Even in an era of CGI and AI, nothing is more vivid than the intimacy and imagination of radio or more direct than the connection radio has with 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 have 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 have played significant roles in many movies.
Matt Zoller Seitz gave four stars to “Dead Man’s Wire,” now in theaters, based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis. Furious about a broker’s refusal to give him more time on his mortgage, Kiritsis took a man named Richard O. Hall hostage and attached 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 newsman, played by Colman Domingo in the film, discussed his situation.
I love hearing the local news and weather before going on the radio every week to talk about movies on stations in Tennessee, Iowa, Minnesota, and Texas. Many other films with radio as a significant element are also based on or inspired by true stories, from the early golden era 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 great fun for radio audiences to get a chance to see their favorite radio stars as well as hear them, and a few films were what we now 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 that was stuffed beyond its capacity, and when the door opened, the sound effects crew had a lot of fun creating a visual image for the audience of everything tumbling out with every noisemaker they had. Pretty much every episode had Fibber tell stories and get into trouble, and Molly would respond in a wry tone, “T’aint funny, McGee.” In this film, they are joined by another pair of radio stars, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and smart-talking Charlie McCarthy, as well as a lesser radio performer who would become the biggest star of the early days of television, Lucille Ball.
16. “Airheads” (1994)
Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler play members of a struggling rock band who take over a Los Angeles radio station with water pistols filled with hot pepper sauce in order to get their demo played on the air. The supporting cast includes Michael Richards, Ernie Hudson, Judd Nelson, Chris Farley, and Michel McKean.
15. “Talk Radio” (1988)
This film is inspired by the real-life 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 lead role, and Oliver Stone co-wrote and directed. Like Berg, the main character is obnoxious and insulting, and the movie asks us to think about why so many of us are fascinated by that. Roger Ebert gave the film four stars for its “claustrophobic intensity.”
14. “Poor Little Rich Girl” (1936)
In one of Shirley Temple’s best movies, she plays the pampered daughter of a wealthy, over-protective widower. When she has an adventure out in the world, she meets a vaudeville musical team played by Jack Haley (“The Wizard of Oz” Tin Man) and Alice Faye. They bring her into their musical act, which becomes a hit on the radio show sponsored by her father’s company’s biggest rival.
13. “The Night Listener” (2006)
Listeners project much more onto the radio voices we hear than we realize. And sometimes it goes both ways. Robin Williams plays a radio call-in show host who becomes intrigued and then captivated by the person on the other end of the phone, a young teenager who was abused as a child and has developed AIDS. The story is inspired by an Armistead Maupin novel that Maupin says was based on an incident in his own life. At first sympathetic and supportive, the Williams character becomes very attached to the boy but begins to wonder whether everything he has been told is true or whether there really is a boy at all.
12. “Pump Up the Volume” (1990)
I had a weekly program on my high school radio station, so I have a special fondness for this film about a renegade teenager (Christian Slater) who broadcasts rebellion from his basement. At school, he is shy and barely speaks to anyone, but on the radio, he is brash and unfettered. Slater is terrific, and he and Samantha Mathis have one of the all-time great teenager movie kisses.
11. “Private Parts” (1997)
This one isn’t just based on a true story; Howard Stern plays himself in the story of his rise to radio dominance. It covers his struggles with an abusive father, his insecurity, feeling shy and awkward, getting fired at one radio job and losing another when the format switched to country music, and then finding his voice and finding his audience by asking intrusive and offensive questions and discussing his wife’s miscarriage. His most important professional relationship is with Robin Quivers, also playing herself. There are extended battles with the program director, played by Paul Giamatti, nicknamed “Pig Vomit.” And yet, Roger Ebert called it “surprisingly sweet.”
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 in any radio. This movie 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 directed by Robert Altman.
9. “Comfort and Joy” (1984)
This captivating film follows a Glasgow DJ who gets tangled up in a feud between rival ice cream companies, with coded messages delivered over the air. Like Stan Freberg’s mental picture of filling a 22,000 square mile lake bed with dessert, the 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 on Christmas but tells his listeners he is in a comfortable chair before a fire, sipping a hot toddy.
8. “Talk to Me” (2007)
Real-life DJ Petey Green went from prison to popularity on a Washington DC radio station and played a key role in calming the city when there were riots after the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King. He was often difficult, but audiences 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. “Good Morning Vietnam” (1998)
Roger Ebert gave this movie four stars and called it Robin Williams’ best performance to date. Williams played real-life Army radio disc jockey Adrian Cronauer, whose irrepressible yet authentic commentary was beloved by deployed military personnel but infuriating to his straight-laced, by-the-book superior officer (Bruno Kirby). Ebert was moved by the way Williams reflected Cronauer’s deepening understanding and increased maturity, writing, “His humor becomes a humanitarian tool, not simply a way to keep him talking and us listening.”
6. “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1980)
Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones play country legend Loretta Lynn and her husband, Dolittle. As she starts her singing career, they visit radio stations to try to get them to play her records, giving us a glimpse of the culture and influence of the modest local channels.
5. “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993)
A newly engaged woman named Annie (Meg Ryan) listens to a radio call-in show hosted by a therapist (Caroline Aaron as Dr. Marsha Fieldstone). Also listening to the show on the other side of the country is a young boy who is worried about his father, Sam (Tom Hanks), still mourning 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 with appreciation. Annie proposes 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 a rom-com classic, with an emphasis on the rom.
4. “C’mon C’mon” (2021)
Joaquin Phoenix plays an NPR reporter in this tender-hearted story, filmed in gorgeous black-and-white. He is a single man who takes responsibility for his young nephew while his sister, the boy’s mother, is called away to help her ex-husband during a mental health crisis. Writer/director Mike Mills lets us see how Phoenix’s character has used his microphone to distance himself from people and has to learn to be more open to the boy. The relationship between the uncle and nephew is explored with delicacy, warmth, and humor.
3. “American Graffiti” (1973)
George Lucas directed this beloved film, inspired by his memories of being a teenager, driving around, stopping for milkshakes or a spontaneous drag race, or switching out passengers, all while listening to Wolfman Jack on the radio. One of the characters says her mother does not allow her to listen because she is sure the gravelly-voiced Wolfman Jack is Black. When another character goes to the station to talk to him, we see they’ve been listening to a middle-aged white man, Robert Weston Smith, whose nom de radio was Wolfman Jack, playing himself.
2. “Radio Days” (1987)
One of Woody Allen’s most appealing films is this tribute to the radio he listened to as a boy, to the personalities involved, and to the connection with the audience. Families listen to the radio for music, sports, and news about WWII. A boy’s favorite radio superhero is played by an actor who is short and bald. Some of the many subplots are inspired by real-life characters and stories, from glamorous, sophisticated married-couple hosts to a cigarette girl with a squeaky voice and a Brooklyn accent who becomes a hit after taking lessons to make her speaking voice more radio-friendly.
1. “Pirate Radio” (2009)
Richard Curtis’s love letter to radio and rock music is a cozy delight. The movie’s endearing ragtag crew is broadcasting off the shore of Great Britain to avoid restrictions that, in the film version, were enforced by politicians horrified by the unbridled sounds of rock and roll. An outstanding cast includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris O’Dowd, Nick Frost, Tom Sturridge, and, in a brilliant cameo, Emma Thompson. It is smart, funny, and heartwarming. The glimpses of excited fans listening at home, at school, and at work are pure joy. The female characters are named for songs (Marianne, Elenore), and the soundtrack is 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 couple days after that.”
