had no one.suitable under contract, so it had to negotiate ’ ’ borrowing" arrangements with other studios and producers. For a time, it appeared Ronald Colman might head the cast, but the script was not finished in time and 62 Colman proceeded to other commitments. By the time the Hecht-MacArthur screenplay was 507 ready (April 1937)* casting difficulties made it impossible to go ahead with the film. Briskin tried to convince Louis B. Mayer of MGM to give RKO Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Franchot Tone in exchange for an old RKO property that Mayer wished to remake, Rio Rita. Mayer agreed to Tone and Tracy, but absolutely refused to let RKO use Gable. So--Gunga Din was placed on the shelf while Hawks directed Bringing Up Baby and the studio executives attempted to find a way to cast the adventure film properly. After the Bringing Up Baby debacle (see Chapter VIII), Howard Hawks was removed as Gunga Din director with George Stevens inheriting the project. A good deal of re writing had taken place in the interim with Anthony Veiller, Dudley Nichols, Joel Sayre, Fred Guiol, and others taking a crack at the original Hecht-MacArthur work. Believing that the picture had enormous box office" potential, Pandro Ber man consented to Stevens' request to shoot some of it on location and to spare no expense in making Gunga Din a lavish, epic spectacular. The cast was finalized just be fore the June starting date. Cary Grant, whose popularity had skyrocketed in the past two years, was joined by Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks, Junior as the three appeal ing principals. Sam Jaffe accepted the role of the epony mous hero. The sets were readied at Lone Pine, California, 508 where the High Sierra provided a majestic backdrop for the action. RKO also had to construct a small city nearby, capable of housing, feeding, and entertaining the 600 work ers who would be contributing to the, production. The ini tial shooting took place in the studio, however. Because commitments were piling up, Berman decided to begin the picture as scheduled on June 24 even though Stevens still did not have a script which satisfied him. It was suicidal to start a picture of this magnitude without a final script (and thus, without a reliable budget), but production chief Berman had faith in George Stevens, a man whose record ex emplified reliability as well as achievement. Even though the writing was still only a few days ahead of daily shooting on July 6, a tentative budget of $1 j3 3 2 ,0 0 0 was arrived at, based on a sixty-four day shoot ing schedule. As J. R. McDonough wrote Leo Spitz, there appeared to be room for further cutting, and Stevens be lieved he could bring in Gunga Din for a $1.2 million final 64 cost. Everything changed when the company actually went on location later in July. Suddenly, Stevens became slower and more painstaking than Howard Hawks had ever been. In the words of Pandro Berman: We sent him [Stevens] up to Lone Pine, Cal., to photograph the mountains up there where we built the temples and so on to represent Indian backgrounds. And we sent him up for ten days with a big crowd of extras and a big camp and a big catering operation. 509 That ten days was very expensive. Well, It wasn't ten days. It was thirty.°5 Indeed, the expenses were tremendous. A special trailer- laboratory was designed by James Wilkerson, the chief of the RKO editing department, to develop and print, film on the spot so that Stevens could view rushes Immediately. A theater was built to screen the fresh film, and afterwards show finished pictures to keep the troops entertained. Ac cording to an Informal camp publication, "The Gunga Din Bugle," the company consumed fourteen tons of food every week and sprinkler trucks brought In 2 7 ,0 0 0 gallons of crude oil to spread over seven acres at the foot of Mt. Whitney, thus making It resemble the soil of Northern India. Before Berman finally blew the whistle and de manded that Stevens return to the studio, the production was far behind schedule and the budget had bloated to the disaster level. On September 1, J. R. McDonough placed the new estimate at $1,7 5 0 ,0 0 0 with at least thirty days of 67 work left to finish. 1 McDonough's prognostication again proved conservative; shooting finally culminated in mid- October. Instead of the originally planned sixty-four days of production, 104 were necessary to finish. And the final cost was a staggering '$1,915*000, making Gunga Din the most 68 expensive picture that RKO had ever produced. When it was all over, Pan Berman felt sure the undertaking would 69 bankrupt the studio. ^ 510 ■ > George Schaefer was not so' pessimistic. A month after assuming the RKO presidency,, Schaefer attended a pre view and wired Ned Depinet: Tremendously enthusiastic over screening of GUNGA DIN last night and very happy . . .with audience reac tion. Picture played just about as fine as one could expect and I am really and truly very enthusiastic about it. Great suspense,, action, and Grant, Fair banks and McLaglen each give finest jobs I have seen on the screen. . . . It is so important that we do the right kind of job both domestic and abroad and give [GUNGA DIN] every piece of exploitation and ad vertising possible.70 The sales staff followed Schaefer's instructions. Before and after the world premiere on January 24, 1939j at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, RKO proclaimed the achieve ments of Gunga Din from coast to coast and around the world. It did superlative business every place but India where the censor board banned the picture because of imperialist over tones and objectionable plot elements, such as the inten tion of the three sergeants to loot a sacred temple. How ever, the prohibitive negative cost made it impossible for Gunga Din to show a profit. After the initial release, the picture was a $193,000 loser, though subsequent re-releases 71 brought it firmly into the black. Composed of equal parts spectacle, adventure, sus pense, humor, and action, Gunga Din remains one of the prime examples of the cinema of exhiliration. In its plot, one can detect the strong influence of Howard Hawks, a director obsessed by male camaraderie and the professional's response 511 to danger. Sergeants McChesney (McLaglen) and Cutter (Grant) of the Sappers are faced with the loss of their closest fighting and drinking pal, Ballantine (Fairbanks), who has decided to marry Emmy Stebbins (Joan Fontaine) and quit the military. Compounding the problem is the revolt of the Thuggees, a murderous sect of religious fanatics, which threatens the safety of the British regiment, the surrounding area, and indeed, all of India itself. At the climax, Gunga Din, a native water boy, blows a warning sig nal on his bugle, thus saving the lives of the three heroes as well as their regiment which is about to march into a trap. Ballantine determines to remain in the army with his friends, and Gunga Din is made a posthumous corporal and buried with full military honors. Like so many other pictures of its day, Gunga Din contains an implicit anti-fascist theme in its portrayal of the Thuggees. Their high priest, played by stock RKO vil lain Edward Ciannelli, compares himself to Hannibal, Napo leon, and Caesar and predicts that his cutthroat minions will roll across all India "from village to town and from town to city" until they hold complete sovereignty. Al though Ciannelli, with shaved head, hardly resembles the Fuhrer, a correlation is certainly being drawn between the two leaders. Disregarding the political commentary, Gunga Din is, 512 quite simply, slam-bang action moviemaking at its best. The battle scenes, utilizing hundreds of extras and a vari ety of well-executed stunts, are cut together masterfully, producing dynamic results. The humor seems a bit raucous, but is in synchronization with the generally exuberant pace and style. Alfred Newman's musical score heightens the ex citement and, as Schaefer suggested, the performances of the main characters (including Sam Jaffe as Din) are excep tional. Only Joan Fontaine, cast in the thankless role of the woman trying to "seduce" Fairbanks away from his friends, emerges without distinction. And the decision to shoot the exterior sequences at Lone Pine, despite the ex pense, was a stroke of genius. Joseph August's photography of the area gives the whole production a spectacular, exotic ambience that is precisely correct. Gunga Din launched 1939 for RKO with a bang, but there would be other triumphs during the year to challenge its achievement. Love Affair A very different film in most ways, Leo McCarey's Love Affair shared one common element with Gunga Din. It, too, was put into production without benefit of a completed script. The original property was called "Love Match." It concerned a tragic affair between a French ambassador and an American woman in the mid-l800s. Irene Dunne, who had worked with McCarey in The Awful Truth, and Charles Boyer 513 were cast in the major roles. Shortly before production was to begin, however, the French government launched a formal ^protest against the project, which it felt might disturb Franco-American relations at a time when war was becoming a certainty. RKO decided to abandon Love Match, but to allow McCarey to go ahead with a new film, working "off the V P cuff," as J. R. McDonough called it. A number of writers toiled on the picture, though Mildred Cram and Delmer Daves concocted most of it. McCarey also encouraged his actors to improvise a good deal. With a lesser director at the helm, the results would undoubtedly have been catastrophic. Leo McCarey was not a miracle worker. The film did go over schedule and over budget, though it could not com pare to Gunga Din in this regard. Approximately ten days into shooting in October, J. R. McDonough guessed the film would cost about $ 8 0 0 , 0 0 0 Without a script to estimate from, this figure was purely hypothetical, but when the picture "wrapped" in late December, its final cost was only $60,000 more than McDonough had figured The biggest surprise of all came when the film was assembled for preview. Magically, it appeared to be the most carefully constructed and skillfully executed love story in the history of the studio. Sensitive, poignant, heartbreaking, and heartening at the same time, Love Affair certainly did not look like an "off the cuff" job. 514 The picture injected new energy into a familiar plot. Two Jaded people, American Terry McKay (Dunne) and Frenchman Michel Marnet (Boyer), meet on the ship to Amer ica. Both are soon to he married: he to a rich American, she to her boss. Despite their resolve not to become in volved, they fall hopelessly in love before reaching New York. Upon their arrival, they vow to remain apart for six months to make sure their affection is real and to see if Boyer can actually work to support a wife (he has never had to toil before). They agree to meet at the top of the Empire State Building on a certain date if both still feel their love is alive. Finally the day arrives, but tragedy intervenes in the form of a car which strikes McKay as she rushes to keep the appointment. She is crippled and, not wanting her lover to pity her, refuses to get in touch with the embittered Marnet. Eventually Marnet finds Terry and tells her he is going back to Europe for good. But then he finally comprehends what has happened, the lovers are reunited, and Terry expresses a determination to walk again. Sentimental? Certainly, and yet the picture man ages to rise above treacle through deft comic touches, fully-developed characterization, and excellent acting. Dunne, who was never more appealing, delivers a memorable bittersweet performance which Boyer almost matches in his slightly less challenging role. The transformation of the j 515 film from romantic comedy into tragic pathos is handled with consummate skill by McCarey., whose accomplishment re ceived wide-ranging praise in critical circles. Romantic drama had never been the strong suit of RKO pictures; never theless, Love Affair deserves a place near the top of the category, not only compared to other RKO offerings but to the offerings of all Hollywood as well. The film earned a respectable profit of $215,000--not stunning, but still amazing considering the circumstances which surrounded its 75 production. A remake entitled An Affair to Remember was produced years later (for Pox, not RKO) starring Cary Grant and.Deborah Kerr. The producer-director, once again, was Leo McCarey and he utilized the same script almost word-for- word. Yet, something was missing--:perhaps the spontaneous energy of the original in which no one knew where he was going or how he was going to get there. The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle Pandro Berman's leave-taking put a period to an era for RKO; The Story of Vernon, and Irene Castle added the ex clamation mark. This film was the last of the RKO Astaire- Rogers series, which were its chief distinction of the decade. The production history of the picture was no less troubled than those of Gunga Din or Love Affair, thanks to an incredible blunder on the part of the studio executives. The idea for the film came from Irving Berlin who, 516 in 193*4, suggested to Pandro Berman that the story of the 76 Castles would make a good vehicle for Fred and Ginger.' The Castles had been precursors of Astaire-Rogers, a charis matic husband-wife team who danced their way to fame and wealth during the early years of the twentieth century. Just at the time when their talent seemed at its peak* Vernon died tragically, thus making their saga a natural for Hollywood treatment. Berman pursued Berlin’s proposal for some time,, without success. Finally, he reached a tentative agreement in early 1937 with Irene Castle McLaughlin (she had remar ried), who believed that only Fred Astaire was worthy of playing her dead husband. Astaire was anxious to do the role and agreed with Mrs. McLaughlin on one other crucial 77 detail: Ginger Rogers should not be cast as Irene. ' The studio not only promised her that a wide-ranging search would be launched to locate the perfect leading lady, it also gave Mrs. McLaughlin story approval, agreed to hire her as technical advisor during the shooting, and acceded to her demand that she design all of the leading actress' costumes.^ Obviously, RKO wanted to make this picture in the worst way. Mrs. McLaughlin worked with Oscar Hammerstein on the treatment, which she happily approved around the end of 1937. George Stevens was set to direct, but a delay in 517 production was necessitated by the inability to cast a lead ing lady. It appears that, from the beginning, Berman wanted to use Ginger Rogers in the part, but he went through the motions of trying to find someone else for months. Finally, he convinced Astaire and Irene McLaughlin that the picture would never be made unless they accepted Ginger. They reluctantly agreed and the film was scheduled for production in the fall of 1938. By that time Stevens was well-occupied with Gunga Din, so RKO borrowed H. C. Potter from Sam Goldwyn to direct. George Haight was hired to produce the picture since Berman was too busy overseeing the entire program to give the film the necessary attention. It was the first Astaire-Rogers film (discounting Flying Down to Rio, in which the duo were not the stars) personally supervised by someone other than Pandro Berman. It is difficult to guess why RKO gave Irene Castle McLaughlin so much authority in the making of the film. Evidently, Pan Berman and other officials believed she would be valuable to the creative process or, at worst, prove a minor annoyance. Little did they realize that Mc Laughlin would become a raging virago, disrupting the pro duction work from beginning to end. One can sympathize with her to a point. RKO was filming the story of her life, and naturally she wished it to be as accurate and affecting as possible. But her demands and complaints were irra 518 tional at best, outrageous at worst, and based as much on her own greed as a desire for quality and authenticity. The battles between McLaughlin and practically the entire production staff could fill a small book, so I shall summarize them. One major subject of dispute involved the costumes. Ginger Rogers, who had no great fondness for the woman she was portraying, disliked most of Irene McLaugh lin's designs and asked studio expert Walter Plunkett to modify them. This brought an immediate protest, and threat, from McLaughlin: I cannot let any other designer collaborate on the designing or share in the credits on these par ticular clothes. Having designed most of the clothes I wore during our successful career, you [Berman] may feel sure I am up to the job. . . . If someone else makes them up or "modifies" them, and I did not see them until the test was run, and then did not like them--it would perhaps mean a serious delay to you.79 As shooting continued, the crew became very weary of Mrs. McLaughlin's continual demands. Hoping she would get the message, they proceeded to make the picture as best they could and to ignore her as much as possible. McLaughlin, however, was stiff-necked to a fault. In a December memo to Berman concerning an objectionable coat, she fulminated: My contract, naturally, you are familiar with, so I will refrain from going into the authority it gives me on the dressing of the Mrs. Castle role, except to say that should I find, at any future date (even after the picture is released) that the coat, I had rejected, was being worn or depicted on the screen in "The Castles" picture, I will be forced to exact retribu tion. It seems necessary to take this type of stand as, time and time again, things have been slipped over 519 on me and used In spite of my insistance [sic ] that they were not acceptable to me.80 Later, the studio discovered why Mrs. McLaughlin was so ada mant about the eostumes. With the assistance of her busi ness manager, George Enzinger, she planned to release and exploit a line of clothes, based on the costumes in the picture, when the film was finally in circulation. Thus, the picture was to "tie in" with her own merchandising scheme, and Irene was determined that all the gowns, dresses, hats, and miscellaneous apparel worn by Ginger 8l would be her creations. Mrs. McLaughlin definitely was concerned with authenticity, but potential profits turned out to be her major motivation. Among Mrs. McLaughlin's other grievances, which she protested loudly to anyone who would listen, were Ginger's refusal to cut her hair, Ginger's "inability" to perform the dances precisely as she had done them, H. C. Potter's "insubordination," the shooting script, which McLaughlin insisted deviated from the original story she had approved, the portrayal of the scene in which she learns that her husband has died, the film's title (she also had approval rights on that), and literally hundreds of other details. Arlene Croce's study of the Astaire-Rogers series states that, toward the end, McLaughlin "went roaring" into the California antivivisection campaign and left the company 520 82 "to finish the film in peace." This seems to be inaccu rate because she continued to shriek and harangue the stu dio throughout production and thereafter. In late February of 1939, her lawyers sent RKO a letter demanding damages for the many violations the company had made of her contract and warning that legal proceedings would be instituted un- O less an agreeable settlement could be reached. - 5 In addi tion to paying her $5,000, RKO managed to gain a settlement by appealing to her vanity. Her name was to be included in 84 the credits of the film no less than three times. All in all, RKO had expended $40,000 on her: $20,000 for. the story, $1 5 ,0 0 0 for her services as advisor and costume de signer, and $5,000 to settle the contract dispute.^ Still, the money seemed insignificant compared to the turmoil she had caused. The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is, in many ways, an appropriate culmination to the Astaire-Rogers pro ductions. As In earlier efforts, the production values are immaculate, the dances masterfully choreographed, the music appealing and. fitting. And yet, the magic that animated the best Astaire-Rogers efforts is gone. The film has no combustion, no electricity. Part of the problem lies in the story Itself. A thorough departure from the regular for mula, this biography lacks humor and romantic tension. It is a stereotypic show business success story, climaxed by tragedy. Irene convinces Vernon that he must give up his 521 "hammy" vaudeville clowning and cultivate his talents as a dancer. After their marriage, they go to Paris where, thoroughly destitute,, an agent (played by Edna Mae Oliver) sponsors the pair as a dance team. Their rise to the top Is meteoric. When World War I breaks out, Vernon enlists in the Royal Flying Corps and survives several dangerous missions. Just before he is due to leave the service and resume his career, a foolish training accident takes his life in Texas. Irene, who receives the news while waiting for her husband in a local hotel, looks out into the garden where Vernon has hired a band to recapitulate all the im portant songs of their lives together. Superimposed over the scene we see the two of them, dancing immortally. That final scene almost cries out for allegorical interpretation. The death of Vernon (Fred) is also the death of Astaire and Rogers as the foremost dance team in the world and the demise of RKO's most famous and satisfy ing group of films. And the superimposition may represent the mythic point of view--the indestructability of a pair whose work, ever since, has been considered the epitome of style and beauty in the musical form. Although another Astaire-Rogers picture was contemplated in 19^0, it was correct to end the series here. The two stars now openly detested each other, and even though they managed to mask their feelings very effectively in Vernon and Irene, there 522 was little point in carrying on. Even RKO acquiesced to the termination* mainly because the films no longer brought in sure profits. Like Carefree, this picture was a finan cial loser, albeit a small one ($58,000 debit)The ca reers of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were far from over, even if their RKO collaboration had come to an end. Each went forward to a number of accomplishments. They would dance together one more time, for MGM rather than RKO, in the disappointing Barkleys of Broadway (1949). Bachelor Mother After the battle royal on Vernon and Irene Castle, Ginger Rogers found herself facing another unpleasant as signment in Bachelor Mother. The story was taken from Kleine Mutti (Little Mother), a picture produced by a sub- O t~7 sidiary of Universal in Hungary. G. B. ("Buddy") DeSylva first purchased the rights from Universal, then sold the property, along with his services as producer, to RKO in August 1938* Norman Krasna was given the script assignment and, working in consort with prospective director Garson Kanin, completed the screenplay in late February 1939* The studio announced an early March start-date for the produc tion . Ginger Rogers, however, had acute reservations about- the project, based principally on her distaste for the 523 script. Two days before the film was to begin shooting, she wrote Pan Berman: I have just read [the script of "Little Mother"] again and am writing you merely to go on record as having said: "The characters affect the story instead of the story affecting them. Instead of working laughs.'out of natural situations--we do it differ ently--we build our situations around a laugh. Why, I don’t know. There is no love between these two people and a story that has a boy and girl.as its leading characters is expected to be a love story. The thing that is wrong with "Little Mother" is that it leaves too much to the imagination as far as their love is concerned." If we were to meet these two people In our drawing rooms we would say that they were bores— so why do we make a picture about them? Just because it would be cute to say,."Ginger Rogers picked up a baby and tried to convince her intimate friends that it wasn't hers?" Even the landlady isn’t surprised that she has a baby! God! WHAT ARE WE COMING TO188 In her continuing remarks, Ginger expressed genuine fear about the damage which the film might do to her image: I cannot live on past performances. In this pic ture "Little Mother" I am Ginger Rogers. And it seems to me that you are relying on me as a personal- ity--lnstead of an actress with a personality..... the same as in "Having a Wonderful Time." This story is just as sketchy as "Wonderful Time" and I'm afraid that if this story isn't worked on it will end up with the same rank odor. After all, Pan, people in the industry know--per- haps. I say perhaps, because when anyone's name Is on the screen as having written, directed, or produced a vehicle--those are naturally the people who are rightfully blamed for it. But the public blames me I They don't know it's an R.K.O. picture--nor do they care. They know they don't like it— and that I am in it. If you think that this is serious to you, then you know how serious it is to me.89 Pandro Berman's reply to Rogers was a combination of tact, 'salesmanship, and toughness. It also revealed a much more 524 perceptive grasp of the material than Ginger had: I am terribly sorry that you feel as you do about this picture, and I want you to know that quite con trary to some statements in your letter this picture was purchased because we honestly believed it had a" sincere and fine underlying story which would serve as a good vehicle for you, and that our efforts in writing this script' have been of fine entertainment quality, and that I for one am proud of the script rather than apologetic about it, and that I think it is better than 90 per cent of the scripts that are made in Hollywood every day, and that I think if you never get a worse one you will be extremely fortunate because this is a difficult business and one that is dependent upon creative talent, and scripts as good as this are hard to create. . . . I am extremely sym pathetic to every point of view you could ever ex press, because I know how sincere and earnest and helpful you are, [but] I do think that there are times when the judgment of an actor or actress with regard to the entertainment value of a script is col ored by their personal and professional ambitions, which compels [sic ] them to look at it from an in verted point of view of what constitutes audience values.90 Berman's further remarks may seem self-serving, but they were accurate. Ginger Rogers1 career had been very skill fully handled by RKO, up to this point: I am anxious to impress upon you the fact which I am sure you do not quite understand, which is namely that I never deliberately put you into anything I do not have the utmost faith in., and that you are wrong in assuming that RKO or myself is willing to bandy you about in inconsequential material. Your career to date has been handled more judiciously and more carefully than any woman's in pictures. I do not know an actress today, and I include the Garbos, Shearers, Crawfords, and even Bette Davis who rates at the top of her profession, who has been handled with such a succession of box-office successes and characters beloved by audiences, as you have. . . . I am prouder of my record with .you than .1 am of any record that has been established over a period of years in the industry by anyone with any particular 525 personality, and I am willing to stand on that record in this matter which in my best considered judgment appears to me to be a picture that cannot in any way harm you and may do you good, because I believe in it. 91 Pandro Berman's persuasive powers worked. Ginger grudgingly reported for duty and completed the film without further protest. The outcome must have shocked her and made Berman feel like the proverbial soothsayer. George Schaefer viewed the film in mid-May and im mediately pronounced it "a real smash. His remark was an understatement. When the retitled Bachelor Mother opened in June, it immediately "took off" and did not slow for months thereafter. Since it was considered a "solo" effort (David Niven, her costar, had not yet gained strong box office status), Bachelor Mother boosted Rogers' career more dramatically than any picture since the early musicals with Astaire. Before long, the film had become the, stu dio's champion "sleeper" of the 193°s, earning a spectacu lar profit of $825,000.93 Although Bachelor Mother has declined in reputation, perhaps because its plot seems both far-fetched and dated, the film deserves a place among the most appealing Holly wood comedies. Ginger plays Polly Parrish, a store clerk who is mistaken for the mother of an abandoned baby. After trying furiously and futilely to explain that the child is. not hers, she finally accepts the youngster and the pro 526 posal of the store owner (Niven) who has fallen for the "little mother” in the course of the picture's many hilari ous complications. Another version was made in 1956, called Bundle of Joy. It starred Eddie Pisher and Debbie Reynolds and was one of RKO's last productions. Much of the credit for the Bachelor Mother accomplishment belongs to Krasna, author of the exceptional script that Ginger dis liked so intensely, and director Kanin, whose splended han dling of the material firmly established him as RKO's resi dent wunderkind. But Pandro Berman definitely deserved to take a bow as well for realizing the potential of the proj ect and forcing Ginger Rogers to do it. The picture was Berman's last great hit for the studio, the final verifica tion of the mistake RKO was making in allowing its veteran production chief to slip away. The Hunchback of Notre Dame Unlike Gunga Din, The Hunchback of Notre Dame was planned as an extravaganza in the $2 million range from the early stages of pre-production. Victor Hugo's famous novel was in the public domain, yet RKO was forced to buy the rights to the story from MGM. Metro had acquired the rights from Universal, which made a famous silent version starring Lon Chaney; this type of inter-studio arrangement imposed order on the wild Hollywood scrambling for attractive pic ture material, even taking precedence over copyright laws. 527 The cost to RKO was $125,000, a figure partially offset by the sale (for $85,000) of Rio Rita to MGM.-^ It was as if the two properties had been traded, with RKO sweetening the deal to the tune of $40,000. Pandro Berman decided to personally supervise Hunchback. Since this would be his last major production for RKO, he vowed to make it awe some— a" proper finale to his career at the studio. George Schaefer encouraged Ber man because the undertaking supported his own belief in prestigious, quality productions. Academy Award winner Charles Laughton was signed to play Quasimodo, William Dieterle was borrowed from Warner Brothers to direct, and the production staff began the most ambitious (and costly) set construction task in the history of RKO. By the time they finished building the Cathedral Square, the Court of Miracles, and the.Palace of Justice at the studio ranch in the San Fernando Valley, the outlay for this facet of the production alone was approximately $250,000.-^ A couple of respectable B pictures could have been made for that amount. The original $2 million budget estimate was reduced to $1,8 3 3 ,8 6 6 by casting a pair of unknowns in important roles: Maureen O'Hara as Esmeralda and Edmond O'Brien as Gringione, q6 the poet. Still, it is a testament to the talents of Berman and Dieterle that they were able to complete the picture within the budget allowance. That fact alone makes 528 Hunchback an impressive technical and logistical achieve ment. The Hunchback of Notre Dame was rushed through post production so that it could open during the Christmas holi days at Radio City Music Hall. During the "eleventh hour," an incident transpired that brought a number of conditions into focus. It seems a relatively minor disagreement, and yet it reveals how obsessed Pan Berman had become with the picture, how bitter the rift had grown between him and George Schaefer, and how determined Schaefer had become to exercise final authority regarding production decisions. The source of controversy was Alfred Newman's musical score. At the urging of Charles Laughton, George Schaefer decided to eliminate the musical background to three scenes: the pillory sequence after the whipping of Quasimodo, the poig nant scene between Quasimodo and Esmeralda in the bell tower, and the climactic fight-chase sequence involving Lord High Justice Frollo (Cedric Hardwicke) and Quasimodo. Schaefer and Laughton believed these scenes would play more successfully without musical underscoring. When Pandro Berman learned what the New York office had in mind, he exploded. The following telegram was sent' to Schaefer on December 15: Am so shocked by information your instructions to studio regarding THE HUNCHBACK that hardly know how to speak. I wouldn't treat a dog the way .you 529 have treated me in this situation by your extreme lack of courtesy in even discussing it after I have spent one year nursing this terrific endeavor for screen masterpiece. Know that you will live to re gret actions such as these and can only hope they will not weigh too heavily on your conscience in the future. 