Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Perry Lusk, who writes:
Here’s my contribution to radios found in movies:
In the 1944 movie “Laura” what appears to be a Zenith pops up while Waldo Lydecker, a narcissistic newspaper editor, enjoys his bath while working the typewriter. What model are we seeing?
Readers: if you can positively identify this antique radio, please comment!
Yes, Zenith dial for sure, NO idea what the cabinet’s story is but as others have mentioned it may be a prop department mock-up job. I’m just loving the article because it crosses my love of vintage radio and vintage movies. Laura is a classic, one of my favorites… it also features the inimitable (though many tried) Vincent Price on a decidedly non-horror role. And the theme song is one of the all-time classic standards (I play it almost every night when I’m performing). Love these pics, thank you for the article!
Best –
Mike
N0TLD
It’s definitely a Zenith black dial, but the cabinet is perplexing. All of the old Zenith radios I’ve ever seen had much fancier cabinets. I wonder if that cabinet was cobbled together by the prop department at the movie studio.
Don’t know about the radio, but it looks like an expensive bottle of Remy Martin Louis v111 cognac in the background. Every radio man should have one! ?
Found a better picture, actually part of a clip, and does look like Zenith on the radio. Time is 2:42 on the video, if it will post.
https://www.tcm.com/video/976980/laura-1944-movie-clip-the-weekend-laura-died.
Can you turn it around? There should be a paper tag on the back …
Definitely looks like a Zenith Big Black Dial. Don’t recognize the cabinet but 1) Zenith had many, many chassis, and each one ended up in multiple cabinets and 2) I’m no expert.