Some other reviewers seem to think that Woody Allen got his inspiration for Radio Days from foreign sources. I think his own childhood, similar to mine a half a generation later, was all he needed and for any further influence, he must have listened as I did to the radio ramblings of Jean Shepherd on WOR Radio back in the day.<br /><br />With the casting of young Seth Green as the protagonist and childhood Allen this was the start of a whole series of quirky roles he's played right up to this day. Allen has a good eye for detail and places that haven't changed too much since he was a child. The only difference is that he used the Rockaways instead of Brooklyn because the appearance is still the same or at least in 1987 it was. One thing that certainly hadn't changed was the elephant house at the Prospect Park Zoo where young Seth Green and his parents Michael Tucker and Julie Kavner meet one of the Quiz Kids and his parents. An all together unsatisfactory experience all around.<br /><br />The film does not have any plot so to speak, it's simply a collection of stories from just before World War II and American entry into World War II. It was the height of American radio entertainment where all you needed was imagination. Radio as we see influenced young Green/Allen in direct and subtle ways as well. Television first became commercially popular in 1947 the year I made my earthly debut. But Allen's childhood was influenced by radio. You could believe anything if the actors were good enough. Young Mr. Green believed that Wallace Shawn was a superhero because of the radio.<br /><br />The technique of the film is like Jean Shepherd's The Christmas Story and his monologues on WOR were exactly like Radio Days, just a collection of loose ramblings about the things that Shepherd remembered from his childhood in the Midwest of Hammond, Indiana. Only the Jewish humor of Woody Allen makes it distinct from a Jean Shepherd radio show being made into a film.<br /><br />Woody cast his film well, but my absolute favorite was Dianne Weist as his lovelorn Aunt Bea, destined to be a spinster like another Aunt Bea from television. The poor woman was in love with love and constantly dating a real collection of losers that never quite cut the mustard.<br /><br />If you are a fan of Jean Shepherd's nostalgic humor and The Christmas Story, you will love Radio Days. You don't have to be Jewish, honestly.