Radio Days

Plot

Joe (Woody Allen), the narrator, relates how two burglars got involved in a radio game after picking up the phone. He goes on to explain that he associates old radio songs with childhood memories.

During the late 1930s and early 1940s young Joe (Seth Green) lived in a modest Jewish-American family in Rockaway Beach. His mother (Julie Kavner) always listened to Breakfast with Irene and Roger. His father (Michael Tucker), who regularly gave him a beating, kept his occupation secret. Joe later found out that he was ashamed of being a taxi driver. Other family members were Uncle Abe and Aunt Ceil, grandpa and grandma, and Aunt Bea (Dianne Wiest). The latter was a serial dater, always on the lookout for a potential husband.

Joe's own favourite radio show was The Masked Avenger. It made him dream of buying a secret decoder ring. In Joe's fantasy the Masked Avenger looked like a hero, but in reality the voice actor (Wallace Shawn) was short and bald. Other radio memories are stories about sporting heroes, news bulletins about World War II, a report of an extraterrestrial invasion, and a live report of the search for a little girl who fell into a well.

With his friends from school Joe was searching for German aircraft, but instead they saw a woman undressing in her bedroom. She later turned out to be their substitute teacher. Alone on the coast Joe saw a German U-boat, but he decided not to tell anyone because they wouldn't believe him.

Joe was fascinated by the glitz and glamour of Manhattan, where the radio broadcasts were made. He visited the Radio City Music Hall, and described it as the most beautiful thing he ever saw.

Joe collected stories of radio stars, including that of Sally White (Mia Farrow), whose dreams of becoming famous were hampered by her bad voice and accent. Starting as a cigar salesgirl she got stuck on the roof of the radio building with Roger, who was cheating on Irene. After she witnessed a crime the gangster Rocco (Danny Aiello) wanted to kill her, but following his mother's advice he ended up using his connections to further her career. She finally became a reporter of celebrity gossip.

On New Year's Eve Joe was brought down from his room to celebrate the transition to 1944. Simultaneously the radio stars gathered on the roof of their building. The narrator concludes that he will never forget those radio voices, although with each passing of a New Year's Eve they seem to grow dimmer and dimmer.

Cast

Music

The film's soundtrack, which features songs from the 1930s and 40s, plays an integral and seamless part in the plot. It was released on cassette and compact disc in 1987.

Release

The film was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.

Home media

Radio Days was released on DVD by MGM November 6, 2001. A limited edition Blu-ray of 3,000 units was later released by Twilight Time July 8, 2014.

Critical response

Radio Days currently holds a "Fresh" 88% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 7.9/10. In his four-star review, noted critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times described Radio Days as Allen’s answer to Federico Fellini’s Amarcord and referred to it as "so ambitious and so audacious that it almost defies description. It's a kaleidoscope of dozens of characters, settings and scenes - the most elaborate production Allen has ever made - and it's inexhaustible, spinning out one delight after another." Vincent Canby of The New York Times referred to Allen as the "prodigal cinema resource" and spoke of the film saying, "Radio Days [...] is as free in form as it is generous of spirit."

David Denby wrote for New York that: "[...] The real glue, however, is the lullingly beautiful popular music of the period — Cole Porter, Dubin and Warren, big-band jazz, crooners, torch singers, Carmen Miranda. The music, perfectly matched to images of old wood and brick buildings and old glamour spots, produces a mood of distanced, bittersweet nostalgia. Radio Days becomes a gently satiric commemorations of forgotten lives."

In a poll held by Empire magazine of the 500 greatest films ever made, Radio Days was voted number 304.

1987 Academy Awards (Oscars)

1987 BAFTA Film Awards

1988 Writers Guild of America Awards