Radioland Murders

Radioland Murders is a movie that should be seen more than once because it is so fast-paced and contains lots of inside jokes....it helps to have worked in radio (i've been a control board operator for 6 yrs) to catch some of the adsurdity. In my opinion, it's mostly about "timing" because in radio "dead air" is a no-no....one program must flow into another (with commercials in between, of course)....the audience has no idea of the confusion going on behind the scenes! Watch the contrast of the writers' hectic schedule and the actors performing whatever they are given so smoothly...this script is well-written, I think. Dissect the lines and they work, like when Billy tells Mr. Henderson, "that's quite a reach, Mr. H". Just say it out loud and it has a rhyme to it. I love the part where the cops are staring at the TV test pattern!! Some of the silly parts were a bit too long for my taste, but the movie works on many humorous levels. I also enjoyed the 1930 popular lingo as dialog in places. And the last script Mr. Henderson delivers IS a pip and pulls it all together!

I am glad to say that I have this picture on video now, and it is still one of my favourite movies. I think the film brilliantly captures how a radio station (or a stage production even) can be controlled chaos at times.

This film was unfairly maligned in my opinion. I like the murder mystery/comedy genre. At times, it can be badly done, but here it is very well-handled. Brian Benben, Mary Stuart Masterson and the squad of celebrities who cameo, handle their scenes very well. My only real complaint would be that Christopher Lloyd and Michael McKean have very little to do.

But the plot twists and the resolution both pay off excellently and Mel Smith directs the piece with panache. There are also several great musical numbers thrown in as well. I give this film 8/10.

If you're looking for a serious mystery--or for that matter, a serious anything--don't watch this movie.

If you just want a fun movie that you can watch again and again, this one is for you! It takes place in the studios of radio station WBN on the night of its national debut. The station managers, directors, writers, and actors, already stressed with the debut and pleasing the affiliates, are shocked when a trumpet player in the orchestra is poisoned and killed. The station crew then has to keep the programs going while the police investigate and the writers go on strike. After more murders are committed, writer Roger Henderson, the innocent prime suspect, has to simultaneously evade the police, rewrite scripts for shows about to air, and solve the crime to prove his innocence.

There are some discrepancies and parts I'm sure critical people split hairs over. Don't expect a masterpiece, just some good fun.

This is a wonderful, obscure film completely lacking subtlety which is why some people may hate it but exactly why I like it. The countless visual and verbal puns mean you can watch this film 20 times and never find them all. AND eventhough you KNOW what is coming next, you will still laugh at the punchlines.

Great story movement, dialogue; every stereotype known to Hollywood and YET, every stereotype seems to get violated; its like stereotypes of stereotypes. The only weakness is the movie keeps interupting some great songs.

One of my favorites. OK, so I don't have great tastes. Its still a really fun movie.

This would make a good triple feature with RADIO DAYS and MY FAVORITE YEAR if you want to be nostalgic about old-time entertainment. The best way for me to review this movie is to list some pluses and minuses:

PLUS: An amazing cast: just read the list. MINUS: Most of them are barely used. Were some scenes with the writers cut out? Otherwise, why hire big names like Klein, Korman, Goldthwait, McNicol? The only people we actually see writing in the film are Masterson and Benben. (The others are on strike, of course.)

PLUS: Wonderful evocation of the days of live radio. (I did radio drama in the 70s and it was still much like it appears in the film.) MINUS: The mystery plot, while it keeps the action going, is rather a let-down when it finally unravels. RADIO DAYS is more successful because it focuses on funny situations and characters and doesn't burden the film with another layer of plot.

PLUS: Wow...about five minutes of vintage Spike Jones material re-created on screen with McKean in a Spike suit and playing the Sabre Dance on bottles, guns, etc.!?! Blessings on the Jones estate for letting them do it. DOUBLE PLUS: ...and with Billy Barty and Mousie Garner, both Jones veterans, taking part! TRIPLE PLUS: A really fine score by Joel McNeely. Am I the only one who thinks there was a "Vertigo" tribute in the tower-climbing scene? McNeely has done a lot of Hitchcock score conducting.

MINUS: Lots of show biz clichés (the separated couple romancing, the messenger boy becoming a hero, etc.), but you could argue that it's all part of the tribute.

This is definitely worth watching, maybe even twice if you love that era (and I do).