Book review - "Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Pictures" by Richard Jewell (2016)

Superb follow up to Jewell's earlier book on RKO, A Titan is Born, which went up until the end of the regime of George Schaefer. This one starts off with his replacement, Charles Koerner, probably best remembered today as the man who butchered The Magnificent Ambersons and refused to release It's All True - which is true - but he also succeeded in completely turning the studio around and making it profitable, ushering in it's greatest period. Koerner's regime was short - he died of leukemia in 1946 - but he deserves to be remembered for his non-Welles achievements, which were considerable (and not devoid of artistic aspiration).

Once Koerner died, RKO fell into a bit of a limbo until Dore Schary became head of production. He's a controversial figure, Schary - clearly talented, made some great pictures, but also a headline grabbing liberal (he had nothing to do with commissioning Crossfire for instance but took a lot of the credit), who stood up for commie creatives but only to a degree and still helped enforce the blacklist, who made many films that lost money but who wouldn't take a pay cut. His record at the studio actually isn't very good but he had a great "out" for two reasons: he clashed with Howard Hughes, and Hughes wouldn't let him do a film (Battleground) that became a big hit over at MGM.

Howard Hughes was really the final act for RKO - there were other regimes but he's the one who wrecked it. Indecisive, arrogant, egotistical, impossible to work with, he ground the studio into the ground. It could have survived, there were plenty of good people around, solid facilities and distribution, but Hughes mortally wounded it. I've got to say, I have fondness for some of his moves - His Kind of Woman especially - and part of me loves how he ran a studio into the ground, but it must have been awful for those who worked there at the time.

This is an excellent book - brilliantly researched, well written, accessible. It's full of lessons that are relevant today - the importance of experience and executive stability, the recognition that everyone will make mistakes but the key is not to make too many of them while still taking risks. When this and Titan are published in the one volume it will be the definitive account.