Radio Days

"Tuning in."

1987 1h 29m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 678

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The Narrator 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.

“Tuning in.”

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Cast

Danny Aiello
Rocco
Jeff Daniels
Biff Baxter
Mia Farrow
Sally White
Seth Green
Joe
Robert Joy
Fred
Julie Kavner
Mother
Diane Keaton
New Year's Singer
Julie Kurnitz
Irene

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Woody Allen
Writers: Woody Allen
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 92% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

206+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Woody Allen, shot by Carlo Di Palma. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Susan E. Morse shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Danny Aiello and Jeff Daniels and Mia Farrow carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Tuning in.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Woody Allen directs. Carlo Di Palma behind the camera. Susan E. Morse cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Earned back only 92% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
339 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4206+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Woody Allen, shot by Carlo Di Palma. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Susan E. Morse shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Danny Aiello and Jeff Daniels and Mia Farrow carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Tuning in.".
9IMDB entry: tt0093818 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 12 themes, including "beach", "world war ii", "musical", "nostalgia".

The technical file

Cinematography: Carlo Di Palma
Editing: Susan E. Morse
Production design: Santo Loquasto
Costume design: Jeffrey Kurland
Makeup / hair: Fern Buchner
Sound: Lee Dichter
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $16,000,000
Box office: $14,792,779
Return: 92% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Radio Days (1987)

Also by

Woody Allen

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Community reviews

What people are saying

kevin20192024-11-22
★ 8/10
"Radio Days" is packed with gentle and understated comedic flourishes combined with some genuinely arresting moments of tragedy and major life changing global events. However, you could argue Woody Allen is tastefully romanticising such things as the family unit being central to daily life too much. After all, were families ever this much chaotic fun? Was life ever lived this way? Was there ever this degree of togetherness? And if so, then how was it ever lost? And, more importantly, can it ever be regained? In any case, Allen weaves his delightfully entertaining narrative thread through all aspects of radio in his life and the results are absolutely charming and spellbinding and they showcase Allen at his best.
CinemaSerf2025-05-30
★ 7/10
“Joe” (Seth Green) is reminiscing about his childhood in a New York where he lived with his mum and dad and her extended family in some basic and cramped accommodation - it’s a bit like the “Bucket” household from the world of Roald Dahl, replete with cabbage soup, too. This family, and their neighbours, live their lives according to a pattern of routines. From day to day and week to week, they gossip, eavesdrop, work, sleep and chatter but there is one thing that’s a constant. They all listen to the radio. Music, drama, news, comedy and quizzes. Each of them has their favourite as it facilitates their imaginations in a society where even 15c for a secret ring was beyond their economic means. Woody Allen quite engagingly crafts this drama to pair up the characters on the screen with aspects of the radio broadcasts that provided not just factual realities of life as WWII gradually expanded to include the USA but to the more fanciful lives of those stars whom they enviously saw on the big screen. As he looks back on this time, “Joe” finds his memories themselves have started to fade but that the mnemonics provided by his association with the radio at this formative time of his life still provide a template for his, admittedly somewhat rose-tinted, memories. It’s the usual assembly of Woody Allen cast here, but this time his writing carves them out quite quirkily unique roles, like an human jigsaw puzzle that looks improbable until you realise that thanks to the conduit of the wireless, they can all fit together - though it’s not always that tight a fit! Of course there’s the usual slice of Jewish neuroticism included, but here the diverse range of characters and the humour derived from the medium upon which we are reflecting really does either tug at the nostalgia strings you do remember, or maybe at ones you don’t but would like to. Dianne Wiest possibly takes the acting plaudits as the unlucky-in-love “Aunt Bea” but essentially there isn’t an individual star, more a community of family and friends that those of us who grew up in tenements anywhere in the world whilst the radio exercised it’s potent convening powers can associate with. Some fine tunes, too.