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Creator
RKO Radio Pictures
Call number
*T-Mss 1996-018
Physical description
.41 linear feet (1 box)
Preferred Citation

RKO Radio Pictures Correspondence, *T-Mss 1996-018, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Highlighting the careers of actors, writers, and directors, the letters, memos, loan agreements, and contractual information for various film projects span the years 1931-1958. This collection of correspondence from the RKO legal department is about the studio's famous employees and not from them. Items of interest include copies of Katharine Hepburn's 1932 agreement with RKO and her buy-out in 1938, an issue of the Tim Holt magazine introducing the Ghost Rider [1949], and aspects of Charles Laughton's career including THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. The folder regarding the production and distribution of the motion picture CORNERED contains, besides correspondence, a budget estimate, synopses, music cue sheets, and the billing sheet for screen and advertising credits.

Biographical/historical information

The Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation (RKO) began in the late 1920's with a merger between the Film Booking Office of America and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chain. Three years later, with the takeover of American Pathe, a major Hollywood production and distribution studio was born. Over the years, production chiefs included David O. Selznick, Merian C. Cooper, George Schaefer, and Dore Schary. Among the memorable motion pictures produced by and /or released through RKO were the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals, early Katharine Hepburn films, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, King Kong, Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion and Notorious, and Orson Welles'Citizen Kane. RKO began its decline when Howard Hughes bought a controlling interest in 1948. In 1955 Hughes sold the company to the General Teleradio Corporation who, in turn, sold the television rights to over seven hundred films. The studio property was purchased by Desilu Productions in 1958.

Scope and arrangement

Highlighting the careers of actors, writers, and directors are letters, memos, loan agreements, and contractual information for various film projects. It should be noted that this collection of correspondence from the RKO legal department is about the studio's famous employees and not from them. Items of interest include copies of Katharine Hepburn's 1932 agreement with RKO and her buy-out in 1938, an issue of the Tim Holt magazine introducing the Ghost Rider [1949], and aspects of Charles Laughton's career including The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The folder regarding the production and distribution of the motion picture Cornered contains, besides correspondence, a budget estimate, synopses, music cue sheets, and the billing sheet for screen and advertising credits.

Arrangement

Alphabetical

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. correspondence was purchased by the Billy Rose Theatre Division in June, 1996 from Charles Apfelbaum.

Processing information

Processed by Susan McArthur.

Using the collection

Location

Billy Rose Theatre Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Access restrictions

Photocopying prohibited.