Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio poster

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

TV-MADocumentaryHistory
75%
User
Score

Overview

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of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.

    Top Billed Cast

    1. cast image

      Jason Robards

      Narrator (voice)

    2. cast image

      Red Barber

      Self - Radio Announcer

    3. cast image

      Erik Barnouw

      Self - Historian

    4. cast image

      Ken Bilby

      Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff

    5. cast image

      Norman Corwin

      Self - Writer

    6. cast image

      Susan Douglas

      Self - Historian

    7. cast image

      Frank Günther

      Self - Engineer

    8. cast image

      Jeanne Hammond

      Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong

    9. cast image

      Loren Jones

      Self - Engineer

    10. cast image

      Garrison Keillor

      Self - Writer

    11. cast image

      Helen Kelley

      Self - Radio Broadcaster

    12. cast image

      Robert Morris

      Self - Engineer

    13. cast image

      Dana Raymond

      Self - Friend of Edwin H. Armstrong

    14. cast image

      Gertrude Tyne

      Self - Engineer

    15. cast image

      Fred Allen

      Self - Predicts Demise of Radio (archive footage)

    16. cast image

      Gene Autry

      Self - Sings (archive sound)

    17. cast image

      John Barrymore

      Hamlet (archive sound)

    18. cast image

      Winston Churchill

      Self - Finest Hour Speech (archive sound)

    19. cast image

      Charles J. Correll

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

    20. cast image

      Lee De Forest

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

    21. cast image

      Ralph Edwards

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

    22. cast image

      Dwight D. Eisenhower

      Self - Announces Landing in Normandy (archive footage)

    23. cast image

      Eugenia Farrar

      Self (with Lee De Forest) (archive footage)

    24. cast image

      Freeman F. Gosden

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

    25. cast image

      Guglielmo Marconi

      Self - Visits Sarnoff at RCA (archive footage)

    26. cast image

      Marie Mosquini

      Self - with Lee De Forest (archive footage)

    27. cast image

      Nelson Rockefeller

      Self - Eulogizes Sarnoff (archive footage)

    28. cast image

      Franklin D. Roosevelt

      Self - Makes Broadcast About Banking Reform (archive footage)

    29. cast image

      David Sarnoff

      Self - with Marconi at RCA (archive footage)

    30. cast image

      Frank Sinatra

      Self - Serenades Sarnoff (archive footage)

    31. cast image

      Arturo Toscanini

      Self - Conducts NBC Symphony (archive footage)

    32. cast image

      Harry S. Truman

      Self - Announces Bombing of Hiroshima (archive sound)

    33. cast image

      Bob Warren

      Self - This is Your Life Announcer (archive footage)

    34. cast image

      Orson Welles

      Self - Professor in War of the Worlds Broadcast (archive sound)

    Social

    Review 0Discussion

    We don't have any reviews for Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

    Media

    Videos 0Backdrops 2Posters 1

    Recommendations

    1. 1256%

    2. Due Justice

      Due Justice60%

    3. 1256%

    4. Q

      Q57%

    5. Re-BORN

      Re-BORN74%

    6. Robot Apocalypse

      Robot Apocalypse63%

    7. 1250%

    8. Re/cycle77%

    9. Upon Entry

      Upon Entry67%

    10. Amber Alert

      Amber Alert70%

    11. Home

      Home67%

    12. National Family

      National Family67%

    13. A59%

    14. The Wages of Fear

      The Wages of Fear62%

    15. Last Summer

      Last Summer60%

    16. 10 Lives

      10 Lives78%

    17. Femme

      Femme68%

    18. Return of Sabata

      Return of Sabata60%

    19. The Duel

      The Duel61%

    Facts

    Status

    Released

    Original Language

    English

    Budget

    -

    Revenue

    -

    Keywords

    • radio wave
    • radio