Themes: Parenthood, Life on the Homefront, Eccentric Families
Main Cast: Mia Farrow, Seth Green, Julie Kavner, Josh Mostel, Michael Tucker
Release Year: 1987
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Woody Allen's gentle and nostalgic tribute to the glory days of radio and coming-of-age during World War II plays like Fellini's Amarcord filtered through Neil Simon. The nominal star is Seth Green as Joe, a teenage Jewish boy, growing up with a house full of relatives in Brooklyn. Allen cuts between Joe's working class neighborhood of Rockaway Beach, Queens, and the glittery and glamorous world of radio in Manhattan. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Nostalgia often allows otherwise disciplined filmmakers to lower their guards and indulge in misty-eyed wistfulness for its own sake, a trap Woody Allen neatly avoids by making Radio Days a film every bit as sharp as it is sentimental. A touching coming-of-age story almost by accident, the film revives radio-dominated WWII era New York through a series of comic vignettes portraying the adventures of an Allen-esque boy (an already impressive Seth Green) and the behind-the-scenes lives of the radio performers he idolizes, mining each for humor and pathos. Almost by definition, some portions of episodic films work better than others, but Allen integrates them all excellently into a consistent whole, a feat made all the more remarkable by the film's brief running time. There's a lot of narrative packed into Radio Days' 85 minutes, and Allen's steady tone makes sure that none of it feels out of place. Aware of how much memory is tied into pop culture, Allen uses minute period details and a packed soundtrack to evoke the time, a choice that lends impact to its era-ending finale. Even those born well after the time the film portrays may find themselves nostalgic for its passing, and newly aware that their time too will pass. Though it owes a debt to Fellini's Amarcord, this is one of Allen's most distinctively personal films. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide
Dianne Wiest - Aunt Bea; Wallace Shawn - Masked Avenger; Tito Puente - Latin Band Leader; Danny Aiello - Rocco; Gina de Angelis - Rocco's Mother; Jeff Daniels - Biff Baxter; Tony Roberts - "Silver Dollar" MC; Julie Kurnitz - Irene; David Warrilow - Roger; Diane Keaton - New Year's Singer; Gregg Almquist - Radio Voices; Hy Anzell - Mr. Waldbaum; Jackson Beck - Radio Voice; Oliver Block - Nick; David Cale - Director; Leah Carrey - Grandma; Andrew B. Clark - Sidney Manulis; Denise Dummont - Latin Singer; Crystal Field - Abercrombie Couple; Todd Field - Crooner; Paul Herman - Burglar; Bruce Jarchow - Ad man; Renee Lippin - Aunt Ceil; William H. Macy - Radio Voice; William Magerman - Grandpa; Judith Malina - Mrs. Waldbaum; Kenneth Mars - Rabbi Baumel; Helen Miller - Mrs. Needleman; Joy Newman - Ruthie; Rebecca Nickels - Evelyn Goorwitz; Frank O'Brien - Fireman; Don Pardo - Guess That Tune Host; Richard Portnow - Sy; Ken Roberts - Radio Voice; Norman Rose - Radio Voice; Martin Rosenblatt - Mr. Needleman; Mercedes Ruehl - Ad man; Jaqui Safra - Diction Student; Rebecca Schaeffer - Communist's Daughter; Maurice Shrog - Abercrombie Couple; Mike Starr - Burglar; Kenneth Welsh - Radio Voices; Dwight Weist - Pearl Harbor Announcer; Ira Wheeler - Sponsor; Woody Allen - Narrator; Artie Butler - New Year's Bandleader; Lee Erwin - Roller Rink Organist; Robert Joy - Fred; Kitty Carlisle Hart - Radio Singer; Roberta Bennett - Teacher with Carrot; Belle Berger - Mrs. Silberman; Paul Berman - Gay White Way Announcer; Sydney Blake - Miss Gordon; Stan Burns - Ventriloquist; Peter Castellotti - Mr. Davis; Yolanda Childress - Polly's Mother; Marc Colner - Whiz Kid; Henry Cowen - Principal; Wendell Craig - Radio Voice; Shelley Delaney - Chekhov Actress; Joel Eidelsberg - Mr. Zipsky; Danielle Ferland - Child