WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.359 Picture the landscape of Hollywood in the 1920s. 00:00:02.359 --> 00:00:04.459 Oh, is the Wild West out there. Completely. The 00:00:04.459 --> 00:00:08.539 film industry is this unregulated frontier. It's 00:00:08.539 --> 00:00:11.339 a rapidly changing environment where fortunes 00:00:11.339 --> 00:00:14.179 are materialized literally overnight. And just 00:00:14.179 --> 00:00:16.300 as quickly. they are completely wiped out. Right. 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:18.579 You have these larger than life personalities, 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:21.519 cut crew, backroom, business deals, and really 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.219 the birth of modern global entertainment as we 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:26.739 know it today, all just converging in the California 00:00:26.739 --> 00:00:29.379 sun. Plus, you have the transition from silent 00:00:29.379 --> 00:00:33.479 films to talkies looming on the horizon. Exactly, 00:00:33.640 --> 00:00:36.460 which is creating this intense gold rush mentality 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:39.579 among investors. We are thrilled you are joining 00:00:39.579 --> 00:00:41.479 us today because we have a genuinely fascinating 00:00:41.479 --> 00:00:44.880 story for you. We really do. Our mission in this 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.880 deep dive is to extract the incredible and honestly 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:50.600 almost completely forgotten history of a very 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:53.479 short -lived film distribution company. Very 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:55.759 short -lived. Yeah. They were known as the Producers 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:58.840 Distributing Corporation, or PDC. And our source 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:01.719 material for today is a Wikipedia article detailing 00:01:01.719 --> 00:01:04.180 the brief existence of this company. Which is 00:01:04.180 --> 00:01:06.879 a great read, by the way. It is. And while it 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:08.620 might seem like a straightforward historical 00:01:08.620 --> 00:01:11.359 summary on the surface, reading between the lines 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:14.920 reveals an astounding web. historical heavyweights 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.799 oh yeah it's a dizzying game of corporate musical 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:21.459 chairs and ultimately a tragic graveyard of lost 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:24.359 art it really serves as a perfect microcosm of 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:27.280 early Hollywood economics and the physical fragility 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:30.640 of early cinema too it is a master class in how 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:33.819 the studio system was forged But before we jump 00:01:33.819 --> 00:01:35.700 into the timeline, I have to point out a rather 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:38.280 amusing clarification from the very top of our 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:40.480 source document. I love this part. Right. The 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.480 article explicitly notes that this 1920s Hollywood 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:46.040 film studio is not to be confused with the Professional 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:48.719 Darts Corporation. Which shares the exact same 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:51.659 PDC initials. Yes. So just to set expectations 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:53.760 for you right out of the gate, we will not be 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:56.120 discussing anybody throwing bullseyes at a pub 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:58.739 today. No darts today. We are strictly examining 00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:01.579 vintage cinema and corporate history. A helpful... 00:02:01.870 --> 00:02:05.030 if highly specific, disclaimer. It is always 00:02:05.030 --> 00:02:07.090 good to establish the parameters of the discussion 00:02:07.090 --> 00:02:10.599 early on. Okay, let's untack this. The timeline 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:13.979 of PDC really gains momentum around late 1924, 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:17.680 and the setup involves a man named William Wadsworth 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.639 Hodkinson. Also known as W .W. Hodkinson. Right. