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5.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Rambling 'Round Radio Row #3 remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, Rambling 'Round Radio Row #3 isn't going to win any awards for narrative depth. It’s basically a bunch of people standing around on a boat, singing songs, and trying to sound like the most important people in the room. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys clicking through old newspaper archives or watching public domain curiosities on YouTube at 2 AM, you’ll probably find something to like here. If you need a plot or, you know, a reason to care about these people, maybe skip it.
J.C. Flippen has this frantic, old-school MC energy that feels like he’s trying to sell you a bridge while simultaneously hosting a party. It’s a lot. Watching him manage these radio personalities is like watching a kindergarten teacher try to keep track of a class that’s had too much sugar.
It’s funny to compare this to something like One Way Passage from the same general era. That film actually has a pulse, whereas this feels like it was filmed because someone had a camera and a boat and just said, "Hey, let's put on a show." It lacks the polish you see in even the middling stuff from the studio system, but that’s exactly why I watched it all the way through.
There’s this one bit where someone is trying to be funny and it lands with such a massive thud that I had to rewind it just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. The silence after the punchline is longer than the actual joke. Ouch.
Is it a classic? Absolutely not. Is it a strange, fleeting look at a time when radio was the center of the universe? Yeah, I suppose it is. Don't go in expecting a masterpiece. Go in expecting to feel like you've stumbled into someone's dusty attic and found a home movie that was never meant for you to see. Sometimes that's enough. 📻🚢