Star; William Flanagan - Avenger Announcer; Barbara Gallo - Dance Palace Musician; Greg Gerard - Songwriter; Roger Hammer - Richard; J.R. Horne - Biff Announcer; Jane Jarvis - Dance Palace Musician; Edward S. Kotkin - Diction Teacher; Ivan Kronenfeld - On-the-Spot Newsman; Guy LeBow - Bill Kern; Ken Levinsky - USO Musician; Peter Lombard - Abercrombie Host; Brian Mannain - Kirby Kyle; Ray Marchica - USO Musician; Mindy Morgenstern - "Show and Tell" Teacher; Ross Morgenstern - Ross; David Mosberg - Arnold; Michael Murray - Avenger Crook; Ruby Payne - Diction Student; Fletcher Farrow Previn - Andrew; Hannah Rabinowitz - Sponsor's Wife; Martin Sherman - Mr. Abercromie; Philip Shultz - Whistler; Kuno Sponholz - German; Terry Lee Swarts - Night Club Customer; Margaret Thomson - Night Club Customer; Maurice Toueg - Dave; Sal Tuminello - Burt; Dimitri Vassilopoulos - Porfirio; Liz Vochecowizc - Dance Palace Musician; Henry Yuk - Japanese; Larry David - Communist Neighbor
Credit
George De Titta, Jr. - Art Director, Speed Hopkins - Art Director, Ezra Swerdlow - Associate Producer, Juliet Taylor - Casting, Jeffrey Kurland - Costume Designer, Ezra Swerdlow - First Assistant Director, Woody Allen - Director, Susan E. Morse - Editor, Charles H. Joffe - Executive Producer, Jack Rollins - Executive Producer, Dick Hyman - Composer (Music Score), Dick Hyman - Musical Direction/Supervision, Zequinha Abreu - Songwriter, Arthur Altman - Songwriter, George Bassman - Songwriter, Johnny S. Black - Songwriter, Nat Bonx - Songwriter, Nat Burton - Songwriter, Xavier Cugat - Songwriter, Stanley J. Damerell - Songwriter, Howard Deitz - Songwriter, A. Dominguez - Songwriter, Ervin Drake - Songwriter, Milton Drake - Songwriter, Alexis Dubin - Songwriter, Tolchard Evans - Songwriter, Frank Eyton - Songwriter, George Forrest - Songwriter, Jack Fulton - Songwriter, Joseph Garland - Songwriter, Mack Gordan - Songwriter, John W. Green - Songwriter, Robert Hargreaves - Songwriter, Edward Heyman - Songwriter, Al Hoffman - Songwriter, Dick Hyman - Songwriter, Moe Jaffe - Songwriter, William Jerome - Songwriter, Sammy Kaye - Songwriter, Walter Kent - Songwriter, Margarita Lecuona - Songwriter, F.W. Meacham - Songwriter, Aloysio Oliveira - Songwriter, Sy Oliver - Songwriter, Don Reid - Songwriter, Atos Rodriquez - Songwriter, S.K. Russell - Songwriter, Jean Schwartz - Songwriter, Terry Shand - Songwriter, Robert Sour - Songwriter, Al Stillman - Songwriter, Jule Styne - Songwriter, Ervin Willson - Songwriter, Robert Wright - Songwriter, Jack Lawrence - Songwriter, Frank Strayer - Songwriter, Fern Buchner - Makeup, Dick Mingalone - Camera Operator, Santo Loquasto - Production Designer, Carlo Di Palma - Cinematographer, Thomas A. Reilly - Production Manager, Robert Greenhut - Producer, Les Bloom - Set Designer, Carol Joffe - Set Designer, David Weinman - Set Designer, James J. Sabat - Sound/Sound Designer, Woody Allen - Screenwriter, Lew Brown - Featured Music, Larry Clinton - Featured Music, Al Dexter - Featured Music, James Eaton - Featured Music, Sammy Fain - Featured Music, Rudolf Friml - Featured Music, Gordon Jenkins - Featured Music, Gus Kahn - Featured Music, Jerry Livingston - Featured Music, Frank Loesser - Featured Music, Jimmy McHugh - Featured Music, Cole Porter - Featured Music, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Featured Music, Arthur Schwartz - Featured Music, Harry Warren - Featured Music, Ned Washington - Featured Music, Kurt Weill - Featured Music, Vincent Youmans - Featured Music
Allen narrates the stories of his youth, although he is never seen by the audience. The young Allen is portrayed onscreen by Seth Green as "Joe". The film was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.[1] Film critic Roger Ebert called it Allen’s answer to Federico Fellini’s Amarcord.[2]
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.
