Help ID this radio

[Indian Head]

For years, I've wondered about the radio seen near the end of the original "King Kong." I figure this place is the best to find out what it is.

[AUdubon5425]

Okay, I don't have my glasses on yet, but my guess is RCA - I think the two round emblems under the dial are the old RCA and Nipper logos.

[radiotvnut]

Yep, that is an RCA. Looks like a model R-74 from '32.

[Indian Head]

You guys are good! It bears a stong resemblance to the R-74, and I found a picture of the R-8 from 1933 which also has a very similar cabinet.

Definitely in the family!

EDIT: It just occurred to me that RKO Radio Pictures, which produced the movie, was associated with RCA. It would make sense for the radio to be an RCA.

[leadlike]

Hey, Indian Head, did you ever get that Auricon camera setup working?

[Indian Head]

Originally Posted by leadlike

Hey, Indian Head, did you ever get that Auricon camera setup working?

YES Leadlike! After finding two proper amplifiers on "a certain auction site," one which looks good but needs work, and another that's not so pretty but performs flawlessly, we did a test on Plus-X. As soon as the film came back from processing, I put it on the bench between rewinds and looked for that jiggly line. And there it was! We watched it later that night and were suprisingly pleased with the audio.

Now I hear that Plus-X is being discontinued! Either we have to stock up on a few rolls or do ANOTHER test on Tri-X. We want to shoot some 100D color as well. Considering the recording and labwork necessary to put an optical track on a strip of film, this is just too cool!

[rojoknox]

Greetings from FixitLand!

That RCA Victor radio in "King Kong" is definitely an R-8, not an R-74 -- the latter has several subtle differences in the grille splat and dial escutcheon.

R-8: http://www.radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=2748
R-74: http://www.radioatticarchives.com/radio.htm?radio=8788

Take care,
--
J. E. Knox 'The Victor Freak'

[leadlike]

That's great about the Auricon! We'll have to make a post about our gear on the off-topic forum sometime so everyone else will have some idea of what we're talking about.

[Indian Head]

Looks like it is indeed the R-8. Thanks for the help guys!

The only difference I notice is the "King Kong" radio has decorative routing around the knobs, while the 1933 model doesn't. The example on this page:

http://classicradiogallery.com/wood_m-z.html

which is supposedly from 1932, has that extra bit of detail. Most if not all of the live action for the movie would have been filmed in '32, so that fits.

Mystery solved! Now to find one!

[Indian Head]

And leadlike, let me know if you want to take the Auricon talk OT. Since it was a tv news camera, it almost fits somewhere on the Videokarma board.