97 George Schaefer replied on the same day: Your wire is so typical . . . that I am again going to refrain from making any comment. However, since in the last analysis it is the company’s investment and since many important people who have seen it here agree that the particular scenes would play better without music and especially since Laughton advised me that both you and Dieterle promised him not to put any music behind those scenes, I felt it most impor tant to do what I thought was for the company's best interest and am terribly sorry you don't a g r e e .98 A few days later, Schaefer changed his mind and decided to leave the music in the pillory scene, eliminating it in the Q Q other two sections. The picture opened, as scheduled, in late December. It performed quite well, losing $60,000 be cause of its huge production cost but bringing in almost $3 million in gross film income.^ The success of The Hunchback is surprising, in some ways. Its artistic integrity is unquestionable. Spurning the romantic, sentimental approach, director Dieterle and scriptwriters Bruno Prank and Sonya Levien paint the world of King Louis XI in brutal strokes, emphasizing the sweep ing conflicts between rich and poor, freedom and repression, and medievalism and enlightenment that marked the era. This approach represents both the strength of the film and its Achilles heel, for it is possible to argue that the 530 realism is overdone to the point of grotesquerie. Indeed* The Hunchback is no cheerful divertissement; much of its content is physically repellant* including its animalistic portrayal of human nature* its unrelieved depiction of suf-r fering and torture* its incredibly misshapen Quasimodo. Pew pictures of this period would have dared show men being boiled alive by scalding oil* much less the appalling pil lory scene in which the hunchback is whipped unmercifully* his hump exposed at one point for all to see. There are sections in The Hunchback that make it infinitely more "monstrous" than such fantastic horror films as Franken stein and King Kong* moments that surely alienated many members of the audience. Therefore* its box office drawing power seems slightly miraculous. Whether one accepts or rejects the misanthropy and sadistic overtones suggested in the picture* The Hunchback of Notre Dame still merits high marks in a number of areas. The acting is top-notch* with performances by O'Hara* Hard- wicke* Thomas Mitchell* and O'Brien overshadowed only by Charles Laughton's bravura Quasimodo. Shackled with makeup so distorted that it is impossible to recognize him* Laugh ton still manages to convey the hunchback's primal humanity and elicit sympathy for his agonized existence. Dieterle's direction is an example of Hollywood spectacle filmmaking at its best* especially in his handling of the tumultuous 531 crowd scenes. Surely this picture used more extras than any other in RKO history. And Joseph August's chiaroscuro camera'work is bold and visually dynamic. Although not as stunning as Gone With the Wind, which opened at approxi mately the same time, The Hunchback of Notre Dame neverthe less made a suitable coda to the best production year in RKO history. Conclusion During George Schaefer's first full year as presi dent of RKO, the studio underwent the most radical meta morphosis in its short history. After years of.producing almost all of its own product, it suddenly became involved with a number of independents who would be responsible for a significant percentage of future RKO releases. Turning aside from a long period of benign neglect, RKO began com peting for the most prestigious literary properties. In 1939 alone, RKO invested $550,000 in the acquisition of plays and books. This was some $260,000 more than MGM, $290,000 more than Paramount, and $355*000 more than Warner ion Brothers (the nearest competitors). With The Hunchback of Notre Dame leading the way, it was obvious that George Schaefer intended to turn RKO into a "quality" studio, one known for ambitious, masterful productions rather than the escapist musicals and B-level melodramas which had charac terized its past. Orson Welles's Heart of Darkness, still 532 in hiatus at the end of the year, was part of the Schaefer program for glory. The absence of Pandro Berman would also significantly alter the new RKO. Berman had always carried on when the studio power structure changed before, thereby preserving a modicum of continuity in the production area. Now his departure signaled the beginning of a new regime, and he would be sorely missed. Berman's final program as head of RKO production (1938-1939) was outstanding, bring ing in profits of $1,8 2 9 * 0 0 0 spread over fifty-two pic- 102 tures. This seems especially remarkable when one con siders that a typical RKO program usually lost money. The team of George Schaefer and new production chief Harry Ed- ington would have to work very hard to top Berman's accom plishments, both in box office rewards and quality, though he was rarely fortunate enough to work with first-rate material. No doubt he watched the activities of the new RKO team with anticipation to see how they would handle the high-priced material acquired during the year. The U.S. government suit regarding block booking and blind booking, unresolved in 1 9 3 9* was carried over into the new decade. This, plus the still uncertain Euro pean situation and the growing concern that America would enter the war, caused an aura of insecurity to hang over RKO as it looked ahead. One point was certain, though-- RKO finally had a strong president, a man determined to be 533 involved in all important decisions and to run the company in quasi-dietatorial fashion. The future of RKO was firmly in the hands of one individual: George J. Schaefer. 5 3 % Footnotes 1 H i 'Biography of George J. Schaefer1 1 (publicity re lease), "RKO," February 1939. 2 "Judge Approves RKO Plan; Confirmation Now Awaited," Motion Picture Herald, 21 January 1939, p. 28. ^"Court to Hear Appeals on RKO," Motion Picture Her ald, 25 February 1939* P- 32. ^""Three Object to Plan for RKO, " Motion Picture Her ald, 24 June, 1939, P- 64. ^"Court Backs Bondy on His RKO Plan Approval," Motion Picture Herald, 22 July 1939, p. 6 5. f . "Court Gets Details of New RKO Stock Plans," Motion Picture Herald, 5 August 1939., p. 81. ^Ibid. ^"Atlas RKO Offer Ends; SEC Joins Casej Stirn Loses," Motion Picture Herald, 9 September 1939, p. 2 6. ^"Atlas in New RKO Plan, Change in Sales Staff," Motion Picture Herald, 14 October 1939, P. 57. 1 0 "Atlas in New Underwriting Offer to RKO," Motion Picture Herald, l6 December 1939, p. 52. i:LIbid. 12 ^ Ibid. "^pandro Berman, letter to George Schaefer, "RKO," 1 March 1939- "^Ross R. Hastings, memorandum to G. B. Howe, "RKO," 1 December 1939- "^George Schaefer, telegram to J. J. Nolan, "RKO," 28 December 1939* l6 Mike Steen, "A Louis B. Mayer American Film Insti tute Oral History of Pandro S. Berman," The American Film Institute Archives, n.d., pp. 57-58. Beverly Hills, Cali fornia. 535 ^"War Halts Hollywood's Last Big European Mart," Motion Picture Herald, 9 September 1939, p. 15* l8Ibid. "^George Schaefer, telegram to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 15 September 1939- ? 0 Steen, "Oral History of Pandro S. Berman," p. 34. O " 1 "Cameras Shoot Hollywood Into Complete Product Pre paredness," Motion Picture Herald, 9 September 1939, p. 18. 22 George Schaefer, memorandum to All RKO Employees, "RKO," 25 September 1939- 27 -’ George Schaefer, letter to Lunsford P. Yandell, "RKO," 6 February 1939. 24 M RKO and Wilcox Form Company to Produce In Holly wood and London," Motion Picture Herald, 17 December 1938, p. 1 1. ^Lillie Messlnger, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO, " l6 December 1937. 27 Ross R. Hastings, memorandum to M. B. Sllberberg, "RKO," 13 March 1941. 28 Ibid. ^^Paullne Kael, Herman J. Mankiewicz, and Orson Welles, The Citizen Kane Book (New York: Bantam Books, 1971), P. 3- 88George Schaefer, letter to N. Peter Rathvon, "RKO," 1 October 1941. 34"Final Memorandum Showing Cost of ,39-'40 Program as Discussed at La Quinta by Messrs. Schaefer, Depinet, and Berman," "RKO," 20 January 1939- 3 2Ibid. 88George Schaefer, letter to Andrew Christensen, "RKO," 23 January 1939- 8^George Schaefer, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 27 February 1939. 53^ 35Ibid. 36Ibid. 07 0 "RKO Ends Convention Season, Announcing 58 in New Program, " Motion Picture Herald, 24 June 1939.5 P. 58. 38Ibid., pp. 5 9-6 0. 3-^George Schaefer, letter to J. J. Nolan, "RKO, " 5 September 1939. ^George Schaefer, letter to J. J. Nolan, "RKO," 14 September 1939. 41 Orson Welles, telegram to George Schaefer, "RKO," 18 September 1939* 42 J. R. McDonough, memorandum to George Schaefer, "RKO," 7 December 1939. ^3George Schaefer, letter to J. J. Nolan, "RKO," 11 December 1939. 44 1 1 i t J. R. McDonough, telegram to George Schaefer, RKO, l6 December 1939. ^8George Schaefer, memorandum to J. J. Nolan, "RKO," 31 October 1939. I l f "1938-39 Program," "1939-^0 Program," "RKO." (Type written lists.) 47 Prank S. Nugent, "Pull Confession," New York Times, 28 September 1939.5 P« 2 9. |iO "1 9 3 8 -3 9 Program." ^Ibid. 50”i9 3 9_2j.o Program." 8^Ibid. 8^"l938-39 Program." 53prank S. Nugent, "Pive Came Back," New York Times, 5 July 1939, P- 20. 5^"i93g_39 program." 537 -^Pandro Berman., memorandum to Lee Marcus,, "RKO.,1 1 7 April 1939. ^"1938-39 Program." 5 7Ibid. 5 8ui9 2 9_ij.o Program.” -^Dan O'Shea, telegram to Ned Depinet, "RKO," 24 March 1938. 60 Howard. Hawks., Ben Hecht., and Charles MacArthur^ telegram to Sam Briskin, "RKO," 27 October 1938. f Z - 1 Sam Briskin, telegram to Howard Hawks, "RKO," 27 October 1938. 6 2 Sam Briskin, telegram to Howard Hawks, "RKO," 2 November 1938. ^Sam Briskin, telegram to Leo Spitz, "RKO, " 14 April 1937. fill J. R.. McDonough, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 6 July 1938. ^Steen, "Oral History of Pandro S. Berman," p. 28. ^"The Gunga Din Bugle" (company newsletter), "RKO," 26 July 1938. ^7J. R. McDonough, letter to Leo Spitz, "RKO," 1 Sep tember 1 9 3 8. 8 8"i9 3Q_39 Program." ^Steen, "Oral History of Pandro S. Berman," p. 28. 7^George Schaefer, telegram to Ned Depinet, "RKO," 3 December 1938. 7I 112938-39 Program." 7 2J. R. McDonough, letter to Ned Depinet, "RKO," 21 October 1938. 7 3Ibid. 7^"1938-39 Program." 538 "^Ibid. 76 Pandro Berman, letter to Florence Lipkin, "RKO," 14 April 1939. Irene Castle [McLaughlin], letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 4 April 1937- Sidney Lipsitch, memorandum to George Haight, "RKO," 23 June 1938. ^Irene Castle [McLaughlin], memorandum to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 5 October 1938. PtD Irene Castle [McLaughlin], memorandum to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 16 December 1938. O " i J. R. McDonough, letter agreement with Irene Castle McLaughlin, "RKO," 2 March 1939. 82 Arlene Croce, The Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers Book (New York: Galahad' Books, 1972), pi 1 6 5. ®^Abram Simon and Morton Garbus, letter to R.K.O.— Radio Pictures, Inc., "RKO," 27 February 1939* 84 McDonough, letter agreement with Irene Castle Mc Laughlin. 8^J. R. McDonough, telegram to George Schaefer, "RKO, 1 15 June 1939. ®^"l937-38 Program," "RKO." (Typewritten list.) 87Ro s s R. Hastings, memorandum to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 28 July 1938. OO Ginger Rogers, letter to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 2 March 1939- 8 9Ibid. Pandro Berman, letter to Ginger Rogers, "RKO," 3 March 1939. 9 1Ibid. -^George Schaefer, telegram to Ned Depinet, "RKO," 15 May 1939. 539 93"1938-39 Program.” 94 Ross R. Hastings, memorandum to Pandro Berman, "RKO," 30 March 1939. -^J. R. McDonough, letter to George Schaefer; "RKO;" 1 June 1939. -^J. R. McDonough; letter to George Schaefer; "RKO;" 13 July 1939. 9^Pandro Berman; telegram to George Schaefer; "RKO;" 15 December 1939* ^^George Schaefer; telegram to Pandro Berman; "RKO;" 15 December 1939- -^George Schaefer; telegram to J. J. Nolan; "RKO;" 19 December 1939. 10°"i939_4o Program." "^^Herb Golden, "Films' $1,739^000 for Scripts in 13 9," Variety, 3 January 1940, p. 7. 1 0 2"1938-39 Program." CHAPTER X THE SCHAEFER REGIME (19^0-1942) George Schaefer became one of the most active and visible executives In the film business during 1940. In addition to long hours spent running his own company, Schaefer campaigned vociferously against the government’s continuing attempt to end "block booking" by the major studios. When final hearings were held on the Neely bill, which contained a provision that would have ended the sell ing of movies In blocks, Schaefer went to Washington to present the Industry's position. The corporate president claimed that RKO did not "force" all its product upon the exhibition, stating that 67 percent of the company's con tracts for the past season "called for the exhibition of less than the number of pictures we had to offer.""1 ' Schaefer added that the bill was untimely because "it would add vastly to the burdens of an industry gravely affected by the war." Spokesman Schaefer must have made an impact because the bill never became law. Instead, a compromise "consent decree" was settled upon later in the year (see Production). 540 ”“541 Schaefer also assumed the chairmanship of the motion picture industry's Coordinating Committee on National De- " 3 fen.se. This group was formed to further the film business' contribution to the.national defense effort* as the winds of war continued to blow strongly in America's direction. Schaefer clarified his committee's mission in November. It Is to be emphasized that the voluntary organi zation being developed by the industry is not intended in any way to limit the initiative* contribution* or service which any elements within it may apply to the problems of national defense. The intention is to provide a clearing house for such plans as may best serve our national needs* insofar as the screen is properly concerned. During the year* Schaefer also presided at a ceremony in which RKO turned over Pathe news footage* shot between 1910 5 and 1930* to New York's Museum of Modern Art. Thus* the RKO leader assumed the roles of industry spokesman* key man in Hollywood's national defense effort* and preserver of the American film heritage during 1940. It seems that Schaefer took his position very seriously and intended to become the most "public" executive in RKO history. The End of Receivership On Friday* January 26* 19^0* at 2:30 p.m.* RKO Radio 6 Pictures* Inc.* officially emerged from receivership. The actual return of assets from Irving Trust into the hands of RKO consisted of representatives from each company sitting around a table and exchanging papers until the transaction _ . was completed. The date itself was significant--it was 542 exactly seven years, less one day., from the time the company filed its bankruptcy petition In federal court. According to Variety, this case held the record for longevity of re- 7 ceivership proceedings. The final stumbling block to reorganization had been cleared when the supreme court denied a writ of certiorari to Ernest ¥. Stirn and M. Cassel and Company, holders of stock and securities in RKO, who had opposed the plan for 8 some time. The new stock offer went forward smoothly, with Rockefeller Center subscribing to 163,629 shares and Atlas taking up some 249,280 unsubscribed shares, as it had Q promised. It was a strangely tranquil culmination to a process that was, nearly always, agonizing. Future pros pects looked auspicious. During the seven years adminis tered by the trustee, RKO and its subsidiaries had reduced their fixed debt by more than $11 million and gross income had grown from $44 million in 1933 to $ 5 2 million, in 1939-^ The new company was starting fresh, with "no outstanding indebtedness" and working capital of "more than $8,000,000," an amount almost twice as large as current liabilities.^ The end of receivership was not quite as simple as it seemed. Atlas Corporation and a battery of lawyers bom barded Judge William Bondy with requests for reimbursements of expenditures generated in the reorganiztion proceedings and payments of fees for services rendered. These pleas continued throughout most of 1940 with the funds for their 543 payment expected to come from purchases of new common stock. Atlas, alone, was asking for $875^037 plus 100,000 shares 12 of RKO common stock. Total claims amounted to $3.1 mil- 13 lion. George Schaefer urged Bondy to reduce the claims drastically. RKO1s president invoked the perilous condi tions drought on by the war in his affidavit to the judge: "In my opinion," Mr. Schaefer said, "the motion picture industry is now confronted with the most seri ous crisis in its history. Recent statements by vari ous leaders of the industry give evidence that major and drastic readjustments are inevitable if the in dustry is to survive."1^ Bondy was sympathetic. His final decree slashed the origi nal request to $638,073."^ Atlas, naturally, received the largest amount: 120,000 new common shares, $170,000 for 16 legal fees Incurred, and $20,517 for disbursements. Still, this was far below the amount originally requested. All of this must have seemed anticlimactic. The important thing was that RKO had thrown off its economic shackles. In fact, the company had not actually been in danger of collapse for many years, but, nevertheless, there was a stigma attached to receivership, and all the company officials must have greeted its removal with celebratory feelings. Stories, like this one, were circulated to ad vise the industry that RKO was looking aggressively toward the future: Strengthening of manpower in all branches with a view to making the company second to none in the busi ness, including in that step various promotions from the ranks as well as some possible shaking up of per- 544 sonnel and solidifying of policies* is reported to be in the cards for RKO following the long period of receivership from which the company recently emerged. The wheels are already in motion and various changes are likely to come.17 Indeed* as we shall see later In this chapter* RKO did make a number of forceful moves shortly after reorganization was complete* despite the worsening world situation. George Schaefer evidently was determined to prove that RKO had become a revitalized company. The Continuing Impact of World War II The considerable victories of the Nazi war machine brought gloom to RKO and the other studios in 1940. During the year* Denmark* Norway* Holland* Belgium* and Prance all fell to the Germans and heavy aerial warfare closed many 18 theaters in Great Britain. The consequent ban on American films and severe monetary restrictions forced Hollywood to retrench further. There was a general cutback in the num ber of films produced and more careful scrutiny of the Latin-American market as a possible source of profit. Since the studios were now so dependent on domestic earn ings* they focused on types of pictures that had tradition ally fared well with American audiences: comedies* comedy- mysteries* musicals* and more pictures emphasizing "Ameri- ..19 canism. RKO did not significantly reduce the number of pic tures it produced. However* the studio did limit the size ~ " 545~ of budgets. Until conditions improved., there would be no more films on the order of Gunga Din or The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Now $900,000 represented the maximum figure producers would have at their disposal. In accord with the general industry trend, RKO also decided to stay away from anything based on contemporaneous world problems. Fearing isolationist factions and believing American audiences de sired cheerful, entertaining material that would take their minds off the turmoil in Europe, George Schaefer frowned upon anything of a potentially controversial nature. In. March, for example, Schaefer decided to eliminate Man With out a World, a picture that Lee Marcus wished to make. In a letter to J. J. Nolan, Schaefer explained that his deci sion was based on the fact that Man Without a World dealt "with Dictatorships and the foreign situation and I want to be so careful that we do not make something that is apt to either cause us trouble or be out-moded by some sudden turn 20 in world events." Schaefer's feelings were reinforced by production chief Harry Edington. Edington wrote New York story editor Leda Bauer concerning the company's story needs: I went over this with Mr. Schaefer . . . and I believe he was quite in accord, especially with the idea that a good portion of our program should be made up of romance, romantic comedies, and romantic dramas. I think this is especially true for the following year. Nobody can tell how much more the world is going to become entangled In this war situ ation and it is my opinion that, more than ever in the past ten year history of the business, we should strive for nothing more than "entertainment." I dont [sic] think we should allow ourselves to take 5^6 sides or carry a torch for either side or even get involved in anything that has to do with the so- called present day moral problems having to do with world affairs.21 Thus, even though the conflict was wreaking havoc on RKOrs own business, the prevailing production philosophy through out the year would be to pretend World War II did not exist. The studio resembled nothing so much as an ostrich with its head implanted firmly in the sand, but it certainly was not alone. The majority of the other Hollywood companies fell right into line. Those who have criticized American films for their lack of responsibility and flippant disregard for important issues would find much to support their thesis during this period. Personnel The first year of the new decade brought continuing personnel changes to RKO. By the end of 19^0, the studio was profoundly different than it had been during the Spitz- Berman period. For one thing, Fred Astaire, who epitomized the style and grace of the company’s best 1930s productions, left RKO. His contract had expired in 1939* "but negotia tions with him continued into the new year. Astaire even indicated he would be willing to make another picture with Ginger Rogers, but he and the RKO amanagement could never get together on salary. Astaire, through agent Leland Hay ward, asked $150,000 but George Schaefer decided that P P $75*000 was as high as RKO would go. Before the negotia- 547 tions with Astaire commenced, he had completed Broadway Melody of 1940, co-starring Eleanor Powell., for MGM. The picture was a failure, confirming Schaefer's belief that Fred needed Ginger more than she needed him: Astaire on his own was not a success either in the picture in which he was starred recently or in the Astaire-Powell picture. Certainly we should not pay him the price he is asking in view of the fact that we contribute 50$ of the asset that makes it possible for him to be a success.23 Schaefer did have a point. Astaire, without Rogers, had not, as yet, demonstrated the ability to carry a picture successfully. But Schaefer should have also considered the fact that Astaire had always been more than just a performer for RKO; most of the brilliant dance routines in. the Astaire-Rogers series had been created and choreographed by him. As several critics of the musical have pointed, out, Astaire is a significant example of the actor as "auteur"-- an individual whose talents shaped the films he appeared in. RKO was losing a superstar in Fred Astaire; his subsequent career proves conclusively that there were many reasons for his eminence besides Ginger Rogers. Another long-time member of the family, director George Stevens, ended his RKO employment in 1940. A rift between Stevens and the company had been growing for some time. It began with the development of slow, perfectionist . characteristics in Stevens' handling of Gunga Din. The fact that the film skyrocketed over budget did not do him any 548 good, despite its respectable box office performance. After the completion of Gunga Din, Stevens took what was supposed to be a four-week vacation. Without permission, however, he stretched the vacation into approximately eight weeks. When he finally did return to the studio, he claimed to have spent the extra time in New York, working on potential prop- 24 erties with production chief Pandro Berman's permission. Berman, however, asserted that he had given no such permis sion and took Stevens off the payroll. Negotiations between Stevens' agent, Charles Feldman, and the RKO officials com menced regarding this money, to which the director felt he was entitled. Apparently, Stevens was also put off by George Schaefer, who refused to let him make The Mortal Storm or Address Unknown, both properties about fascism and 2S its effects. As Pan Berman told Stevens in a telegram, Schaefer was "afraid [to] commit us to any picture that is' 26 propaganda against anything." Schaefer, on his part, was growing more and more peeved with Stevens. He wrote Berman during the wage negotiations: I am very much disturbed about the whole George Stev ens situation. I think he is acting up very badly, bearing in mind all the considerations that were given him, especially in view of his personal affairs. I think you and the company have been very lenient and considerate and it is about time Stevens was made to realize this.2^ An agreement was finally engineered in April 1939* paying 28 Stevens more than half of the disputed $15,000 back pay. ' ' — ■ - - - - 5 ' 49 George Stevens1 performance throughout the rest of the year did not return him to the company's good graces* however. It took him altogether too long to get his next project (Vigil in the Night) under way and the eventual results proved disappointing. When his contract came up for re newal on April 2, 19^0, George Schaefer did not pick up the 29 option. ^ Both parties were apparently pleased by the ter mination., but RKO was kidding itself if it thought the loss, of George Stevens would not leave a gaping hole in its di rectorial ranks, just as the loss of Fred Astaire had left a significant vacuum in its staff of male performers. George Schaefer continued to woo independent com panies into the fold. Shortly after the end of receiver ship, the "Rambling Reporter" column in the Hollywood Re porter contained this humorous blurb: Most of the major plants are being confronted with the agent's answer: "Sorry, we just signed with RKO." And the same goes for story properties. Which prompted one exec to send a wire to George Schaefer reading: "Read that you were signing so. many people that I came out of retirement. My salary's cut to a bone a day. What about it?" The wire was signed by Rin-Tin-Tin. . . . But, kidding aside, there's more activity in that plant than there has been since the sheriffs walked in.30 Indeed, the number of independent deals alone must have raised more than a few eyebrows. United Producers Corpora tion (William Hawks, president), Voco Productions (Jack Votion, president), Pyramid Pictures Corporation (Jerrold T. Brandt, president), Vogue Pictures, Ltd. (Lou Ostrow, presi- 550 dent and producer), Franklin-Blank Productions (former RKO executive Harold B. Franklin., president), and .Frank Ross- Norman Krasna Productions (Frank Ross, producer) all signed 11 to have pictures distributed by RKO. Earlier independent arrangements, such as the ones with Towne and Baker, Herbert Wilcox, Walt Disney, Stephens-Lang, and Harold Lloyd, also remained in effect. The studio additionally secured the services of a variety of highly-valued stars. Arrangements were concluded during the year with Charles Laughton, Carole Lombard, Charles Boyer, Jean Arthur, and Cary Grant. Although the advertising department called these individuals "RKO stars," this was rather misleading. All had signed one (or more) picture deals with the studio, but were not under long-term exclusive contract. In truth, the RKO stock company was in . woeful shape. Except for Ginger Rogers (whose contract was due to expire in 19^1), the company had no powerful names on call and was constantly forced to borrow from other studios— even for secondary performers. Dan Winkler, an assistant to J. J. Nolan, pointed out the problem to his boss in this memo: In general there is the matter of adopting a policy of whether or not we intend to have a so called stock company. If we intend having one, we should go about setting it up and we should then use the players that we sign, in the pictures that we make. If we do not intend having a stock company then we should make up our mind that we are going to be in the same position next year and the year after that we are in now,-- 551 j I that is, to borrow stock players from other studios and. put them . . . in our Important pictures. 32 At the conclusion of his remarks, Winkler listed a number of individuals who had been dropped by RKO and were pres ently making good at other studios or getting large sala ries whenever RKO borrowed them. The names included Joan Fontaine, Laraine Day, John Shelton, Linda Darnell, James Ellison, and Ann Sheridan.^3 Through the years, talent development had always been one of the weakest areas of the studio; now, the incompetence was beginning to exact a heavy toll. Two other personnel items deserve mention. Erich Pommer, producer extraordinaire from the famous German studio, UFA, was hired to handle three to four films per year. The decision to engage Pommer was based largely on his work with Charles Laughton in England before the out break of the war. There, Pommer had produced Jamaica Inn, Sidewalks of London, and The Beachcomber, all starring Laughton. They would be teamed again at RKO. As mentioned earlier, RKO planned to make some promotions "from within the ranks" after reorganization. The first of these was George Schaefer's decision, to appoint J. J. Nolan, as "vice-president in charge of the RKO stu<- dios. " Nolan had formerly functioned as Schaefer's assis tant, reporting to the president - concerning activities at the Hollywood studio. His new title was rather misleading; 552 he was not superseding J. R. McDonough who, in effect, still ran the filmmaking plant. Nolan did have some input in pro duction decisions/ but most of these were made by Schaefer in consort with production head Harry Edington and Lee Mar cus. Actually, Nolan's new job placed him in charge of com mitments for artistic talent. He would still report to Schaefer on a variety of matters, but his principal charge would be upgrading the company's creative staff. Orson Welles The evolving story of Orson Welles and his work for RKO is worthy of special consideration. Early 19^0 found Welles working feverishly on Heart of Darkness and Smiler with a Knife. The plan was to film and release both by the end of the year. However, in late spring, the studio decided to cancel the projects. The reasons were varied and complicated. Budget was the major problem with Heart of Darkness. Despite a series of long, arduous cost-cutting- sessions, the final figure could never be reduced to less than $1 million. The script, itself, may also have figured prominently in the shelving of the project. Eight years later, RKO story editor William Padiman read Welles's screenplay (much of it to be conveyed through subjective camera) and wrote the following memo to Edgar Peterson, who was looking for unproduced properties of value: _ - - - „ 5 - _ . I read. HEART OP DARKNESS Saturday afternoon--all 174 pages of It. . . .1 think It Is postured., mannered, unreal, overwritten, possessing a plot reminiscent of TARZAN combined with KING KONG, cumbersome In its symbolism, repetitious in its sequences, murky in its thought, expansive in its potential cost (we already have $116,000 in charges against it), likely to turn into a mystical melodrama reminiscent of M.G.M.'s ill-fated ADVENTURE, potentially capable of arousing laughter instead of tension, frequently grisly and unpleasant in its horror sequences--I bet you've guessed by now that I don't like it.35 Of course, this is just one individual's opinion, but there is nothing in the RKO files to indicate that any of the executives were ever sold on the project. Smiler with a Knife was cancelled for a different reason. A mystery thriller about a plot to overthrow the U.S. government, the film would have centered on a bridal couple who discover a secret subversive organization and unmask its playboy leader, thus averting disaster. Since the story had strong political overtones, one might suspect that George Schaefer quashed it because of his disinclina tion to deal with anything of that nature. However, the truth Is that both Welles and Schaefer decided against pro duction. The problem related to expectations--the expecta tions of the public, the Industry, the critics regarding Welles's’ -initial motion picture. Orson Welles had joined RKO with tremendous fanfare. His unprecedented contract, his much ballyhooed belief that he could handle four major areas on a picture (acting, pro ducing, directing, writing), his reputation as a theatrical 554 and radio "genius" generated both a surplus of publicity and an abundance of ill-will. In Hollywood., many were of fended by the audacity of Welles and the foolishness of RKO in giving an untested filmmaker such an outrageous contract. Welles had not "paid his dues," and there were many who wished and expected him to fall flat on his face, taking RKO to the canvas as well. As the months unfolded, months In which the producer tried and failed to get Heart of Darkness under way, Orson Welles jokes became a staple in Hollywood. The gossip columns were filled with stories about "Little |Orson Annie,” the boy wonder come to revolutionize movie making in America. The pressure mounted as Welles's first janniversary at RKO approached--a year without verifiable progress toward making a picture. Both Welles and Schaefer ■realized that the first Mercury Theater Production would have to be sensational in order to silence the many carping voices. Thus, Smiler with a Knife was dropped because it was little more than a routine thriller. Even if it were good, the subject matter precluded its being taken very seriously. No doubt Welles could imagine the critics say ing: Is this the best he can do? Is this what we. have been waiting for, for eighteen months? For his first film, Orson Welles needed something important, fresh, and differ ent, something to electrify film audiences and strike his critics dumb. 555 In May, RKO asked the Audience Research Institute (see page 565) j > to conduct a poll regarding the story that audiences would most like to see Welles make. The winner, by a wide margin, was "Invasion from Mars," a picture based on the War of the Worlds--the famous Mercury radio program 56 broadcast. Both Heart of Darkness and Smiler with a Knife elicited much less public curiosity than the outer space tale. Welles, however, had no desire to make "Inva sion from Mars, 1 1 at least not as his first production. This prompted production chief Harry Edington to write George Schaefer about the big mistake he felt Welles was,- making: It seems to me that the whole mental attitude of everybody in the United States during the last two weeks has completely changed. . . . Everybody is talk ing about war and the underfeeling seems to be a ter rific dread of what this great machine of Germany is doing. . . . This all to me seems to point exactly in the right direction to warrant terrific excitement in what might be Welles 1 interpretation on the screen of this sort of thing and if ever the time was right for it to be done at all, I cant [sic] but think that time is now. There is no doubt that the publicity that has sur rounded Welles, and the curiosity concerning what he is going to do, is a terrific backwash of something that could be capitalized on with very little addi tional exploitation and might be built into a public curiosity campaign quite comparable to what went on. in the public mind prior to the making and distribu tion of "GONE WITH THE WIND."37 Schaefer's reply agreed with Edington's thinking, but also explained why Welles was adamant in his refusal: The only way I was able to secure Orson originally, was because of my sympathy with his viewpoint,-- that he did not want to go out and be tagged and ' 556 catalogued as "the horror man" by appearing In a pic ture such as the HUNCHBACK or Immediately go Into the production of a picture such as THE MEN FROM MARS. He was anxious to do something first, before Holly wood typed him. This has been uppermost in his mind and I know it would be difficult to change.3o It would have been impossible to change Orson Welles's mind at that point, for he finally had a picture almost ready for the cameras. The film was, of course, Citizen Kane, and its pre-production was veiled in secrecy. Once again, the immediate problems were budgetary. The initial estimate, based on a sixty-eight page treatment- outline, was $1,083,000.