Radioland Murders (1994)

Going in, Radioland Murders has some key elements that could of made for an entertaining story: all-star cast in a screwball comedy and an nostalgic storyline that could put to use a colorful set.But it all failed. The joke delivery was flat and some of the casting choices were peculiar. Watching Mary Stuart Masterson struggle through the lead female role made me long for Jennifer Jason Leigh's brilliant, high-spirited, cigarette-chomping, Hepburn-inspired career girl in the Coens' Hudsucker Proxy.Also Brian Benben, most notable from HBO's "Dream On" series, doesn't give viewers any of maligned everyman he popularized in the older series.This movie attempts many times to emulate that 40s-era world, with its Art Deco imagery, but the characters come off more cartoonish than swashbuckling. There are far better period comedies, I suggest "My Favorite Year" starring Peter O'Toole; "Radio Days" by Woody Allen and the aforementioned Hudsucker just to name a few. Those films succeed where Radioland fails, pulling viewers into these bygone eras to feel an inkling of what those times felt and sounded like.

When this came out, the reviews were generally bad. But the idea intrigued me. So I tracked down the video and found that I liked it a lot. It's about a radio station where they are trying to change from a local station to a national network, with a romantic subplot, and the body count starts piling up too. It's kinda like "The Old Dark House" or "The Cat And The Canary", mystery comedies with a lot of things happening to a lot of characters in one night. Admittedly, it's uneven, and not all of the comedy works. It's frantic and zany, and the characters come and go and then come back again. Just when you've forgotten about one subplot, it pops back. Either that, or somebody new has turned up dead. So, if you are a little adventurous, I'd recommend that you give it a try.

If you liked 1982's MY FAVORITE YEAR, you'll probably enjoy this silly romp into the world of radio, in the late 1930s when radio was king. A radio station run by "General" Ned Beatty is trying to establish itself as the fourth national network, but its efforts are being thwarted by an unseen killer who is knocking off station personnel in fairly rapid succession. Brian BenBen is the hero of this Woody Allen-ish piece, a writer for the station who becomes a suspect in the killings. Mary Stuart Masterson is a rising radio exec and BenBen's soon-to-be ex-wife. A ton of familiar faces dot the landscape, including good old George Burns, and if you know your character actors well enough, you'll quickly figure out the killer's identity. The film moves at a relatively frantic pace and veers toward the satirical, and you can figures out what popular radio performers of the time are being lovingly mocked, including Frank Sinatra, Cab Calloway and the Andrews or McGuire Sisters (I wasn't sure which). Michael McKean and orchestra do an uncanny Spike Jones imitation. The film does not have the brilliance of MY FAVORITE YEAR, however, and feels sort of empty despite all the junks going on.

Although I usually keep up pretty well with new movie releases, I some how missed this one. I discovered it only after I had gotten my first DVD player and was looking for something I didn't already have on VHS to play on it. What a pleasant surprise. It has a great cast and an interesting story. It reminds me of some of the really good comedy mysteries of the 30's and 40's. Especially Abbott and Costello's "Who Done It" (Which also took place at a radio station) It is a great family film and mine has watched a numerous times. I have also bought copies for relatives that I thought would enjoy it. It may not be an award winner but it is good fun. On the eave of it's nationwide debut a new network is beset by a murderer who sends warnings over that station's airwaves, each of which is followed by a murder. One of the stations writers Roger Henderson (Brian Benben) is a suspect and tries to clear his name and find the real killer with the help of his wife Penny (Mary Stuart Masterson) and the stations pageboy, Billy (Scott Campbell).