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:24.060 Now, Hodkinson is an absolute industry titan. 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:26.819 According to our source, he is the man who founded 00:02:26.819 --> 00:02:29.680 Paramount Pictures back in 1912. He essentially 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:32.060 invented the modern system of nationwide film 00:02:32.060 --> 00:02:35.259 distribution. He did. But by the time we reach 00:02:35.259 --> 00:02:38.580 late 1924, his current distribution company is 00:02:38.580 --> 00:02:41.199 struggling. And he decides it is time to sell 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:44.259 it off. So if Hodkinson's company is failing 00:02:44.259 --> 00:02:47.460 in a highly volatile market, why does a buyer 00:02:47.460 --> 00:02:49.560 from completely outside the industry suddenly 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:52.479 want to take on that huge financial risk? Yeah. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:54.520 What was the angle? That is the pivotal question, 00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:56.879 because the buyer brings a completely different 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:58.819 paradigm to the Hollywood scene. Who was it? 00:02:58.939 --> 00:03:00.960 The man who steps up to buy the struggling company 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.550 is named Jeremiah Milbank. Okay. And to give 00:03:03.550 --> 00:03:05.710 you an accurate picture of who Milbank was and 00:03:05.710 --> 00:03:07.550 why he might be interested in a Hollywood studio, 00:03:07.729 --> 00:03:09.629 I want to read an exact quote from our source. 00:03:09.849 --> 00:03:12.909 Go for it. The article cites page 212 of Scott 00:03:12.909 --> 00:03:16.389 Iman's book, Empire of Dreams, The Epic Life 00:03:16.389 --> 00:03:19.590 of Cecil B. DeMille. Great book. The text describes 00:03:19.590 --> 00:03:22.930 Milbank as a, quote, wealthy, extremely religious, 00:03:23.030 --> 00:03:25.949 and politically conservative financier, end quote. 00:03:26.069 --> 00:03:28.750 Got it. I want to pause right here and explicitly 00:03:28.750 --> 00:03:32.319 remind you. our listener, that we are neutrally 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:35.460 reporting the source text's historical description 00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:38.530 of milbank's politics right just giving the context 00:03:38.530 --> 00:03:41.129 provided in the article exactly we are not taking 00:03:41.129 --> 00:03:43.870 any political sides ourselves merely laying out 00:03:43.870 --> 00:03:45.810 the historical facts of who was writing the checks 00:03:45.810 --> 00:03:49.169 that context is vital though you have this wealthy 00:03:49.169 --> 00:03:51.870 religious financier from the east coast who is 00:03:51.870 --> 00:03:55.050 completely outside the typical hollywood outsider 00:03:55.050 --> 00:03:58.509 yeah wall street money was just starting to recognize 00:03:58.509 --> 00:04:01.349 the immense cultural and financial power of the 00:04:01.349 --> 00:04:04.120 film industry Milbank likely saw an opportunity 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:07.159 not just for profit, but to establish a foothold 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:09.560 in this wild new medium. And his strategy is 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:11.280 brilliant. He doesn't try to make the art himself. 00:04:11.580 --> 00:04:14.580 No, he knows he needs an insider. Right. Instead, 00:04:14.860 --> 00:04:17.740 he decides to partner up with an absolute visionary 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:21.259 of the industry, the film director Cecil B. DeMille. 00:04:21.689 --> 00:04:25.310 Talk about a striking pairing. I know. The conservative 00:04:25.310 --> 00:04:28.189 East Coast financier providing the capital and 00:04:28.189 --> 00:04:31.009 the flamboyant visionary director providing the 00:04:31.009 --> 00:04:33.310 creative engine. DeMille steps in to become the 00:04:33.310 --> 00:04:36.209 company's primary talent. And with this new partnership 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:39.410 forged, they officially rename the company the 00:04:39.410 --> 00:04:42.490 Producers Distributing Corporation. So PDC is 00:04:42.490 --> 00:04:45.149 officially born, backed by serious financial 00:04:45.149 --> 00:04:48.649 firepower and significant creative cachet. Exactly. 