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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Aaron Kuhn, who writes:
Another “Radio in Popular Culture” tidbit for you since they seem so popular:
2014 war survival game “This War of Mine“, released on multiple platforms, features a simulated shortwave radio you can build and use as part of the game.
After building the radio from components/parts you find, it allows you to use the radio on a daily basis to gather intelligence about what’s going on out in the streets around you.
This video capture I took shows what in-game tuning of this “Rad” brand radio looks like:
Last week, I watched the Netflix movie, Spectral, and couldn’t help but notice a couple of radios on set.
I spotted the first rig at the beginning of the film while the camera was panning a military communications center. It’s a dark screen shot, but I believe this may be a Kenwood TS-940S:
Click to enlarge.
The second radio appeared to be a 1950s-60s era Grundig tabletop. Perhaps someone can identify the model?
Click to enlarge
I’ve noticed that many of the radios we’ve spotted in film and TV lately have been in Netflix original productions. I assume the art/set designers appreciate the radio aesthetic. I certainly do!
Another radio spotted in a TV show, this time in the Netflix show iZombie.
Having been gifted a Yaesu FRG-7700 recently, it was an easy spot.
Click to enlarge
This FRG-7700 appears to be a ‘special’ model however, with a microphone plugged into the headphone socket and able to act as a transceiver!!
You have sharp eyes, Mark! Yes, indeed, it looks like they’ve turned that ‘7700 into a transceiver by plugging a mic into the headphone jack. Now why didn’t we think of that?!? 🙂
Here are three shots from the first few minutes of the 1962 James Bond
film “Dr. No”:
The second shot is a close up of the radio in the first shot. (These appear at about 4:30)
I suppose the last shot is from the BBC Monitoring Station? (about 5:30).
Thanks for sharing these screen shots, Bruce!
That looks like a K.W. Vanguard amateur transmitter in the first two photos, of course, but I can’t determine what the receiver is on the right. Can someone identify?
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Hawkins, who writes:
This evening I watched the excellent Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines on Netflix streaming. This is a 1943 training film for Office of Strategic Services personnel learning how be secret agents. The film was directed by the legendary John Ford who also took an acting role in the film. In this scene, Al is receiving his forged papers from an OSS agent before leaving for Germany. A radio may seen on a shelf in the background.
Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines is also available on YouTube:
The next film is much better known. The same model radio makes a foreground appearance in Some Like it Hot. Osgood Fielding III has one of these on his yacht.
Maybe Osgood is laughing because the film takes place in 1929 and the company that made the radio was founded several years later.
I won’t spoil the secret of this radio’s maker and model. It will probably not take long for SWLing Post readers to come up with an answer.
Post readers: are you up for the challenge? 🙂 What model of radio do we see here? I’ll keep quiet, because it’s one of my favorite manufacturers.
And, Dan, many thanks. I really do owe you one because I was not familiar with Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines. I can’t believe there was a WWII era Ford film I had missed. I, too, have Netflix but the YouTube copy you suggested is actually a better restored version in terms of audio. Thanks again!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who writes:
Following your recent post about Hemingway, I spotted what looks like a Zenith Transoceanic in the the classic film noir, “Kiss Me Deadly” – a favourite of mine with such memorable moments such as the “What’s in the box” scene.
That does, indeed, look like a Transoceanic–possibly the Model T600? Great catch. Thanks, Mark, for sharing your film and TV radio sightings!
