Ed Asner tells the story of RKO Pictures through the eyes of the people who worked there from its creation at the start of the talkies in the late 1920s.

The 1950s were a time of mounting paranoia, reflected by the studio's ventures into film noir. Robert Mitchum makes his first screen appearance, Val Lewton creates Zombies and Cat People, and the House Un-American Activities Committee stalks its prey.