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RKO PRODUCTIONS, INCORPORATED 145
During the 1928-1929 season, 53 feature pictures had been released by the company, of which 8 were produced with sound; all the 1928-1929 product had been released with silent versions. The company had tentatively planned in 1929 to produce 30 feature pictures with sound; of these 30 pictures, 15 were to have silent versions as well as sound versions. It was the intention of the company to produce pictures of a different type from, and of a higher quality than, those formerly made by FBO Productions, Incorporated.
In determining what to produce for the coming season, the executives of RKO Productions, Incorporated, had been of the opinion that sound pictures had developed beyond the status of novelty entertainment and were to take an important position in motion picture entertainment. This attitude was shared by other large motion picture producers. The relative emphasis given to sound effects, dialogue, and synchronized music would vary with the requirements of a particular picture. Certain story material already selected for the production of RKO pictures would require considerable dialogue and song reproduction.
FBO Productions, Incorporated, had been licensed in 1928 to record sound on film by the system of RCA Photophone, Incorporated. The latter company had been formed in 1928 for the purpose of distributing a recording and reproducing equipment, known as the Photophone System, a sound-on-film device. It was to the interest of the Radio Corporation of America to encourage the sale of sound-on-film equipment. While the Photophone System included equipment for the reproduction of sound from discs, the superiority of the system rested entirely in the excellence of its recording and reproducing of sound on film. The system was rated by many expert authorities as the best in the market. RCA Photophone, Incorporated, had recently announced a lower price reproducing device designed for theaters seating 750 persons or less; the new device included both film and disc equipment.
RKO Productions, Incorporated, was interested, as were other large motion picture producers, in discouraging the installation of the cheaper reproducing equipment in theaters. Cheap equipment installations, largely limited to disc reproduction, might secure a hold on the theatrical trade which would later result in shutting out sound-on-film bookings. It was also recognized that the cheaper installations provided low quality