^ Evidently, Welles had not learned a great deal from the Heart of Darkness experience. The first screenplay for the project ran 214 pages, prompt ing J. R. McDonough to wire George Schaefer: We have told Welles that his shooting script is about fifty to sixty pages longer than the longest script we have ever shot in this studio and in our opinion the result in final negative will be far longer than the one hour and thirty-five minutes he is aiming at. We will time the script. I told him as far as I knew the cost we were aiming at is in the neighborhood of six hundred thousand dollars. Welles says he is fig-, uring on a minimum of seven hundred thousand dollars. ^ This time, the "negotiations" between Welles and RKO offi cials did result in a substantial reduction of the budget. By July, everyone knew that Orson Welles was finally making a picture. More information about Citizen Kane and the altercation with William Randolph Hearst concerning its release is included later in this chapter. 557 Production The RKO production machinery began the new year with record-breaking script purchases and some formidable an nouncements. In February, the studio continued its aggres sive campaign of acquiring first-rate literary properties , 4l by spending $390,000 in a seven-day period. The extra ordinary outlay of cash bought RKO rights to: Too Many Girls ($100,000 cost), a Broadway musical hit to be pro duced and directed by George Abbott; Two on an Island ($50,000) by Elmer Rice; Mr. and Mrs. ($60,000), an, original story by Norman Krasna who had written Bachelor Mother; Benjamin Franklin ($50,000), the Carl Van Doren biography in which RKO planned to star Charles Laughton; Sister Carrie ($40,000) by Theodore Dreiser, a novel no one else had dared touch because of the Hays Office code; Half a Rogue ($40,000) by Garrett Fort, another Laughton project; The Unbreakable Miss Doll ($25^000) by Grace Perkins, bought with Carole Lombard in mind; Sanda Mala ($15,000) by Maurice Collis; and A. P. Herbert's Water Gypsies ($10,000).^2 George Schaefer's belief in well-known plays and novels as the key to prestige and box office rewards, as well as the studio's new determination to forge into a predominant po sition among the major companies, were the twin motivations for this amazing week of buying. The RKO story department had covered all of the above material; at this point, it seems appropriate to '558 discuss how it functioned. Actually, there were two "sce nario" departments--one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast. The New York department reported on Broadway plays, as well as most of the new novels being published. The Hollywood readers also synopsized and evaluated novels, plus magazine stories and original treatments and scripts. In comparison to the other studios, the story de partments of RKO were small and badly overworked. The head of the New York office, for example, frequently served as a talent scout and".made tests of promising actors, In addi tion. to the literary duties. Katharine Brown and Lillie Messinger, who were each in charge on the East Coast for several years during the 1930s, spent substantial time on talent recruitment. The story departments did not hire writers or buy properties. Their function was simply to condense story material and make recommendations, keeping in mind the needs of the company and Its contract players. Writers were hired by, the executives who also approved story pur chases, often at the behest of staff producers who wished to make particular pieces of material. One of the biggest problem areas of RKO, through the years, was story, but it would be unfair to place an excessive amount of blame on the story departments. Their members were overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated, and their recommendations 559 were often brushed aside. In addition.,, the turnover in the departments was almost as great as in company executives. The RKO story departments had little continuity. Getting a head start on most of its competitors* RKO* in late March* announced that it planned to release sixty-one to sixty-six pictures during the 1940-1941 sea- 4-3 son. ^ The plan was remarkable for two reasons. First* this represented the greatest number of pictures that RKO had ever promised in a single season. Second* the announce ment came at a time when most of the studios were cutting back in their production schedule due to the loss of for eign revenue. According to a story in the Motion Picture Herald* the gross budget for the films would be $29*000*000 with twenty of the new features to be made by independents* twenty to be "top budget" studio productions* twenty to come from Lee Marcus' "program" unit* and six to be inexpensive 44 westerns. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this bold proclamation was its purely propagandists intent. In fact* plans by RKO for 1940-1941 fell well short of sixty or more productions. Earlier in March* Schaefer* Depinet* Edington* Nolan* and other company executives met at La Quinta* where they outlined the following plans for the coming season: 560 12 "A" Specials 6 Outside Specials to be independ ently produced 6 Specials--Marcus unit 12 Program pictures--Marcus unit 6 O'Brien Westerns 6 Pictures, independently produced in which we have no interest except making available our releasing fa cilities .^5 This came to a total of forty-eight pictures., not sixty. One can only speculate concerning reasons why the studio purposely published erroneous production pians. In all probability, this was part of the "new RKO" publicity, part of the buildup that had been under way since the emergence from receivership and included the story purchases and the signing of more independents. According to the actual blueprint, RKO looked to release twelve "A" Specials, made for an average of approxi mately $670,000 each. This represented a total expenditure N 46 of about $8 million. The A pictures included Kitty Boyle, Too Many Girls, Half a Rogue, and Sister Carrie. The big gest change came in the Lee Marcus unit, where Marcus would be given $1,400,000 to make six "specials," pictures costing 47 about twice as much as the normal Marcus "B" offerings. Two of the proposed "Specials" were Men Against the Sky, estimated to cost $250,000 and Anne's House of Dreams, set at $300,000. Marcus would also be responsible for twelve "program" releases to be made for $1,500,000 and six 561 48 George O ’Brien westerns costing $480.,000. It seems quite clear that despite Its grandiose announcements, the attitude of the "new RKO" was basically a cautious one. There would he no big-budget extravaganzas and the total expected budget for the new season was well below that of the previous year. The unknown factor In all this was the Independent product. Schaefer had set up so many different deals, some Involving company financing, some requiring RKO money If no other Investors could be found, and some not requiring It, that It was hard to guess how much the new season’s expenditure would actually be. The remainder of the year brought a steady curtail ment in production plans of the company. In early April, the RKO board of directors approved a $12,000,000 budget for the 1940-1941 program, with the stipulation that no single picture would cost more than $900,000.^ By May, however, the gloomy European situation and the lackadaisical performance of RKO pictures in the United States forced George Schaefer to establish $700,000 as the maximum budget 50 for any one picture. This information was not conveyed to the participants at the ninth annual sales convention of the company, held at the Waldorf-Astoria in late May, how ever. RKO did reduce its promises to fifty-three pictures for 1940-1941 at that time, although, of course, it had no 51 intention of releasing even that many. Exhibitors were told to expect Kitty Foyle and Two on an Island, both star 562 ring Ginger Rogers; The Other Man (tentative title of They Knew What They Wanted) with Charles Laughton and Carole Lom bard; Two Many Girls, featuring Lucille Ball, Ann. Miller, and Desi Arnaz; another Kay Kyser musical novelty; No, No Nanette and Sunny, each to be directed by Herbert Wilcox and star Anna Neagle; and John Citizen, U.S.A., the working 52 title of Orson Welles's first picture. In addition, the company would continue its winning "Saint" series and "Dr. Christian" series, augmenting them with the newly suc cessful "Mexican Spitfire"■ and "Scattergood Baines," based on a favorite radio character ;created,by Clarence Budington 51 Kelland. A number of other potential movies were listed in the studio announcements. By July, further cuts had been made. George Schaefer decided to eliminate Sister Carrie because of its estimated $700,000 production cost and reduce the number of "program" pictures from twelve to eight, thus saving $480,000 more.^ A series of westerns starring Tim Holt was to be substituted for the announced George O'Brien vehicles, saving an addi tional $60,000. Producers now understood that $600,000 was the top budget for any picture, making for an estimated reduction of $1.5 million from the original 1940-1941 bud- 55 get. A revised budget summary issued by George Schaefer at the end of July included Citizen Kane, thus bringing the 56 total figure for A pictures back up to $8 million. Still, _ the corrected plan for 1940-19^-1 showed a total expenditure of only $10,920,000. This was a rather feeble amount when one considered that a company like MGM could be expected to spend three to four times that figure on its production 57 operations. But, then RKO seemed to be suffering more than its competitors, primarily because it had begun to turn out a number of very disappointing pictures. Part of the reason for this may be traced to the old bugaboo, final authority, a source of conflict that was be ginning to generate significant morale problems at the studio. Throughout 1940, George Schaefer continued to make the final decisions on all production questions. There is no evidence to indicate that Harry Edington was angered by this; it seems he was willing to go along with anything his boss decided about A pictures, even though he was supposed to be in charge of them. Lee Marcus, the potentate of the B realm, had been in his position longer and was used to making his own decisions. He, on the other hand, did not take Schaefer's interference lightly. Indeed, Marcus was both angered and stupefied by it. In March, Schaefer can celled two pet projects of Marcus, The Peter B. Kyne Story and the aforementioned Man Without a World (see page 5 4 5). The incensed producer fired off the following memo to J. J. Nolan: I wish to state at this time that I am in complete disagreement with this decision, that I think it dan- 564 gerous and unsatisfactory. . . . This unit has func tioned with reasonable success for the past three years, and during that entire time has selected, developed and produced its pictures without submit ting scripts to New York. I feel quite certain that, if this procedure had been followed in the past we would not have made a good many pictures which have turned out successful, such as: A MAN TO REMEMBER, GIRL FROM MEXICO, SKY GIANT, FIVE CAME BACK, TWO THOROUGHBREDS, FLIGHT FROM GLORY, WITHOUT ORDERS, CONDEMNED WOMEN, LAW OF THE UNDERWORLD. I state this because none of these scripts in first draft were [sic] as good as the two which have just been turned down by Mr. Schaefer. In every in stance, the subject matter was similar to previous pictures that have been made. I think it Is a dan gerous thing to have one man's viewpoint control program pictures.58 Marcus was also offended by Schaefer's insinuation that the B pictures did not contain enough "shownmanship" (i.e., exploitation potential). In another memo to Nolan, Marcus spelled out his feelings on the matter: Showmanship In pictures is not enough to make them successful at the box office. We have made some pic tures replete with showmanship, but no advantage has been taken by the company of these pictures, and by this I mean, they have woefully failed to advertise, publicize and exploit them. . . . There is a certain amount of futility in making pictures with showmanship ideas if nothing is done with them after they are finished. While this is no excuse for not making them, these Ideas are very hard to find, and the best idea we have had along these lines in the studio was killed by Mr. Schaefer, namely, the WARSAW INCIDENT picture, which we could have got ten out and which would have capitalized the whole Polish Incident.59 Relations between Marcus and Schaefer continued on a viable, if lukewarm, basis throughout the rest of the year. Schaefer refused to surrender the reins as far as final decisions were concerned, however. He was going to be the 565 RKO mogul,, and his delegation of power left much to be de sired. Lee Marcus must have really boiled Inside when he received the following repetitive letter from the RKO presi dent, late In 19^0 : Returning herewith copy of story, PRETTY PENNY and here is my reaction. While it is interesting, it seems to me to be just another picture. No doubt you could make a very interesting one but it seems to serve no par ticular purpose and, in particular, has no unusual showmanship. Think, in our approach to some of the more important pictures you are going to make, we should definitely have the showmanship idea in mind-- the type of pictures Warner Bros, have been making which, quite frequently, turn out to be sleepers. Two other items affecting production should be men tioned. During the early portion of the year, RKO engaged 'Dr. George Gallup, head of the Institute of Public Opinion at Princeton, New Jersey, to conduct "a scientific study of the motion picture public and the tastes, habits and 61 interests of picture patrons." The chief function of Gallup's new organization, called the Audience Research In stitute, would be to "scientifically assist and guide the 62 studio in its selection of stories, cast and titles." The ■idea of scientific public opinion "pre-testing" to determine audience interest was bold and fascinating, but whether it would actually work remained an open question. As already mentioned, one of the early conclusions of the survey was that moviegoers were most interested in seeing Orson Welles ■in "Invasion from Mars." More information on the findings ■of the Audience Research Institute may be found in the 566 detailed discussions of They Knew What They Wanted and Kitty Foyle. Finally, the biggest industry story of the year-- the signing of the "consent decree" ending the anti-trust suit of the government against RKO and other major studios-- meant that changes would be necessary in the future produc tion and marketing of motion pictures. Tino Balio has sum-' marized the provisions of the decree admirably: On November 20, 19^0, the government and the five ma jors became parties to a consent decree that was to run for three years. During this period the govern ment agreed not to press for divorcement of the affil iated theaters from their production-distribution com panies. Certain trade practices specified in the complaint were either modified or eliminated: Blind selling was prevented by requiring trade shows of films; block booking was limited to five pictures; the forced purchase of shorts was abolished; and the use of unreasonable clearance was proscribed. The RKO officials could breathe easily again knowing that their theaters were no longer in danger of forced sale,, but they also had to be content with the fact that., beginning the following fall., each new picture would have to be shown to exhibitors before it was booked. The era of "blind selling" was over. Now, the RKO production staff would be called upon to have five different films ready for trade-showing on a certain date, and these five represented the largest "block" the studio could hope to sell at one time. Without careful planning, the new regulations could jeopardize com pany income. New strategies were definitely called for. But if the "consent decree" was vexing to RKO and the other ....... " ~ ~567 production companies, it was an outrage to exhibitor groups that had hoped for more profound changes. According to the Motion Picture Herald, every'independent exhibitor in the 64 country had opposed this particular solution. The Films The 1940 releases of RKO showed, on the whole, a dramatic deterioration in both quality and box office po tency. Coming on the heels of the exceptional 1939 results, the failures of 1940 stand out in humiliating relief. Cer tainly the budgetary cutbacks had something to do with these disappointments, but the absence of Pandro Berman no doubt proved a factor as well. George Schaefer had ample experi ence in the film business; however, this experience did not include the delicate, instinctual, production decision making area. His lack of knowledge (and talent) in this arena must be taken as the principal cause of the following desultory work. In keeping with the belief of Schaefer and Harry Edington that the public wanted "escapist" entertainment, ■far removed from the ugly realities of the period, RKO con centrated on comedies, melodramas, adventure films, and musicals. Even the "Americanism" theme, so prevalent in the 1939 releases and evident in many pictures produced by the other studios in 1940, was hard to find in the RKO product Df the year. 568 The first release of the company in 19^0 was Mexican Spitfire, a knockabout farce culminating in a custard- tossing wedding party that would have made Mack Sennett grin. The two stars of the film, Lupe Velez and Leon Errol (he played a pair of roles), brought proper slapstick cre- jdentials to the dizzy undertaking, and director Leslie Good wins sustained such a high level of energy throughout that ■it would be uncharitable to criticize the thoroughgoing mindlessness of the undertaking. Certainly the RKO execu tives found nothing to decry about the performance of the picture: made for $106,000, Mexican Spitfire earned a profit of $102,000.^ Chapter Two of the continuing frenzied ad ventures of Velez and Errol was released later in the year. Mexican Spitfire Out West also returned a tidy sum, thus ensuring that the newest "series" of RKO would continue in the future. The other B comedies of the company were an undis tinguished lot. Curtain Call featured a Dalton Trumbo 'script, but it was not one of his best efforts. The slightly moldy story of two snake-eyed Broadway veterans who try to jexploit a neophte female playwright for their own ends had some amusing moments, but more tedious ones. The principal roles were played, in lackluster fashion, by Alan Mowbray, Donald MacBride, and Barbara Read. Another tired story--of a marriage threatened by suspicions of infidelity complicated by a stereotypic __ . . .. - - . _ . .. 56g mother-in-law--formed the basis of You Can't Fool Your Wife. The picture, produced by Cliff Reid and directed by Ray McCarey, was a vehicle for Lucille Ball and James Ellison, but even these two talented performers were unable to invest the material with more than a smattering of guffaws. Even worse was Millionaires in Prison, another Ray McCarey effort. This absurd trifle presented the peniten tiary as a pseudo-country club filled with kindly, intelli gent tenants presided over by humanitarian convict Lee Tracy. As the strained attempts at humor unfold, Tracy orchestrates events so that inmate Collins (Truman Bradley), a scientist, may continue his research on deadly Malta fever. The picture may be viewed as the epitome of "escap ist" entertainment, for its preposterous carryings on had no relationship to reality. Audiences, however, were not impressed; like most of the RKO program comedies, this one 66 ended up in the minus column a $22,000 loser. Just as foolish, but much more successful, was You'll Find Out. One of those "in-between" productions that the studio executives always worried’ about (production, cost: $371*000), the film made an astonishing $163*000 for RKO.^ If nothing else, it confirmed the fascination of the public with its star, bandleader Kay Kyser. Kyser did have strong support In. this David Butler produced and directed release. Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Peter Lorre collaborated to provide the chills In a story about an eerie attempt at murder in a forbidding old Massachusetts house. Kyser and his hep cat band naturally get in the way of the villains producing some nervous laughter., but the end product was largely devoid of wit or thrills. Still, the picture indi cated that radio personality Kyser had become a moving pic ture drawing card, and more pictures featuring him and his Kollege of Musical Knowledge could be expected. "Deac" Aylesworth, whose campaign to meld radio and the movies in the 1930s had encountered considerable resistance, must have enjoyed the Kay Kyser success immensely. The major-budget comedies of RKO represented its strongest group of 19^+0 releases, thanks largely to Ginger Rogers and Leo McCarey. McCarey's contribution was My Fa vorite Wife, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. Although I McCarey relinquished the directorial duties on the picture to Garson Kanin, choosing simply to produce because of in juries sustained in an automobile accident, the resultant infectious tale clearly bears the McCarey imprint. A modern version, of the old "Enoch Arden" story, the plot presents Dunne, returning home after being shipwrecked for seven years on the day that her husband (Grant) is having her declared legally dead and marrying another woman. Grant's "quick" decision to remarry causes sparks to fly between the two, though they are obviously still in love. The sparks turn into lightning bolts when Grant discovers his wife spent those seven years on a desert island with muscular . . . . . . . . ----- 571 Randolph Scott. Both in theme and execution, My Favorite Wife is a quasi-sequel to McCarey1s earlier Dunne-Grant blockbuster, The Awful Truth. If the film peaks about two- thirds of the way along and begins to wear thin near the end, It still contains numerous memorable moments, Including two separate sessions In court with irascible judge Gran ville Bates (The Awful Truth contained similar scenes), a droll but ultimately side-splitting reunion between, husband and wife which takes place at Yosemite, where Grant has taken his new bride for a honeymoon, and a carefully con structed "moment of truth" when Grant first encounters the supposedly prim Scott entertaining two nubile beauties be side the pool of a fancy hotel. Although not quite as good as The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, or even Bachelor Mother, My Favorite Wife proved to be one of the most win ning comedies of the year. It was also the most successful picture of 1940 for RKO, earning $490,000 in profit si® Ginger Rogers again demonstrated her value to RKO In two productions, Primrose Path and Lucky Partners. Neither picture contained Ginger's best work, but both were above average and financially rewarding. Primrose Path paired Yliss Rogers with Joel McCrea, now a Paramount performer. Director Gregory La Cava took the play, written by Robert L. Buckner and Walter Hart, and attempted to make a realistic film out of it. Compared to most other comedies of the period, Primrose Path was rather daring. It pushed the I ___________ . ~ __________________________________________ 572 Hollywood censor board to its limits through portrayals of Ginger's mother and grandmother as practitioners of-the world's oldest profession and through its use of naturalis tic language. Still, the picture was basically a girl-gets- boy, girl-loses-boy, girl-wins-boy-again story. As critic Prank Nugent pointed out in the New York Times, La Cava compromised himself too many times to produce a truly real istic comedy: But realism cannot altogether escape the censors, or the box office rule that comedies (beyond all others) must end happily, or the screen's own limited appe tite for reality. Mr. La Cava has had to make too many concessions to unreality, and some of them have turned his study of the home life of a shanty girl into a frequently incredible, though artful, Ginger Rogers-Joel McCrea romantic comedy. Lucky Partners, adapted from Sacha Guitry's story, "Bonne Chance," by Allan Scott and John Van Druten. and di rected by veteran Lewis Milestone, was more traditional; it exhibited a blithe unconcern for realism. A Greenwich Vil lage sketch artist (Ronald Colman) wishes a passing errand girl (Rogers) good luck one day and, suddenly, all manner of favorable things begin to happen to her. Romantic com plications come into play when Ginger repairs to Niagara Palls with her good luck charm and falls in love with him, despite her engagement to a lad from Ploughkeepsie. Colman and Rogers make a beguiling team, one made up of equal parts charm and effervescence. And if Lucky Partners was little more than a cream puff of a movie, at least it was a satis- fying cream puff. Cheerful audiences pushed Its profits to $195., 000, approximately $9 0 .,0 0 0 more than the earnings 70 of Primrose Path. G-lnger Rogers was the last Important star under exclusive contract to RKO; her value to the company was Incalculable at this juncture. In general, the melodramatic and adventure releases of the studio were a rancid collection. Vigil in the Night, an A-level release, was a picture for which RKO executives had high hopes. The last Pandro Berman production for RKO, it was directed by George Stevens and featured Carole Lom bard In the starring role. The story focused on Anna Lee (Lombard) a gallant nurse who accepts the responsibility for a colleague's fatal blunder and- then, withstanding the severest pressure, works to make sure that Dr. Brian Aherne gets a new hospital unit which is desperately needed. Rather than the uplifting story of love and sacrifice which everyone assumed it would be, Vigil In the Night turned out dull, poorly structured, and without a central point of view. The miscarriage of the picture certainly was a prime reason George Stevens' relationship with the company ended In 19^0. The picture eventually lost the sobering figure of $330,000.71 At the B level, the only good thing to say was that similar films generally lost much smaller amounts. Sued for Libel, for example, only cost RKO $9^000 In debits.72 A newspaper yarn about a boy-girl reporting team who solve 574 a host of murders while fending off a million dollar libel suit, the picture was as fresh as last month's loaf of bread. Kent Taylor and Linda Hayes were the stars, for the histor ical record. Isle of Destiny and One Crowded Night utilized the same basic formula, a kind of poor man's version, of the "Grand Hotel" structure. In the former, June Lang, an Amelia Earhart type, Gilbert Roland as a South Sea gun runner, Wallace Ford and William Gargan playing Marines, and Katherine DeMille, the native girl, interact In pre dictable fashion on an exotic island. Nevertheless, Isle of Destiny deserved plaudits In comparison to One Crowded Night which contained more cheap plot contrivances than five nor mal B pictures. At a tourist camp on the edge of the Mojave Desert, we find a young woman being reunited with her es caped convict husband, two mobsters who are pursuing the jailbird, a woman who "happens" to be an acquaintance of one of the underworld types, accompanied by her truck driver fiance, a young mother-to-be who runs into her long-lost husband (in the custody of two law officers), and so on. One must see One Crowded Night to believe the coincidences which are called upon to fasten the lid on this Hollywood can of worms. Men Against the Sky and I'm Still Alive were both routine action pictures. Venerable Richard DIx once again took the hero's role in the former story, an account of an ............. ” " - - • 575 over-the-hill test pilot who designs a new plane but allows his sister to receive credit for it. Suspense mounts dur ing the testing period with the climax designed to allow the noble old-timer to go out in a blaze of glory. Kent Taylor, who played second-string to Dix in Men Against the Sky, assumed the lead in I'm Still Alive, another aviation fable. This time., the subject is movie stunt flyers. Tay lor espouses the following philosophy in the picture: "Risking your life for a movie isn't as silly as starving to death." That may be true, but it was pretty silly of RKO to make a movie as mediocre and uninspired as this one about the subject. One B melodrama is worthy of extra attention. Stranger on the Third Floor, directed by Boris Ingster from a script by Frank Partos, is a premature film noir, a pic ture that should have been made in 1 9^ or 1 9^5, rather than 1940. Set in a claustrophobic urban milieu, the story involves a newspaper reporter (John McGuire) who gives tes timony in court which sends a young man to the electric ,chair. Feeling guilty about his actions, the reporter sud denly finds himself caught up in a web of circumstantial evidence and accused of the murder of his detestable next- door neighbor. Besides the central theme of paranoia, the picture is replete with film noir elements, including an extraordinary expressionistic dream sequence and a vitriolic depiction of corruption in the American legal system. Also, "'576 Peter Lorre is the villain of the piece,, playing one of his patented psychopaths. One wonders how much influence this' forgotten film had on the later practitioners of America's "black cinema." And one also wonders why George Schaefer allowed it to be made. It does not seem to be his kind of picture, and its weak box office record (an ultimate loss of $57jOOO) surely must have distressed him. The best RKO series continued to be "the Saint," two chapters of which were released during 19^0. In The Saint's Double Trouble, George Sanders plays a pair of roles: Simon Templar and an underworld boss who bears an uncanny resemblance to the hero. A great deal of humor and suspense is squeezed out of this circumstance. In one de lirious scene, Sanders-as-the-Saint impersonating Sanders- as-the-Boss confronts Sanders-as-the-Boss impersonating Sanders-as-the-Saint. The schizophrenia is healed agreeably In the end, enabling Saint fans to prepare for the next In stallment. That proved to be The Saint Takes Over, the;""/, first segment not based on a story by Leslie Charteris, the character's creator. Scenarists Prank Fenton, and Lynn Root fashioned the plot this time around, taking into account, of course, the special traits of the protagonist as well as those of such stock participants as Inspector Fernack (Jon athan Hale). They succeeded nicely in concocting a story-- about a group of gamblers specializing in race track fixes who frame Fernack— which lovers of the private eye could 577 accept as coming directly from Charteris' pen. George Sanders again, performs flawlessly as he rescues his friend the Inspector and gets the goods on the heavies. The "Saint" was now a fixture on the RKO yearly schedule., earn ing profits of $70,000 and up per picture.