Even in the age of CGI and AI, nothing is more alive than the intimacy and imagination of radio, nor more direct than the connection radio has with its listeners. I remember when the legendary Stan Freberg drained Lake Michigan and filled it with hot chocolate, a 700-foot mountain of whipped cream and a 10-ton maraschino cherry. We didn’t need to see it. We heard it on the radio. It was Freberg’s demonstration of what radio can do better than television. The fascination with audio stories and the cultural impact of contemporary music has played an important role in many films.
Matt Zoller Seitz gave “Dead man’s thread“, now in theaters, based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis. Furious at a broker’s refusal to give him more time on his mortgage, Kiritsis took a man named Richard O. Hall hostage and tied a shotgun to a wire so that if Kiritsis was shot or Hall tried to escape, Hall would be killed. During the 63 hours Hall was held hostage, Kiritsis made several calls to a radio station, where a reporter, played by Colman Domingo in the film spoke about his situation.
I love listening to the local news and weather before going on the radio each week to talk about movies on stations in Tennessee, Iowa, Minnesota and Texas. Many other films with radio as an important element are also based on or inspired by true stories, from the early golden age before television to the years of AM Top 40 programming to the Shock Jocks. These are some of my favorites.
17. “Look Who’s Laughing” (1941)
It must have been a lot of fun for radio viewers to have the chance to see and hear their favorite radio stars, and a few films were what we today call fan service for those audiences. The radio series “Fibber McGee and Molly” was a warm-hearted comedy that ran for more than two decades, starring real-life couple Jim Jordan and Marion Driscoll Jordan as the gently bickering duo. One of the most successful recurring gags was perfect for radio. Fibber had a closet filled beyond capacity, and when the door opened, the sound effects team had a lot of fun creating a visual image for the audience of everything falling apart with every noisemaker they had. Almost every episode, Fibber would tell stories and get into trouble, and Molly would respond ironically, “That’s not funny, McGee.” » In this film, they are joined by another pair of radio stars, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and smart-talker Charlie McCarthy, as well as a lesser radio star who would become the biggest star of early television, Lucille Ball.
16. “Aerial Heads” (1994)
Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler star as members of a struggling rock band who take over a Los Angeles radio station with water guns filled with hot pepper sauce in order to get their demo on the air. The supporting cast includes Michael Richards, Ernie Hudson, Judd Nelson, Chris Farley and Michel McKean.
15. “Talk on the radio» (1988)
This film is based on the true story of provocative radio host Alan Berg, who was murdered by members of a white supremacist group in 1984. The screenplay is based on a play by Eric Bogosian, who plays the title role, and Oliver Stone co-wrote and directed. Like Berg, the main character is obnoxious and insulting, and the film asks us to think about why so many of us are fascinated by this. Roger Ebert gave the film four stars for its “claustrophobic intensity”.
14. “Poor Little Rich Girl” (1936)
In one of Shirley Temple’s best films, she plays the daughter of a rich, overprotective widower. She wants to have an adventure in the world. She meets a vaudeville musical team played by Jack Haley (the “Wizard of Oz”) and Alice Faye, and when they invite her to their musical act, it becomes a hit on the radio show sponsored by her father’s biggest rival.
13. “The listener of the night » (2006)
Listeners project much more onto the voices we hear than they realize. And sometimes it goes both ways. Robin Williams plays a radio talk show host who becomes intrigued and then captivated by the person on the other end of the line, a young teenager who was abused as a child and developed AIDS, inspired by a novel by Armistead Maupin which Maupin said was based on an incident from his own life. At first sympathetic and supportive, Williams’ character becomes very attached to the boy but begins to wonder if everything he is told is true or if there really is a boy.
12. “Turning Up the Volume” (1990)
I had a weekly show on my high school radio, so I have a particular fondness for this movie about a renegade teenager (Christian Slater) who broadcasts rebellion from his basement. At school he is shy and hardly speaks to anyone, but on the radio he is brash and uninhibited. Slater is awesome, and he and Samantha Mathis have one of the best kisses ever in teen movies.
11. “Private parts » (1997)
This one is not only based on a true story; Howard Stern plays himself in the story of his rise to radio dominance. He covers his struggles with an abusive father, feeling shy and awkward, getting fired from a radio job and losing another when the format switched to country music, then finding his voice and finding his audience by asking intrusive and offensive questions and discussing his wife’s miscarriage. Her most important professional relationship is with Robin Quivers, who also plays herself. There are long battles with the program director, played by Paul Giamatti, nicknamed “Pig Vomit.” And yet Roger Ebert called it “surprisingly gentle.”
