Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio
Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio

Watch Movie
1991
1h 53m
7.5(8 votes)
Documentary
History

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of Lee de Forest, a clergyman’s flamboyant son, who invented the audion tube; Edwin Howard Armstrong, a brilliant, withdrawn inventor who pioneered FM technology; and David Sarnoff, a hard-driving Russian immigrant who created the most powerful communications company on earth.

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

Florentine Films

Cast & Crew

34 members
Acting

Jason Robards

Narrator (voice)

Jason Robards
Acting

Red Barber

Self - Radio Announcer

No Image
Writing

Erik Barnouw

Self - Historian

Erik Barnouw
Acting

Ken Bilby

Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff

No Image
Writing

Norman Corwin

Self - Writer

No Image
Acting

Susan Douglas

Self - Historian

Susan Douglas
Acting

Frank Günther

Self - Engineer

No Image
Acting

Jeanne Hammond

Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong

No Image
Acting

Loren Jones

Self - Engineer

No Image
Acting

Garrison Keillor

Self - Writer

Garrison Keillor
Acting

Helen Kelley

Self - Radio Broadcaster

No Image
Acting

Robert Morris

Self - Engineer

No Image
Acting

Dana Raymond

Self - Friend of Edwin H. Armstrong

No Image
Acting

Gertrude Tyne

Self - Engineer

No Image
Acting

Fred Allen

Self - Predicts Demise of Radio (archive footage)

Fred Allen
Acting

Gene Autry

Self - Sings (archive sound)

Gene Autry
Acting

John Barrymore

Hamlet (archive sound)

John Barrymore
Acting

Winston Churchill

Self - Finest Hour Speech (archive sound)

Winston Churchill
Acting

Charles J. Correll

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

No Image
Directing

Lee De Forest

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

Lee De Forest
Acting

Ralph Edwards

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

Ralph Edwards
Acting

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Self - Announces Landing in Normandy (archive footage)

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Acting

Eugenia Farrar

Self (with Lee De Forest) (archive footage)

No Image
Acting

Freeman F. Gosden

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

No Image
Acting

Guglielmo Marconi

Self - Visits Sarnoff at RCA (archive footage)

No Image
Acting

Marie Mosquini

Self - with Lee De Forest (archive footage)

Marie Mosquini
Acting

Nelson Rockefeller

Self - Eulogizes Sarnoff (archive footage)

Nelson Rockefeller
Acting

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Self - Makes Broadcast About Banking Reform (archive footage)

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Acting

David Sarnoff

Self - with Marconi at RCA (archive footage)

No Image
Acting

Frank Sinatra

Self - Serenades Sarnoff (archive footage)

Frank Sinatra
Acting

Arturo Toscanini

Self - Conducts NBC Symphony (archive footage)

Arturo Toscanini
Acting

Harry S. Truman

Self - Announces Bombing of Hiroshima (archive sound)

Harry S. Truman
Acting

Bob Warren

Self - This is Your Life Announcer (archive footage)

No Image
Directing

Orson Welles

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

Orson Welles

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