Word: rko
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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DIED. Harriet Parsons, 76, petite hard-headed producer who made six movies for RKO between 1945 and 1955, including Clash by Night and I Remember Mama; of cancer; in Santa Monica, Calif. The daughter of powerful Gossip Columnist Louella Parsons, Harriet went from writing for fan magazines and filming shorts to producing Hollywood films, one of a handful of women to do so. Her job often required, she said, "the combined qualities of Solomon and Simon Legree...
Hastily created in 1928 from the remnants of the Keith-Orpheum theater chain by RCA Founder David Sarnoff and Joseph P. Kennedy, tiny RKO became the studio mouse that roared like MGM's lion. RKO produced the first Technicolor feature, Becky Sharp, starring Frances Dee, now 74 (and in a bit part, a then unknown 23-year-old actress, Pat Ryan, later Pat Nixon), Citizen Kane and the nine best Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers pictures. Last week the final vestiges of the studio-30 years' worth of scripts, musical scores and papers-were donated to the film...
...past behavior of RKO's parent, General Tire & Rubber Co., determined the decision. Ten years ago, General Tire signed a consent decree with the Justice Department, which charged it with forcing buyers of its tires to advertise them on RKO stations. Four years ago, General Tire disclosed that it made illegal political campaign contributions and foreign payoffs and agreed to pay fines of $200,000 after signing a consent decree with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The FCC complaint emphasized that "RKO was effectively controlled by General Tire and hence General Tire's wrongdoing had a direct bearing...
...RKO's problems began when Businessman David Mugar tried to gain control of the broadcaster's Boston TV station and hired a former Watergate attorney, Terry Lenzner, and Washington Post Reporter Scott Armstrong to investigate General Tire. The team uncovered evidence of a number of unsavory practices, which led to the SEC's consent decree...
...RKO plans to appeal in federal court, but other broadcasters are deeply worried. "This-decision rocks every broadcasting license in the country," says an alarmed network executive. There may be more rocks and jolts ahead if this action signals a new get-tough mood...