The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywood — Season 1
About this season
Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Episodes (6)
1. Birth of a Titan
Aired 3 July 1987 • 60 min
Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures through the eyes of the people who worked there from its creation at the start of the talkies in the late 1920s.
2. Let's Face the Music and Dance
Aired 10 July 1987 • 60 min
He examines the musicals made in the mid 1930s with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Includes interviews with both stars, the producer Pando Berman and choreographer Hermes Pan.
3. A Woman's Lot
Aired 17 July 1987 • 60 min
The story of RKO Pictures, told through the eyes of the people who worked there, traces the films made at RKO for and by women, concentrating on the careers of Ginger Rogers and Katharine Hepburn.
4. It's All True
Aired 24 July 1987 • 60 min
Orson Welles spent a hectic few years at RKO, making Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons and the abandoned It's All True.
5. Dark Victory
Aired 31 July 1987 • 60 min
The 1950s were a time of mounting paranoia, reflected by the studio's ventures into film noir. Robert Mitchum makes his first screen appearance, Val Lewton creates Zombies and Cat People, and the House Un-American Activities Committee stalks its prey.
6. Howard's End
Aired 7 August 1987 • 60 min
Series concludes as Howard Hughes' purchase of RKO has a devastating effect on the studio.