A Sampling of Films About Radio
A Face in the Crowd (1957) 
Directed by Elia Kazan
Starring Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau
Screenplay by Budd Schulberg
Based on his short story “Your Arkansas Traveler”
One Line: An Arkansas hobo becomes an overnight media sensation. But as he becomes drunk with fame and power, will he ever be exposed as the fraud he has become?
Play Misty for Me (1971)
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills and John Larch
Screenplay by Jo Heims and Dean Riesner
One Line: A brief fling between a male disc jockey and an obsessed female fan takes a frightening, and perhaps even deadly, turn.
Talk Radio (1988)
Directed by Oliver Stone
Starring Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene and Leslie Hope
Screenplay by Eric Bogosian and Oliver Stone
Based off of Eric Bogosian’s play of the same name
Parts based on Stephen Singular’s book, Talked to Death: The Life and Murder of Alan Berg
One Line: A rude, contemptuous talk show host becomes overwhelmed by the hatred that surrounds his program just before it goes national.
WUSA (1970)
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
Starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Anthony Perkins
Screenplay by Robert Stone, based on his novel A Hall of Mirrors
One Line: A radio station in the Deep South becomes the focal point of a right-wing conspiracy
Reveille with Beverly (1943)
Directed by Charles Barton
Starring Ann Miller, Franklin Pangborn and Larry Parks
Written by Howard J. Green and Jack Henley
One Line: Beverly hosts her own big band radio program for local servicemen
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
Directed by Mitchell Leisen
Starring W.C. Fields, Bob Hope, Martha Raye, Dorothy Lamour and Shirley Ross
Written by Walter DeLeon and Francis Martin
One Line: The Bellows family causes comic confusion on an ocean liner, with time out for radio-style musical acts.
True to Life (1943)
Directed by George Marshall
Starring Mary Martin, Franchot Tone, Dick Powell, Victor Moore and Mabel Paige
Written by Ben Barzman and Sol Barzman
One Line: A radio serial writer needs inspiration to fuel his show rents a room from a typical American family and begins to write about their true life antics and uses their exploits for plots.
Radio Days (1987)
Directed and Narrated by Woody Allen
Starring Mia Farrow, Michael Tucker, Julie Kavner, Dianne Wiest, Danny Aiello, Tony Roberts, Jeff Daniels and Seth Green
Written by Woody Allen
One Line: A nostalgic look at radio’s golden age focusing on one ordinary family and the various performers in the medium.
Who Done It? (1942)
Directed by Erle C. Kenton
Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, William Gargan, William Bendix and Mary Wickes
Written by Stanley Roberts, Edmund Joseph and John Grant
One Line: Two dim-witted soda jerks dream of writing radio mysteries; when they try to pitch an idea at the station, they end up in the middle of a real murder investigation when the station owner is killed during a broadcast.
Tune in Tomorrow (1990)
Directed by John Amiel
Starring Barbara Hershey, Peter Falk and Keanu Reeves
Screenplay by William Boyd
Based on the novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa
One Line: Martin, who works at a local radio station in 1950s New Orleans, begins dating his (not blood-related) Aunt Julia, just to find that new scriptwriter Pedro has been using their relationship as the basis for his drama series.