Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1991)


  • Genre: Documentary, History
  • Release Date: 1991-10-01
  • User Rating: 7.5/10 from 8 ratings
  • Runtime: 1h 53min
  • Language: English
  • Production Company: Florentine Films
  • Production Country: United States of America
  • Director: Ken Burns
star 7.5/10
From 8 Ratings

Summary

For 50 years radio dominated the airwaves and the American consciousness as the first “mass medium.” In Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, Ken Burns examines the lives of three extraordinary men who shared the primary responsibility for this invention and its early success, and whose genius, friendship, rivalry and enmity interacted in tragic ways. This is the story of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.

Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio Trailer

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  • Jason Robards

    as Narrator (voice)

  • Red Barber

    as Self - Radio Announcer

  • Erik Barnouw

    as Self - Historian

  • Ken Bilby

    as Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff

  • Norman Corwin

    as Self - Writer

  • Susan Douglas

    as Self - Historian

  • Frank Günther

    as Self - Engineer

  • Jeanne Hammond

    as Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong

  • Loren Jones

    as Self - Engineer

  • Garrison Keillor

    as Self - Writer

  • Helen Kelley

    as Self - Radio Broadcaster

  • Robert Morris

    as Self - Engineer

  • Dana Raymond

    as Self - Friend of Edwin H. Armstrong

  • Gertrude Tyne

    as Self - Engineer

  • Fred Allen

    as Self - Predicts Demise of Radio (archive footage)

  • Gene Autry

    as Self - Sings (archive sound)

  • John Barrymore

    as Hamlet (archive sound)

  • Winston Churchill

    as Self - Finest Hour Speech (archive sound)

  • Charles J. Correll

    as Self - Prepares for Amos 'n' Andy Broadcast (archive footage)

  • Lee De Forest

    as Self - Objects to Quality of Radio Programming (archive footage)

  • Ralph Edwards

    as Self - Host of 'This Is Your Life' (archive footage)

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower

    as Self - Announces Landing in Normandy (archive footage)

  • Eugenia Farrar

    as Self (with Lee De Forest) (archive footage)

  • Freeman F. Gosden

    as Self - Prepares for Amos 'n' Andy Broadcast (archive footage)

  • Guglielmo Marconi

    as Self - Visits Sarnoff at RCA (archive footage)

  • Marie Mosquini

    as Self - with Lee De Forest (archive footage)

  • Nelson Rockefeller

    as Self - Eulogizes Sarnoff (archive footage)

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt

    as Self - Makes Broadcast About Banking Reform (archive footage)

  • David Sarnoff

    as Self - with Marconi at RCA (archive footage)

  • Frank Sinatra

    as Self - Serenades Sarnoff (archive footage)

  • Arturo Toscanini

    as Self - Conducts NBC Symphony (archive footage)

  • Harry S. Truman

    as Self - Announces Bombing of Hiroshima (archive sound)

  • Bob Warren

    as Self - This is Your Life Announcer (archive footage)

  • Orson Welles

    as Self - Professor in War of the Worlds Broadcast (archive sound)
Directing Ken Burns Director
Production Ken Burns Producer
Production Morgan Wesson Producer
Production Tom Lewis Producer
Writing Geoffrey C. Ward Writer
Editing Paul Barnes Editor
Editing Yaffa Lerea Associate Editor
Writing Tom Lewis Author
Production Camilla Rockwell Associate Producer
Production Susanna Steisel Associate Producer
Sound Morgan Wesson Sound
Sound Alan Barker Sound
Editing Morgan Wesson Archival Footage Research
Sound Yaffa Lerea Sound Editor
Sound Paul Barnes Sound Editor
Sound Lee Dichter Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Production Dalton Delan Executive In Charge Of Production
Production Ken Burns Executive Producer
Sound Ken Burns Music Director
Camera Allen Moore Director of Photography
Camera Buddy Squires Director of Photography
Camera Ken Burns Director of Photography

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