00:04:48.850 --> 00:04:51.959 Here's where it gets really interesting. Milbank's 00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:54.560 financial investment immediately translates into 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.060 a massive physical footprint. They didn't just 00:04:57.060 --> 00:04:59.259 rent office space. No, part of the capital went 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:01.459 directly into prime real estate. They purchased 00:05:01.459 --> 00:05:04.759 the former Thomas H. Ince Culver Studios. Located 00:05:04.759 --> 00:05:07.779 in Culver City. Right. This property became Cecil 00:05:07.779 --> 00:05:10.180 B. DeMille's dedicated production facility for 00:05:10.180 --> 00:05:14.259 PDC. But it wasn't just any regular studio backlot. 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:16.360 This is the crazy part. The main administration 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:19.019 building of this property was literally a replica 00:05:19.019 --> 00:05:21.300 of Mount Vernon. George Washington's at that. 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.810 Yes. The imagery there is hard to ignore. It 00:05:24.810 --> 00:05:26.970 really is. The fact that a conservative East 00:05:26.970 --> 00:05:30.029 Coast financier planted a massive, sprawling 00:05:30.029 --> 00:05:32.269 replica of a presidential mansion right in the 00:05:32.269 --> 00:05:35.230 middle of a Culver City backlot. It says everything 00:05:35.230 --> 00:05:37.069 you need to know about the image they were trying 00:05:37.069 --> 00:05:39.350 to project. They wanted to signal legitimacy, 00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:43.410 tradition and solid American values. In an industry 00:05:43.410 --> 00:05:46.470 that was widely viewed by the public at the time 00:05:46.470 --> 00:05:49.589 as completely scandalous and untamed. What's 00:05:49.589 --> 00:05:52.350 fascinating here is the enduring legacy of that 00:05:52.350 --> 00:05:55.259 specific. piece of real estate. The building 00:05:55.259 --> 00:05:57.720 itself. Right. That Mount Vernon replica building 00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:01.399 far outlived the memory of the producers distributing 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:03.959 corporation. How so? Well, if you fast forward 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:06.920 a bit in film history. That exact building eventually 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:10.319 became the iconic, highly recognizable logo for 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:13.199 Selznick International Pictures. Wow. So even 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:15.420 if you have never heard of PDC, if you have seen 00:06:15.420 --> 00:06:18.040 classic films from the Selznick era, you know, 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:20.379 those sweeping epics produced a decade later, 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:23.639 you've seen the architectural legacy that Milbank's 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:25.399 money purchased. The physical infrastructure 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:27.860 literally outlasted the corporate entity that 00:06:27.860 --> 00:06:30.480 built it. It's incredible. But beyond the real 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.139 estate, we have to examine what PDC actually 00:06:33.139 --> 00:06:36.319 produced inside that studio. The output. Yeah. 00:06:36.379 --> 00:06:39.139 The sheer volume of work they churned out is 00:06:39.139 --> 00:06:41.160 staggering when you consider their operational 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:43.819 window. It was a very tight window. Our source 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:47.540 explicitly states PDC was organized in 1924 and 00:06:47.540 --> 00:06:51.339 dissolved in 1927. That is a lifespan of roughly 00:06:51.339 --> 00:06:54.540 three years. Three years. Yet the filmography 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:57.670 listed in the article is extensive. They produced 00:06:57.670 --> 00:07:00.910 dozens upon dozens of films in that tiny window 00:07:00.910 --> 00:07:03.170 of time. Which really highlights how the studio 00:07:03.170 --> 00:07:05.089 system functioned as a high -speed manufacturing 00:07:05.089 --> 00:07:07.750 plant during the silent era. They were moving 00:07:07.750 --> 00:07:09.790 at a breakneck pace. They were trying to capture 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:12.790 every possible demographic to ensure a return 00:07:12.790 --> 00:07:14.569 on Milbank's investment. Yeah. They weren't just 00:07:14.569 --> 00:07:16.569 making prestige pictures. Right. They were filling 00:07:16.569 --> 00:07:19.250 theater schedules. Just to immerse you in the 00:07:19.250 --> 00:07:21.550 flavor of the era, let me read