^ The studio was lucky to have him. Big-hearted Dr. Paul Christian (Jean Hersholt) also greeted RKO audiences twice in 19^-0. Neither The Courageous Dr. Christian nor Dr. Christian Meets the Women contained the superior values of "the Saint" films which had each proved imaginative and surprising. Dr. Christian's efforts were pure formula, made at about the same artistic level as the episodes of a modern television series. The Courageous Dr. Christian is typical. In the course of an hour or so, the good doctor manages to cure a local epidemic of spinal meningitis while demonstrating benevolence toward the dis enfranchised, setting an. example for wayward youth, and calming the passions of an amorous old maid. Since these pictures were produced and paid for by Stephens-Lang, an Independent company, RKO had nothing to do with them except distribution. The s.tudio did manage small profits from the arrangement. By the end of the year, George Schaefer must have wished his independent deal with Gene Towne and Graham Baker had contained the same provisions as the one with Stephens- Lang. The original setup by RKO with Towne-Baker’s "The " ■ ' ~ 578 Play's the Thing Productions" called for financing from bank loans or other outside sources. Because of certain complications, however., the studio ended up underwriting most of the production cost on the team's subsequent pro ductions. Their films were literary In origin, based on famous novels in the public domain. Thus, they fulfilled George Schaefer's desire for "important" product. However, none of the three 1 9 ^ 0 releases was very good, and all lost considerable amounts of money. Swiss Family Robinson, Johann Wyss's well-known novel about a shipwreck and the building of a new life on an uninhabited island, was the first film to come from "The Play's the Thing" and probably the best. Directed by Ed ward Ludwig and adapted for the screen by Walter Ferris and the two producers, the picture boasted excellent production values and a capable east headed by Thomas Mitchell. Set during the days of the Napoleonic wars, the picture also whispered a contemporary message about the evils of civili zation and "progress." Swiss Family Robinson, received good reviews, on the whole, but audiences did not take to it. Its loss to RKO was $180,000.^ It is easier to understand why the second Towne- Baker picture, Tom Brown's School Days, fared poorly. A liberal sugar coating enshrouded the classic Thomas Hughes story about education at Rugby in the nineteenth century. The screen version shifted the focus away from Tom (Jimmy 579 Lydon) and onto schoolmaster Thomas Arnold (Sir Cedric Hard- wicke) who Is presented as a magician capable of transform ing "savage barbarians" Into "courteous, God-fearing gen tlemen. " In essence, the story bore little Interest for 1940 audiences and the blatant attempts to sentimentalize the plot In order to captivate the hearts of American movie goers failed. Robert Stevenson’s direction was tolerable, but the performances of some of the pupils were dangerously close to the "Dead End" school of dramatic arts. Thanks to Its reduced production budget ($494,000 as opposed to the $681,000 expended on Swiss Family Robinson), Tom Brown lost "only" $110,000.76 The team's worst presentation was Little Men, which premiered in December 1940. The property had been on the minds of RKO executives ever since the enormous popularity of Little Women, in 1933- Compared to the George Cukor- Katharine Hepburn triumph, however, this adaptation was a fiasco. It negated the simplicity and honest sentimentality of the original through cheap jokes, anachronistic dialogue, and maudlin plot manipulations. Towne and Baker, who co wrote the screenplay, had no one to blame but themselves, although Norman McLeod's direction and the work of such cast members as Kay Francis, George Bancroft, and Jimmy Lydon was distinctly second-rate. Only Jack Oakie, playing an ingratiating thief named Willie the Fox, contributed some value to this substandard piece of work. The philosophy 580 behind the Gene Towne-Graham. Baker outfit was literally "the play’s the thing. " Eschewing important stars., the com pany depended on classic literary properties to attract audiences into theaters. But when, stories were mangled like this one, the only thing their productions attracted was critical opprobrium. RKO had to bear the ultimate bur den, however; Little Men, costing only $424,000, stilt- man aged to lose $ 2 1 5 ,0 0 0 for the studio.^ The 1940 musicals hardly suggested that, only a few years before, the best of the genre had been sent out under the RKO logo. There was one major surprise, however: Irene. The company had owned the property for some time, hoping Fred Astaire and/or Ginger Rogers would star in it. When they refused, it was turned over to Herbert Wilcox who cast Anna Neagle and Ray Milland in the principal roles. Irene was quite a change of pace for Miss Neagle who had played Queen Victoria twice and most recently, Nurse Cavell. Now she metamorphoses into a sweet modern Cinderella surrounded by Prince Charmings and enjoying the world of Long Island society to the fullest. Though Neagle manages to sing and dance without embarrassing herself, the show seems so innoc uous and dated that it Is miraculous It attracted such an enthusiastic following. But attract people it did; at a profit of $364,000, Irene was the studio's second strongest >y O picture of the year. The magic evaporated when RKO released No, No Nanette, another Wilcox-Neagle nostalgia musical, as the company's Christmas present to the masses. One of the strengths of Irene had been its supporting cast (Roland Young, May Robson, Billie Burke, Alan Marshal, and Arthur Treacher, In particular) and once again Wilcox surrounded his star with talented character actors: Young, Helen Broderick, Zasu Pitts, and Eve Arden. But Wilcox also decided to downplay the Vincent Youmans■ score which tended to spotlight the Inadequacies of the plot. Another sac charine fable, No, No Nanette followed Miss Neagle through such annoying dilemmas as her uncle's embarrassing involve ment with several different women and her own romantic con flict involving two suitable suitors (Richard Carlson and Victor Mature). Audiences did not manifest the enthusiasm for Nanette that they had for Irene. The picture managed almost to break even, however. The same could not be said for Too Many Girls, another important musical. A major hit on stage in New York, the play had been the object of a bidding war won by RKO which then signed Broadway producer George Abbott to transfer it to the screen. The casting was done basically from the RKO stock company, although original cast members Desi Arnaz and Eddie Bracken did reprise their roles in the movie version. Lucille Ball performed the central role of ' 582 Connie Casey, a beautiful but unpredictable heiress who goes away to college shadowed by four unsuspected body guards., who also happen to be ace football players. Basi cally, this is a light-hearted college romp., but director Abbott allows it to sag at critical moments through poor camera work, deficient editing, and inconsistent perform ances. His lack of cinematic training is evident through out. The score, by Rodgers and Hart, falls well short of their best work and, although there are certainly moments of gaiety and humor, the overall impact of Too Many Girls is negligible. On the other hand, its loss to RKO ($1 7 2,0 0 0) was not inconsiderable.^^ Last and definitely least in the musical category was Erich Pommer's production of Dance, Girl, Dance. Roy Del Ruth directed the film for two weeks, then quit because of creative differences with Pommer. Dorothy Arzner took over, threw out Del Ruth's footage and began again. Much to George Schaefer's chagrin, the budget climbed into the stratosphere. Final cost was $782,000, almost $200,000 more fin than the absolute maximum authorized by Schaefer. A large exploitation and publicity campaign was mounted to ^salvage matters. However, little could be done. The story, about the criss-cross ambitions and loves of two dancers, was tepid formula stuff which neither Arzner nor stars Lucille Ball and Maureen O'Hara could redeem. In recent years, Dance, Girl, Dance had "been rediscovered and championed by 8l critics who admire its feminist sentiments. In. its own time, however, the film received general critical abuse and was considered one of the RKO major disasters. Its losses totalled $400,000.82 Two other significant disappointments Involved pic tures designed to propel budding RKO actresses to stardom. 'Hoping to repeat the stir that Kate Hepburn had caused in her first picture, A Bill of Divorcement, the studio revived the Clemence Dane play and cast Maureen O'Hara as Sydney 'Fairfield. This was not a perspicacious decision; the pic ture, as well as Miss O'Hara's performance and the perform ances of such other cast members as Adolphe Menjou (playing the father), were all unfavorably compared to their original counterparts. The adaptation by Dalton Trumbo was competent 'and John Farrow directed with finesse, but the property it self was beginning to yellow a bit. Its melodramatic ren dering of Victorian taboos about mental disease had not appealed greatly to the 19 3 2 audience (it had been a minor success, largely because of Hepburn and John Barrymore). Moviegoers of 1940 reacted with complete apathy--the picture •lost $104, 0 0 0 . 83 Anne Shirley had practically grown, up at RKO. Now that she was a beautiful young woman, the studio executives believed she had star potential. It was decided that since 584 Shirley had first gained notoriety in Anne of Green Gables hy Lucy M. Montgomery, one of the author's other stories about the character might click with contemporary filmgoers. Anne of Windy Poplars was chosen. Anne becomes a school teacher and is soon beset by the Pringle clan, a hardy group of yahoos determined to make her life hellish. Arming her self with innate goodness and a never-ending reservoir of homey platitudes, our dedicated educator eventually wins over everyone but theater patrons. The mawkish sentimen tality of Anne of Windy Poplars backfired directly in the faces of producer Cliff Reid, director Jack Hively, poor Anne Shirley, and RKO. The losses on this dud totaled Oh $176,000. It is obvious that a number of the pictures George Schaefer felt would be "safe” bets at the very least, turned out to be not only dangerous but disastrous. Before turning to more thorough dissections of the two most disenchanting pictures of the year by RKO, Pinoc- chio should be mentioned. Naturally, the RKO distribution men had been looking forward to the new Disney feature- length cartoon ever since the amazing performance of Snow White. Once again, Walt Disney and his talented collabora tors worked for three years to complete the film, and their painstaking craftsmanship was evident in every frame of the finished product. Pinocchio revealed notable technical ad vances over its predecessor: more refined drawing, richer color tones, a liberated camera that dollies, tracks, or 585 zooms whenever the subject matter calls for movement. The Collodi morality tale chosen as subject did not appeal to audiences as magnetically as Snow White had, however. Per haps the fact that this was the second, not the first, full- length animated film and the Disney decision to release Fan tasia, in selected engagements through his own organization in the same year contributed to the dissatisfying perform ance of Pinocchio. Not that the picture failed to earn a O £7 lot of moneyj its gross revenues were $3-2 million. Using RKO's complicated formula for computing profits on the dis tribution of independent pictures, the film did not help the company. Pinocchio was carried at a $9^.* 000 loss on the RKO ■ k i 8 6 books. Abe Lincoln in Illinois In. February 1939j George Schaefer was finalizing a deal with Broadway theatrical impresario Max Gordon when he received word that Twentieth Century-Fox planned to make a film about Abraham Lincoln starring Henry Fonda. The news was especially disturbing because a major component of Schaefer's arrangement with Gordon and his partner, Harry Goetz, Involved the rights to the Robert Sherwood play, Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Since the Lincoln film by Fox would definitely be finished and into theaters before Abe Lincoln in Illinois, this jeopardized the entire undertaking. Schaefer, nevertheless, went forward with the . . .. . „ 86 Gordon-Goetz independent deal., giving RKO The American Way as well as Abe Lincoln. The American Way was never made due to its large production cost, hut the Lincoln picture was put on the schedule, perhaps because it received the Pul itzer Prize in May 1939» and contained an implicit hymn to "Americanism" which seemed to appeal to filmmakers and audiences alike at the time. The preliminary budget indi cated that the picture would cost more than $1 million. Since this was before the outbreak of the World War and its disruption of foreign revenue, Schaefer gave it the green light. Shooting began in August with John Cromwell direct ing and Raymond Massey portraying Lincoln, as he had in the stage production. In an attempt to "open up" the drama, the picture was filmed largely on location in Oregon. This produced a few problems. Rainy weather and days of poor light brought on by forest fires in the Klamath Palls area On caused the company to fall nine days behind schedule. ' By the time they finished in October, they had lost three more days, but Cromwell still managed to bring the picture in under the budget estimate. Still, at a cost of $1,004,000, 88 this was an expensive undertaking. Even though It was considered an independent deal, the financing of the film came through bank loans which were the responsibility of RK0--whether the picture made money or not. The only cash advanced by the producers was half the cost of the screen play ($112,500).^ Thus, RKO invested almost $900,000 Into 587~j i the picture. If the film did well, both RKO and Max Gordon I Plays and Pictures Corporation, would profit handsomely. But if it fared poorly, RKO would have to bear the brunt of the losses. RKO hoped to release the picture for the Thanksgiv ing holidays, but it proved difficult to cut, score, and dub and so it was held for a January 19^0 release. Schaefer saw a rough cut in late October, then dispatched the follow ing telegram to Max Gordon: Even twenty-four hours after seeing the "Abe Lincoln" production, I still think it is a great motion pic ture. It makes one proud that he is in the picture business, proud that he is an. American, and for my part, I am proud that we in some small measure partic ipated In Its production with Gordon and Goetz. It Is not sensational but sentimental, packed with human, interest, and stays with you days after you have seen it. Everything that you said about it. during the course of production was corroborated by the screen ing. . . . I think you have every right to feel as sured of a very fine public reception. Kind regards and congratulations.90 ■Schaefer was so overjoyed by Abe Lincoln In Illinois that he personally devised a special release pattern. He wanted the picture to open at a gala premiere in Washington, then have special showings with proper ceremonies in several Illinois towns and subsequently move into Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, and other major cities--all showings i Q 1 at special increased admission prices. The Washington premiere must have been the highlight of the entire history of the film. Max Gordon dictated the following to Schaefer’s secretary: 5881 We had dinner with President Sunday night and saw picture. President and Mrs. Roosevelt were very enthusiastic and kept repeating "Great. Great" about picture. Last night's audience tremendously enthus iastic. Spoke to Justice Douglas., Henry Morganthau, Alice Longworth and people of their kind and they were all tremendously enthusiastic.92 The enthusiasm continued as critics from all over the na tion hailed the achievement of Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Prank S. Nugent's encotnimv. in the New York Times is typical: It's a grand picture they've made from Robert Sher wood's Pulitzer Prize play of two seasons back; a grand picture and a memorable biography of the greatest American of them all. . . . There isn’t, by jingo, a trace of jingo In [the] drama. There Isn't a touch of national complacency, of patron age or boastful pride. But Lincoln, and the film they have made about him, is a grave and sincere and moving and eloquent tribute to these United States and to what they stand for, and must stand for. In these and future times. It is a grand thing when the life of a man can come down through the years as a fingerboard pointing a nation's di rection; it's almost as grand a thing when the life of a man can be told as beautifully as this one has been told.93 The ultimate critics--the American audience— were not impressed by ecstatic reviews, or the awards garnered by the production. Moviegoers found the film sorely wanting and did not support it. The attempts of the company to charge increased admission prices for Abe Lincoln were quickly abandoned, and yet the film still failed to draw. Casting about for reasons, the studio blamed the failure on Young Mr. Lincoln by Fox, released six months before, which supposedly took the edge off the RKO production. The cast-' Ing of Raymond Massey, who was relatively unknown to motion picture enthusiasts at the time, was also believed to have damaged the box office potency. When the dust settled, two things were certain: RKO had a financial catastrophe on its hands (final loss to the studio: $7^- 5^0 0 0), and the team of Max Gordon and Harry Goetz no longer possessed an inde- qii pendent production deal with the studio. Viewed today, it seems rather obvious why Abe Lin coln in Illinois proved such a disappointment. It is simply a bad picture. Episodic, colorless, its drama diffuse and uninvolving, the film falls well beneath the best work of John Cromwell. The director has failed to adapt the stage material to the screen with any ease or grace--everything seems cold, formal, and rhetorical. John Ford, the director of Young Mr. Lincoln, chose to concentrate on one event in Abe's life and thus his film for Darryl Zanuck and Fox has a compression, a drama, and an ingratiating good humor which Abe Lincoln in Illinois lacks totally. Because it attempts to cram all the important events of Lincoln's pre-White House career Into two hours, the RKO picture works on an audience like a tedious encyclopedia article. It was dis courteous to blame Raymond Massey for the problems of the picture. His performance is everything one could hope for, given the fact that he is forced to orate as often as talk. Even though the speeches are stirring and Intended to in still national pride in Americans during this period of growing crisis, they are still speeches--and preachy ones at r " - - —■ - 590 that. A number of other inadequacies could be mentioned, but it seems Inhumane to continue. Ultimately, the pathetic performance of Abe Lincoln in Illinois must have been devas tating to George Schaefer. It called into question his unit production philosophy, his preference for "Important" lit erary properties, and his own ability to judge what the public wished to see. They Knew What They Wanted Coming on the heels of the Abe Lincoln disgrace, the story of They Knew What They Wanted represents almost a case study of the Incompetence that was beginning to charac terize RKO activities. The Sidney Howard Pulitzer Prize play, first presented in 1924, had been filmed twice before. The Initial version was called The Secret Hour and starred Pola Negri. It was a silent produced by Paramount in 1928. MGM acquired the rights and came out with a "talkie" en titled A Lady to Love In 1930. Its cast featured Vilma ©anky and Edward G. Robinson. On February 1 9, 1940, Don Gordon and Ardel Wray, who were readers on Lillie Messing- ^er' s staff, both submitted negative reports on the property?® Disregarding their advice, the studio acquired the screen rights in early March for $50,000 from Metro.^ It has not jbeen possible to ascertain who was responsible for the pur chase, though it Is a safe bet that George Schaefer made the final decision. From the beginning, the tale was viewed as 591 a Charles Laughton-Carole Lombard vehicle to be produced by Erich Pommer and directed by Garson Kanin. Both studio readers, mentioned above, had indicated there would certainly be censorship problems with They Knew What They Wanted, an adulterous drama about a waitress who agrees to marry an Italian grape grower in the Napa Valley • and is then seduced by the farmer's hired man. Someone for got to check with the Production Code Administration before the purchase, however, prompting the following letter from chief Hollywood censor Joseph Breen to J. R. McDonough: As I think you know, this property for many years has been listed on the, so-called, "banned list” of the industry. Inquiry from Mr. Hays in New York brings back the information that if_ a screen play, based upon this story, (which is so thoroughly unacceptable in its original form) can be made acceptable under the provi sions of the Production Code, the picture made from this new and revised story may be approved, providing it is agreed by your studio that (a) the original title will not be used, or referred to in conrp.eeti.on with this revised story; and (b) no reference whatever is to be made at anytime, either in the advertising or in the publicity, that the new and revised story is based upon the play, THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED.97 At that very moment, RKO was paying for trade paper adver tisements announcing its plans to make They Knew What They iWanted. George Schaefer decided he had better pacify Breen quickly, so he sent him the following repentant letter: Am terribly sorry we made the mistake of buying THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED without having checked with you. It has been on the "banned list" so long that none of our boys knew, and I assure you that I did not know, it was not acceptable. I am hastening to send not only my apologies and that of the company, but to assure you that we have put into effect an operating policy whereby no stories will be purchased in the future without first having checked with you3 securing your approval. . . . With regard to the production of the above pic ture, I am assured that it will be handled in such a way so as to meet all the provisions of the Production Code and, although an announcement has already been made to the effect that we have bought it and we have announced it in the tradepapers through an ad, nothing from this point on will appear to the effect that we are producing it and the title will definitely be changed.9o S0--RKO had paid for an expensive property which would es sentially be obliterated after the rewrite, title change, and overall disavowal of Sidney Howard's contribution. The Q Q Other Man was the innocuous title decided upon. The filmmakers, particularly Garson Kanin, Erich Pommer, and screenwriter Robert Audrey, who became a famous anthropologist, were outraged by the RKO cringing attitude toward censorship. They began an exhaustive battle to force Breen to accept the title of the play and its basic story. After persistent appeals based on the playwright's reputa tion and the "classic" stature of the play, Breen and his boss, Will H. Hays, finally acceded to the use of the title and the essential plot, as long as the latter met production code regulations. Meanwhile, even before production commenced, George Gallup's Audience Research Institute tested the "audience acceptance value" of the property. Using a short synopsis and including the information that Lombard and Laughton would star, Gallup's researchers determined that audience .............. ' 593 enthusiasm for the project was rather low--lower even than Yigil in the Night. J. R. McDonough decided, to keep this information from the individuals making the picture--for obvious reasons. A second survey was conducted between July 27 and August 2 using They Knew What They Wanted as the announced title. Once again.., public interest rated lukewarm at best. According to Gallup, the explanation seemed not to be in "the marquee values of Laughton and Lombard., " but in "the basic elements of the story, which does not find favor with a large number of theatre-goers. n^01 Movie patrons were evidently less impressed by prestigious properties than George Schaefer was. Gallup, incidentally, did not pretend his system was foolproof: It may be, of course, that the picture will do better business than we predict. In 1939 we under estimated the box-office performance of NINOTCHKA, by failing to make sufficient allowance for the Lubitsch touch. Perhaps the Kanin touch will suc ceed in raising THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED above 1 0 0^; that is the kind of rare element which cannot easily be evaluated in advance. 1 02 Notwithstanding the gloomy forecast, George Schaefer dispatched one of his customary ecstatic telegrams to Harry Edington after a first viewing of the finished film. Schaefer called They Knew What They Wanted, "one of the finest pictures we ever received" and praised Lombard ("she has never done a better job") and Laughton ("absolute per- 1AD fection"). When it opened in October, however, the . ' 59^ response was even less enthusiastic than Gallup had pre dicted. Schaefer immediately tried a new advertising ap proach with no discernible effect. On Halloween., Ned Dep- inet regretfully informed his boss: I dislike very much to report that the receipts generally from around the country where THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WANTED has opened are poor and exhibitors are beginning to holler. We have not had. any engage ment that we could point to with pride. The eventual loss of the picture was $291,000. Once again, there seem to be obvious reasons for the debacle. In the first place, the casting was highly questionable. Beauteous Carole Lombardy playing a desti tute waitress willing to do anything to escape poverty, strained credibility, and Charles Laughton's portrayal of Tony Patucci was almost a caricature of vociferous Italians. William Gargan, the hired man, scowls and skulks about throughout the film; he's not in the same league with the two stars and he seems to know it. Some place along the way, Garson Kanin lost control of the action and allowed it to degenerate into the lowest form of bathetic melodrama. Unlike his other pictures, this one is almost devoid of humor and the acting ranges from acceptable to awful (Frank Fay as Father McKee, for example). There were rumors of constant turmoil on the set--of irreparable conflicts among the cast and crew. If true, that may explain why everyone in the picture seems to be working earnestly but without any conviction or gusto for his job. In the end, one feels 595 most sorry for Sidney Howard. With the best of intentions, RKO managed to mangle his play and its message about the necessity of tolerance. Had he been alive at the time, Howard probably would have felt disappointed that the cen sors did not hold their ground, thus keeping his name off the abysmal picture. The year 19^-0 had been a very grim one for RKO film product. ig4l— Pandemonium at RKO At 5:40 p.m. on January 9, 1941, Louella Parsons telephoned George Schaefer's office. Miss Parsons, gossip columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain, was in a state of ■rage. She had just viewed Orson Welles's Citizen Kane and, according to notes in the RKO files, demanded to speak to " l the RKO president who must have departed for the day. "How dare Mr. Schaefer ever do a thing like that," said Miss Parsons indignantly, referring to Kane which she believed 'to be a libelous biography of her boss, William Randolph 107 Hearst. Speaking probably to Schaefer's secretary, Lee Clair, Parsons promised that Hearst would "bring a terrific amount of pressure on the Motion Picture Industry" and that RKO would be hit with one of "the most beautiful lawsuits" in history if the movie were ever released.After demand ing to know Schaefer's home phone number, the columnist em phasized that the situation was "a matter of life and death to RKO" and then, hung up.10^ j ............. " ‘ *' 596 This conversation marked, the beginning of the nasti est controversy that had ever involved the company: RKO vs. ¥. R. Hearst vs. Orson Welles. Details of the altercation may be found in the special section on. Citizen. Kane. At this point., it is enough to say that the problems with Hearst were only the beginning. In the management arena alone, 19^1 proved to be a year of sound and fury, certainly the most unstable, tumultuous period we have considered so far in this study. As might be expected, the stimulus for upheaval was tfcie financial performance of the corporation. Now that RKO was free of receivership, it was expected to make profits. But in its first year (19^0), the "new" RKO lost $9 8 8,191 George Schaefer blamed the deficit on a long list of ex penses derived from the reorganization process, but these expenses were only part of the problem. Anyone could look at the desultory 19^0 releases and understand why RKO was falling behind its competitors. Schaefer, in effect, acknowledged the difficulty when he announced that he would be moving his office to Hollywood and taking over production early in the year. Only industry insiders realized that this was not as big a bombshell as it seemed.. George Schaefer had been running production since he became the president of RKO. While it was out of the ordinary for a corporate head to set up shop in Hollywood, the move itself would not alter matters fund “597 amentally. The public announcement that Schaefer was assum ing control at the studio did,, however, throw the jobs of all the other studio executives into limbo. For example, what would Harry Edington's position be from now on? His contract still had one year to run. What about J. J. Nolan and J. R. McDonough? Would their jobs and titles remain the same? Would Lee Marcus continue to control the B unit in the new alignment? Rumors concerning a big RKO shakeup be gan to circulate widely. Initial confirmation of the scuttlebutt came in February when J. R. McDonough took charge of the B unit, thus relieving Lee Marcus of his former duties. Schaefer announced initially that Marcus would continue to work as an associate producer in the unit, but this subterfuge dis- 112 solved in April when Marcus quit RKO. Marcus had been the head of the low budget unit of the studio for several years, but he and Schaefer had never seen eye-to-eye. Now J. R. McDonough would face the challenge of producing com mercial pictures made on moderate to tiny budgets. Also in April, J. J. Nolan, vice-president In charge of the RKO studio, lost that title and became an assistant secretary H R of the corporation. ^ According to George Schaefer, Nolan's salary and status would "remain the same," and he would continue to be Schaefer's "liaison man in the stu- llii dio." During the same week, William Mallard resigned as general counsel and secretary of the corporation and Frank R. ' - - - -.