Overview

"One of the ""Big Five"" studios of Hollywood's golden age, RKO is remembered today primarily for the famous films it produced, from King Kong and Citizen Kane to the Astaire-Rogers musicals. But its own story also provides a fascinating case study of film industry management during one of the most vexing periods in American social history. RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan is Born offers a vivid history of a thirty-year roller coaster of unstable finances, management battles, and artistic gambles. Richard Jewell has used unparalleled access to studio documents generally unavailable to scholars to produce the first business history of RKO, exploring its decision-making processes and illuminating the complex interplay between art and commerce during the heyday of the studio system. Behind the blockbuster films and the glamorous stars, the story of RKO often contained more drama than any of the movies it ever produced."

Full Product Details

Author:   Richard B. Jewell
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780520271791

ISBN 10:   0520271793
Pages:   340
Publication Date:   01 April 2012
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Introduction 1. Master Showmen of the World : Prehistory and the Formation of the Company 2. It's RKO--Let's Go : The Brown-Schnitzer-LeBaron Regime (1929--1931) 3. Failure on the installment plan, a ticket at a time : The Aylesworth-Kahane-Selznick Regime (1932--1933) 4. All this is very distressing to me : The Aylesworth-Kahane-Cooper Regime (1933--1934) 5. He feels the company is unsettled : The Aylesworth-McDonough-Kahane Regime (1934--1935) 6. An awfully long corner : The Spitz-Briskin Regime (1936--1937) 7. Plaything of industry : The Spitz-Berman Regime (1938) 8. The company's best interest : The Schaefer-Berman Regime (1939) 9. Quality pictures are the lifeblood of this business : The Schaefer-Edington Regime (1940--1941) 10. Crossing wires : The Schaefer-Breen Regime (1941--1942) Appendix: The Whole Equation of Pictures Notes Selected Bibliography Index

Reviews

Jewell not only makes great use of this primary material, but presents a clear, fair-minded narrative that puts the facts into proper context. -- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy

Jewell not only makes great use of this primary material, but presents a clear, fair-minded narrative that puts the facts into proper context. Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy 20120607 The author is clear and candid... A readable, thought-provoking analysis. -- S.R. Kozloff, Vassar College Choice 20120926

Jewell not only makes great use of this primary material, but presents a clear, fair-minded narrative that puts the facts into proper context. --Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy

Author Information

Richard B. Jewell is Professor of Critical Studies at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He is the author of The Golden Age of Hollywood, and The RKO Story, among others.

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