RADIOLAND MURDERS. A forgotten comedy film produced by Lucas

George Lucas’s entire career is essentially based on drawing from things that fascinated him in childhood or youth and presenting them in a contemporary (at the time of creation) fashion. In American Graffiti, he referenced his own coming-of-age experiences; the Star Wars saga is a tribute to old serials and science fiction films; and Indiana Jones‘s adventures are a paraphrase of the adventure productions he devoured as a boy. The Lucas-produced Radioland Murders fits perfectly into this pattern, as it was meant to evoke the era of radio hegemony before television took over people’s minds. Additionally, to further emphasize the time period in which the story is set, the plot is stylized as a madcap 1930s comedy, particularly inspired by the Abbott and Costello film series—especially Abbott and Costello: Who Done It?

Radioland Murders begins one evening in 1939 when a new radio station is about to join three leading networks. Inside the station’s building, just before the inauguration, listeners, sponsors, and invited guests gather, eagerly awaiting the first broadcast. At first, everything goes relatively smoothly, aside from capricious scriptwriters, the usual team squabbles, and general nervousness. However, at a certain point, a sinister whisper is heard through the speakers, and soon after, one of the musicians is found dead. And this is only the first of several victims…

The plot is largely conventional, though it can be forced into the popular whodunit framework—a classic mystery where a group of people is trapped in a location with a murderer among them. However, Radioland Murders parodies this trope; yes, there are victims, but the entire film is presented as an over-the-top farce, full of gags and eccentric characters. Nothing is taken seriously, and the story unfolds on two levels: on one hand, the protagonists try to identify the killer, while on the other, we follow a grand, live radio show. The filmmakers take us behind the scenes of a 1930s radio station, showing—through a comedic lens—how broadcasts were prepared and aired, attempting to familiarize modern audiences with the challenges early radio creators faced. The station is in utter chaos: scriptwriters scribble lines last-minute, people run back and forth carrying props, changing costumes, yelling, and rushing to get everything ready before going on air. Meanwhile, on stage, actors entertain both the in-studio audience and radio listeners at home. Within this pandemonium, there is also the subplot of Penny and Roger Henderson (played by Mary Stuart Masterson and Brian Benben), whose marriage is on the brink of collapse.

The film’s origins date back to the 1970s. After his first major commercial and artistic success with American Graffiti, George Lucas was preparing to make two more films—one about the golden age of radio and another, as yet untitled, science fiction project. Radioland Murders was officially announced, and the main cast was selected, but production never materialized. Lucas then became engrossed in Star Wars and the Indiana Jones saga, which completely consumed his focus. Still, the idea resurfaced occasionally, though it never managed to reach the filming stage (at one point, Steve Martin was attached to the project). It wasn’t until the early 1990s—when technology had advanced enough to generate certain scenes digitally, thereby reducing set design costs—that production was finally able to move forward (it was filmed between episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles).

For the director’s chair, Lucas hired Mel Smith, a British comedian known for his role in the excellent comedy Brain Donors. He also assembled a cast featuring several well-known names, including Ned Beatty, Christopher Lloyd (as a sound effects expert, who reportedly filmed his scenes in a single day), Bobcat Goldthwait, Peter MacNicol, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Brion James. The original script included numerous references to 1930s radio and film stars—understandable to audiences forty years later but less so for viewers in the final decade of the 20th century—so the storyline was revised accordingly.

Interestingly, in one interview, Lucas claimed that Roger and Penny Henderson were the parents of Curt Henderson, one of the protagonists of American Graffiti, played by Richard Dreyfuss. This would make Radioland Murders a prequel to Lucas’s earlier film. The filmmaker had a penchant for revisiting the origins of his characters, as seen in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and, most notably, Star Wars Episodes I-III.

The film was a financial disaster and is largely forgotten today. I believe its failure can be attributed to its excessively fast pace and overall chaos. The audience is bombarded with gags—though some are brilliant, many fall flat. Meanwhile, the overwhelming frenzy at the radio station makes it difficult to follow the plot, which gets lost in the rapid-fire succession of scenes. Moreover, for a long time, it’s unclear who the main protagonist is.

Despite all this, I can’t completely dismiss Radioland Murders because it does manage to evoke nostalgia for the golden age of radio—even if one is far too young to remember it firsthand.