Welcome to my tribute to one of my
favorite movies: Radioland
Murders. Radioland Murders is
the story of Roger Henderson and his soon-to-be ex-wife Penny (played
by Brian Benben of Dream
On and Mary Stuart Masterson of
Benny and Joon, respectively) who work at a brand new radio station
in Chicago, WBN, in 1939. Penny is the owner's secretary, and
Roger is a writer. On the eve of its first broadcast, Penny
must satisfy the needs of all the new sponsors, while Roger has to
make last-minute changes to the scripts. Just as the show
begins, one of the musicians in the orchestra mysteriously dies.
And then one after the other at the station drop dead.
Nobody knows who the murderer is, although Roger is suspected.
So the entire night, Roger (with the assistance of a goofy
young usher named Billy) must find the murderer, stay away from the
cops that are roaming the building, make dozens of script changes,
and try to win his wife back.
What I really liked about
Radioland Murders is that it's a fast-paced comedy that's a lot
different from normal comedies. It isn't fun everyone - many of
you out there will hate it... but if you won't, you're really
like it.
Radioland Murders also has an enormous selection of well-known
co-stars, including Ned Beatty, Brion James, Michael Lerner, Michael
McKean, Jeffrey Tambor, Christopher Lloyd, Larry Miller, Bobcat
Goldthwait, and Corbin Bernsen, as well as many great cameos,
including Harvey Korman, Peter MacNicol, Joey Lawrence, Billy Barty,
Candy Clark, Bo Hopkins, Rosemary Clooney, and George Burns in his
very last performance.
Sadly, the critics didn't like this
movie very much. It was shown in a fairly limited release, and
was one of the biggest bombs of 1994. However, I personally do
recommend you try this movie - you can rent it at most videostores,
or you can order it for less then $10 at Amazon.com.
Please try the sections at your left,
and if you have any further questions or comments, be sure to e-mail
me.
Updates:
12/1/98: This page has been
launched!