This is a spin-off of the I Hate The New AMC thread, for those of us who love and miss Remember WENN…
I really liked Radioland Murders because I like old style musicals and I enjoyed the snippets featuring all the pop stars of the era, especially Rosemary Clooney. It was a mix of slapstick, farce and also educational for those of us who missed out on the early days of radio drama and entertainment. I enjoyed watching the sound effects guy and the writing of the script and literal delivering of the pages as the actors were running out of lines.
The end song, We Kiss (And The Angels Sing) brought tears to my eyes. (I’m a sentimental old fart) I haven’t done it yet, but I’m buying the soundtrack.
Thanks
Quasi
You may have a tough time with this thread, Quasi. Not a lot of people ended up seeing the movie. Radioland Murders is considered by some to be a disaster. Making the film, they shot and reshot and reshot so much that they actually hit a record for the number of reels they wasted. They did however, use the film as a test for fancy digital effects that had been developed for the TV show Young Indiana Jones. It was the first time they’d tried to use that digital technology for a feature film. The digital effects allowed them to keep the costs down enough that the loss they took on the film wasn’t too embarassing and they could consider it “research and development” for the fx technology.
Two major screenwriters were (husband-wife team) Willard Hyuck and Gloria Katz, who were previously responsible for directing Howard the Duck which tanked so spectacularly that the president of Universal Studios resigned his position (and they even made fun of it on the TV show “Golden Girls.”) The screenplay was based ona script written by George Lucas back in the 1970s – it took over 20 years to finally produce it because the timing never seemed right for such a nostalgic flick.
Critics were savage to Radioland Murders and audiences, well,… they just didn’t show up. It was in theatres for only about two weeks. Gross box-office takes was only 1.3 million – not as bad as Madonna’s recent flick, but evidence that few went to see the film. It made a couple “worst of the decade” film lists.
Personally, I really, really like Mary Stuart Masterson and Brian Benben – he was coming off of the critically acclaimed TV show “Dream On” and there are a lot of people who feel that Radioland Murders killed his blooming career.
The movie does have a cult following. The box-office disaster seems to have more to do with dreadfully poor marketing and bad timing. Those who like the film really, really like it. It did its best to recreate the slapstick comedy of the 1940s and the film score and music has been described as entirely delightful.
I am a fan of musicals from the 1940s, so perhaps I’ll check it out after all (if it’s available).
Wow… I had no idea that post was so long… apologies!
No need to apologize, Charmian! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments and thoughts about the film. I knew it was a George Lucas vehicle of course, but I didn’t know it tanked so badly at the box office.
I guess I’m one of those folks who really really liked it! 
Thanks!
Quasi
Believe it or not, Quasi, I enjoyed it. I remember thinking it had such a cool frenetic quality to it, too, and plus it had the great George Burns in what I think was his last role (he was in it only very briefly, though).
I rented my copy from Netflix on DVD, so I know it’s available.
Quasi
Quasi from what I understand, it’s a love/hate kind of thing. I suspect that people who are familiar with and enjoy the musical genre of the 1940s would appreciate it.
However, most people who know and love the 40s musicals were probably not within the target of the film’s marketing plan. It was marketed to the wrong people.
If Woody Allen had been the executive producer for example, people like my mom would’ve gone to see it figuring it out for what it was: a pseudo-revival. Or if they had targeted the marketing to a more appropriate demographic. IIRC, it was just vague, general ads that didn’t find their audience (e.g. I can guarantee my mom has never even heard of the movie).
The movie didn’t get much marketing at all – one of the reasons I haven’t seen the film yet is because the promo material was so skimpy I though “uh-oh, they’ve got a stinker and they know it.” Eventually I forgot about it, and only remember when I see Mary Stuart Masterson in something else and think “oh, yeah, I still have to see that Radio movie…”