Charles Koerner

Charles W. Koerner (September 10, 1896 – February 2, 1946) was an American film executive, best known for being executive vice president of production at RKO Radio Pictures from 1942 until his death in 1946.

Koerner is best remembered for firing Orson Welles from RKO. However, he was a highly successful executive, helping RKO turn around its financial performance from the George Schaefer regime.

Biography
Born to a Jewish family in New Orleans, he worked in theaters after school and went on to attend Shattuck Military Academy.

After the academy, he owned and managed a theater but sold it when he enlisted for World War I. After returning from the war, he managed several theater chains until one was sold to Hughes-Franklin in 1931 and he became the personal representative of Harold B. Franklin. Franklin later became the president of RKO's theater division and put Koerner in charge of the theaters in the Southwestern United States.

Head of RKO
Koerner was appointed vice president in charge of production in 1942. It was originally a temporary assignment during executive Joseph Breen's illness, but the job became permanent and Koerner was given a free hand over production.

Among Koerner's first actions was terminating the contract between RKO and Welles. (When told the news, Welles famously quipped "Don't worry, boys. We're just passing a bad Koerner." ) He also ended the contract between RKO and Pare Lorentz and wrote off more than $500,000 in story properties including Sister Carrie. According to one obituary, "If he was strong willed in economies, he was daring in constructive effort. His formula was horse sense and harmony. He brought in top-ranking directors. He got qualified stars and able producers. Yet since he'd come up from the ranks, he staged in the ranks."

Koerner's motto was "showmanship instead of genius." By the end of 1942 RKO showed a profit for the first time in five years. Among his most notable achievements were hiring Val Lewton. He had successes with films from director Edward Dmytryk such as Hitler's Children, Murder, My Sweet, and Back to Bataan. He also encouraged a steady supply of lower-budget "B" features, series, and westerns, arranging for the "B" product to support the major features, and thus guaranteeing that theaters would be presenting ready-made, all-RKO programming.

Koerner supported Thomas Dewey in the 1944 United States presidential election.

Illness and death
Koerner thought he was in good health until he felt a twinge in a foot. Then glands in his neck started to swell. His doctors did tests and discovered leukemia. His wife and doctors decided not to tell him. He died on February 2, 1946.

Koerner was temporarily replaced by Peter Rathvon before being permanently replaced by Dore Schary.

Tributes
Jean Renoir called him "an extraordinary man... I deeply regretted his unfortunate death. Had he not died, I believe I should have made twenty films for RKO. I would have worked all my life at RKO. He was a man who knew the business and the exploitation of the cinema, but at the same time conceded that one must experiment."

Edward Dmytryk called him "the best executive I have ever known. He made decisions quickly and firmly, he could be convinced, and he had the one truly great executive talent — once he delegated authority, he never interfered. Also, like all truly competent executives I have known, he always seemed to have plenty of time. Whenever I called his secretary with a request to see Koerner, the answer was either 'Come right up' or 'He’s got someone with him — can you come up in fifteen minutes?' How rare that is."

He is portrayed by Brian Howe in the film Being the Ricardos.

Notable films under Koerner's regime

 * Cat People (1942)
 * I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
 * Murder, My Sweet (1944)
 * Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
 * The Enchanted Cottage (1945)