Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures

RKO Radio Pictures #2

by Richard B. Jewell

Slow Fade to Black completes Richard B. Jewell’s richly detailed two-part history of the RKO film studio, which began with RKO Radio Pictures : A Titan Is Born , published in 2012. This second volume charts the studio’s fortunes, which peaked during World War II, declined in the postwar period, and finally collapsed in the 1950s. Drawing on hard-to-access archival materials, Jewell chronicles the period from 1942 to the company’s demise in 1957. Towering figures associated with the studio included Howard Hughes, Orson Welles, Charles Koerner, Val Lewton, Jane Russell, and Robert Mitchum. In addition to featuring an extraordinary cast of characters, the RKO story describes key aspects of entertainment Hollywood’s collaboration with Washington, film noir, censorship, HUAC, the rise of independent film production, and the impact of television on film. Taken as a whole, Jewell’s two-volume study represents the most substantial and insightful exploration of the Hollywood studio system to date.

Genres: Film, Media Tie In

282 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2016

Reviews

[Jason Pettus · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's no way to call A Titan is Born and Slow Fade to Black, the two-book series by USC professor Richard B. Jewell chronicling the rise and fall of the old RKO Radio Pictures movie studio, as somehow riveting or fascinating; even Jewell himself admits that these are corporate histories instead of creative histories, the main point being to show that the ever-changing line-up of C-level executives at RKO is what doomed it to go out of business a mere thirty years after it started with great fanfare. (Bought at its infancy by RCA as a way of showing off its new sound-film capabilities, it was the movie sibling of broadcaster NBC, two companies that have lasted way longer than this studio that once rivaled Paramount and MGM.) Certainly, though, if you have the patience for its dry, academic tone, these books are interesting for film buffs if nothing else, showing with surprise that although the studio was home of what we today consider such important classics as King Kong, Bringing Up Baby and Citizen Kane, in reality none of these movies actually made much money for the studio, with their executives making the mistake of sinking too much money into them, and not enough into the B-pics that were usually a studio's bread and butter in those days. It's details like these that make this series worth reading for those looking for an atomized month-by-month history of movie studios in their so-called golden age, but casual film fans won't miss a thing by skipping this two-volume history altogether.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second part of Richard B Jewell's corporate history of RKO focuses on its decline and eventual extinction. RKO was never a stable, well-managed company but, under Howard Hughes, took a nosedive of mismanagement and questionable business decisions from which it never fully recovered. Its final owner sold the lot to Desilu, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's television production company; so, in 1957, one of the major companies of Hollywood's Golden Age vanished forever. Jewell's examination is precise and well-researched and proves how important corporate talent was for the survival, let alone thriving, of a film production company.

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second volume of a 2-volume work about the corporate history of RKO Radio Pictures. As the author warns, these books do not focus on the movies in terms of criticism or production history, only in as far as they are important to the economics of the studio. I admit to skimming some paragraphs here and there, as I got the names of the some of the rotating wheel of executives confused, but otherwise it's an interesting read, and a sad one as we watch the once great studio fall into ruin, largely triggered by the idiosyncratic ideas of Howard Hughes, who ran the studio for a while. I haven't read volume 1 but I put a hold on it at the library.

[Peter M. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second half of the definitive history of RKO. It's well-written and thoroughly researched. As someone interested in the films of classic Hollywood, I found Jewell's two-volume history of the business side of the studio surprisingly engaging.

For this second book, I only wish the author had covered the final management's reasons for suddenly shutting down the studio, rather than selling out, in a bit more depth. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in classic Hollywood and the studio system.