The most memorable moments of a filmmaker’s body of work are often in the most unlikely of places.  This is the case of Woody Allen’s 1987 film, “Radio Days.” 

Although “Radio Days” has been dwarfed in notoriety by Woody Allen’s more critically acclaimed films, it is no less effective artistically.  The film takes place in 1943, a time before television had overtaken radio in popularity.  Centered upon a middle-class family in Rockaway Beach New York, the film offers a series of stories interweaved with the music of the day. The stories are told from Allen’s childhood point of view.

Joe, who is played by Seth Green, is a young boy who loves the Masked Avenger.  His aunt Bea is desperate to find a husband before it’s too late, Joe’s parents argue notoriously and his neighbors are communists.  The movie also tells the story of Sally White, who starred in Joe’s mother’s favorite radio show before having a string of bad luck. 

The opening scene is a humorous robbery of an empty house at night, which is interrupted by the ring of the telephone.  When the burglars decide to answer, the call turns out being the host of the famous radio show “Guess That Tune.”   The burglars play along and actually win the grand prize, only to never be able to claim it.

Some of the most notable radio shows, historical events and films of the era serve as the base of many of the scenes.  The national hysteria that was caused by Orson Welles’ “The War of the Worlds” provides a humorous scene with Bea and one of her dates.  Allen describes his first experience at Radio City Music Hall, saying in voiceover that he felt like he had “just walked into heaven” when he went there to see “The Philadelphia Story.”  Joe also has a vision of a Nazi submarine after hearing a news broadcast advising citizens to keep an eye out for them.  These scenes develop the characters very little, but they paint a vivid picture.      

Woody Allen’s style as a storyteller has always been old-fashioned, as shown in “Broadway Danny Rose,” “Shadows and Fog,” and “The Purple Rose of Cairo.”  Yet more than any of his other films, “Radio Days” has a nostalgic power that is repressed and then released sporadically throughout the film.  Very few directors have been able to convey nostalgic feelings so passionately without seeming to beg for pity.  Allen asks for no pity, nor does he force his passion onto the audience.  He simply recognizes the days of the radio as a human entity, which simultaneously reflected on his own existence.

“Radio Days” is a wonderful example of Woody Allen’s greatness as a filmmaker, and is a dreamland for any radio lover.  Although the depth of the characters and their development fails to compare with “Annie Hall,” “Manhattan or Hannah,” and “Her Sisters, Radio Days” still proves to be one of Woody Allen’s best films.