off a few of the 00:07:21.550 --> 00:07:23.810 titles from their filmography. Let's hear them. 00:07:24.029 --> 00:07:26.980 You have The Hoosier Schoolmaster. released in 00:07:26.980 --> 00:07:30.060 1924. Classic. You have The Siren of Seville 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:32.660 and Hell's High Road. Great titles. You have 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:35.439 The Nervous Wreck and a title that perfectly 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.319 captures the changing social mores of the 1920s 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:40.980 up in Mabel's room. They were churning out melodramas, 00:07:40.980 --> 00:07:44.000 comedies, sweeping romances. All meticulously 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:46.199 crafted right on that Culver City lot. It was 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:49.480 a factory of dreams. So what does this all mean? 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:52.899 We have this incredibly prolific studio creating 00:07:52.899 --> 00:07:56.040 a massive catalog of entertainment housed in 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:59.000 a replica presidential mansion. Bankrolled by 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.579 a wealthy financier. And driven by Cecil B. DeMille. 00:08:02.740 --> 00:08:05.600 On paper, it sounds like an unstoppable cultural 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:08.290 force. It does. But as you scroll through the 00:08:08.290 --> 00:08:10.269 filmography in our source document, there is 00:08:10.269 --> 00:08:13.170 this haunting, repetitive word that appears next 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:15.810 to title after title. It is a stark reminder 00:08:15.810 --> 00:08:18.209 of the chemical reality of early cinema. The 00:08:18.209 --> 00:08:21.029 word is lost. Yeah. Next to dozens of the films 00:08:21.029 --> 00:08:24.009 produced by PDC, the Wikipedia article simply 00:08:24.009 --> 00:08:27.319 states lost. These are not movies you can stream 00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:30.579 or rent or even find a dusty print of in a museum 00:08:30.579 --> 00:08:33.220 vault somewhere. They are entirely gone. To truly 00:08:33.220 --> 00:08:35.519 grasp the scale of this cultural tragedy, we 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:37.220 need to look at the chemistry and the specific 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:40.539 casualties. The film stock itself. Right. The 00:08:40.539 --> 00:08:43.059 cellulose nitrate film stock used during this 00:08:43.059 --> 00:08:46.500 era was notoriously unstable. Highly flammable. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:49.620 It was prone to catastrophic vault fires. And 00:08:49.620 --> 00:08:51.600 if it wasn't kept in perfectly climate -controlled 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:54.679 conditions, it would simply shrink off gas, turn 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:57.179 into a sticky jelly, and eventually crumble into 00:08:57.179 --> 00:08:59.799 dust. Which sounds like a nightmare for preservation. 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:02.980 Well, the studios at the time often didn't even 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:05.200 see the value in preserving these films once 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:07.659 their initial theatrical run was over. Really? 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:10.539 Yeah, they were viewed as disposable commercial 00:09:10.539 --> 00:09:13.340 products, not historical artifacts. Which means 00:09:13.340 --> 00:09:16.559 we have a devastating litany of lost art. Let's 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:18.580 look at the sheer volume of human effort that 00:09:18.580 --> 00:09:21.779 simply evaporated. It's sobering. From 1924 alone, 00:09:22.019 --> 00:09:24.600 a film called Another Scandal is lost. Her Own 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.539 Free Will, lost. Welcome, Stranger, lost. The 00:09:27.539 --> 00:09:30.100 Trooping with Ellen, lost. The Chorus Lady, lost. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:32.779 The Flaming Forties, lost. The Ramshackle House, 00:09:32.940 --> 00:09:35.799 lost. A Cafe in Cairo, lost. The Barrage, lost. 00:09:36.279 --> 00:09:38.960 Chalk Marks, lost. And that is just a fraction 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:41.159 of the list from their very first year in operation. 