Tag Archives: Radios in Movies

Mark spots radios in the original “Hawaii Five Oh”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who writes:

Thomas,

I recently picked up a couple of DVD boxsets of Hawaii Five Oh from my local charity shop.

These old shows are always an interesting watch, giving insights into fashions, cars, cultural norms and story lines from the time.

I spotted these radios, sometimes used for exposition or just props in various episodes.

Mark

Thank you for sharing, Mark! I bet readers can recognize all of these fine vintage radios! The top photo might be the trickiest in terms of narrowing down the exact model.

I haven’t watched Hawaii Five Oh in decades. It would be fun to rewatch a few episodes–I loved that show in my youth!

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Ken spots a number of radios in “The Day of the Triffids”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ken Hunt, who writes:

Thomas,

I don’t know whether you’ve featured “The Day of the Triffids” before on your RITM series (I searched for “triffids” on your site and came up empty).

If not, there are three scenes in the 1962 movie where shortwave radios are used to listen for information during the post-Triffid apocalypse. First, in a navy ship’s radio room, second in a lighthouse, and finally, inside an estate near Cadiz, Spain.

The radios are all boat anchors.

Best wishes and 73s,

Ken Hunt

Thank you for the tip, Ken! Somehow I’ve made it through life without knowing about The Day of the Triffids. I’ll try to find an online source of the film and perhaps even read the book! Thank you!

Can anyone ID the radios in these screen shots? Please comment!

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Sony portable spotted in “The Gods Must Be Crazy”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Ben-Zion, who writes:

I love your website and wanted to contribute a radio in cinema sighting from the 1980 South African film The Gods Must Be Crazy.

I look forward to your readers feedback regarding this SONY unit.

Kind Regards.

Ben-Zion

Thanks for the tip! Oh I do love that particular Sony model! Can anyone ID it?

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Paul spots a Lafayette HE-30 in the film “Robbery”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Steckler, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

A few weeks ago, I watched the movie “Bullitt”, starring Steve
McQueen, and shot on-location in San Francisco. The centerpiece of
that movie was a thrilling car chase through San Francisco; McQueen
did a lot of the driving himself. The director was Peter Yates, who is
English. He went on to direct “Breaking Away”, every cyclist’s
favorite movie.

Yates had directed an earlier movie, “Robbery”, a fictionalized
account of the Great Train Robbery of 1963. I purchased the DVD, and
watched that one tonight. That movie also featured a harrowing car
chase, this time through London. After robbing the train, the crooks
hole up in the basement of an abandoned building on a Royal Air Force
airfield. To keep tabs on the cops, they’re monitoring the airwaves
with what appears to be a Lafayette HE-30.

I’ve attached a screenshot of the scene which shows the radio most
prominently (sorry, it’s a little fuzzy).

Here’s a description of the radio:
http://www.valveradio.net/radio/lafayette-he-30.html

What a beautiful radio! Thank you for sharing this, Paul. I’ve never seen Robbery, so I’m adding it to my watch list!

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Dan notes a beautifully restored vintage Zenith in “Hunters”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who writes:

Following up on the item about the Grundig SAT 700 in a scene of Last of Us, the series “Hunters“, with Al Pacino, about Nazi hunters, featured a beautifully restored Zenith wood cabinet radio in the second to last of 8 episodes.

The Zenith is seen sitting between an elderly German couple who were helping to hide a Jewish family from the Nazis.

Hunters is an excellent, if sometimes hard to watch, series which brought Pacino back to TV. The scenes with the Zenith radio were almost as long as the one in Last of Us containing the Grundig 700.

What a gorgeous Zenith, Dan. Thank you for sharing this and your notes about Hunters.

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Balázs spots radios in “The Last of Us” Episode 1

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

Some radios from the first episode of the new post apocalyptic (video game adaptation) series “The Last of Us”.

with best regards,
Balazs

Great catch! Thank you for sharing this with us, Balázs! These images are pretty dark, but I bet some readers will be able to ID some of those radios in the background!

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Balazs spots vintage radios in film and in a Budapest pub!

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Balázs Kovács, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

Happy New Year! Some pictures in two topics:

1.) First, a nice Zenith H511 Consoltone (MW) got a few seconds of screen time recently in the fourth episode of the third (final) season of “His Dark Materials” series:

2.) At the end of December in an old pub in Budapest (Helvecia) I ran into some more or less old radios as a part of the eclectic decoration. Since these are partly Eastern European, they may be less well known elsewhere (deep in the basement, so even if they were still functioning, not many radio signals would reach them anymore):