Woody Allen is one of my favourite directors. I have seen all of his feature films and I've wanted to do a theme month for a while now, but with over forty movies to choose from, it was hard to decide what angle to go with in keeping with vintage in mind.
I could have gone with the style icon movies, like Annie Hall and Manhattan or the genre homage movies, like Everyone Says I Love You (musical) and Manhattan Murder Mystery (Nick and Nora). Instead I went with four films that he made that are set in the Thirties and Forties with some wonderful sets and fantastic wardrobe inspirations that fit into the theme of Nostalgia with Woody Allen.
Radio Days is from 1987 and is of of Woody Allen's best films. There's no real plot, just Woody narrating a series of memories that he associates with growing up listening to the radio. He presents a fictionalized version of his childhood home in 1940's Queens and some gossip and radio stories about some of his favourite fictionalized radio stars. It must have been wonderful to have grown up listening to the radio.
Radio Days shows why I like Woody Allen's style of film making so much and why I have seen every film. He tells stories about the human condition. Watching one of his movies has the same feeling as reading a novel does. Some of his films are truly terrific and some are only so-so, but each and everyone of them is at least interesting to watch.
Radio Days is one of those rare films that you can watch over and over again and still have that same warm, fuzzy feeling inside when the end credits roll, no matter how many times you see it.
By the way, Julie Kavner plays the Mother in the movie. She's also the voice of Marge Simpson, in case you can't place her voice and you spend the whole movie wondering where you've heard it before.
The Masked Avenger (a.k.a. The Shadow) "Beware evile doers, wherever you are!"
Radio City Music Hall
Singing Cameos By:
Kitty Carlisle Hart
and Diane Keaton
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