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:44.620 It continues relentlessly through 1925, 1926, 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:48.460 and 19... We are talking about dozens of feature 00:09:48.460 --> 00:09:51.809 films. Think about the hundreds of actors, the 00:09:51.809 --> 00:09:54.269 directors, the set designers building extensive 00:09:54.269 --> 00:09:56.730 worlds. The lighting technicians, the costume 00:09:56.730 --> 00:09:59.490 designers. They poured their careers into projects 00:09:59.490 --> 00:10:02.190 that no longer exist in any physical form. Even 00:10:02.190 --> 00:10:04.269 among the films that avoided total destruction, 00:10:04.570 --> 00:10:07.529 the source details how many barely survived as 00:10:07.529 --> 00:10:10.110 fragments. They are just ghosts of cinema now. 00:10:10.350 --> 00:10:12.909 Exactly. For example, the Hoosier Schoolmaster, 00:10:13.190 --> 00:10:16.210 that 1924 film we mentioned earlier, the article 00:10:16.210 --> 00:10:19.289 notes it is missing one reel. So you can watch 00:10:19.289 --> 00:10:22.210 it, but a chunk of the narrative is permanently 00:10:22.210 --> 00:10:25.629 missing. A 1925 film called Madam Behave is listed 00:10:25.629 --> 00:10:28.509 simply as incomplete. But the entry that genuinely 00:10:28.509 --> 00:10:31.610 illustrates the tragedy is a 1926 film called 00:10:31.610 --> 00:10:34.490 Red Dice. Oh, this one is sad. According to the 00:10:34.490 --> 00:10:36.929 source, the only thing that survives of Red Dice 00:10:36.929 --> 00:10:39.350 is the trailer. Just the trailer. Two minutes 00:10:39.350 --> 00:10:41.389 of promotional footage is the only evidence left 00:10:41.389 --> 00:10:43.950 to prove that an entire feature film once existed 00:10:43.950 --> 00:10:46.360 and played to audiences across the country. this 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:48.720 raises an important question actually this raises 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:51.059 an important question for you the listener i 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:54.340 want you to really try and imagine Creating this 00:10:54.340 --> 00:10:57.100 massive catalog of art. Working at that frenetic 00:10:57.100 --> 00:11:00.059 1920s pace to build an entertainment empire. 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:03.299 Exactly. Only for half of the actual product 00:11:03.299 --> 00:11:04.940 to physically vanish from the earth within a 00:11:04.940 --> 00:11:07.620 century. It reframes how we think about legacy. 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:09.860 We tend to assume that if something is widely 00:11:09.860 --> 00:11:12.620 distributed, it is permanent. Right. But the 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:15.279 story of PTC proves that widespread distribution 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:18.419 offers zero protection against chemical decay 00:11:18.419 --> 00:11:21.019 and corporate neglect. To be fair to history, 00:11:21.259 --> 00:11:23.580 our source does note that some of PDC's output 00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:26.500 made it through the century intact. Sure. Films 00:11:26.500 --> 00:11:29.879 like The King of Kings from 1927, Braveheart 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:33.620 from 1925, and The Volga Boatman from 1926 did 00:11:33.620 --> 00:11:35.759 survive the nitrate era. Which is wonderful. 00:11:36.019 --> 00:11:38.379 But the ratio of what we preserve to what we 00:11:38.379 --> 00:11:40.899 lost remains a tough pill to swallow. It does. 00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:43.059 And what is particularly insightful here is how 00:11:43.059 --> 00:11:45.460 the physical fragility of the films contrasts 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:47.980 with the robust, aggressive evolution of the 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:50.360 corporate entities that own them. While the art 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:53.240 was slowly turning to dust in neglected vaults, 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:55.559 the executives were playing a high -stakes game 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:57.879 of monopoly. If we connect this to the bigger 00:11:57.879 --> 00:12:01.299 picture, the corporate history of PDC illustrates 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:04.419 the massive consolidation of power that happened 00:12:04.419 --> 00:12:07.360 at the end of the 1920s. Let's map out this corporate 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:09.820 chessboard because PDC's dissolution was not 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:12.200 a failure. No, it was a strategic absorption. 