Hollywood the Golden Years: The RKO Story

This BBC series was made back in the 1980s...and fortunately many of the RKO actors, writers, directors, etc. were still alive and participated in the show. However, despite being very well made and important for film historians and fans, "Hollywood the Golden Years: The RKO Story" is not currently available on DVD nor videotape. I think the only way to see it is to go to YouTube. There is a slight problem with this option, however, as in a few of the episodes portions are missing....and in its place is an announcement that these parts were removed for copyright reasons! Grrrr!!! How annoying but fortunately it was NOT a major problem.

The show is broken into six episodes--following the studio from its creation in the late 20s until it was bought and ultimately destroyed by Howard Hughes in the 1950s. Well worth seeing and fascinating throughout.

I do not think there have been any other mini-series such as "Hollywood: The Golden Years" that have gone to such depths to explore the life and death of a major studio. The archival footage is in pristine condition, and the live interviews are all so reflective (and a tad bit sad) of the inner workings of RKO.

I thought Edward Asner -- as host and narrator -- did a bang-up job handling the enormous chores required to properly do this six-parter. I felt the music -- some original, I guess, and some archival -- filled the bill beautifully. Also, each episode had a theme that worked well, with plenty of examples of the subject. I only wish that each episode had been longer. I guess that's the hallmark of a good show: always leave 'em wantin' more!!

My only hope is that this will be released on DVD -- and soon!!

This is a documentary much needed of a DVD release (like MGM: When The Lion Roars). I have yet to see this since the 80's when 1st aired and historical images and facts like these should be available for all fans to own or rent in this information age. If anyone out there has access to a copy I would love to gain a copy. If anyone out there has influence over getting this or the MGM title released on DVD, please see that it gets done. If a throwaway sitcom like "Ned & Stacey" can see a DVD release, why can't a quality documentary such as these see the light of day? Come on fans...let your voice be heard and seek out the things worth seeing again, and again and again!

'The RKO Story' is almost as good as 'MGM: When The Lion Roars' and benefits from a large array of interviews with RKO stars and directors such as Katharine Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Jane Russell, and Robert Mitchum.

Each episode of six touches on a different aspect of the studio (beginnings, women in leading roles, Fred and Ginger, Orson Welles, the McCarthy trials, and the decline of the studio with Howard Hughes at the helm), mixing comments, clips, and interviews.

Well worth watching if you're interested in the history of the big studios, and this story is well told. My only quibble would be that focusing one whole episode on Citizen Kane is a bit much when the rest of the studio's output is taken into consideration: but still, it is often slated as the greatest film ever made and this episode gives it honest discussion time.

RKO only existed as a motion picture studio for 30 years, founded in late 1928 solely for the purpose of making talking pictures at a time when many studios were still releasing silents, but the transition was in progress. Thus RKO never released a silent film. The story itself sounds like the plot of a motion picture. Birthed by one financial titan - Joe Kennedy - pretty much annihilated by another - Howard Hughes. The documentary is divided into six parts:

1. Birth of a Titan (Struggling through the first five years)

2. Let's Face The Music and Dance (Astaire and Rogers)

3. A Woman's Lot (RKO's many female stars and women's films)

4. It's All True (Orson Welles' time at RKO)

5. Dark Victory (The war years, film noir, and the Hollywood blacklists)

6. Howard's Way (Howard Hughes uses RKO as a plaything and breaks it)

Probably the most questionable move was to devote an entire episode to Orson Welles since he only made four films at RKO with only three released and two of those heavily cut and edited by someone not himself.

The series comes full circle with one of RKO's early contract players, Lucille Ball, buying the studio in 1958 to serve her rapidly growing Desilu production company. Since Lucille Ball's commentary is plentiful on these episodes, she gets to comment about what it was like to buy the place where her acting career started in the 1930s. Ed Asner narrates the series, and shows great enthusiasm for the subject.

I'd highly recommend this for film history fans.