The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywood

1987•1h 0m•9.0/10

Documentary

Ratings

🎬TMDb

9.0/10(2)

Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Open in PickFlick

Language

Status

Ended

First Aired

July 3, 1987

Last Aired

August 7, 1987

Networks

BBC Four

Where to Watch

Region US · Lang EN

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Seasons & Episodes

Select a season to view episodes. Reddit links may contain spoilers.

Season

Birth of a Titan

Air date: 1987-07-03

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.

Let's Face the Music and Dance

Air date: 1987-07-10

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.

A Woman's Lot

Air date: 1987-07-17

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.

It's All True

Air date: 1987-07-24

Orson Welles spent a hectic few years at RKO, making Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons and the abandoned It's All True.

Dark Victory

Air date: 1987-07-31

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.

Howard's End

Air date: 1987-08-07

Series concludes as Howard Hughes' purchase of RKO has a devastating effect on the studio.