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:16.250 Let's trace the assets. Remember, PDC is formally 00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:19.950 dissolved in 1927. Right. The mechanism for that 00:12:19.950 --> 00:12:23.250 dissolution is a flurry of mergers. In March 00:12:23.250 --> 00:12:26.870 of 1927, PDC merges with another studio called 00:12:26.870 --> 00:12:29.509 the Passé Exchange. Okay, so they combine forces. 00:12:29.889 --> 00:12:32.409 And this combined entity is immediately placed 00:12:32.409 --> 00:12:34.690 under the control of a theater chain called the 00:12:34.690 --> 00:12:38.600 Keith Albee Orpheum Chain, or KAO. This is a 00:12:38.600 --> 00:12:41.179 textbook example of vertical integration. The 00:12:41.179 --> 00:12:43.759 executives realize that making movies isn't enough. 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:46.399 You need guaranteed places to show them. By merging 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:48.980 the production facilities of PDC and Pathé with 00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:51.019 the KAO theater chain, they suddenly control 00:12:51.019 --> 00:12:53.220 the product from the soundstage all the way to 00:12:53.220 --> 00:12:55.419 the ticket booth. But the consolidation doesn't 00:12:55.419 --> 00:12:58.960 stop there. Not at all. In early 1928, a formidable 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:02.289 new player enters the narrative. Joseph P. Kennedy. 00:13:02.450 --> 00:13:04.750 The patriarch of the Kennedy political dynasty. 00:13:05.029 --> 00:13:07.649 The very same. At this time, Joseph P. Kennedy 00:13:07.649 --> 00:13:10.889 is an incredibly shrewd businessman who owns 00:13:10.889 --> 00:13:13.730 the Film Booking Offices of America, known as 00:13:13.730 --> 00:13:16.769 FBO. FBO is known for being a highly efficient 00:13:16.769 --> 00:13:19.570 mid -tier studio that cranked out profitable 00:13:19.570 --> 00:13:22.629 westerns and action pictures. And in early 1928, 00:13:22.850 --> 00:13:25.610 Kennedy leverages his position and sweeps in 00:13:25.610 --> 00:13:28.470 to take control of the entire KAO theater chain. 00:13:28.629 --> 00:13:31.379 Think about the scale of that move. Kennedy now 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:34.879 controls his own efficient studio in FBO, a massive 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:38.320 nationwide chain of theaters in KAO, and all 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.340 the residual assets of PDC and Pathé. He is building 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:43.919 an entertainment empire at an unprecedented speed. 00:13:44.350 --> 00:13:46.210 But the landscape is about to shift violently 00:13:46.210 --> 00:13:48.610 beneath his feet. Because a new technology is 00:13:48.610 --> 00:13:51.070 threatening to upend the entire silent film industry. 00:13:51.409 --> 00:13:53.269 The talkies are arriving. And this is where the 00:13:53.269 --> 00:13:55.370 story shifts from a standard corporate merger 00:13:55.370 --> 00:13:58.549 to a masterclass in technological leverage. Who 00:13:58.549 --> 00:14:01.970 comes in next? Later in 1928, David Sarnoff enters 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:04.789 the picture. Oh, wow. Yeah. Sarnoff is the general 00:14:04.789 --> 00:14:07.590 manager of RCA, the Radio Corporation of America. 00:14:07.909 --> 00:14:10.610 Now, Sarnoff isn't a movie guy. Right. He is 00:14:10.610 --> 00:14:13.309 a hardware and communications guy. He has a very 00:14:13.309 --> 00:14:16.210 specific goal. He wants to promote a bland new 00:14:16.210 --> 00:14:18.309 sound -on film system developed by his company 00:14:18.309 --> 00:14:21.629 called RCA Photophone. This is the crucial insight. 00:14:22.129 --> 00:14:24.750 Sarnoff realizes that whoever controls the audio 00:14:24.750 --> 00:14:27.289 technology will effectively control the next 00:14:27.289 --> 00:14:30.409 generation of Hollywood. Exactly. But the existing 00:14:30.409 --> 00:14:32.669 major studios were already aligning with the 00:14:32.669 --> 00:14:35.409 competing sound system from Warner Bros. and 00:14:35.409 --> 00:14:38.120 Western Electric. So Sarnoff couldn't just sell 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:41.080 his RCA photophone system. He needed a dedicated 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:43.700 platform to force it into the market. He realized 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:45.980 he had to buy the software, the studios themselves, 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.039 to ensure the survival of his hardware. So Sarnoff 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.240 orchestrates an incredibly complex acquisition. 