Tag Archives: Radios in Movies

Can you identify the radios in “In Harm’s Way”–?

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

From the 1965 classic In Harm’s Way about the U.S. Navy after the Pearl Harbor attack. In this scene, Patricia Neal is listening to a Tokyo Rose broadcast, and speaking to John Wayne. Neal asks Wayne “why can’t they jam that broadcast?” Can anyone identify the beautiful rig she’s listening to?

Other noteworthy actors in this great movie: Carroll O’Connor, Burgess Meredith, Kirk Douglas, Slim Pickens, Paula Prentiss, Henry Fonda, Larry Hagman, George Kennedy, Christopher George.

Here are two other receivers shown in same movie:

If you can identify the radios above, please comment!

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Bill identifies a “credit card” HT in the movie “Hollow Man”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill Hemphill (WD9EQD) who writes:

Hi Thomas,

Last night, I was watching the movie “Hollow Man.” Being a ham, I’m always watching for ham gear being used in movies. Quite often they use various Kenwood or Icom handheld radios.

At about 1 and half hours in the movie, I caught a glimpse of what I thought was one
of the more usual (and unlikely) ham heldhelds:

Just from this screen clip, I was pretty sure that I was looking at the Alinco DJ-C5 credit card HT.

I was able to capture another clip that confirmed it:

In the late 90’s, Alinco made three credit card radios; DJ-C1 for two meters, DJ-C4 for 440 and finally the DJ-C5 dual band that could also receive the aircraft band.

The C1 and C4 were earpiece only radios while the C5 had a small speaker added which made it a lot more usable.

They are quite amazing little radios. It was great fun seeing them appear in a movie.

Here’s one of mine with a ink pen next to it to show size:

Thank you for sharing this, Bill! I remember when these credit card-sized HTs were on the market and I wanted one if for no other reason than to feel like a spy! Great catch, OM!

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Dan spots radios in two Netflix series

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

Two of the best foreign shows on Netflix are Wrong Side of the Tracks, produced in Spain, and The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, from Israel.

Classic antique radios feature in both.

In Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, a wonderful old tube set appears in a scene set in a shop in old Jerusalem (the left of the shopkeeper).

Someone in Spain must be in love with old classic radios because we see a number of them in different scenes — primarily on a shelf in the shop of one of the main characters, along with a few portable radios. The large radio could be Grundig or any one of a number of other European sets — perhaps SWLing experts can provide the answer.

Click images to enlarge:

Can you ID some of these radios? Please comment!

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A Hallicrafters SX-28/A in “Battle of the Bulge”

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

Not a false alarm this time — one of the most striking appearances of a classic shortwave receiver was in Battle of the Bulge, the 1960’s movie about the great battle between German and U.S. forces during World War II, lasting five weeks between the end of 1944 and beginning of 1945. This movie had some of the biggest stars of the time, including Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, and Charles Bronson. Robert Shaw played the German commander of the offensive in the Ardennes and scenes in his command trailer showed a beautiful Hallicrafters SX-28/A which audiences are led to believe was both a transmitter and a receiver.

In this scene, the radio is shown as Shaw is chewed out by his superior in the trailer for not making more progress on the battlefield.

The SX-28 is one of the most amazing radios Hallicrafters made. Thanks for sharing this, Dan!

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Dan asks if you can identify this radio found in The Marvelous Mrs. Maizel

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who asks if anyone can identify the receiver in the screenshot below from the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maizel (click image to enlarge):

The image isn’t super clear because there isn’t a close-up of this radio in the episode.

If you recognize this model, please comment!

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Can you identify the radio Bruce spotted in the new SILO series?

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce, who writes:

Hi Thomas,

Here’s a screenshot (below) of a transceiver on a new sci-fi series “Silo”.

This is from episode 3. Here’s a brief description of the show:

In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant
underground silo that plunges hundreds of stories deep; there, people
live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to
protect them.

Does anybody recognize this radio? [click to enlarge image]

– Bruce

Oh wow, Bruce. I’m a massive fan of the SILO series by Hugh Howey–indeed, the Wool Omnibus was the very first eBook I ever purchased! I’ve decided to re-read this series before watching it on Apple TV. 

If you can help Bruce identify this radio, please comment!

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