Independent Films, Film Profiles

Radio Days
by Woody_Allen

Radio Days is an Academy Award-nominated 1987 film directed by Woody Allen. The film looks back on American family life during the Golden Age of Radio.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 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.