00:14:51.580 --> 00:14:54.580 He merges Joseph P. Kennedy's FBO studio with 00:14:54.580 --> 00:14:57.460 the KAO theater chain. By combining these entities, 00:14:57.659 --> 00:15:00.320 he creates a brand new massive studio specifically 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:03.000 designed to utilize RCA photophone technology. 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:05.820 This new company, born out of the remnants of 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:08.360 all these smaller studios, including the ashes 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:11.759 of our short -lived PDC, is the legendary RKO 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:14.799 Radio Pictures. RKO goes on to become one of 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:17.100 the big five studios of Hollywood's golden age. 00:15:17.259 --> 00:15:19.740 Eventually producing masterpieces like King Kong 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:22.759 and Citizen Kane. It is a brilliant strategy. 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:26.620 RKO is a giant of cinema history, and its foundational 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:29.600 DNA traces all the way back to this complex web 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:32.580 of acquisitions to William Wadsworth Hopkinson 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:35.019 and Jeremiah Milbank. But we should clarify what 00:15:35.019 --> 00:15:37.759 happened to PDC's specific physical assets, like 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:40.139 the Culver City studio, during the creation of 00:15:40.139 --> 00:15:42.460 RKO. Right. Where did the Mount Vernon replica 00:15:42.460 --> 00:15:44.879 go? Well, according to the article, Joseph P. 00:15:44.899 --> 00:15:47.259 Kennedy retained control of Pathé during the 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:50.539 massive RKO merger. Remember, Pathé was the entity 00:15:50.539 --> 00:15:53.299 that had formally assumed PDC's assets back in 00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:55.860 1927. Which included that famous studio lot. 00:15:56.100 --> 00:15:58.039 Kennedy holds on to Pathé for a few more years, 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:00.019 letting it operate independently. Finally, in 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:03.059 January of 1931, Kennedy sells Pathé to RKO, 00:16:03.299 --> 00:16:06.240 absorbing the final pieces of PDC into the behemoth. 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:09.320 And with that final transaction complete... Joseph 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:11.620 P. Kennedy completely exits the film business, 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:14.419 taking a massive fortune with him. The entire 00:16:14.419 --> 00:16:16.779 corporate landscape was fundamentally transformed 00:16:16.779 --> 00:16:19.279 in just about four years. It is a breathtaking 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:22.299 pace of corporate maneuvering, from Hodkinson 00:16:22.299 --> 00:16:25.919 to Milbank to DeMille, then to Kennedy, and finally 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:28.580 to Sarnoff. They were shuffling these massive 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:32.679 assets, real estate, theater chains, film libraries, 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:36.009 with ruthless efficiency. Just to tie up one 00:16:36.009 --> 00:16:38.509 final loose end from the source material, the 00:16:38.509 --> 00:16:40.870 article makes a point to clarify a few named 00:16:40.870 --> 00:16:43.730 doppelgangers. Oh, right. Because the name Producers 00:16:43.730 --> 00:16:45.929 Distributing Corporation sounds so authoritative 00:16:45.929 --> 00:16:48.750 and official, it was inevitably recycled by other 00:16:48.750 --> 00:16:51.570 people later on. The source notes that our 1920s 00:16:51.570 --> 00:16:54.269 PDC has no connection whatsoever to a company 00:16:54.269 --> 00:16:56.769 of the exact same name organized by a man named 00:16:56.769 --> 00:16:59.970 Ben Judel in 1939. Judel's iteration produced 00:16:59.970 --> 00:17:02.769 just four films before evolving into a poverty 00:17:02.769 --> 00:17:04.950 row studio. One of those low -budget independent 00:17:04.950 --> 00:17:07.490 operations that cranked out cheap B -movies down 00:17:07.490 --> 00:17:09.250 the street from the major lots. Yeah, that became 00:17:09.250 --> 00:17:11.650 Producers Releasing Corporation. Furthermore, 00:17:11.869 --> 00:17:15.849 the 1920s PDC is completely unconnected to a 00:17:15.849 --> 00:17:18.049 modern company called the Producers Distribution 00:17:18.049 --> 00:17:22.049 Agency, which was founded in 2010 by John Sloss 00:17:22.049 --> 00:17:24.490 and Bart Walker. Those are entirely separate 00:17:24.490 --> 00:17:27.789 entities, separated by decades of history, merely 00:17:27.789 --> 00:17:30.990 sharing a corporately appealing name. It is remarkably 00:17:30.990 --> 00:17:33.769 easy for historical wires to get crossed when 00:17:33.769 --> 00:17:36.450 executives keep recycling the same impressive 00:17:36.450 --> 00:17:39.339 sounding titles. But the original PDC... the 00:17:39.339 --> 00:17:41.160 one with Cecil B. DeMille and the Mount Vernon 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:43.700 replica, was a truly unique flash in the pan. