Radio Days

DVD Cover

Released: 1987
Starring: Michael Tucker, Mia Farrow, Diane Keaton, Seth Green, Julie Kavner, Dianne Wiest and Josh Mostel
Plot: The Narrator (Woody Allen) tells us how the radio influenced his childhood in the days before TV. In the New York City of the late 1930s to the New Year’s Eve 1944, this coming-of-age tale mixes the narrator’s experiences with contemporary anecdotes and urban legends of the radio stars.

Even though the narrator’s Jewish-American family lives modestly in the Queens neighborhood of Rockaway Beach, each member finds in radio shows an escape from reality through the gossip of celebrities, sports legends of the day, crooners, etc. For the narrator, the action adventurers on the radio (one of them based on The Shadow) inspire him, as he daydreams about his attractive substitute teacher, movie stars, and World War II. Meanwhile, the story of an aspiring radio star’s (Mia Farrow) career is also told, along with the tale of the narrator’s aunt Bea (Dianne Wiest) and her search for love.

The musical score features songs from the 1930s and 40s, which play an important part in the plot. Even Orson Welles’ famous radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds has an important role in Bea’s life. [credit: Wikipedia.org]

Close-knit family in a bustling house.

I first saw this movie while taking a film class with movie critic, Jack Garner. This particular film introduced me to Woody Allen’s work.

Radio Days is a very nostalgic and fun movie that anyone can enjoy. The characters are rich. The pace moves along at a good clip. The soundtrack is terrific. The way director, Woody Allen sets such a strong mood and paints a vivid picture – through music, cinematography, wardrobe, sets, etc. is very effective and impressive.

The viewer gets happily engulfed into this era of simpler times. Did I mention how thick the nostalgia is? It’s laid on real thick and almost to the point of excess, but the stories are so enveloping it’s not a bother.

Live, in-studio radio theatre.

The acting from this ensemble cast is spot-on. The characters are very colorful and offer great variety. I almost wanted more time with the characters and fewer of them. Listening to the family chatter around the house was very entertaining. The actors lay it on a bit thick, but they’re supposed to be colorful personnas. The range of emotions and circumstances ranged from humor, tragedy, depression, excitment, romantic and melancholy, to name a few.

Abe: “He’s a ventriloquist on the radio — how do you know he’s not moving his lips?”

Life before television - knitting, discussions, games.

Radio Days is a truly remarkable, delightful, unique piece of storytelling based on a period of time since passed. It celebrates human characters and their interactions amongst each other and with the communications technology of the day: radio.

This film holds up due to its range of stories, period music and lovable characters. I return to Radio Days every now and then to enjoy Woody Allen’s  fine piece of storytelling and imagine a time when people were more ‘interactive’.

Narrator: “I never forgot that New Year’s Eve when Aunt Bea awakened me to watch 1944 come in. I’ve never forgotten any of those people or any of the voices we would hear on the radio. Though the truth is, with the passing of each New Year’s Eve, those voices do seem to grow dimmer and dimmer.”