RKO Radio Pictures

U.S. film studio. It was created in 1928 as Radio-Keith-Orpheum when the Radio Corp. of America (RCA Corp.) acquired the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theatre chain and a production firm. In the 1930s RKO was noted for producing a series of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and Katharine Hepburn's early movies, as well as films such as Cimarron (1931), The Informer (1935), and Citizen Kane (1941). It was bought by Howard R. Hughes in 1948; his inattention doomed the company, and it ceased production in 1953 and was sold to Desilu Productions (1957). After numerous reorganizations, it continued as RKO General, operating radio and television stations and theatres.