I understand that Howard Hughes owned the RKO Movie Studio back in the 1950’s…and that he even produced/directed a few films. How was he? Was RKO profitable under his ownership? If so, why did he sell it?
I did see “THE CONQUEROR” (horrible cheesey flick about Jenghis Khan, played by John Wayne)…is it true the entire cast died of cancer caused by being filmed in Nevada during atom bomb tests?
PS…the movie was awful! :smack:
Hughes was a producer, not a director. He received directing credits twice, but both times other directors did most of the actual work.
Hughes did take a personal interest in the films he produced and no doubt oversaw the director and made sure things were done his way. He did produce some very good films – Hells Angels, The Front Page, and Scarface. However, he also produced some real stinkers: Underwater!, Jet Pilot, The Conqueror.
Hughes tended to prefer action movies about manly men and big busted women (though Jane Russell claims she never wore it, he invented a bra to show off her breasts and is quoted as saying something like “We’re not getting enough production value out of Jane’s breasts!” when they tried to hide them).
RKO was floundering when he came in, and floundering even worse when he left. His micromanagement caused all sorts of problems, and eventually he sold it.
And, yes, an inordinate number of the cast of The Conqueror died of cancer, which may have been due to the radioactivity on the set.
Cecil did an article on The Conqueror. Apparently Hughes was obsessed with it in his latter years.