~5£8- Donovan stepped down as operating head of RKO Pathe News. While the shuffling continued, little was being said about titular production head Harry Edington who was, in actual ity, functioning as a straight producer only. Later in the month, George Schaefer evidently de cided that he could not oversee production and function, as corporate president as well. Schaefer offered the job of filmmaking chief to Sol Lesser, the independent producer who had provided the Bobby Breen musicals to RKO, as well as numerous pictures to other companies. Lesser wanted the job but was prevented from taking it by a contract he had 115 signed with' United Artists. The story did make the trade papers, however, thus confirming the fact that RKO was "shopping" for someone to take charge. Schaefer's ultimate choice for the post must have provided quite a jolt to the entire industry. In May came the announcement that Joseph I. Breen, Director of the Pro duction Code Administration, had signed to take over the studio. Since 193^.? Breen, had been, the chief censor of the industry, a job he approached with fervor and reasonable tact. Breen definitely knew what could not go into pic tures, but there was no assurance he understood what should be put into them (i.e., what would be good and commercial). Joseph Breen's creative abilities were absolutely unknown. He had never developed a property or produced a picture, much less superintended a whole studio output. Thus, 599 George Schaefer’s decision to hire him bordered on the out landish. No one could accuse Schaefer of playing it safe; he was daring to a fault, the kind of gambler old pros love to include in their games. By mid-year, the company had been almost completely revamped. Charles Koerner, former West Coast division man ager for RKO exhibition, was now in charge of the entire 117 network of theaters. Koerner succeeded John J. O'Connor who had handed Schaefer his resignation in May. Like Nolan, J. R. McDonough was forced to surrender his title as vice- president of the company., The following memo from McDonough to Schaefer explains the reason for this and provides a clear indication of McDonough's feelings about the matter: I attach, as requested by you, my letter resigning the office of Vice President of this company. I have al ready told you that it was not only a surprise but a shock to me that I should be asked to relinquish this title. You have told me that you believe that proper organization of the studio calls for only one man to have such a title in order to avoid any possibility of a question of his authority. Since I have always been a man who gave loyalty to an organization rather than to a title I am naturally following your wishes, though I had hoped to persuade you otherwise. The one man at the studio holding the title of vice- president, from this point on, would be Joseph Breen. Breen definitely would function as studio boss, but Schaefer decided he might need more help with production. So, in late June, RKO hired Sol Lesser as an executive producer in charge "of the studio's A product.Lesser, by this time, had managed to obtain his release from United Artists. The new power structure looked, like this: Breen would, have overall responsibility for RKO film production with Sol Lesser supervising the high budget films and J. R. McDonough running the B unit. George Schaefer was moving back to New Yorkj leaving the studio in the care of his hand-picked subordinates. Of course, it still remained to be seen how much freedom he would accord them. Joseph Breen's initial remarks upon assuming his new job were: "a studio-wide shuffle in actors, producers and directors is necessary for the studio to turn out good 120 product." Emphasizing that the only thing wrong with the business is "too many bad pictures," Breen promised not 121 to make "that kind." Breen's remarks surely contributed to the confusion and pessimism which must have pervaded the RKO ranks by this time. In half a year there had been a record number of comings and goings and more were now prom ised. A few days later, Joe Nolan resigned, and reports indicated that the studio was trying to "wash up" Harry Edington's contract and get rid of him as soon as pos- 122 sible. Instead of providing fresh leadership and inspira tion, the new regime seemed to inspire acrimony and dis trust. In his zeal to succeed, Sol Lesser managed to alien- jate most of the production staff. Within a month, Joseph •Breen found himself having to mediate between Lesser and jsuch producers as David Butler, Tay Garnett, and David ... "6oi Hempstead, all of whom had been pushed to the point of rebellion by Lesser's brutal attempts to whip things Into 121 shape. Apparently, Schaefer had Instructed Lesser to "put pictures Into production. . . . no matter how ruthless [you have] to be," but Lesser’s approach brought turmoil 124 rather than action. The storm calmed somewhat-in the next few months, although Sol Lesser's reputation was certainly tarnished by the events. Rumors began to spread that he was now on RKO's expendable list. Lesser committed another small blunder in September which is worthy of mention because it elucidates Schaefer's new executive chain of command. Lesser wrote Ned Depinet directly to ask his opinion of a proposed prop erty, Hunky. Schaefer sent Lesser a telegram expressing his disaffection for Hunky, and then explained his feelings further in the following letter to Joseph Breen: Think it is a mistake for any executive producer to communicate direct with the sales organization as to the advisability of making certain pictures. All such matters should clear from the executive produc ers through you. You, in turn, can take it up direct with me. In this way, we will eliminate unnecessary delays, confusion and misunderstandings. Mr. Depinet may, on the one hand, think favorably of it and, on the other hand, I may have an opposite opinion. The first thing you know, we will be crossing wires. ^ 5 And thus, nothing had really changed. The final word re garding production matters still Issued from the mouth of President Schaefer. The new heads of the two basic units, as well as Joseph Breen, were to function as screening 602 agents and recommending bodies * not decision makers. Two and a half years at the RKO helm had failed to teach George Schaefer the folly of this type of setup. New York inter ference in studio affairs had cost RKO David Selznick* now . the top producer in the entire industry,, and it remained a major reason for RKO's difficulties nine years later. The last part of the year engendered rumors about George Schaefer* himself* and his future with RKO. Most knowledgeable sources believed that Schaefer would .receive a new contract when his old one expired at the end of 19^-1* but there were also rumblings of a massive impending trans mogrification. Joseph Kennedy was even mentioned as a pos- 126 sible successor to Schaefer. The decision concerning Schaefer would be made by three men: Floyd Odium* David Sarnoff* and one of the Rockefellers (either Nelson or John D. Rockefeller* Jr.). Odium now represented the major power behind the throne. For the past two years* his Atlas Corporation had been purchasing bundles of RKO stock. By the end of 19^+1* it was expected that he would hold a ma jority stock interest in the corporation* thus enabling him 127 to assert his authority more forcefully than ever before. Although Odium had not sponsored George Schaefer for his job originally* some sources indicated that the two men liked and respected each other and that Odium would back Schaefer--- for a little longer at least. Indeed* this must have been. . " ~ ----- - "603 the case because a new deal for the RKO president was deemed 1 28 a certainty in December. Schaefer would be on probation.., however. The reported contract had six-month option clauses; if RKO did not perk up substantially, the possi bility existed that Schaefer could be out of work in a short time. Floyd Odium flexed his muscles in other areas. In December, he had one of his personal favorites, N. Peter 1 2Q Rathvon., elected an RKO vice-president. Since the end of receivership, Rathvon had been superintending other Odium interests, such as Madison Square Garden and Bon.wit Teller’s. Now, Odium felt he needed someone to participate directly in RKO operations and used his influence to install Rathvon. Odium was also able to get another of his "men," Garrett Van Wagner, named comptroller of the parent organ!-' zation. Evidence now suggested that if RKO continued to flounder, Floyd Odium would be stepping in. forcibly to pro tect his investments. President George Schaefer predicted in December that 19^2 would be "a great year for RKO" because the studio had "more holdover pictures in theaters and more important plays in production, than, at any other time in the studio's his- 180 tory." J Despite his optimism, the organization was still mired in chaos at the end of 19^-1. Besides Odium's decision to become involved, there was much conjecture about new pol icies and personnel changes. Among the possibilities men- 6 Op tioned were a dissolution of the executive committee of the board of directors, a reduction of the number of members on the board, and changes in the executive personnel of the studio. Since Joseph Breen was "expected to remain in change of production, 1 1 the implication of the statement was that either Sol Lesser or J. R. McDonough (or both) might 122 be going the way of Harry Edington in. the near future. ^ Edington had been persona non grata at the studio through out 19^-1. Because of the executive producer's contract, Schaefer could not get rid of him so he allowed Edington to work on pictures (he actually produced Suspicion), while refusing to give him producer credit. Although Edington remained on salary until January 19^-2, he stopped reporting 122 for work in early November. It is impossible to say if Edington was as big a failure as George Schaefer believed, or simply a scapegoat for the RKO president's own failings. One thing is certain. Edington was representative of Schaefer's appointments--a man of considerable industry experience but minimal production experience. When Schaefer determined that Harry Edington could not handle the intri cacies of RKO production, one would think the RKO president, profiting from his mistake, would have brought in a veteran to replace him. But whom did Schaefer choose? Joseph Breen. One is staggered by the illogic of such decisions. 605 Personnel In early February, the RKO executives decided to restore the pay cuts Imposed on company personnel when 134 World War II began.. This was, perhaps, the best news of the year for RKO employees. Otherwise., activities In the personnel sector were just as volatile as they were in management. The biggest crisis facing George Schaefer involved Ginger Rogers. Rogers was RKO1s last real star, the only actor under exclusive contract to the studio whose presence meant both A-level recognition and box-office success. Unfortunately, Ginger's seven-year contract was scheduled to expire in May 1941, so Schaefer took It upon himself to keep Ginger within the fold. He failed, at least In principle. Negotiations between Schaefer and Rogers' agent, Leland Hayward, began in March and continued for the next several months. Schaefer naturally wanted to retain the actress' services exclusively and offered her $3 9 0 ,0 0 0 per year on a 135 three-year basis, for the privilege. Rogers, however, was adamant in her desire to make pictures at other studios and held firm for this option. When the bargaining finally ended, Ginger Rogers had agreed to make three pictures for 136 RKO within the next three years. Otherwise, she would be free to act in films for whomever she pleased. This meant, In effect, that RKO had lost Miss Rogers. Indeed, by the end of the year she had signed to make three pictures 6o6 for Twentieth Century-Fox, and no new RKO Rogers production 137 was scheduled in the foreseeable future. The slipping away of Ginger Rogers dealt a crucial blow to RKO1s withered stock company. Variety assessed the situation in its last issue of the year: RKO, as result of all reorganization and manage ment turmoil, was weakest of all companies for per manent star listing. It’s [ sic ] best bet., Ginger Rogers, flitted out to free-lance, and company which has been, making its product through individual picture deals with outstanding stars, had to take its chances on the open market for its top talent. RKO is figured the problem child of Hollywood, and a frequent query is, "When are they going to get some players, or develop some that mean box office. " Joe Breen and Sol Lesser . . . have been scouting around, but nothing has happened as yet. Studio had its tal ent scouts . . . but their percentage of new faces for the outfit has been nil. May be better luck in 1942.138 George Schaefer did not lose his enthusiasm for in dependent deals, despite the disappointing arrangements with Max Gordon and Harry Goetz and Gene Towne and Graham Baker (now removed from the RKO roster). New pacts were made with Gabriel Pascal, a Hungarian producer-director who controlled the film rights to George Bernard Shaw's plays, Jed Harris, a Broadway producer, Pare Lorentz, the famous documentarian (The River, The Plow That Broke the Plains), and William (Dieterle. Dieterle, who had been one of Warner Brothers' star directors in the 1930s and made RKO's Hunchback of Notre Dame, was the only name on the list with Hollywood jexperience. In these choices, Schaefer remained true to his reputation for bold, risky deal-making which could be ex • - ' ' 6071. pected to contribute, at least, to RKO1s intellectual pres tige. The same kind of thinking that brought Orson Welles to RKO was at the core of the Pascal, Harris, and Lorentz deals. Welles and his Mercury Productions, incidentally, signed a new contract with RKO during the year. By far the biggest coup of 19^1 was the signing of Samuel Goldwyn. Goldwyn, almost a major studio unto him self, had been embroiled in a bitter legal dispute with 179 United Artists since 1939* A settlement was reached on March 11, 19^-lj freeing Goldwyn to sign with RKO for the release of his prestigious, independently produced and fi nanced pictures. The original agreement entitled RKO to only two films: The Little Foxes and Ball of Fire. After that, Goldwyn could go elsewhere if he felt unsatisfied. In December, however, Sam Goldwyn expressed the opinion that Ned Depinet was "a fine guy" and that the RKO organi zation was "doing a swell job" handling his productions. Goldwyn had a reputation for being one of the most difficult men to please in Hollywood; thus, his words constituted high praise and also suggested that he planned to continue the relationship. In. Disney and Goldwyn, RKO now had two of the three strongest independents in the industry (David Selznick was the third). The company's other affiliated "units" were bush leaguers in comparison. RKO lost two important producers and one special director during the year. The director was Garson Kanin, 6 0 * 8 by now the leading light of the contract staff. Kanin, was drafted into the Army, shortly after completing Tom, Dick and Harry with Ginger Rogers. Twenty-four other RKO employ- jees also entered the service during the year, but the de parture of the entire group was less traumatic to the organ ization than the loss of this one individual. The two producers--Robert Sisk and Erich Pommer — left under different circumstances. Sisk, formerly the director of advertising and publicity, quit around the time l4l that Lee Marcus left the studio. Bob Sisk had been a B producer for several years, enjoying quite a number of suc cesses. Like many others, though, he resented George Schaefer's incursions into his domain. In February 19^0, he wrote Schaefer protesting the president's' assigning of an actress to one of his pictures without even informing him. His letter contained the following warning: I have godd respect for you--I think you know that--but I can't have any self-respect and be a stooge producer. I'd rather leave here, George, than begin going through routines again.1^ 2 Fourteen months later, Sisk made good his threat and de parted. He went to work for Paramount shortly thereafter. The Pommer story is rather repugnant. On April 16, bhe esteemed producer suffered a heart attack. The studio closed him off the payroll on April 19 and began to look I i4s for a way to terminate his contract. The reasons were self-evident.. Pommer was receiving a high salary, but his fliras had. not been successful. The Illness provided a con venient excuse to get rid of him. Naturally, Pommer pro- 144 tested., taking his case to superior court In June. Be fore a verdict was reached, however, Pommer and the RKO attorney, Mendel Silberberg, agreed on an out-of-court settlement. The producer would return to the studio and produce at least one more film before his contract expired l4b in December. Pommer was assigned Passage from Bordeaux. Various stalling tactics were employed, however, and it became clear in November that RKO had no intention of allowing him to finish the film. Pommer received nothing but evasion from Sol Lesser and found it impossible to gain access to Joseph Breen, who had given him the project in the first place. The producer wrote anguished letters to Breen, insisting that RKO fulfill its promises to him. Breen did speak to Henry Herzbrun, Pommer's agent, but refused to discuss the 146 situation with the producer directly. The only conces sion that Breen would offer involved giving Pommer credit on Passage from Bordeax, when it was finally made, even though the picture would be supervised by someone else. Needless to say, this was an insult to a man of Pommer1s reputation. On December 15, RKO.terminated Erich Pommer. He had been duped by an organization that simply disregarded the assurances it had made him. RKO was definitely earning ■its reputation as Hollywood's number one "problem child." 610 Production Despite all the furor., RKO managed to keep its pro duction machinery running, with reasonable efficiency, throughout the year. The consent decree of 1940 was a major factor. According to the provisions of the decree, RKO and four other majors (MGM, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Twen tieth Century-Fox) would have to begin, offering their films to exhibitors in. blocks of five (maximum) around August 1, 1941. Thus, there was heavy pressure to finish pictures as quickly as possible, building up a backlog of product that would make each company competitively strong when the bidding began.. Since releases would generally commence four to twelve weeks after the trade screenings, the new system would definitely have far-reaching effects on the cash flow, as well as the production policies, of all the studios. On August 23, 1941, RKO had seventeen pictures finished and 147 ready for showing. 1 Needless to say, this meant that the spring and summer were an. unprecedented period of activity at the studio. Earlier in. the year, George Schaefer announced that there would be a reduction in the total number of films made for the 1941-1942 season.. In February, he predicted that thirty-five "top bracket" productions, plus five or 148 six westerns, would make up the new program. By June, the forecast had been revised upward. Now, RKO planned forty to forty-five films, still a considerable drop from the forty-nine to fifty-three features promised by the 14Q company the summer before. This announcement came at the annual sale convention held in New York in June. Among the contemplated pictures were a second Orson Welles production; Father Takes a Wife. , marking the return to the screen of Gloria Swanson; Before the Fact (release title: Suspicion) with Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine, directed by Alfred Hitch cock; another Kay Kyser musical special; "Ginger Rogers starring vehicles"; and independent productions from Gold- 150 .wyn., Disney, Wilcox, Dieterle, and others. Comedy-again would predominate in the offerings of the studio, and there would be several continuing series. George Sanders was to segue from the "Saint" into the "Falcon," another mystery offering, the Mexican Spitfire's adventures would go for ward, and "Lum 'n' Abner" and "Scattergood Baines" joined 151 the RKO ranks. A promise was also made to continue the Tim Holt westerns. Shortly after the convention, Joseph Breen disclosed his attitude toward future RKO production. Embracing "es capist" pictures as being "what the public wants," Breen pledged that his administration would adopt a policy of "pictures for entertainment only. "-*-52 "in my considered judgment, when you put preachment, religion or politics on the screen you get into controversy with your audience," 155 he added. Additionally, Breen, mentioned the need for RKO to acquire new talent and the importance of good stories I ’ * " " ‘ " 6 1 2 I iwhich might make some of the young RKO actors into stars. Obviously., Joseph Breen wished to concentrate on the safe and reliable,, staying away from anything that might be con troversial. However, it must be emphasized that final de cisions still rested in the hands of George Schaefer who had the power to countermand all of Breen's purposeful statement s. Breen and Schaefer seemed to get along swimmingly throughout the last half of 1941. If there were conflicts between the two men, no records exist to confirm them. A major quarrel did develop between Schaefer and J. R. McDonough, though. It commenced shortly after McDonough took control of the B unit. Believing that the new block- of-five selling system would demand higher quality program pictures, Schaefer instructed McDonough to make ten "spe cial" films for an average of $ 2 5 0 ,0 0 0 each as part of the 1941-1942 schedule. McDonough was also responsible for seven other routine "programmers," made for a little over $100,000 each, and six Tim Holt westerns, costing about 155 $50,000 apiece. (After observing how cheaply Columbia and other studios made their low-grade westerns, the studio had decided to cut the budget for these films to the ^ \156 bone.; At this point, it is interesting to recall J. R. McDonough's early days with RKO. Reputed to be the tough, "no-nonsense" type, Mac (as he was called) was hired to 613 ride, herd on spendthrift producers., making sure that budget estimates were within proper boundaries and were adhered to scrupulously. His position In the executive hierarchy had changed several times through the years, but his major task generally remained the same. Although McDonough seemed to mellow considerably in his attitude toward the interplay between finances and the creative process, he nevertheless represented a considerable obstacle that producers.' had to face in order to squeeze out a few more dollars for their pictures. McDonough was now on the other side of the fence. Assigned the task of supervising a large group of films,, he soon discovered that holding down costs was no easy task. In March, George Schaefer became concerned when he discov ered that five of McDonough's proposed productions (includ- ing Parachute Battalion., Father Takes a Wife, and The Mayor of 44th Street) all had estimated budgets of $300.,000 or 1S7 more. In a letter to McDonough, Schaefer demanded that the figures be "cut down or . . . justified by the submis- Icr sion to me of the cast to be used and other good reasons." J Otherwise, such spending would force RKO to overrun, its total production budget considerably. McDonough failed to comply with Schaefer's ulti matum. By fall, he estimated that his ten "specials" would cost some $470,000 more than Schaefer desired. In. a long memo to Joseph Breen, Mr. McDonough attempted to (explain, the situation and justify his actions. He blamed commitments made on Parachute Battalion and Father Takes a Wife before he took them over for the excess of $211 .,000 on the two productions. Among the other excuses offered was the necessity to replace the directors of two films (Call Out the Marines and Sing Your Worries Away) after they had each been shooting for more than, a week. Nevertheless,, it seemed to McDonough that the extra expenditures would definitely pay off in the long run: Based on all information given, to me, I believe our pictures are being made with a quality comparable with and a cost equivalent to that in the other big studios in town. In every instance where the appro priation of $2 5 0 ,0 0 0 has been, exceeded there has been an adequate reason for it,--either because of produc tion difficulties or because of the submission of better cast names than afforded us by our contract players.l6l McDonough's last argument suggested that $250,000 was an insufficient budget for these "specials'1 anyway, thus chal lenging George Schaefer's concept of the pictures: Finally, my impression is,--confirmed by experi ence, --that we have a better chance to make this class of picture for an average of $3 0 0 , 0 0 0 than we have for $ 2 5 0,0 0 0,--particularly if we want to get quality,-- and we can only get quality in. them by employing the class of director I have mentioned and the type of cast I have given. Joseph Breen wired the contents of McDonough's memo to President Schaefer who responded with a livid telegram. Schaefer stated that he believed it was "simply impossible for this company to make money on pictures of that quality based on such cost” and emphasized that, all others matters 615* aside,, McDonough had been told to make ten pictures averag ing $2 5 0 ,0 0 0 each and was going to "far exceed" his estab- 163 lished budget. Schaefer instructed Breen to put a vise grip on McDonough: It is my suggestion that you instruct McDonough to make no further commitments in any respect to any of remaining pictures without consulting you, having in mind these pictures must be brought through at $250,000 budget. We cannot permit him to go over board on commitments which affects [sic] budget limitations we have established. Other studios are making showmanship pictures and are keeping their cost within $2 5 0,0 0 0 ,1 6 4 Schaefer's final comment referred to McDonough's remark that he needed $3 0 0 ,0 0 0 budgets to produce the quality pictures Schaefer wanted: That opinion is not shared here in New York and wish you would please inform McDonough that we will lay out policy and will expect him to adhere to it; that everyone here is greatly concerned with quality we have received so far and at the cost they have come through. In conclusion, repeat my suggestion, that McDonough consult with you before any commitments are made on balance of pictures so that we may have full control of his costs.165 By the end of the year, Schaefer had given up on McDonough completely and was preparing to dismiss him. Not only had he failed to keep costs down, his pictures were disappointing, on the whole. J. R. McDonough certainly did not have the creative abilities of Lee Marcus. Through the years, Marcus had made many poor pictures, but his overall record as "king of the RKO B's" was quite respectable. Of course, George Schaefer had been responsible for Marcus' departure from the studio. Therefore, the failure of " 616 Marcus' successor represented another addition to the grow ing list of Schaefer's executive blunders. Above and beyond the personalities involved., one has to wonder about the new B unit philosophy. Over the years, a strong feeling had developed that "in between" films were an economic liabil ity. B pictures costing more than $150,000 showed a clear record of losses, inducing the company to abandon them in the late 1930s. This policy prevailed during Schaefer's first year as well, and then suddenly he decided to start making "specials." As mentioned earlier, Schaefer believed ■he had to upgrade the quality of the Bs because of the new sales regulations. Still, the idea totally disregarded the lessons of the past, lessons learned by RKO the hard way. By the end of 1941, McDonough and Sol Lesser were both nearing the end of their respective tenures at RKO, such new faces as Pare Lorentz, Gabe Pascal, and Jed Harris were preparing major productions on the studio lot, and Orson Welles was getting ready to go to Brazil where he planned to make a picture called It's All True. Welles had no script for the project--only a few sketchy ideas. De spite the vote of confidence given Schaefer by the Board of directors and the president's own optimistic statements about the company's prospects for 1942, the instability quo tient was reaching an all-time high. Joseph Breen had, in six months, demonstrated no special affinity for his job as company production head and Schaefer had, once again, en ' " " ' " 6 it " trusted RKO's future productions to a group composed largely of individuals of unknown or questionable expertise. There was one person who would eventually help in this area. Charles Koerner^ the head of the RKO theater departments followed box-office trends closely and began to suggest ideas to Schaefer. On December 23, 1941, Koerner sent the following memo to the corporate president: It is interesting to note the success of several pictures of the horror type at the present time. Fox's SWAMP WATER is doing exceptionally good business in the so-called B or exploitation houses. The horror and gruesome angle is stressed very strongly in this picture. While we have not had as many bookings on Uni versal Ts WOLF MAM the first Indications are that this.will also prove an. uncommonly good grosser. Schaefer, uninterested in horror films, disregarded Koer ner 's suggestion. Charles Koerner would, however, find himself in a position to act on his notions sooner than he could know. And given the opportunity, Koerner would man age the totally unexpected. He would turn RKO into a boom ing financial success. The Films The presence of Citizen Kane, alone, would be enough to make 1941 an extraordinary year for RKO releases. Even without Kane, however, the efforts of the studio were defi nitely superior to the terrible films of 1940. Still, the overall quality is uneven.’ The absence of a consistent guiding philosophy and quality control Is evident in the ' ' " 618 diverse pictures Issued during the year. In January 19^-1 * the studio’s publicity department announced that its own informal survey showed a "virtually unanimous" demand for comedy among filmgoers.1^ Acting accordingly, RKO continued to turn out whimsical., light weight entertainments throughout the year. Play Girl, for example,, was an old-fashioned "gold digger" story starring Kay Francis. Losing her charms, Francis decides to pass on the tricks of the trade to a young novice (Mildred Coles) who soon finds herself the victim of a routine conflict between love and her "career." Fortunately, the object of her affections (James Ellison) turns out to have $ 1 1 million, thus repairing all difficul ties. Directed listlessly by Frank Woodruff, Play Girl was good for very few laughs. Fortunately for RKO, Play Girl was made cheaply and only cost the studio $16,000 in l o s s e s . Unexpected Uncle was every bit as bad and cost twice as much, resulting in a $195*000 deficit. This was one of the J. R. McDon ough "specials" that enraged Schaefer. A fable about a former tycoon (Charles Coburn) who forsakes his millions to preach the gospel of happiness, the picture represented nothing more than, a silly trifle. The biggest weakness was the screenplay, written by Delmer Daves and Noel Langley, which failed to be either comical or heartwarming. Anne Shirley and promising RKO actor James Craig, as well as 619 Coburn, tried their bes't to add charm to the Capraesque proceedings, without notable success. Another major disappointment was Week End for Three. The script, by Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell, was better this time. It narrated the frustrations of a pair of newly weds (Dennis O'Keefe and Jane Wyatt), Imposed upon a play boy guest who will not leave. Irving Reis's direction, however, was static and uneven, resulting in. some moments of high hilarity and others of leaden tedium. Philip Reed's hyperextended performance as the obnoxious pest did not help matters. The ultimate blame for Unexpected Uncle and Week End for Three should probably be placed on the shoul ders of Tay Garnett, who produced both. Week End for Three lost $1 6 8,0 0 0 . 1 70 A Girl, A Guy and a Gob and Father Takes a Wife each involved the talents of a great star of the silent era. Choosing to produce rather than perform, comedian Harold Lloyd supervised the former, a slapstick outing featuring George Murphy, Lucille Ball, and Edmond O'Brien. The film, built around a rivalry between a wealthy snob (O'Brien) and a boisterous sailor (Murphy) for Miss Ball's affections, was marked by the same bounce, breakneck pacing, and vari ety of gags which had contributed to Lloyd's success as a performer. Although not a big hit, the picture was superior to most of the other comedies of the year. It was certainly superior to Father Takes a Wife. 6 20 Gloria Swanson returned to the screen after a seven-year absence in this tale of an aging widower (Adolphe Menjou) who falls head over heels in love with a famous actress (Miss Swanson). The big dilemma for Menjou is how to break the news to his sober son (John Howard). Although Gloria Swanson performed well., Menjou's representation of a man entering his second childhood was woeful and Jack Hively's deliberate direction took the edge off much of the intended humor. Helen Broderick and Desi Arnaz both contributed in secondary roles, but Gloria Swanson's choice for a comeback proved ill-considered. The picture eventually lost $104., 000 for RKO . 