10. “A Prairie Home Companion » (2008)
Garrison Keillor’s heightened and gently witty recreation of an old-time radio variety show from the imaginary Lake Wobegon was one of the most improbable success stories in public radio, really all radio. This film version had an all-star cast, including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Maya Rudolph and Tommy Lee Jones, and its existential overtones were beautifully realized by Robert Altman.
9. “Comfort and joy» (1984)
This captivating film follows a Glasgow DJ who becomes embroiled in a feud between rival ice cream companies, with coded messages broadcast over the air. Like Stan Freberg’s mental image of filling a 22,000-square-mile lake bed with dessert, writer/director Bill Forsyth (“Local Hero,” “Gregory’s Girl”) and actor Bill Paterson create an unforgettable image as the DJ sits in front of a microphone in a bare studio at Christmas but tells his listeners he’s in a comfy chair in front of a fire, sipping a hot toddy.
8. “Talk to me» (2007)
Real DJ Petey Green rose from prison to popularity on a Washington DC radio station and played a key role in calming the city during the riots following the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King. He was often difficult, but the public loved him. In this vibrant film, Don Cheadle is outstanding as Green, with terrific support from Taraji P. Henson as his spirited wife and Chiwetel Ejiofor as the executive who supports him, most of the time.
7. “Hello Vietnam» (1998)
Roger Ebert gave this film four stars and called it Robin Williams’ best performance to date. Williams played real-life Army radio disc jockey Adrian Cronauer, whose irrepressible but genuine commentary was beloved by deployed military personnel but infuriating to his direct, by-the-book superior officer (Bruno Kirby). Ebert was moved by the way Williams reflected Cronauer’s deep understanding and increased maturity, writing: “His humor becomes a humanitarian tool, not simply a way to make him talk and make us listen.” »
6. “Daughter of a coal miner» (1980)
Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones star as country legend Loretta Lynn and her husband, Dolittle. As she began her singing career, they visited radio stations to try to get them to play her records, giving us a glimpse of the culture and influence of the modest local stations.
5. “Insomnia in Seattle» (1993)
A newly engaged woman named Annie (Meg Ryan) listens to a radio show hosted by a therapist (Caroline Aaron as Dr. Marsha Fieldstone). Across the country, a young boy also worries about his father, Sam (Tom Hanks), who is still grieving the loss of his wife, the boy’s mother. The boy puts his father on the line with Dr. Marsha, and as Sam talks about the “magic” of his late wife, women across the country sigh in appreciation. Annie suggests that they meet; Hanks’ friend, played by his real-life wife, Rita Wilson, compares the idea to the movie “An Affair to Remember,” and the rest is classic romantic comedy, with a rom-com focus.
4. “C’mon C’mon» (2021)
Joaquin Phoenix plays an NPR journalist in this tender story, filmed in beautiful black and white. He is a single man who takes responsibility for his young nephew while his sister, the boy’s mother, is called in to help her ex-husband during a mental health crisis. Writer/director Mike Mills shows us how Phoenix’s character used his microphone to distance himself from people and must learn to be more open towards the boy. The relationship between uncle and nephew is explored with delicacy, warmth and humor.
3. “American graffiti» (1973)
George Lucas directed this beloved film, inspired by his teenage memories of driving, stopping for milkshakes or a spontaneous drag race, or changing passengers, all while listening to Wolfman Jack on the radio. One of the characters says his mother won’t let him listen because she’s sure the deep-voiced Wolfman Jack is black. When another character goes to the station to talk to him, we see that he is listening to a middle-aged white man, Robert Weston Smith, whose radio name was Wolfman Jack, playing himself.
2. “Radio days» (1987)
One of Woody Allen’s most endearing films is this homage to the radio he listened to as a child, the personalities involved and the connection with the audience. Families listen to the radio for music, sports and information about World War II. Boys’ favorite radio superhero is played by a short, bald actor. Some of the many subplots are inspired by real-life characters and stories, from glamorous and sophisticated married couple hosts to a cigarette girl with a squeaky voice and Brooklyn accent who becomes a hit after taking lessons to make her voice more suitable for radio.
1. “Pirate radio» (2009)
Richard Curtis’s love letter to radio and rock music is a cozy delight. The film’s motley and endearing crew broadcast off the coast of Britain to avoid the restrictions that in the cinema version that, were imposed by politicians horrified by the unbridled sounds of rock and roll. An exceptional cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris O’Dowd, Nick Frost, Tom Sturridge and, in a brilliant cameo, Emma Thompson. It’s smart, funny and heartwarming. The glimpses of enthusiastic fans listening at home, at school and at work are a delight. The female characters are named after songs (Marianne, Elenore) and the soundtrack strings together one banger after another. As Hoffman’s character says: “I intend to broadcast from this ship 24 hours a day until the day I die. And then for a few days after that.”