Behind Your Radio Dial: The Story of NBC
Behind Your Radio Dial: The Story of NBC is a short film from 1948 released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.
DESCRIPTION : A behind-the-scenes tour of NBC's radio and television
recording and broadcasting studios at Radio City in Rockefeller Center, NYC. Features shots of the old-fashioned, large floor television sets and radio sets of the era. Directed by Edward J Montagne.
[On-screen timecode].
02:00:00:00 ZI to large radio set in a cozy living room with blazing
fireplace; hand turns on the radio; CU INT mechanism of
the radio; DISSOLVE to a symphony orchestra performing
piece of music.
02:01:46:00 Montage of people listening to the radio: housewife woman
cooking food in her kitchen; little boy getting into bed
and under the covers; man at work-table in machine shop;
couple relaxing on penthouse patio of apartment building;
couple lying down on the beach; man in his living room
with pet dogs; "blind newsdealer" man sitting in his
newsstand; man driving car.
02:10:00:00 Montage of NBC radio recording studios: reporters reading
news reports into microphones; actors performing radio
plays; musicians performing; etc.
02:02:39:00 Man wearing headphones and his son try to tune-in a radio
station with hand-made radio in basement.
02:03:10:00 Family in their parlor / living room, man sits in front of
and listens to cone speaker of radio.
02:03:38:00 1925 archival footage of President Calvin Coolidge being
sworn in during inauguration ceremonies.
02:04:00:00 1920s archival footage of sports announcer Graham McNamee
reciting play-by-play coverage of a Rose Bowl football
game into an NBC microphone.
02:04:17:00 Animation: map of the US illustrating commercial radio
networks with rippling circles.
02:04:48:00 TU EXT the RCA Building / GE Building of Rockefeller
Center; VS NBC studios lobby; VS usher guide woman leads
visitors on a tour of the master control room (with
technicians / engineers), recording studios, newsroom
(with typists and teletype machines), program schedule
board, etc.
02:06:59:00 VS radio actors / players perform a radio play in studio;
director in booth breaks-in to instruct the actors.
02:08:09:00 Commentator / anchorman HV Kaltenborn announces news into
microphone in news studio; engineer in booth gives the
"cut" signal; Kaltenborn briefly speaks to CAM about news
and history.
02:08:48:00 VS radio station newsroom: man monitors row of news-wire
teletype machines, tears off one urgent bulletin and hands
it to news announcer to read it on the air; row of wall
clocks displaying times of different international cities;
etc.
02:09:41:00 Recording engineer makes a news recording on a phonograph
record LP; CU the spinning record.
02:10:25:00 Archival footage news montage: Wiley Post after his
record-breaking around-the-world flight; the Hindenburg
explosion; Wendell Willkie (?) speaking at the 1940
Republican National Convention; FDR making speech before
Congress.
02:11:19:00 Commentator / anchorman HV Kaltenborn speaks to CAM about
NBC radio news.
02:12:00:00 UN Security Council meeting, US Representative (Warren
Austin?) speaking.
02:12:24:00 NBC office worker scenes: VS workers sorting mail in the
mailroom; mail is delivered to employees by cart; workers
at desks speak into old-fashioned dictaphones; rows of
typist women at work; men operating small mimeograph or
rexograph copying machines; man rapidly collates papers;
etc.
02:12:59:00 Foley artists record sound effects in radio studio. 02:13:06:00 Pianist in radio recording studio, he begins to play after
"on air" light on wall illuminates.
02:13:23:00 VS the NBC radio music library: sheet music and other
paper documents are chosen from stacks, stamped, read,
etc.; music arrangers / producers confer together over
sheet music; man opens and closes filing cabinets holding
sheet music scores in large library / archive room.
02:14:21:00 Live broadcast from Radio City studio: VS chorus of
singers rehearsing on stage for the Fred Waring and the
Pennsylvanians Show; VS engineer and producer in the
booth; "on the air" sign illuminates; VS announcer and
chorus on stage before a live studio audience.
02:16:54:00 Radio show broadcast: Fred Allen and Parker Fennelly
perform "Allen's Alley" comedy routine in front of
microphone; Fennelly does New England country accent.
02:17:20:00 EXT NBC Radio City building in Hollywood. 02:17:27:00 Bob Hope signs autographs for fans in crowd on sidewalk,
then drives away in convertible car.
02:17:39:00 Man opens closet door, hat boxes, luggage and the like
spill out and fall down on him. [Slapstick, pratfall].
02:17:50:00 Radio show broadcast: group of people sit at desk in front
of NBC microphones during a discussion.
02:18:04:00 News reporter on location on farm field speaks into NBC
radio microphone.
02:18:08:00 Religious radio show broadcasts: Catholic priest speaks
into microphone at pulpit; Protestant minister speaks into
microphone at pulpit; Jewish Rabbi speaks into microphone
at pulpit.
02:18:19:00 Radio show broadcast: group of people sit at desk in front
of NBC microphones during a discussion.
02:18:27:00 Early telemarketing: woman at telephone switchboard makes
a telephone call; housewife woman answers her telephone
and the switchboard operator asks her a marketing survey
question.
02:19:01:00 VS marketing survey / opinion poll is taken at a theater /
assembly hall: people in audience fill out questionnaire
sheets and answer questions into microphone held before
them by usher.
02:20:27:00 Man stamps paper document with "approval" at desk during
business meeting.
02:20:40:00 Montage of people listening to the radio: CU shots and
DISSOLVES of hands adjusting radio knobs; people listening
closely to radios, sitting next to their radios, etc.
02:21:16:00 Early television montage: camera operator and his large
NBC television camera; VS people watching early television
sets.
02:21:46:00 Television studio recording session scenes: VS crew and
cameras around the set (featuring scantily clad dancing
women); VS engineers and producers watching monitors and
sitting at control panels.
02:22:42:00 Children laughing while watching Howdy Doody marionette
puppet on television set.
02:23:01:00 Two men watch a baseball game on television set. 02:23:10:10 Man watches a symphony orchestra perform on his television
set, he adjusts tuning knobs.| Behind Your Radio Dial: The Story of NBC | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | RKO-Path |
Production company | RKO-Path |
| Distributed by | RKO-Path |
Release date | 1948 |
Running time | 24:04 |
| Language | English |
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