171 The biggest surprise of the B unit "specials" was Look Who's Laughing. Produced and directed by Allan Dwan, the film brought together several radio comedians (Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy, Fibber McGee and Molly) in. a nonsensical plot about a small-town entrepreneur and his scheme to lure an airplane factory into the vicinity. The picture, which opened two and a half weeks after Pearl Har bor, had a certain topicality and lunatic attractiveness. When it completed its run, Look Who's Laughing had earned an amazing profit ($3 5 3 0 0 0 ).17^ its success meant the utilization of more radio personalities in future RKO pro ductions; the company seemed to be returning to its origins, finally exploiting its film-radio connection even though this was no longer an active policy or goal. 621 There were no major misfires among the studio's big budget comedies. Neither was there any special box office or critical achievement. After the success of Rebecca, RKO executives pursued the services of Alfred Hitchcock aggres sively and were finally able to make a deal for two pic tures. The arrangement was actually concluded with David Selznick, who held an exclusive contract with Hitchcock, although the director had veto power and came to RKO be cause he wanted to direct the two pictures he was offered. The first of these was Mr. and Mrs. Smith, a quasi-screwball comedy starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery. Hitchcock seems not to have been altogether comfortable with the material, a pure Norman Krasna contrivance about a couple who find out their marriage is void because of a shifting state boundary line. After Lombard and Montgomery discover their "freedom," the picture becomes a parade of misunderstandings and arguments. By the time we come to the end, we are rather tired of the pair and do not really care if they get back together or not (they do, of course). De prived of the thrills and suspense which he always manipu lated so skillfully, Hitchcock, nevertheless, enlivened the picture with a technical brilliance unusual in such domestic travesties. Although Mr. and Mrs. Smith is certainly not one of the major accomplishments of Alfred Hitchcock, audi- • ences found it agreeable. The film made a profit of $73,000.173 622 Tom., Dick and Harry was not actually superior to Mr. and. Mrs. Smith, tut it did earn more ($231.,000) probably 174 because of Ginger Rogers' popularity. The film was di rector Gars on, Kanin's final work before he entered the Army, and the last picture Ginger would complete for RKO for a long time. Paul Jarrico authored the puffy script about a small-town Cinderella who cannot decide which of three at tractive suitors (George Murphy, Alan Marshal, Burgess Meredith) she should choose. Finally she decides on the wealthy Prince Charming (Marshal) but changes her mind and takes off with the one (Meredith) who makes bells ring when she kisses him. Thus, Hollywood again reassures its audi ence that love is more important than money. Kanin con tinually reminds us that he is having fun with cinematic fantasy here, and there are several finely etched moments of satire. Still, the picture seems rather forced and sappy on the whole. Both Rogers and Kanin had more substantial contributions to RKO. The funniest RKO comedy of the year was The Devil and Miss Jones. Produced as a one-shot independent deal by Frank Ross (producer) and Norman Krasna (writer), the pic ture told the unlikely story of the richest man in the world (Charles Coburn) who takes a lowly job in one of his own department stores and learns a good deal more than he ex pected in the process. Ross's wife, Jean Arthur, plays a kindly shopgirl who gives Coburn a course in basic humanity 623 and. Spring Byington. succeeds in awakening long-dormant ro mantic impulses in the tycoon. Sam Wood's direction spar kles in the first half of the picture., which is replete with such rib-tickling ironies as Coburn being tyrannized by the obnoxious floor manager and the "store shopper. " However, Wood allows the film to go on too long, and it loses its punch toward the end, which is mainly an unfocused melodramatic plot centering on Robert Cummings1 attempts to organize the storeworkers into a union. Some judicious editing would have helped Miss Jones, but much can be for given a picture that contains as many captivating moments as this one. RKO's final profit was $114,000 making the 175 Ross-Krasna pact a standout among the independent deals. A similar arrangement with United Producers gave RKO My Life With Caroline, a Ronald Colman vehicle produced and directed by Lewis Milestone. Unfortunately, the results were much less satisfying in this instance. The story, based on a frivolous French play, called for Colman to chase after dizzy Anna Lee, even though they are married. Her nincompoop logic indicates that Reginald Gardiner may be a preferable catch, thus forcing the hero to woo her continu ously while fending off Gardiner in what is supposed to be a battle of wits. Bosley Crowther lambasted the production in the New York Times: There must be some logical explanation why Lewis Milestone, who, after all, is no fool, should put 624 his usually fine directorial hand to a story as vapid as this. There must he some further explanation why Mr. Colman, Mr. Gardiner and Miss Lee., who are all of them competent performers, should be basted on such obvious frippery. But it's too much for our comprehension.17° ‘ Indeed, My Life With Caroline was sadly lacking. RKO was lucky to lose only $3 2 ,0 0 0 on the endeavor.'1 '^ Except for the series pictures, RKO cut back on its melodramatic offerings during 1941. The only "meller" jworthy of mention is Lady Scarface, and then only because •it starred Judith Anderson. Anderson acts the thankless •role of a lady gangster pursued by a handsome police lieu tenant (Dennis O'Keefe). Containing not a whit of freshness or vitality, this Cliff Reid production suggested that RKO was probably wise in avoiding an area handled better by ether studios (particularly Warner Brothers). In the series program, George Sanders underwent an interesting transition. After completing The Saint in Palm Springs, Sanders surrendered the Leslie Charteris character to Hugh Sinclair. Sinclair starred in The Saint's Vacation, produced in England by William Sistrom. Even though it was an open secret that Sanders had grown tired of Simon. Templar, he still managed to call forth his sardonic suavity in Palm Springs, a mildly diverting whodunit about rare stamp snitch-- ang. Sinclair, of course, could not completely fill Sanders shoes, just as the subsequent James Bonds have always fallen short of Sean. Connery. Still, he managed a creditable per- 625 formance in a mystery revolving around an important little music box. A footnote to The Saint's Vacation involves frozen funds in Great Britain. Since the beginning of World War II, profits of RKO pictures had been accumulating there which the company could not take out of the country. There fore, RKO began using the funds to produce films which could be exported. Michael Balcon's Convoy and It Happened to One Man, directed by Paul L. Stein, as well as The Saint's Vaca tion, were all made in. England using the frozen funds and released in America during 19^1. Meanwhile, RKO convinced George Sanders to embark on a new mystery series. "The Falcon" incorporated a good deal of Sanders' "Saint" qualities and added touches of Don Juan, and Robin Hood as well. The new character's debut in. The Gay Falcon, was funny, fast-paced, and stylish. The Lynn Root-Frank Fenton script brings Sanders into contact with several zany characters in the course of his detection work. A series of society jewel robberies provide the chal lenge and familiar faces Wendy Barrie and Allen Jenkins render the assistance. The Gay Falcon. earned a profit of $108,000 and was followed swiftly by A Date with the Falcon, * 1 which generated $75jj000 more. In the latter, Sanders is just about to marry Barrie when, the crisis--this time the disappearance of a mysterious scientist--interven.es. Sand ers does not want to get involved (he never wants to), but is forced to take over because of the incompetence of the 626 public officers. He uncovers a band of murderous smugglers without working up a sweat. Scattergood Baines was the first installment of another new RKO series. Gay Kibbee assumed the role of Clarence Budington Kelland's mellow country philosopher,, a veritable encyclopedia of sensible advice and old-fashioned maxims. For dramatic purposes., Scattergood is made to deal with an iniquitous group who move in to disrupt the pastoral simplicity of Coldriver, the hero's home town. He nimbly outwits the culprits saving his own possessions and the surrounding area from their corrupting influence. Although Scattergood Baines enjoyed only a limited success, RKO quickly followed with Scattergood Pulls the Strings and Scattergood Meets Broadway. Neither added excitement to the lackluster adventures of this walking "Poor Richard's Al manac." The series settled confortably into a niche among the many other mediocre Hollywood "clones" of the period. There was no renaissance of the RKO musical in 19^-1. They Met in Argentina, the worst of the studio's musical productions, must have been a distinct embarrassment to Nelson Rockefeller. Besides being a behind-the-scenes power in. RKO, Rockefeller was "Coordinator of Commercial and Cul- 17Q tural Relations Between the American Republics." ' y His job entailed promoting better relations and closer understand ings between the United States and the countries of Central and South America. Since the studios had lost most of their 627 European film revenue and were growing more dependent on earnings from these very countries, a motion picture divi sion of the coordinator's office came into being with another familiar name, John Hay Whitney, as its director. Shortly thereafter, several studios announced feature films involving Central and South American themes and settings. MGM' s The Life of Simon Bolivar, Twentieth Century-Pox's Blood and Sand, and RKO1s They Met in Argentina were among the initial projects.'1 '^ Lou Brock, the driving force behind Flying Down to Rio, was invited back to RKO and given production responsi bility on They Met in. Argentina. The results, unfortunately, were closer to another Brock calamity, Down to Their Last Yacht, than, to Rio. An aimless script, bad direction, fumbled casting (Maureen O'Hara as an. "Irish senorita" . ' ), and probably the most undistinguished score ever composed by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart made They Met in Argen tina a package sure to offend Latin-Americans and leave domestic audiences in. a dander. Made for less than $500,000: the picture still lost $270,000 and ended Brock's RKO career ~ 181 forever. Playmates, another musical effort, was just as re pugnant in its own way. Essentially a Kay Kyser vehicle, the film exploited poor John Barrymore who was nearing the . end. Barrymore bellows and rants throughout, caricaturing himself outrageously as a has-been actor trying to make a 628 comeback. His scheme involves adapting Shakespare to swing music, a notion, that Kyser naturally finds appealing. As if the sad spectacle of Barrymore and the vulgarization, of "the Bard of Avon." are not enoughs Lupe Velez adds her sur real slapstick to Kyser's patented buffoonery. Embarrassing mishmash are the only words that come close to describing the final result. Herbert Wilcox's Sunny was the best RKO musical of 19^-lj, which does not say very much. After Irene and No, No Nanette, it probably would have been wise for Wilcox and star Anna Neagle to avoid a third consecutive sentimental Journey, but they embarked on one anyway. This revival remained true to the old-fashioned pleasantries and manner isms of the other pictures. A Cinderella fable, the story presented Miss Neagle as a circus performer who falls in love with a New Orleans aristocrat and married' him. in the end, despite the protests of his stiffnecked family. The songs, by Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach, and Oscar Hammer- stein. II, retained a certain congeniality and the dancing of Neagle and costar Ray Bolger was passable. But the nos talgia lode that Wilcox had mined so successfully In Irene was beginning to run dry. Like Nanette, Sunny managed to break even for RKO, and Herbert Wilcox started preparing to return to England where he planned to produce pictures with 182 RKO's frozen monies. 629 After many months of pretending that all was tran quil In Europe, Hollywood finally faced up to the realities of the International ' powder''keg and began to make war films and films dealing with national defense. In a way, these pictures complemented the country's own preparations for war, preparations that picked up momentum throughout 1941. Although Pearl Harbor was a shock, the fact that America became a participant In the hostilities in December was not altogether unexpected. RKO completed one "service film": Parachute Battalion. It succeeded as an educational and Inspirational study of airborne training. With help from the Army, producer Howard Benedict and director Leslie Good wins included authentic footage of the entire process--from the careful folding of the chutes to the actual jumps. The less said about the plot the better: a superficial melo drama featuring Robert Preston, Harry Carey, and Edmund O'Brien, It provided a hook on which to string the documen tary material. Audiences did not seem to mind; their curi osity about all things "military" brought Parachute Bat talion profits of $ 1 2 5,0 0 0. Among the most memorable RKO releases of 1941 were those made by the veteran Hollywood independents: Goldwyn, Disney, Dieterle. Goldwyn's The Little Foxes, while not a big commercial success, has stood the test of time. It deserves consideration as one of the finest adaptations of a play ever committed to celluloid. The source was Lillian Heilman's brooding* malignant drama about greed and treach ery eating away at a genteel Southern family. William Wyler's Impeccable direction gave free rein to the talents of Herbert Marshall* Teresa Wright* Richard Carlson* Dan Duryea and* especially* Bette Davis* who brought Miss Heil man's characters to life in breathtaking fashion. Although Tallulah Bankhead portrayed Regina Giddens on stage* the role seemed written for Bette Davis and she performed it with a relentless iciness that is heartstopping. This is surely one of her greatest (and there were many great ones) performances. Mention should also be made of Gregg Toland* whose deep-focus camera work aided Wyler throughout the translation. The Little Foxes is a story of cruelty* cold and cynical but extraordinarily vivid and compelling. In stature* it stands far above most of the other stabs at drama that issued from Hollywood studios during the year. Walt Disney provided two features* The Reluctant Dragon and 'Dumbo* as well as Fantasia which RKO began to distribute in 19^1. The Reluctant•Dragon* part live-action and part animation* was the weakest of the three. More than anything else* the film represented a feature length ad vertisement for the new Disney studio in the San Fernando Valley. Robert Benchley conducts a tour of the facility* with help from Donald Duck and others. Appended to the expedition is a silly animated tale about a tea-drinking dragon and its faint-hearted adversary* Sir Giles. Unlike 631 Disney's efforts heretofore., The Reluctant Dragon had, the look and feel of a "quickie., " churned out to make a fast buck for the expanding organization. Dumbo, on the other hand, had the polish one'nor mally expected. Although perhaps not as interesting a sub ject as Snow White 6'r Pinocchlo, Disney's imaginative art ists still succeeded in infusing the story of the flying baby pachyderm with wit and visual panache. The "Pink Elephants on Parade" sequence, for example, is nearly un equalled as a piece of native American, surrealism. The arguments about Fantasia are as heated today as they were when the film first appeared. One camp contends that the picture is a major work of art and points to its continuous rediscovery by college students as evidence of its sound and graphic dynamism. The other side believes that Disney's prancing toadstools and other "cute" creations are an insult to the classical music which they illustrate-- an appropriate example of American philistinism and corrup tion of the arts. The truth surely lies somewhere in be tween. Without question, however, Fantasia was an audacious experiment, the attempt by an innovative American genius to wed his art to the music of the masters. Whether or not Disney succeeded appears to be a matter of personal taste. Before turning to three 1941 films for special at tention, a few kind words should be said about William Dieterle's All That Money Can Buy. The director of The 632 Hunchback of Notre Dame returned to RKO during the year, cementing an independent deal with George Schaefer. This version of Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Devil and Daniel Webster" was the first fruit of the arrangement. Working with a meager budget and no major stars., Dieterle managed to turn out a sly and provocative tall tale featuring a bravura performance from Walter Huston. Huston is Mr. Scratch, the seductive devil who gets his hooks into the soul of a countrified Faust (James Craig as Jabez Stone). Coming to his rescue at the last moment is Edward Arnold portraying Daniel Webster, whose oratory about freedom and suffering and starvation and. American, ideals wins over a jury of treacherous ghosts, thus saving Jabez's life, and under scoring the general mood of the nation at that point in time. Visually, the film is a feast with Joseph August’s chiaroscuro camera work and stunning special effects com bining to suggest a demonic underbelly to the solid New England setting. Perhaps because of the absence of stars and/or its unorthodox subject matter. All That Money Can Buy' was not a hit, though it did not lose a substantial amount 184 either. But this delightful and unusual film is still around and still worth seeing. One interesting footnote: rather than provide the usual hierarchical credits at the beginning of the picture, Dieterle chose to list "collabor ators" with no designation as to their respective jobs.’ Thus, he seemed to suggest that filmmaking, for him, was a 633 team effort rather than the translation of his own "personal vision" to the screen. Kitty Foyle The importance of Kitty Foyle to RKO seems readily apparent. Not only did the film bring the studio its first major Oscar in many years (to Ginger Rogers, for her per formance), it also became a financial gold mine, earning 1 Qr profits of $865^000. All this is rather hard to under stand; in truth, the picture is dull and undistinguished and Miss Rogers 1 portrayal of the title character does not rank as one of her best efforts. Perhaps the fact that Ginger went "straight," dramatically speaking, after years of comedy and musical roles, influenced the Academy members who voted her the honor. Second-guessing aside, the studio first began to consider purchasing Christopher Morley's novel in September 1939* Two of the readers in Lillie Messinger's department evaluated it and both recommended against its acquisition. Don Gordon's remarks are indicative of Ardel Wray's feel ings, as well as his own: This is a slow, dull long-drawn-out account of a girl's life. It hasn't any point that I can see. Her romance is about as trite as one can be. It is also a futile romance which fizzles out over the old prob lem about the girl from the wrong side of the rail road tracks and the young man of a wealthy family. As to the struggles of the white collar girls, which fill one part of the story--there is absolutely noth ing new in the treatment of that material. There have 63^ been scores of pictures dealing with the problems of stenographers; and it is more repetition here. Al together^ I am unable to see any screen value in this story. Interestingly, Gordon’s remarks could be taken as a remark ably accurate critique of the finished film. Gordon, how ever, failed to consider the immense popularity of the story. Morley, who was on the staff of the Saturday Review of Literature and also wrote poetry and essays, had fash- Jioned a novel that appealed to a broad spectrum of American women. The property had a "pre-sold" audience. In spite of the readers’ negative feelings, George Schaefer decided to pursue the rights. Among his reasons were the popularity of the novel, the need for vehicles for the company's female performers, and David Hempstead's desire to produce the picture. On December 20, the deal was closed at a final cost of $50,000.^^ Although Hempstead had Ginger Rogers in mind from the beginning, Schaefer be lieved that Carole Lombard, or perhaps Maureen O'Hara, l88 would be better suited to the part. Hempstead convinced Schaefer, then had to sell Rogers who was dubious at first. She eventually agreed and Sam Wood, formerly a contract director at MGM, was hired to take charge of the filming. While the picture was in production, J. R. McDonough asked the Audience Research Institute to run some tests con cerning its potential popularity. The results were less than encouraging. They indicated that Kitty Foyle would be 6 35 "popular with female theatregoers" but not popular enough to compensate for Its almost complete "lack of appeal for - » Oq male theatre-goers." While predicting that the film would probably do only average business., George Gallup's organization did make two important suggestions. First., recalling that Rebecca had been "serialized in. twenty-six mass circulation newspapers immediately prior to the pic ture's release," it was suggested that RKO arrange a simi lar "tie-in" with Kitty Foyle. This would surely con tribute to the box office performance of the film. Second, since a number of respondents to the poll had reacted favorably to the "picture of everyday life" which the mate rial presented, the publicity department was encouraged to 1Q1 play up this angle in the advertising. Both of these ideas were utilized. The company obtained the serialization rights to Kitty Foyle and ar ranged syndication in key newspapers throughout the country. Advertising for the picture emphasized that Ginger had become an everyday working girl, and the actress even > changed her hair color from blonde to brown to "de-glamor- ize" her image. These two strategies, plus the fact that Miss Rogers won her Oscar shortly after the film premiered, surely contributed to the extraordinary success of Kitty Foyle. However, there must be other reasons for its popu larity, reasons that are difficult to fathom. 636 The story must have struck a nerve in the American populace. Somehow,, this lugubrious saga of a Philadelphia girl who gets mixed up with one of the "Main Liners," suf fers the indignant snobbery of his family, loses her baby, and finally leaves her lover behind at the end, burrowed its way into the hearts of American filmgoers. Neither the love story nor the tear-jerker elements of the episodic narrative, conveyed mainly through flashbacks, carry much emotional wallop when viewed today. Dalton Trumbo's screen play, Wood's direction, and the acting of Rogers, James Craig, and Dennis Morgan all seem perfectly bland, negating the viewer empathy that is so essential in a "woman's life" of this type. But why quibble with success? Kitty Foyle was a picture right for its time and its audience. That it has lost much of its potency over the years should not detract from the high value it brought to RKO and to Ginger Rogers in 1941. Citizen Kane The fact that Kitty Foyle was a blockbuster success while Citizen Kane, possibly the greatest film ever made, actually lost money ($154,0 0 0) says a great deal about the taste and intelligence of the theater audience of this 192 era. ^ Considering the plethora of books and articles on the innovations of Citizen Kane in narrative structure, cinematography, sound, and its extraordinary influence on 637 subsequent cinematic endeavors,, it hardly seems necessary to summarize this readily available information. Therefore, I shall concentrate on the impact of Citizen Kane on RKO--a story with unsavory, indeed frightening, overtones. On September 16, 19-^0, a strange item appeared in Newsweek 's "Miscellany" section: The script of Orson Welles' first movie, "Citizen. Kane," was sent to William Randolph Hearst for per usal after columnists had hinted it dealt with his life. Hearst approved it without comment.193 Evidently, Hearst never read the script. Kane was in pro duction when this notice appeared. Shooting continued throughout much of the fall, and word began to leak out that ;Welles was creating something special. J. J. Nolan viewed 7,000 feet of the picture in September and pronounced it n h194 great. The RKO executives planned a major advertising blitz to coincide with the release, set for February 19^1. Trade papers carried ads for the picture well in advance of its opening date, and excitement built up through the end of the year. Thus, the violent response of Louella Parsons to the picture in January (mentioned earlier) must have come as a great jolt to George Schaefer and the other RKO func tionaries. But the most horrifying point was that Louella's employer, William Randolph Hearst, took her hysterical rant- ings seriously. Without screening a print to see if it really was an unflattering biography of himself, Hearst 638 began to exert pressure on RKO. He had his agents deliver an ultimatum to Schaefer that the picture be shelved and* to prove he meant business, ordered his papers not to rtien- IQR tion RKO or its productions. The financial effects of a wide-ranging newspaper boycott were very sobering indeed, but George Schaefer refused to be intimidated--at first. Schaefer's initial reponse stated that the company was giv ing "no serious consideration" to the thought of withholding Citizen Kane.1^ Welles, meanwhile, maintained the film was not about Hearst. In February, however, a conflict developed among the members of the RKO board of directors. One faction, headed by Schaefer, insisted that the picture should be released, while another group believed strongly that it should be 107 repressed. For Schaefer, Citizen Kane meant more than a potential box-office success. It was a personal vindica tion: the film that proved his questionable policies, such as hiring the untested Orson Welles, had paid off. To as sure himself of this, he began to show the picture to in dustry professionals who were awe-struck by what they saw. The following telegram from Schaefer to Welles describes the results of one of these screenings: Know you will be happy to hear that never in my experience in the business have I screened a picture before such a tough and professional audience as I did last night and received such wonderful reaction. Present at the screening were directors Vidor, Die terle, Bob Stevenson, Garson Kanin and producers 639 Hempstead., HawkS; Edington, and agents Stein and Was- serman of MCA and Leland Hayward and actors Kay Kyser and Sir Cedric Hardwicke. At the conclusion; picture not only received a wonderful round of applause; but each and every one most enthusiastic as one of the greatest motion pictures that had ever come out of Hollywood. Most every one was so impressed that they were virtually speechless and some came back the second and third time after the picture was con cluded and told me how much they were impressed. 9° Finally; one of Ceorge Schaefer’s proteges had fashioned the kind of electrifying artistic work that he believed would boost RKO's prestige many times over; and the RKO president was having to battle just to get the masterpiece into the open. Hearst showed no signs of backing down. A minor lawsuit against RKO won by European producer Joseph Ermo- lieff (see: The Soldier and The Lady), costing the company $7*0 0 0; was used as a pretext for a coast-to-coast vilifi cation of RKO and Schaefer on the front pages of the Hearst 199 newspapers. War had definitely been declared and Hearst owned the heavy artillery. February came and went without the release of Citizen. Kane; prospects for the film began to appear gloomy. Schaefer; who had given Welles assurances all along about the picture; suddenly started to act evasive and indefinite and became difficult to reach. Orson Welles started to feel desperate. After a very unsatisfying telephone conversa tion with Schaefer on March J, Welles sent the RKO presi dent a long telegram. In part; it stated: 640 I managed to say very little of what I want to on the phone. Your answers to my questions were them selves unanswerable even if they weren’t good answers. Here's what I mean. When I ask you when the picture will be released, you say you hope to be able to tell me Monday or Tuesday. I ask you to tell me more about it and you simply repeat answer number one. The pic ture was supplied [ sic ] to open, the fourteenth and the [sic 3 on the twenty-eighth. No real reasons were of fered for either postponement. When this trouble first descended upon us, we spoke almost twice daily by phone. Now I have to sit up until four o ’clock in the morning trying to get in touch with you and failing to do so. When I finally reach you, the only satisfaction you can give me is expressed in the merest of generalities. . . . Don't tell me to get a good night's rest and keep my chin up. .Don’t bother to com municate if that's all you have to say. There's no more rest for me until I know_ something concrete, and as for my chin.. I've been leading with it for more than a year and a half. Finally, never think I'm insensible to the great gift of your own loyalty. It is that very loyalty that has spoiled me. Always remember that I well know you're the best man I'll ever work for, but do try to realize that you owe both of us something better than what I now receive.^00 Schaefer replied: Have been trying to get you on the telephone all day, it seems that you are "ducking me." Now laugh that off. Seriously speaking you probably have just cause to complain but please be assured you have nothing to worry about.^ 0 1 The events of the following week undercut Schaefer's words. A press preview of the film was cancelled at the last minute, and the RKO legal staff began scrutinizing its contracts with Welles and Mercury Productions to discover the company's possible liability if it refused to release 202 Kane. Furious about the quashing of the preview, Orson Welles called a press conference and announced he would sue RKO. His formal statement included the following: 64l I believe that the public Is entitled to see "Citizen Kane." For me to stand by while this pic ture was being suppressed would constitute a breach of faith with the public on ray part as a producer. I have at this moment sufficient financial backing to buy "Citizen Kane" from RKO and to release it my self. Under my contract with RKO I have the right to demand that the picture be released and to bring legal action to force its release. RKO must release "Citizen Kane. " If it does not do so immediately., Ipny have instructed my attorney to commence proceedings. The "financial backing" that Welles mentioned probably came from Henry Luce, tycoon of Life. Time, and Fortune, and no great lover of Hearst. According to one report, the film had so impressed Luce that he was willing to put up $1 mil- 204 lion for it. Welles was also correct about another mat ter. Pursuant to his contract, RKO had to begin distribu tion of the film within three months after delivery of the 206 finished print. ^ Thus, Welles was on firm legal ground in his threat to sue. It is impossible to say what was going on behind the scenes at this time. Certainly, Hearst was still pres suring, and some members of the RKO board were withering under the pressure.. One popular story is that Louis B. Mayer, in an attempt to pacify Hearst, offered Schaefer $800,000 to destroy the negative of Citizen Kane and all the prints.22^ This may have happened, though there is nothing in the RKO records to indicate that it did. Certainly Mayer might have made such an offer for his own self-interest; among other things, Hearst was threatening to expose all dirty laundry in Hollywood to the light of day, turning his 642 muckraking journalists loose on the movie capital with a vengeance if Citizen Kane ever opened. The final decision was made in early April. RKO announced that Citizen Kane would definitely be released and presented the film to 400 members of the press at the 207 Broadway Theatre in New York. Welles's legal position, the tremendous enthusiasm generated by people who had al ready seen, it, and the humiliation which would have been RKO1s had it destroyed the picture all must have contributed to the decision to charge ahead. No doubt, the incredible achievement of Kane and hopes for huge financial rewards (the controversy surely made it the most anticipated pic ture in years) must also have played a part in the decision to defy Hearst. George Schaefer received numerous letters commending him for his bravery and also applauding the gamble he had taken on Orson Welles. The following reply, written to one of the individuals who congratulated Schaefer, suggests that Schaefer felt rather proud of himself: Thank you for your letter. . . . Letters such as this have amply repaid me for the heartaches and the "predicted" failure of the proposed "Welles picture." They were making bets out here that Welles would never even get started, and then again, bets to the effect that after he had been shooting ten days he would fold up. Every important producer and director personality in Hollywood has now seen the picture, and they are unanimous in their praise. They all say it is one of the finest things that has ever been done, not except ing the most important pictures that have been re leased in recent years. Understand, I am only passing on to you what others have said, which corroborates your own judgment.