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:45.980 It really was. To wrap up this journey we've 00:17:45.980 --> 00:17:48.160 been on today, we started with a company founded 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:52.240 in 1924 and totally absorbed by 1927. Yet in 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:55.240 that incredibly brief three -year window, it 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:57.559 managed to intersect with the founder of Paramount. 00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:00.519 It served as a creative harbor for Cecil B. DeMille. 00:18:00.579 --> 00:18:02.059 It was passed through the hands of Joseph P. 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:04.380 Kennedy as he built his empire. It was leveraged 00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:07.079 by David Sarnoff as a Trojan horse for new sound 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:09.119 technology. And it served as a critical stepping 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:11.700 stone to the creation of the legendary RKO pictures. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:15.000 It is a dense, deeply impactful piece of historical 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:17.819 trivia. It is. And I want to leave you with a 00:18:17.819 --> 00:18:20.700 final thought to mull over long after you finish 00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:23.130 listening today. Let's hear it. Think about the 00:18:23.130 --> 00:18:25.910 stark contrast we've uncovered between the rigid 00:18:25.910 --> 00:18:28.890 mechanics of corporate mergers and the extreme 00:18:28.890 --> 00:18:31.890 fragility of the actual art. It's a huge disparity. 00:18:32.230 --> 00:18:34.130 When PDC was swallowed up by these corporate 00:18:34.130 --> 00:18:37.329 giants The real estate, the assets, the distribution 00:18:37.329 --> 00:18:40.349 contracts, they were all meticulously documented, 00:18:40.710 --> 00:18:44.230 legally protected, and passed along to billionaires 00:18:44.230 --> 00:18:46.529 and megacorporations. The Mount Vernon replica 00:18:46.529 --> 00:18:49.710 survived for decades to become a logo for an 00:18:49.710 --> 00:18:51.990 entirely different studio. But the art itself. 00:18:52.539 --> 00:18:54.920 The dozens of feature films created by hundreds 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:57.980 of dedicated artists that was left to rot in 00:18:57.980 --> 00:19:01.299 vaults, lost to time, chemical decay, and corporate 00:19:01.299 --> 00:19:03.160 indifference. It's heartbreaking. It makes you 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:05.279 wonder as you look around at the massive quantities 00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:07.339 of digital media being produced right now in 00:19:07.339 --> 00:19:09.920 servers worldwide. A hundred years from today, 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:12.339 what perfectly preserved corporate holding company 00:19:12.339 --> 00:19:15.099 will own the rights to a database full of files 00:19:15.099 --> 00:19:18.859 that are simply labeled lost? That is a haunting 00:19:18.859 --> 00:19:22.079 perspective to end on. It puts the constant frantic 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.359 churn of the entertainment industry into very 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:27.019 short focus, reminding us that while businesses 00:19:27.019 --> 00:19:30.319 are built to survive, art requires active preservation. 00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:33.119 It really does. Thank you so much for coming 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:35.279 along with us on this deep dive. We hope you 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:36.960 found the forgotten history of the Producers 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.359 Distributing Corporation as illuminating as we 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:42.480 did. Thank you for your time, and keep exploring 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:44.859 the history hidden just beneath the surface.