To me, this movie is perfection.

The Worst Film Ever

Good concept, poorly executed.

Best movie ever!

It's 1939. Chicago radio station WGN is starting a new national radio network bringing in an audience to watch the premier broadcast performance. General secretary Penny Henderson (Mary Stuart Masterson) is managing the chaos and trying to break up with husband head-writer Roger Henderson (Brian Benben) after catching him with va-va-va-voom girl Claudette Katsenback (Anita Morris). Station owner General Walt Whalen (Ned Beatty) tries to satisfy sponsor Bernie King (Brion James) who wants massive changes to the script. Trumpet player dies from supposed heart attack. Then the general's incompetent son director Walt Whalen, Jr. (Jeffrey Tambor) is found dead. The police led by Lieutenant Cross (Michael Lerner) is called in. Cross reveals that the trumpet player was poisoned and Roger quickly becomes a prime suspect.The fast-talking, light-speed pace and vast cast is too desperate. It's trying to be wacky but it's never funny. The story is trying too hard to be chaotic and it succeeds by being too chaotic. The situation feels manufactured. I don't know if murders could easily be made into a slapstick comedy. This one fails in the attempt. The look of the movie is good. The production value is the main positive and the actors are trying their best.

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.

This film is a niche film, in that it IS a who-dunnit, but deeper than that, there seems to be a gap between modern audiences and the pre-television world of pop-culture radio. This, in part, accounts for some of the lack of popularity this film experienced.However...This film is intriguing in that it features some great performances, manic and frantic dialog indicative of the behind-the-scenes and on-the-air intonations of the age, and a slick style which elevates this work far above the rating it currently enjoys here at IMDb.The filming style is mesmerizing. The long shots of the outside of the radio building contributes to the feeling of isolation from the rest of the world, as the body count begins to accumulate. The sponsors just won't be sold on the station, everything which can go wrong is, and the station is dying to go into national syndication. All while the intrigue builds into suspense without generating the atmosphere of a thriller, which this is not. It was a difficult balance to maintain, but it never slips, never fails.I have no idea why this was universally thrashed. This was delightful! It rates an 8.9/10 from...the Fiend :.

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).