^ o 643 Schaefer was finally getting a chance to thumb his nose at all the nay-sayers who disputed his wisdom. "It's Terrific" proclaimed the ads for Citizen Kane and, for once, the boast was not an overstatement. The film opened to general audiences in New York in early May. Critical response ranged from good to rapturous, except for the Hearst Daily Mirror and Journal-American. which refused to review it and closed their advertising columns to its 209 210 notices. Initial business was also very gratifying. Subsequent openings in Chicago and Los Angeles, however, indicated the film would not be a smash, and when it reached 211 the smaller towns of America, it died completely. Evi dently, the complex structure and visual and aural bravado of the film were confusing, rather than exciting, to most film patrons of the time; they reacted apathetically, de spite the controversy that had kept the film in the.public's eye for months before its release. That controversy continued for some time thereafter. Hearst papers were full of stories accusing Welles of being a Communist and a draft dodger, but maintained a stony silence about anything pertaining to RKO. In July, Welles drafted a reply to Hearst which was run, as a paid adver tisement by RKO, in various newspapers: William Randolph Hearst is conducting a series of brutal attacks upon me in his newspapers. It seems he doesn't like my picture "Citizen Kane." I under stand he hasn't seen it. I am sure he hasn't. If he had, I think he would agree with me that those who 644 have advised him that "Kane" is Hearst have done us both an injustice. I have stood silently by in the hope that this vicious attack against me would be spent in the pass ing of a few weeks. I had hoped that I would not continue to be the target of patriotic organizations who are accepting false statements and condemning me without knowing the facts. But I can't remain silent any longer. The Hearst papers have repeatedly described me as a Communist. I am not a Communist. I am grateful for our constitutional form of government, and I re joice in our great tradition of democracy. Needless to say., it is not necessarily unpatriotic to disagree with Mr. Hearst. On the contrary, it is a privilege guaranteed me as an American citizen by the Bill of Rights. I want to say that I am proud of my American citizenship. As a citizen, I cherish my rights and I am not fearful of asserting them. I ask only that I be judged by what I am and what I d o . 12 As time went on, the turmoil subsided. By early 1942_, per- naps pleased by the commercial failure of Citizen Kane, William Randolph Hearst had called off the dogs. ■ The ef forts to "get" Welles and injure RKO faded away, and Hearst' never made good his threat to dig up all the dirt in Holly wood and present it to the world at large. George Schaefer overlooked the box-office disappoint ment of Kane, content to bask in the sunshine created by its | — jcritical acclaim. As mentioned earlier, Schaefer signed Welles to a new three-picture contract during the year. |George Schaefer also managed to attend most of the cere monies where the film was honored--includin.g those of the I 21S National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics. Both groups selected Citizen. Kane as best picture of 1941. 645 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, however, chose to ignore its accomplishment, probably because of all the disagreeable publicity. The picture did receive one Oscar--for best original screenplay. From the perspective of film history and criticism, the story of the near-suppression, indeed the near-destruc tion, of Citizen Kane is mortifying. George Schaefer de serves a great deal of credit for backing the film and fighting for it, even if his motives were, at least, par tially selfish. It is quite possible that the ultimate decision to release Kane was made by one of the powerful figures in the RKO background--Floyd Odium or, perhaps. Nelson Rockefeller. But the full story of the behind-the- scenes wrangling will probably never be known. Strangely enough, the film remains a controversial subject today. In 1971* famed critic Pauline Kael completed a 5 0,0 0 0-word essay on. the making of the picture which be- 214 came the introduction to The Citizen Kane Book. The essay caused considerable uproar among cineastes and schol ars alike because of its thesis that Herman Mankiewicz, who •received co-credit for the screenplay, had actually written all of Kane and was, .therefore, deserving of as much credit for the film as Welles. Miss Kael's contentions were based <cn insufficient research, as Peter Bogdanovich pointed out in. an Esquire article: 646 What she produced . . . is so loaded with error and faulty supposition that it would require at least as many words as were at her disposal to correct, disprove and properly refute her.^15 Bogdanovich's study does a thorough job of exploding Miss Kael's influential contentions. Without devoting further space to them, it seems necessary only to point out that, according to the RKO files, Orson Welles spent 111 days working on the Citizen Kane screenplay and his associate,' 216 John Houseman, spent eighty-seven. Mankiewicz certainly deserves recognition for his contribution to the picture (recognition that Welles has always accorded him), but the major creative force behind Kane was, unquestionably, Orson Welles. Finally, the storm engendered by Citizen Kane definitely damaged RKO. It came at a time of significant internal instability and made the company appear to be a magnet that attracted all manner of troubles. Important stars and filmmakers had been hesitant to sign with RKO in the 1 9 3 0s because of uncertainties caused by the receiver ship problems. Now, RKO was free of receivership but not of discord, unpredictability, and incompetence. Although Citizen Kane certainly impressed the talented people who made Hollywood movies, it is doubtful that it brought RKO the prestige George Schaefer coveted so fiercely. Instead, Insiders were prone to think of RKO as the studio that had aroused the wrath of a powerful, influential magnate, a man 647 who had then given the industry the kind of "bad press" it did not need. In many ways* RKO became the pariah of Hol lywood in 1941, and Citizen Kane was part of the reason. Suspicion In. 1935, RKO paid $5^000 for the rights to an un- 217 usual novel called Before the Fact. Written by British author Anthony Berkley Cox under the pseudonym Francis lies, the book narrated the story of Lina McLaidlaw, a woman so in love with, and obsessed by, her husband that she allows him to plot and perpetrate her own murder. After he has ipoisoned her, husband Johnnie delivers a letter his wife had written to a friend. The letter describes other murder ous deeds committed by him and explains how she will be killed. Thus, unknowingly, Johnnie signs his own death warrant. For various reasons, RKO could never get the picture off the ground. In 1938* an unsuccessful attempt was made to sell the property. George Schaefer read a synopsis in January 1940, and reacted thusly: I really do not think "BEFORE THE FACT" is impor tant enough for an outstanding personality. It seems very ordinary,--certainly, nothing unusual and, as a matter of fact, just another motion picture. I think when you make an Important picture now-a-days, you must get away from anything trite and commonplace. It would be a good "B" picture and not a specialty picture. Five months later, Alfred Hitchcock expressed a desire to . . g ' l f s ' make the film,, thereby changing everything. If a man of Hitchcock's caliber could be persuaded to direct., the proj ect immediately became viable and gained A-status. J. R. McDonough described Hitchcock's conception for the film in a memo to Harry Edington, written on June 3i 19^0: In a conversation that Danny Winkler and I had with Hitchcock last night he said he would shoot "BEFORE THE FACT" in seven weeks. He also told us that he would follow the novel as to story, persons, locale, and sets, excepting only that he would tell the story through the eyes of the woman and have her husband be villainous in her imagination o n . l y . 2 1 9 I bring this up to counter Hitchcock's oft-repeated asser tions that he planned for the husband to be the killer and that RKO forced him to end the film happily. In an inter view with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock claimed that the ending he "had in mind" was as follows: The scene I wanted, but it was never shot, was for Cary Grant to bring her a glass of milk that's been poisoned and Joan Fontaine has just finished a let ter to her mother: "Dear Mother, I'm desperately in love with him, but I don't want to live because he's a killer. Though I'd rather die, I think soci ety should be protected from him." Then Cary Grant comes in with the fatal glass and she says, "Will you mail this letter to Mother for me, dear?" She drinks the milk and dies. Fade out and fade in one short note: Cary Grant, whistling cheerfully, walks over to the mailbox and pops the letter i n . 220 Obviously, Hitchcock's "ending" was inspired by the book itself. He, however, from the beginning and throughout the entire production history, never deviated from his original plan to film the story from the woman's point of view and to make the man a killer only "in her imagination." Perhaps 649 the critics, many of whom attacked the ending as a cheat, prompted Hitchcock to disown it. The original plan for the picture included Laurence Olivier and Prances Dee as the stars and called for a total 221 budget of $680., 000. George Schaefer, however, felt the film should cost no more than. $550,000, and postponed it while Hitchcock directed Mr. and Mrs. Smith. In. the mean time, the script was prepared by Samson Raphaelson, along with Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville, and his former secre tary, Joan Harrison. Harrison later became an important Hollywood producer. When, a new pre-production budget was prepared in January 1941, the estimate had climbed to $845,423•A healthy percentage of the additional cost came from the casting of Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as the two principals. Fontaine, like Hitchcock borrowed from . David Selznick, cost RKO $44,750 more than Frances Dee would have. Ironically, RKO had let Miss Fontaine go only a few years before when she was earning a small fraction of the money she now commanded. The RKO executives had been blind to her acting ability and star quality, attributes that were subsequently made manifest by George Cukor in. The Women and Hitchcock in Rebecca. George Schaefer believed $845,423 to be "more money than I think we should spend" and asked J. R. McDonough to pare the budget of the film to $800,000 or less.2^ There was no question of postponing or cancelling the picture'now, 650 however. Commitments to Grant, Fontaine, Hitchcock, and others had already been made and shooting commenced shortly thereafter. Instead of cutting costs, however, McDonough and Harry Edington, the actual producer of the picture, watched helplessly as the budget mounted. Illnesses af fecting Grant, Fontaine, and Hitchcock put the company dangerously behind schedule. By April 18, the picture was 2p4 already some $80,000 over the estimate. After shooting was completed, a series of retakes were deemed necessary. They pushed the final cost to $1,102,000, making it the most expensive RKO undertaking since The Hunchback of Notre 225 Dame. Needless to say, there was considerable trepida tion about the economic impact of the film on RKO. Al though scant evidence exists to support this view, it ap pears that George Schaefer blamed the excesses on Hitchcock and Edington. The files contain cryptic remarks about Hitchcock shooting things not in the script and not giving the picture his fullest attention, and Schaefer refused to 226 allow Edington a producer credit when it was released. Throughout filming and afterward, the question of a title plagued the individuals involved. Before the Fact was felt to be stuffy and incapable of arousing much curios ity. Hitchcock's suggestion was Fright, a title that George 227 Schaefer believed would "frighten people away." Schae fer's preferences were Suspicion, That Suspicious Lady, or 228 On Suspicion. Other suggestions included Here Is a Man 651 and Riches and Sin, neither of which was close to being satisfactory. It was finally decided to use Before the Fact. In August, however., the Audience Research Institute conducted a poll and discovered that Before the Fact was opq "seriously lacking in audience appeal." y Not only that, but It created the Impression, that the film was another Cary Grant comedy. The associate director of the Institute, David Ogilvy, informed George Schaefer: We have also tested the title SUSPICION. It out- pulls BEFORE THE FACT'by no less than three to one. The customers think SUSPICION would be a mystery. It arouses a lot of curiosity. It goes a long way to wards killing the expectation of comedy Implicit in Grant's name.230 And so the studio decided upon Suspicion as the release title. Apparently it was a wise decision, for the film earned $425,000 despite its exorbitant cost.2^ Part of the profits no doubt came as a result of Miss Fontaine’s winning the Academy Award for her performance in 1942. It was an able job, though there were probably many votes cast because she had been passed over for Rebecca the previous year. At any rate, RKO films had won Best Actress Oscars two straight years--Ginger Rogers for Kitty Foyle and now Fontaine for Suspicion. Unfortunately, both actresses were working elsewhere by the end of the year. Although Suspicion is not one of Hitchcock's fore most pictures, it is Important for several reasons. It 652 first brought the director together with Cary Grant, when he would use again in such impressive productions as Notorious, To Catch a Thief, and North by Northwest. The film also contains an early working out of what Robin Mood calls the "therapeutic" theme in Hitchcock's work., "whereby a charac ter is cured of some weakness or obsession by indulging it 2^2 and living through the consequences." Vertigo, one of 'Hitchcock's true masterpieces, is the richest example of this theme in action. In addition. Suspicion is almost the prototypical film noir, with its emphasis on paranoia and its flashy, expressionistic lighting effects. Toward the end, when it seems that Grant is surely bent on poisoning Fontaine, the shadows in their home coalesce into a spider web pattern, emphasizing the heroine's helplessness. She is caught in the web of suspicion and cannot possibly free 'herself. Michael Wood, in his America in the Movies, traces what he calls the suspicion effect, "the insinuation of doubt and darkness into the safe, clear realm of physical appearances," through a succession of dark, psychological dramas produced after this film was released. ^ Without question, Suspicion influenced the American cinema consider ably, despite its dramatic shortcomings. Those shortcomings reside mainly in the manipulations of the plot. Hitchcock, of course, is a masterful trickster, but here his maneuvers are too heavy-handed for full effectiveness. Every clue points to Grant being a total egotist and murderer and, 653 when he reveals at the end that he was planning to poison himself (i)j it simply will not wash. Suspicion, is the flawed work of a brilliant filmmaker; as such, it stands well above most of RKO's other releases of 1941* excepting* of course* Citizen Kane. Prologue to 1942--America Enters the War On December J, 1941* the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and America became an official participant in World War II. Since the film industry had been feeling the ef fects of war for more than two years* the immediate impact on the studios was not dramatic. Everyone in Hollywood pledged their support for the effort* and certain defense precautions were inaugurated at the various plants. RKO* for example* issued instructions that no more visitors would be allowed* any packages brought on to the lot would be subject to careful inspection* and an air raid siren 234 would alert employees to danger. Evacuation, procedures were disseminated to all employees. Shooting schedules also had to be rearranged to avoid night work* thus saving electricity and gas and enabling workers to get to their homes without traveling in the dark. With regard to production* most of the companies stepped up their preparations on pictures with war themes. RKO announced that the starting date for Bombardier would 235 be advanced from January 15 to December 15. The film* 6 5^ however, was not ready and later had to he postponed to the following summer. One of the most devastating aspects of the war was the loss of many talented male Industry members who enlisted shortly after Pearl Harbor. John Ford, Frank Capra, and William Wyler led the directorial contingent. RKO came out all right here, principally because It had so few major names under contract. By the end of 19^-lj the studios began, to promise that there would be no curtailment In production. An "in creasing public demand for entertainment during the war is anticipated," stated Columbia in a news release which vowed that the company would marshal its resources to meet the 2P6 nation's need. ^ This prevailing sentiment, supported by President Roosevelt, did, in fact, prove to be the case. Much to the delight of the film companies, moviegoing be came a major ingredient in the lives of people on the home- front. A period of bounteous earnings was ushered in for most of the studios. RKO would be one of the lucky organi zations, but not before the most extensive purge in its history. Plunging Toward Disaster-- More Executive Changes In early 19^2, an atmosphere of crisis again en veloped RKO Radio Pictures. Since the institution of trade show selling forced by the "consent decree" in August 19^1* the picture production arm of the corporation had lost money 655 every month. November and December were most devastating, generating losses of $243*109 and $305*804, respectively. Part of the problem was the necessity to produce pictures far in advance of their actual release, thus forcing the investment of funds without hope of recovery for many months thereafter. But the other studios had adjusted to the new requirements of the "decree" without major anguish so this was hot the principal factor. The root cause was simple and obviousj despite considerable outlays of cash, RKO had not produced a significant number of commercial films since George Schaefer assumed the presidency. A special loan of $3 million had been secured from, the Bankers Trust Company OQ Q in mid-194l to keep the production machinery turning. That money was fast disappearing. Unless there was a mirac ulous upswing in the performance of RKO pictures in the near future, it appeared that the company might very well run out of cash to make movies, thereby collapsing once again into receivership or perhaps leaving the business altogether. Of course, the possibility of fresh financing always existed. But considering the company's history and recent performance, the prospects for more funding were not encouraging. New corporate vice-president N. Peter Rathvon went to work analyzing the picture company's financial needs while George Schaefer began looking for ways to reduce ' V studio overhead. One positive factor was that, by mid- 656 January., only four pictures were left to complete the en tire 1941-1942 p r o g r a m . ^ 9 Thus., the company could coast for awhile, planning the 1942-1943 season without expending too much cash. Around January 20, Sid Rogell, long time studio manager, was fired, sparking renewed rumors of 24 0 another shakeup in personnel. Rogell had introduced Orson Welles to the wondrous capabilities of RKO1s technical departments when, the neophyte first came to Hollywood. Confirmation of the rumors came in early February when Sol Lesser and J. R. McDonough both quit, along with a number of other employees (see pages 682-684). Needing desperately to reduce the salary requirements of running the studio and believing that Lesser's contributions had been indifferent, at best, George Schaefer asked him to "disassociate himself" from the position of "Executive in Charge of 'A' Production.Instead, Lesser was requested to assume a vague job in. which he would be concerned with "certain of the business, financial and administrative phases of our problem, and not have any responsibility for 242 the actual production of pictures. In addition, a 50 percent reduction in salary was solicited. After consider ing Schaefer's proposal for a week, Lesser submitted his resignation to Joseph Breen. Lesser had decided that Schae fer's real goal was to get rid of him: I have been thinking over the accumulating situation not only as it affects me, but as it affects the studio as well. You [Breen.] know how troubled I have been 657 because I have spoken of it to you each time we have met since your return. I know that George Schaefer and you must he fully aware of this as I am., and from every indication I must in all frankness say that my feeling is that George does not want me to continue at the studio.^43 Lesser's departure was reasonably amicable* but the termination of McDonough was not. Relations between McDonough and Schaefer had been blustery since the former took charge of the low budget unit. Following the forced resignation* Schaefer refused McDonough's request for severance pay* a request based on some nine years service to RKO. McDonough was enraged. He set to work compiling a report of studio conditions under Schaefer's regime which* understandably* was not complimentary to his former boss. When he finished the forty-two page document* he sent it to David Sarnoff. Sarnoff of RCA had not taken a personal interest in RKO for several years* but his organization still owned significant stock in. the corporation and had strong representation1 ''on the RKO board of directors. It was Sarnoff who had originally dispatched McDonough to RKO* and the RCA official still had a fondness for his former employee. Thus* Sarnoff’s reaction to the treatment of McDonough by Schaefer and the contents of McDonough's report was swift and heated. He issued a statement detail ing his "complete dissatisfaction with conditions at RKO" and asking for a full accounting and a new executive set- 244 up. Sarnoff also promised to take legal action* if 658 necessary, to block the signing of Schaefer to a new, long term contract. These events transpired in late March, at a time when Floyd Odium was reportedly ready to offer Schaefer a five-year pact (with six-month option clauses) War was brewing among the financial powers behind the RKO throne.' Concurrent with the development of this dispute were other radical changes. In mid-February,, Charles Koerner, head of the theater department, moved to Hollywood to take over production "temporarily, T while Joseph Breen, recovered from an unspecified Illness.On March 2, 1942, George Schaefer reported to the RKO board that he believed Breen should "divorce himself from a number of studio details and be relieved of the burden of operating the studio., " further proposing that Koerner assume permanent production respon- 247 sibility. Obviously, Joe Breen had been another mistake, a man. incapable of steering the complex production machinery efficiently. He was also--it should be emphasized--the latest in a growing list of Schaefer appointees who had failed to come through for RKO. The story released by RKO to the trade journals was deliberately misleading. Variety reported that Koerner would be replacing Breen for six 248 weeks while the studio chief went on vacation in Mexico. Upon Breen's return, Koerner was supposed to go back to his theater job in New York and Breen, was supposed to again rule the studio. This was not at all what RKO had in mind. 659 What George Schaefer and the RKO hoard contemplated had evidently been suggested by recent developments at Uni versal. There., Nate Blumberg and Cliff Work, who had been pilfered from the RKO distribution-exhibition ranks in 1938, were given the responsibility of shaping production poli- 249 cies. Utilizing their knowledge of theater patrons and the pictures which appealed to them most, the twosome man aged to turn out films that boosted Universal's profits substantially. Koerner had been in exhibition since the 1920s. The RKO board of directors had confidence that, given, the opportunity, he would coax forth films that the public would be anxious to see. Those kinds of films had been few and far between at RKO for some time. The departures of Rogell, Lesser, and McDonough represented only the first salvo in a wide-ranging wave of dismissals and eliminations that swept the studio during the first four months of 1942. Because of the financial crush, the studio had to cut its expenditures to the abso lute bone. Therefore, only people who were essential were kept on. On April 23, Reg Armour reported to Schaefer that $3 5 7,275.34 had been saved for the 1942 fiscal year through dismissal of more than twenty executives, producers, diree- 250 tors, and other personnel. This figure did not include actors and actresses, many of whom had also been dropped. To take up the slack, there had been some hirings, includ ing the return of J. J. Nolan to the team. He would once 660 again take charge of casting* contract negotiations* and 251 commitments. Nevertheless* obligations of all kinds were being kept to an absolute minimum. There was no other choice; the picture company's funds were running out. The Magnificient Ambersons and It 1s All True Although a violation of the usual sequence estab lished- throughout this study* it seems Important to pause at this point for a discussion of these two Orson Welles films. Both were major sources of controversy and contrib uted mightily to the demolition of George Schaefer's RKO career. Ambersons was scheduled for production in the fall of 1941. The pre-budget estimate came to $987*024* elicit ing the following letter from Schaefer to Welles: Momentarily I was flabbergasted when I looked at the pre-budget estimate of THE MAGNIFICIENT AMBERSONS totalling $987*024 but I came to Immediately when I saw the words "pre-budget." Am* of course* taking it for granted that that Is just the wildest kind of guess and* when the final budget comes through* it will be less than $600*000.852 Even before Schaefer wrote the above letter* Jack Moss* Welles's business partner* had promised Reg Armour that the budget would be reduced* though probably not below $750*000.^^ The final budget* however* came to $853*950.^^ This presented a problem. Not only did the estimate exceed the $600*000 established as a top budget in Welles's con tract* it also was in excess of the $750*000 figure which 661 RKO had promised would be the maximum ceiling for a single 265 feature in its bank loan arrangements. As had been the case on several similar occasions, RKO was in a hopeless predicament. Sets had been built, commitments had been signed., and so Orson Welles was given permission to pro ceed. George Schaefer,, Joseph Breen, and the other execu tives could only wait with fingers crossed, hoping that Welles would bring the film in for less than the projected figure. They should have known better. Welles's perfec tionism, plus a spate of illnesses to cast members and the deliberate working habits of cinematographer Stanley Cortez, boosted the amount spent rather than decreased the estimate. When the production finally came to an end, over $1 million 256 had been spent. ^ Even so, high hopes for the finished product abounded. In early December, George Schaefer saw approxi mately one hour of the footage and felt highly enthusiastic. He wired Welles: Even though I have seen only a part of it, there is every indication that it is chock full of heart- throbs, heartaches and human interest. Prom a tech nical standpoint it is startling and I should not forget to mention, especially that Agnes Moorehead does one of the finest pieces of work I have ever seen on the screen. Although I saw only part of the picture her work in particular made a tremendous impression on me. Again I am very happy and proud of our association.257 The editing, unfortunately, could not be supervised by Welles who left for Brazil in February to make It's All True, 662 Studio employee Robert Wise was left to assemble the footage jWith Welles cabling instructions and calling Wise to discuss (problems on numerous occasions. RKO fully expected the film to be a success, and needing a big winner,, scheduled its ■release for Easter week. The great distance between Welles and Wise made the cutting difficulty and the studio contem plated sending the editor to Rio de Janeiro in early March 258 so that Welles could put the final touches on the picture. War-time travel restrictions prevented this., however. Welles did receive some of Wise's cut footage in early March and wired the editor several pages of cryptic 259 instructions concerning necessary changes. Wise did his best to comply with Welles's desires. Meanwhile* the dis tribution department formalized its campaign for The Magnif icent Ambersons, placing advertisements in Life, Time, Look, Good Housekeeping, The New Yorker, and other magazines. The ads were to run in late March and throughout April. In mid-March, the initial preview of the picture was held in Pomona. George Schaefer attended. He described the evening In an air mail, special delivery letter to Welles marked "Personal--Confidential": I did not want to cable you with respect to THE MAGNIFICIENT AMBERSONS as indicated in your cable of the l8th, only because I wanted to write you under confidential cover. Of course, when you ask me for my reaction, I know you want it straight, and though it is difficult to write you this way, you should hear from me. Never in all my experience In the industry have I taken so much punishment or suffered as I did at the 663 Pomona preview. In my 28 years in the business,, I have never been present in a theatre where the audi ence acted in such a manner. They laughed at the wrong places, talked at the picture, kidded it, and did everything that you can possibly imagine. I don't have to tell you how I suffered, espe cially in the realization that we have over $1,000,000 tied up. It was just like getting one sock in the jaw after another for over two hours. The picture was too slow, heavy, and topped off with somber music, never did register. It started off well, but just went to pieces.261 After describing preview card comments which decried the "artiness" of the film, Schaefer chastised Welles for his extravagance and his failure to establish contact with the movie audience: In all our Initial discussions, you stressed low costs, making pictures at $300,000 to $500,000, and on our first two pictures, we have an investment of $2,000,000. We will not make a dollar on CITIZEN KANE and present indications are that we will not break even.. The final results on AMBERSONS is [ sic] still to be told, but it looks "red. " All of which again reminds me of only one thing-- that we must have a "heart to heart" talk. Orson Welles has got to do something commercial. We have got to get away from "arty" pictures and get back to earth. Educating the people is -expensive, and your next picture must be made for the box-office. God knows you have all the talent and the abil ity for writing, producing, directing--everything in CITIZEN KANE and AMBERSONS confirms that. We should apply all that talent and effort in the right direc tion and make a picture on which "we can get well. " That's the story, Orson, and I feel very miser able to have to write you this.^°^ Schaefer was not being completely fair to Welles. After all, the RKO president had hired the youthful talent and the Mercury Theatre group to upgrade the studio's quality and prestige--which, it could be argued, Is exactly what Welles had accomplished with Citizen Kane. Also, Schaefer had 664 allowed Welles to go forward with films,, even though he had contractual authority to stop them because of their exces sive budgets. On the other hand., one can certainly under stand Schaefer’s feelings of misery. He had fought for Welles throughout the Citizen Kane brouhaha, thereby alien ating certain members of the RKO board of directors. The critical esteem accorded Kane had been, a momentary vindica tion for Schaefer, but its box office failure and now the prospects of an Ambersons misfortune provided ample ammuni tion for the Schaefer detractors. On top of this were sim ple economic facts of life. At a time when the company desperately needed income, the release of Ambersons would have to be postponed while further editing attempted to make the film palatable to audiences. The story of It 1s All True could easily fill a book. The entire affair is so complicated that the varying view points will simply be presented while interpretation will be restricted to the effects of the making of this picture on RKO and on its principal executive. Work on It 1s All True actually began in the summer of 1941. Welles had in mind an omnibus film composed of at least four separate stories. A portion of the shooting of one of these stories, tentatively entitled "Bonito the Bull," actually occurred in Mexico while The Magnificent Ambersons was still In production. Welles, in fact, had little to do with this section.; being preoccupied with Ambersonsj he surrendered, the directorial reins to Norman Foster. In December., the concept of It 1 s All True changed. Originally, the stories were all to have a North American setting, but somehow the Office of Inter-American Affairs became involved and, before long, the project acquired a Brazilian background. It is impossible to determine if Welles approached the Rockefeller-Whitney office first with the idea or vice versa. A wire from John Hay Whitney to Welles, dated December 20, 19^1* does establish the posi tion of the Office clearly: We understand you are willing and may be able to undertake a trip to Brazil where you would produce motion, pictures in cooperation with Brazilian govern ment. If this can be arranged it will be enormously helpful to the program of this office and energeti cally supported by it. Personally believe you would make great contribution to hemisphere solidarity with this project.263 Since Nelson Rockefeller was an Important behind-the-scenes power in RKO and the main supporter of George Schaefer in the first place, he may have used his position to "encou- age" this particular project into being. At any rate, by early January there was no question about it. Orson Welles was definitely headed for Rio de Janeiro to make a multi story film, at least one section of which would revolve around the famous Rio carnival which took place In February. "Bonito the Bull" would probably still be part of It 1s All iTrue, but the other contemplated sections, including one [about the history of jazz and another about a San Francisco 666 fisherman, now appeared to he dead. Welles was going to Rio without a script; presumably, the atmosphere would inspire him and he would come up with suitable stories. The logistics involved should have been enough to make RKO wary from the beginning. Since Brazil had no film industry to speak of, it would be necessary to ship almost all the equipment down, as well as the manpower necessary to operate it. Part of the film was to be shot in color, thus complicating things further. And to top that off, a war was on and there were travel and shipping restrictions to cope with. The Inter-American Affairs Office promised to help facilitate matters relating to these difficulties. The Office also offered a financial Incentive, which defi nitely made the venture more attractive to RKO. They would not actually invest in. the picture, but if It1s All True showed a loss after its release, they promised to make good the loss up to $300,000.