RKO Logo Question (1 Viewer)

[Drew Salzan]

The other night I was watching Rancho Notorious on TCM which was photographed in Technicolor. The opening RKO Radio logo was in black and white. I thought that this was odd. I'm sure a color logo was created. Anyone have any insight into this?

 

[Garysb]

I don't know anything specifically about this title but when RKO films were sold to TV in the fifties all the RKO logos were removed from the films and replaced with C&C Films logo (Long story as to why this was). Anyway when the RKO logo was restored to this film, perhaps they just used a generic B&W RKO Logo. There were not many color RKO films.

 

[Patrick McCart]

RKO apparently never made a color version of the logo until the SuperScope variation, which still used B&W with the SS overlay.

 

[Rodney]

From Leonard Maltin's website :


Here's a later version of the same logo, but Linwood let me in on a secret: RKO was too cheap to refilm the trademark in color, so he manufactured a makeshift color version using stencils.



The link above goes to a nice article on Linwood Dunn, and if you are an old movie buff and do not have a subscription to Movie Crazy, well, shame on you!

 

[Herb Kane]

I have an old copy of The Unholy Wife (1957) which has the color logo - no SS overlay...

Herb.

 

[Colton]

For years, I have been looking for that RKO thunderbolt font. You would think with the gazillion true-type lettercases out there that someone would have made a RKO font.

- Colton