^^ Since George Schaefer expected Welles to spend no more than $600,000 on production, it ap peared RKO could contribute to the needs of the government without any serious risk to its own financial well-being. The deal, on paper, looked marvelous. The first production contingent arrived in late January. Richard Wilson, Welles's personal assistant, Lynn Shores, the unit production manager, and several technicians were members of this group. They had some, but not all, of the necessary equipment with them. Welles arrived during 667 the second week in February. Phil Reisrnanj vice-president in charge of RKO's foreign sales, accompanied Welles and dispatched the following jubilant telegram to Schaefer shortly after their debarkation: Reception of Orson Welles Rio not only equal to but surpassed Disney's success here. Orson can qual ify for my money as a great ambassador. Know that it is no surprise to you that his outlook and understand ing are intelligant [sic3 and comprehensive and that he has complete grasp of the importance of this job. Despite the handicap of lack of equipment, it is my honest opinion that we are going to get great and un usual picture out of here. His enthusiasm is bound less. This is reciprocated by the reception of the Brazilian officials who are cooperating to an unbe lievable extent. The press has been uniform in tell ing the Brazilian public what I'm now telling you.265 Welles also gushed enthusiasm. After two weeks in Rio, he wrote Schaefer: We're working too hard down here for good letter writing, or even one good long letter. Since you are my most understanding friend, I won't even attempt to explain my silence or alibi the brevity of this. The new radio series emanating from here should start in a week or two, which means that the picture will receive the most potent exploitation imaginable. The public interest should be aroused to a really wonderful extent by the time we're ready to release. I have great hopes for the film itself. Quite apart from its importance as a documentary, its entertain ment values promise to be very great. Every day it grows on us. The Carnaval [sic] sequence alone--as a colorful and picturesque finale to the entire film--is going to mark a totally new departure in musicals. Indeed, every aspect of this picture is as fresh as jeven you could ask for. This^/iTs a big job and a tough one, and I am truly and deeply grateful for the opportunity. I do think our rewards will be great. This is real pioneering and--after all--pioneering is what we like b e s t . 265 If one were dependent only on the reports of Reisman 668 and Welles, the story of It ’ s All True would seem a stir ring j romantic adventure. But the studio was also receiving weekly reports from another source., a source who painted a very different picture. Lynn Shores was the studio produc tion manager. His duties entailed taking care of the many problems which cropped up, as well as dispensing the funds and keeping the books on the picture. Prom the very begin ning, Shores’s reports were depressing. Over a period of weeks, their tone changed to outrage. Shores, early on, revealed that the hot weather, the bad food, and the impos sibility of operating in an efficient Hollywood manner were all contributing to a morale crisis among the members of the crew. Even more devastating was the communication gap be tween Welles and the people working on his movie. While the crew established its headquarters at the Palace Hotel in downtown Rio, Welles, Richard Wilson, and the Welles "inner circle" took rooms at the Copa Cabana Hotel on the beach. According to Shores, shooting proceeded in a com pletely "off the cuff" manner. Welles had no script, as signed things to be shot arbitrarily, and frequently did not show up for the filming. On many occasions, Shores or Wil son handled the actual direction. On February 24, Shores reported: I will not go into the details of my various at tempts at trying to pin Welles down as to future plans. In a vague way he has given me to understand that we are to travel over most of South America with Mercury Players, various units of technicolor and black and 669 white., radio set-ups, good-will speeches and general messing around for the next two or three months. . . . It has been a horrible nightmare to me personally. I am carrying not only the working but the personal problems of 27 individuals, each one with an axe to grind and a grievance of some sort at every hour of the day.267 In early March, Welles and Schaefer had their first important disagreement. Prom the beginning, the use of Technicolor was supposed to be restricted to the c'arnival footage. It was deemed too expensive to make the entire film In color. Welles decided, however, that he had to make a section of the film focusing on the exploits of four Brazilian fishermen In color as well. He claimed it would be "part" of the carnival story. Welles planned to recreate an actual incident in which four men from Fortaleza in. northern Brazil had sailed their primitive raft (jangada) 2,000 miles to Rio where they handed a petition, to the Bra zilian president calling attention to the plight of the starving people In their region.. Welles’s notion was to juggle history just a bit, having the local heroes (he plan ned to use the actual fishermen rather than actors) sail in at the height of the carnival. Schaefer, however, abso lutely forbade Welles to use color for this sequence. He explained why in the following telegram: Orson, I want you to believe me that I am personally on the hook for the whole South American venture. My board were not enthusiastic even, with government help. Thought I was taking too much risk. Nevertheless, I pushed It through and prevailed upon them to be guided by my judgment. Further, we receive help from govern ment only up to a certain extent and that was also clearly outlined to my board. That certain extent does not permit us to shoot FOUR MEN Technicolor. It would cause your man Friday tremendous amount of personal embarrassment and everyone In particular taking a keen delight pointing out you had not lived up to what I expected and what I had stated would be done. Most anxious bring this through at least pos sible cost. Urge you do so for me. Even though photography black and white, can still blend in to Technicolor Rio c a r n i v a l . ^oo The "board" Schaefer refers to is* of course., the RKO board of directors. Welles continuously reassured Schaefer that he desired to keep expenses down as much as the RKO president and emphasized he was getting "ten times more" for the money 26 Q than it would be possible to get in Hollywood. However, the letters from Shores were still arriving like clockwork, each one more hair-raising than the last. Welles was por trayed as dissipating his energies on "research," on travels throughout South America as part of his "cultural ambassa dor" role, on preparation of his radio program. It 1s All True continued to be made haphazardly with Welles showing up only sporadically, having sets built, then changing his mind and never using them, and ordering miles of film to be shot without an established plan. As far as expenses were concerned, the cost of Welles's telephone calls and cables alone was running close to $1,000 per week.^^ Back at the Hollywood studio, some of the Brazilian footage finally began to arrive. It did not look promising. Needless to say, George Schaefer suffered more each 671 time a new report arrived. After Welles announced that he planned to spend $25*000 to "remodel" a Rio nightclub (the Urea Casino) for a sequence which would be part of the car nival story., Schaefer tried desperately to reach the direc tor on the telephone. After four days he gave up* feeling that Welles was surely "ducking" him. At one point the hotel operator even reported she had heard Welles's voice on the line, but still Schaefer was told he was unavail- 271 able. Finally, the RKO boss cabled Welles. The last portion of the message read: Sure you can appreciate my worry and concern when I hear commitments have been made to augment show and practically reconstruct Urea Casino at cost $25*000. At that rate we will have another AMBERSONS situation on our hands. This latter picture as you know well over one million. It is very painful to send this cable because I know what stickler you are for qual ity but on other hand I am rapidly coming to conclu sion you have no realization of money you spend and how difficult it is to recoup c o s t . 2 !^ Welles's reply seemed designed to pacify Schaefer, but it also contained a veiled threat: Prices for this [the Urea sequence] were quoted to Hollywood before I had chance to cut them down. Twenty five thousand dollars is more than. I intend to spend. However that money buys the basis for car- naval [sic 3 production. It would cost one hundred fifty thousand dollars Hollywood and any studio would be happy to pay for it when they saw what they were getting. On AMBERSONS I had illness and criminally slow cameraman. Here our money costs are actually not high even during shooting this sequence. . . . When I finish this picture you will see what I mean. Must■ however be allowed to finish it as I wish to. I have added nothing to original project. We are working night and day to bring closed [sic] production as soon, as possible [at] greatest possible saving. Our prob lems here have been tremendous but unless I can. finish 672 film as it must be finished for entertainment value the entire expenditure of time and effort and money will be total loss. 73 Schaefer fired back another cable, which also contained a firm warning: Your cable received and have full appreciation produc tion difficulties so far away from home but on other hand I must take firm position and cannot permit mon eys [sic] to be expended at rate you are planning and must know when you expect to finish. You have been away now for three months and surely we expected you back long before this. On top of that records indi cate over $33,000 in March* 1st week in April $10*500 and budget calls for $1 5 ,0 0 0 weekly for next four weeks. This is all out of proportion to what we ever estimated and we cannot go along on that basis even if we have to close down show and ask you to return. That is how serious.situation is with respect to my own apprehension. 7A Schaefer's words apparently had little effect on Welles. As described by Lynn Shores* the following week's work seems almost like a scene from a Fellini film: I cannot say much for this week's work because I do not feel any progress whatsoever has been made toward getting out of here. After working day and night to build three sets on the stage* Welles decided to shoot a building . . . called the Rio Tennis Club. This was supposed to be one night's shooting but . . . it went on. and on through the week and to the best of my knowledge it seems that these sets are not finished yet. These particular scenes were mostly young girls and boys making love in various odd corners . . . with a background of 50 or 60 extras and continual calls every day for more beautiful girls. As far as I can judge there [she] seems to have no bearing what soever on what we are trying to do in connection with shooting carnival.275 Shores's letter* plus a mounting number of requests from crew members wishing to be replaced* finally prompted George Schaefer to take action. He decided to send Phil 673 Reisman, who had returned to the States after spending the first month with Welles, back to Rio with authority to close the picture down.. On April 27, a most enlightening tele phone conversation, took place between. Reisman in. New York and Reg Armour at the Hollywood studio. Fortunately,, a transcription of this frank exchange still exists. It places the It 1s All True affair squarely within the context of RKO' s and George Schaefer's overriding difficulties: Mr. Armour: When are you leaving, Phil? Mr. Reisman: In about ten days. He's a tough baby--he [Welles] has done a magnificent job of selling himself to Nelson Rockefeller. Mr. Armour: Mr. Reisman: Mr. Armour: Mr. Reisman: Mr. Armour: From what we have seen, from here, the best thing you can do is to send him back--the crew do not feel any loyalty to him. We have received 60,000 feet here and there is no picture in. It. If we can get 800 or 1000 feet out of it we will be doing well. We have roughly $60,000 in film stock in Technicolor. Maybe we could make a couple of shorts out of it. I don't think so. George [Schaefer] will lose his job out of this. George wrote Orson a strong letter which I am to deliver. After he has read the letter he will either come back as George says--or quit. I think Orson wants to stay out of the country. He wants to duck military serv ice. 674 Mr. Reisman: I think I could get the authorities to take him off our hands. Mr. Armour: This picture will put us hack in 77B.. Mr. Reisman: Do you really think so? 27 6 Mr. Armour: Yes, I do, Phil. Armour's speculation about Welles trying to avoid military service is interesting, but the most significant portions of the conversation are his beliefs that the making of It's All True would cost Schaefer his job and throw RKO back into receivership. Certainly, the pressure on. Schae fer was increasing daily. Manifestations of this pressure are apparent in Schaefer's long letter to Welles which Reisman personally delivered in May. The author of the epistle is obviously a beleaguered, shell-shocked man: Here I am in New York endeavoring against all odds to maintain the same confidence in you as I have had in the past. Pacts and developments come so fast and are so overwhelming that it is no longer possible for me to sustain that frame of mind. The facts and developments recall our early discussions wherein you were so enthusiastic with respect to picture- making and your repeated assertions that pictures could be made costing no more than $400,000 to $500,000. These assertions and discussions are cor roborated by our written contract which states that the pictures are to cost a maximum of $500,000. I mention this only as an indication of what we origi nally planned and discussed and I am prompted to point only to the results because of the crisis which has risen, in. my relationship with my company and my re lationship with you.277 After detailing the expenditures on the film, pointing out the near-rebellion of the crew and reminding Welles of his '675 responsibility to RKO, which should have taken precedence over his role as "Ambassador of Good Will,, " Schaefer con tinued : I am now again put in the painful position where I have to write you a letter which I never, in God's world, thought I would have to write wherein I am begging you to fulfil in an honorable way your ob ligation and not put such a terrific load on my shoulders. In. respect to the latter, I think I have carried that load a long time. As stated in the opening part of this letter, we agreed to make pictures at a cost of about $500,000. CITIZEN KANE cost nearly $900,000 and, because of all the controversy that arose in con nection with it, it is doubtful that we will ever come out whole. Let's forget about the cost as to dollars. What it cost this organization, and me, personally, never can be measured In dollars. All of that, however, I accepted willingly so far as you are concerned. You made a production of which I was proud but which was severely condemned by all my associates and my friends of long standing in the motion picture industry. The abuse that was heaped upon myself and the company will never be forgotten. I was about as punch-drunk as a man ever was. I made my decision to stand by you and I saw it through. I have never asked anything in return but In common decency I should expect that I would at least have your loyalty and gratitude. To the extent I have received it with respect to the Brazilian enterprise up to the present time, I would say It has been merely lip s e r v i c e .27° The final portion of the letter informed Welles that Reis man was empowered to shut the picture down if he deemed necessary. In mid-May, Schaefer received more discouraging news. The studio budget department forwarded a report which showed that $5 2 6 ,8 6 7 had already been expended on It 1s All True and estimated that $595j8o4 more would be needed to complete it. That placed the total budget in the neighbor- 67 6 hood of $1,120,000.^-^ Shortly thereafter, Schaefer cabled Reisman: After careful thought and considering all circum stances have decided best thing to do discontinue all work and arrange Welles and troupe return. Would much prefer do best we can with film so far received and write off our loss than continue. Be assured this comes only after most careful delibera tion and with full recognition of our responsibility to Co-Ordinator but on other hand we have responsi bility to company and stockholders. . . . Under cer tain conditions I would be willing let Welles con tinue, namely that he deliver to you immediately complete story outline covering material to date and his plans from this point on including shooting FOUR MEN RAFT delivering at same time schedule of shooting days and permitting him finish within a maximum cost of $30,000,280 More bad luck struck on the day after this cable was sent. [Mandel Olimpia Meira, one of the four fishermen and a na tional hero of sorts, drowned in an accident which occurred while the fisherman's raft was being towed to a filming location. There was no negligence on RKO's part, but the misfortune did not endear the company, or Welles, to many of the local inhabitants. After some negotiations, Schaefer agreed to allow Welles and the crew to continue working until June 8. At that time, the technical people and most of the equipment would be shipped back to Hollywood. Following Reisman's arrival, Welles had been working very hard, perhaps because the RKO executive was constantly looking over his shoul- 281 der. After the studio contingent went home (except for (Lynn. Shores, who would have to stay behind tying up loose 677 ends and arranging for the shipping of equipment and film), Welles, Wilson, and a small group of his associates would be allowed to go to Fortaleza for about a month to shoot material for the section about the four fishermen. Despite the tragic death of Meira, Welles did not intend to abandon this story. He planned to find someone to "double" for the deceased "jangadeiro. " RKO still hoped to get a picture out of the It 1s All iTrue fiasco. It would not matter to George Schaefer, how ever. The film, among other things, had broken him--just as Reg Armour predicted. His tenure as RKO president was rapidly coming to an end. It Is appropriate now to survey the last days of Schaefer's RKO career, saving the subse quent history of It 1s All True and The Magnificent Ambersons for a later portion of this chapter. George Schaefer Resigns Joseph Breen returned from his Mexican vacation in early May. He did not go back to RKO, however. As rumored, Breen assumed his former post as director of the Production Code Administration instead. Geoffrey Shurlock had func tioned as acting leader of the film and script review board after Breen's departure, but many of the Hollywood moguls 282 were less than happy with Shurlock's performance. Thus, the studios banded together and lobbied RKO to allow Breen to return to his old job. The studio was more than happy to 6 78 oblige. By mid-May,, Joseph Breen was the chief censor of the industry once again, and Charles Koerner had the "act ing" removed from his title as general manager in charge of 288 jRKO production. ^ Edward Alperson succeeded Koerner as head of the RKO theater circuit. Koerner had the full sup- I port of the RKO board of directors.; although he had no pro- jduction experience, the men at the top seemed convinced that Koerner possessed the right instincts and would give RKO I 284 what it needed most--box-office winners. Shortly after his official appointment, it began to look as if Charles Koerner might never get a chance to prove ilmself. Financial projections indicated that around the middle of June, the company would not have the cash to. meet its studio payroll. Unless more capital could be raised quickly, there appeared to be only two possibilities: either the studio would be closed, or plummet, once again, 285 Unto receivership. The chances of new funding were not (good because the major owning groups (Atlas, RCA, the Rocke fellers) "could not agree upon any method of getting new money into the company.The rapport among the different owners had dissolved completely. Now, they were expending their energy in bickering and finger-pointing while RKO, moved inexorably toward ruin. George Schaefer was the target of much of the abuse. He had ruled RKO like a potentate for more than three years and, thus, his policies were primarily responsible for the 679 * dire condition of the organization. The numerous box-- office failures, the independent deals that miscarried, the multitude of expensive stories that were bought and never produced--all had contributed to the current state of affairs. The RKO board was even unhappy about the Sam Goldwyn arrangement. In order to entice Goldwyn to affili ate with RKO, Schaefer asked for a very small distribution fee (1 7 1/2fo) which made it practically impossible for the company to make a profit on the handling of the Goldwyn 287 films. And then, of course, there was Orson Welles, hanging like the proverbial albatross around Schaefer's neck. George Schaefer was definitely threatened, and he knew it. David Sarnoff of RCA represented his most formid able critic, while the Rockefellers and Floyd Odium had be come aloof. Unless he produced a quick miracle, he would be finished. Schaefer did not give up gracefully. In late May, ihe and Malcolm KIngsberg, vice-president of the RKO thea ters, attempted to interest several powerful financial pOO groups in coming into the company. Floyd Odium had made jit known that he would be willing to sell his interest in jRKO for $7-8 million. If a new financial connection could be made, one willing to bankroll RKO through the uncertain, days ahead and absorb Odium's considerable stock holdings, Schaefer would have a second chance. Several groups with Wall Street and show business connections were mentioned as 680 possibilities, but nothing came of Schaefer's quest.2^ one was willing to take such a gamble. Failing this ploy., George Schaefer tried another eleventh-hour gambit. For some years, the major film com panies had maintained a united front with regard to frozen monies in Great Britain. In sympathy with the war effort, the companies had been content to allow their profits to accumulate in the British Isles, asking only for a small percentage of the funds each year. RKO had approximately $3 million in frozen English funds. Realizing that this money could avert the coming disaster, at least for a time, and perhaps save his job, George Schaefer went to Washington and asked the Treasury Department to Intercede in RKO's behalf.2 The request was to "unfreeze" $2.8 million of 291 RKO' s money. The U.S. government did not receive Schae fer with a deaf ear. A major corporation was in danger of collapse, and so an agreement was made to negotiate with British authorities. However, delicate matters of this kind always require time and Schaefer had none left. With no immediate assurance of funding and RKO.approaching col lapse, George Schaefer tendered his resignation in mid- June . 292 As soon as Schaefer was out of the picture, Floyd Odium stepped in to protect his Investment. Owning some 46 percent of RKO, considerably more than, either RCA or the Rockefellers, Odium arranged to get $600,000 from the 681 corporation, which it had to draw from the theater subsidi aries, and a temporary loan of $800,000 from Manufacturers Trust Company to keep the studio operating throughout June 293 and July. This was only a stopgap measure, obviously, but by July 10, Odium had convinced the other owners to agree to an arrangement whereby Manufacturers Trust Company would loan $3 million more, with RKO putting up its theaters 294 as collateral. ^ As Time magazine reported, Floyd Odium intended to take a much more active position in RKO than 299 ever before. Proof of this came in late June with the naming of Odium representative N. Peter Rathvon to succeed Schaefer as president of Radio-Keith-Orpheum, Incorporated, and chairman 296 ' of its board of directors. In order to reward him for years of diligent service, Net Depinet became president of the picture company, RKO Radio Pictures. Koerner remained head of production and added the title of vice-president of RKO Radio Pictures. This new hierarchy would be steering RKO for some time to come. Inheriting a dilapidated company riddled with flaws, they faced an unattractive challenge. Nevertheless, this excerpt from a letter written by Rathvon to Koerner suggests that there was room for hope: My job is tough and vital but no less so is your own. Perhaps the desperate condition in which this company has been allowed to drift leaves no room for optimism but I cannot help feeling that you and Ned and I, with the help of all the good men in this organization, are going to be able to turn the trend and bring the com pany into black figures before the end of the year.^97 682 Inspiriting remarks of this type had often been made before, usually to be crushed by the hard realities of RKO1s medi ocre functioning. Rathvon's words, however., turned out to be remarkably prophetic. By the end of 1942, the RKO organ ization was well on the way to good health and extraordinary profits. Personnel George Schaefer's last half year at the helm was a period of mass exodus, especially from the studio's producer, and director ranks. The reasons for this should be obvious by now. RKO had to slash its operating expenses to a mini mum; it did this, in part, by ousting nearly everyone who was not considered indispensable. At the time J. R. McDonough and Sol Lesser were handing in their resignations, Cliff Reid and Howard Bene dict both departed as well.2^® Reid had been a B producer since 1934 with a number of hits, but many flops, on. his record. His pictures had performed poorly of late, so he was a logical candidate for the RKO ax. Howard Benedict also had considerable service with the organization. For five years, he had been the studio's publicity director be fore becoming a B producer in 1940. Fortunately, Benedict 2QQ had a job waiting for him at Universal. Frank Woodruff, a B film director, and Reeves Espy, a producer, were also removed from the staff around the same time. 683 Probably the most vulnerable group during the "great purge" was the Independents. One by one, It seemed, nearly every Independent association was cut off. Gabriel Pascal, for example,, wound up his RKO tenure before It ever actually got started. Pascal began preparing Shaw's Arms and the Man, to star Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, but became so exasperated with RKO1s erratic character that he quit and went back to United Artists, where he had been preparing projects before becoming involved with the studio. Pascal gave "interference by studio executives" as his reason for pulling out. ^ 00 Close behind Pascal was Broadway veteran Jed Harris, whose wartime comedy project failed to spark any enthusiasm among the RKO executives. William Hawks also terminated without producing a film, mentioning "differences" with the 301 production staff as the problem. And, just as Schaefer was submitting his own resignation, Harold Lloyd checked out of RKO. The Mercury Theatre contingent, Pare Lorentz, and the two "super-independents, " Disney and Goldwyn., were the only important autonomous units left when N. Peter Rathvon became corporate president. There were also dismissals of actors and actresses, but since RKO had no big names left under exclusive con tract, none was very dramatic or saved the company much money. Certain individuals were added to the company's payrolls, mainly at the suggestion of Charles Koerner who ■684 had to have help If the studio was to continue In. the pro duction business. Lou Ostrow, previously a producer at MG-M and Twentieth Century-Fox, replaced J. R. McDonough as the head of low-budget filming. Prank Ross signed on as a pro ducer., following the success of The Devil and Miss Jones, and Leo McCarey returned to fill the noticeable gap In. A production. His first film (as a director) since Love Affair would be Once upon a Honeymoon starring Ginger Rogers and Cary Grant. Finally., Koerner hired Val Lewton, a tal ented protege of David Selznick, to produce a series of low budget horror films. As noted earlier, horror pictures were a special Idea of Koerner’sj under Lewton's supervision, they would turn out to be especially lucrative and, later, gain a critical reputation as well. Despite these additions to the studio roster, RKO still eliminated hundreds of thousands of dollars In salary commitments during the first six months of 1942. More rapidly than anyone realized, changes were occurring that would transform the studio Into a very commercially oriented organization. Production Thanks to its backlog of completed pictures, pro duction at RKO entered a hiatus period for the first few months of 1942. During this time of slowed activity, Charlie Koerner took over from Joseph Breen, and the plan ning for the 1942-1943 program began. From all indications, 685 a major operational change accompanied Koerner's assumption of studio control. Unlike his predecessors, Koerner was given a free hand regarding production decisions. George Schaefer no longer required all important matters to be cleared through him. Having seen many of his pet projects turn to ashes, Schaefer may finally have decided to abdi cate responsibility to someone else. Perhaps he had more faith in Koerner than he had had in Berman, Edington, or Breen. Or perhaps his own board of directors demanded that Koerner be given free rein. Whatever the reason, Charles Koerner had a very attractive bonus that went along with an otherwise unenviable job--freedom from New York interfer ence. The freedom was, of course, limited by the shaky financial status of the company and the necessity to make films as cheaply as possible within the established system. In mid-March, Koerner put together a tentative program for 1942-1943 listing the types of films to be produced. Sixteen A films were contemplated, twelve to be studio pro duced and four to come from outside producers. The really interesting portion of Koerner's outline related to B films. These he broke down into small groups, with emphasis on series films and genres which had proven popular with audi ences over the long haul. The series pictures Included "Mexican Spitfires," "Falcons," "Scattergood Baines," a "Shop Girl" series, "Bum and Abners," "The Great Gilder- 686

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Creator Jewell, Richard Brownell (author)

Core Title A history of RKO Radio Pictures, Incorporated 1928-1942

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Communication-Cinema

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag cinema,history, United States,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor [illegible] (committee chair), [illegible] (committee member), Knight, Arthur (committee member), Taylor, John Russell (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c17-673274

Unique identifier UC11342802

Identifier DP22246.pdf (filename),usctheses-c17-673274 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier DP22246.pdf

Dmrecord 673274

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Jewell, Richard Brownell

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA