NBC Saturday Night At The Movies
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''NBC Saturday Night at the Movies'' was the first
TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...
to broadcast in color relatively recent
feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
s from major studios. The series premiered on September 23, 1961, and ran until October 1978, spawning many imitators. Previously, television stations had been only been able to show older, low-budget, black-and-white films that wouldn't be shown at movie theaters. In the late 1970s, competition from cable television and home video led to a decline in viewership.


History


Background and early history

In the early days of television, major studios were reluctant to release films on TV, and those films that were released were usually low-budget
B film A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...
s or older black-and-white academy ratio films, that had lost much of their value to the
theaters Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
, with the notable exceptions of some of
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's films and '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). Those films became standard fare for independent stations and the non-prime time schedules of the network affiliates by the late 1950s. A gentleman's agreement between the top studios limited the exhibition to films made before 1948, which excluded most shot in CinemaScope and color – features which audiences had grown to expect. However, by the late 1950s, major studios had begun to soften their stance. By the early 1970s, the gap between a film's theatrical release and its debut on television was decidedly longer. Between 1954 and 1972, a theatrical motion picture (even a relatively recent one) had to wait as many as 12 years (as in the case of the 1959 '' Ben-Hur'') before it turned up on the home screen. A short-lived
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
ABC-TV series entitled ''
Famous Film Festival ''Famous Film Festival'' was American television's first prime-time movie series. It aired Sunday nights 7:30-9:00 pm (EST) on ABC during the 1955-56 television season, switching to Saturday nights (7:30-9 pm) during its second and final season, ...
'', which featured British films made in the 1940s and early 1950s, premiered in the fall of 1955. In 1957, ABC broadcast ''Hollywood Film Theater'', which also featured some pre-1948 films produced by
RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...
. RKO decided to sell some of their better pre-1948 movies to ABC while other films would be syndicated to local TV stations. Films in both series were shown in a ninety-minute time slot, which meant that some of the films had to either be severely edited or shown in two parts. ''NBC Saturday Night at the Movies'' was the first network movie anthology series to run two hours (and occasionally longer), so that almost all of the films could be shown in one evening, the films being edited (especially in later years) only to remove objectionable content. For its 1961–62 television season,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
obtained the rights to
broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...
31 post-1950 movie titles from
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
, although only 30 were actually telecast that season (one film, ''
The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Axelrod from the 1952 three-act play. The film stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, who reprised his stage role. ...
'', not being televised until the start of the 1963 season). On September 23, 1961, ''Saturday Night at the Movies'' premiered with the 1953
Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
Lauren Bacall
Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...
film '' How to Marry a Millionaire'', presented "In Living Color". Some of the other movies shown were ''
The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (a.k.a. ''Farewell to the Master'' and ''Journey to the World'') is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Re ...
'' (March 3, 1962) and ''
No Highway in the Sky ''No Highway in the Sky'' (also known as ''No Highway'') is a 1951 British black-and-white aviation drama film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Louis D. Lighton, directed by Henry Koster, that stars James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Glynis ...
'' (March 24, 1962). (Having been filmed in Cinemascope, a Fox specialty from 1953 to 1967, many of these films had to be severely panned-and-scanned to fit the invariable full screen television aspect ratio of the time.) That initial deal with Fox ended up lasting three seasons (1961–1964) and involved about 90 films, including those run on Monday nights beginning in February 1963. When Fox found greener pastures over at rival
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
, NBC negotiated releases from other studios, such as
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
and
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
, that were eager to provide content. Because commercial breaks then were shorter than today (running from one to two minutes), films running less than two hours sometimes ended before the close of the program. The remaining time was filled up with
theatrical trailer A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction or attraction video) is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater/cinema. It is a product of creative and tech ...
s of upcoming films scheduled to be shown on the series in the next two or three weeks. By about 1968, this was no longer necessary, as films and commercial breaks had become longer. The three major commercial networks did not show worn-out 16mm prints of films, as was then the usual practice on local TV stations. The films which aired on the network movie anthology series (as well as annually-telecast specials such as ''The Wizard of Oz'') were 35mm prints, invariably in excellent condition. With the advent of cable television, VHS, and DVD, the idea of always showing films – even very old ones – in pristine, remastered condition on television has become the norm; but aside from films shown on the three major networks, this was simply not done before the 1980s. Up until then, local stations had to settle for inexpensive 16mm prints of such relatively recent films as '' Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison'' (1957) or ''
Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretc ...
'' (1954), rather than good "theater-quality" prints as seen on the networks.


The birth of the "made for TV movie"

The demand for televised movies increased during the 1960s.
Made-for-television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
s were soon created by NBC, along with some help from now- sister company
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...
. The first, created during the 1963–64 season, was to have been a new version of
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
's ''
The Killers The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...
'', with a cast that included
Lee Marvin Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alt ...
,
Angie Dickinson Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...
, and future US president
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
, whose last film this was before entering politics. However, NBC deemed the film too violent for television, so it was released in
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...
s instead. Although there had been filmed feature-length television specials—such as ''
The Pied Piper of Hamelin The Pied Piper of Hamelin (german: der Rattenfänger von Hameln, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to ...
'' (1957), a 1960 Hallmark Hall of Fame ''
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'' filmed in color on location in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, and, as early as 1954, a musical version filmed in color of
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
's '' A Christmas Carol'' telecast on CBS's ''
Shower of Stars ''Shower of Stars'' (also known as ''Chrysler Shower of Stars'') is an American variety television series broadcast live in the United States from 1954 to 1958 by CBS. The series was broadcast in color which was a departure from the usual CBS pr ...
''—the film generally regarded as the first made-for-television movie was '' See How They Run'', directed by
David Lowell Rich David Lowell Rich (August 31, 1920 – October 21, 2001) was an American film director and producer. He directed nearly 100 films and TV episodes between 1950 and 1987. He was born in New York City. He began directing on a regular basis in 1 ...
and starring
John Forsythe John Forsythe (January 29, 1918 – April 1, 2010) was an American stage, film/television actor, producer, narrator, drama teacher and philanthropist whose career spanned six decades. He also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety s ...
and
Senta Berger Senta Verhoeven (née Berger; ''Austrian German:'' , ; born 13 May 1941) is an Austrian-German actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include three Bambi Awards, two Romys, an A ...
. It first aired on October 7, 1964, and ushered in a series of other TV movies over the years, aired on NBC under the title ''NBC World Premiere Movie''. Many of the made-for-television movies on NBC would become TV series in their own right during the late-1960s and early-1970s. One of the more famous examples was ''
Fame Is the Name of the Game ''Fame Is the Name of the Game'' is a 1966 American made-for-television drama film starring Tony Franciosa that aired on NBC and served as the pilot episode of the subsequent series '' The Name of the Game''. It was directed by Stuart Rosenberg ...
'' (1966), which ultimately served as the pilot episode for the 1968–71 series '' The Name of the Game''.


Influence on other networks

''Saturday Night at the Movies'' attracted sufficient ratings so that NBC and its competitors added more movie series to the prime time schedule.
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
, then a distant third in the ratings, immediately added another movie series, ''Hollywood Special'', as a mid-season replacement; however, the series, under its new title ''
The ABC Sunday Night Movie ''The ABC Sunday Night Movie'' is a television program that aired on Sunday nights, first for a brief time in 1962 under the title ''Hollywood Special'' (although ''Time'' magazine lists this version as ''The Sunday Night Movie'') to supposedly r ...
'', did not become a regular television program until 1964.
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
was leading the other networks in the ratings at that time and did not immediately add a prime time movie series. However, over the next few years, each of the three networks added weeknight movies to the schedule; and by 1968, there was a prime time network movie for every night of the week: * ''
The ABC Sunday Night Movie ''The ABC Sunday Night Movie'' is a television program that aired on Sunday nights, first for a brief time in 1962 under the title ''Hollywood Special'' (although ''Time'' magazine lists this version as ''The Sunday Night Movie'') to supposedly r ...
'' * ''
The NBC Monday Movie ''The NBC Monday Movie'' was a television anthology series of films that debuted on February 4, 1963 (in the middle of the 1962-63 season). It was referred to as ''Monday Night at the Movies'' prior to the mid-1980s. Contrary to popular contemp ...
'' (originally titled ''NBC Monday Night at the Movies'') * ''NBC Tuesday Night at the Movies'' * ''The ABC Wednesday Night Movie'' * ''The CBS Wednesday Night Movies'' * '' The CBS Thursday Night Movies'' * ''The CBS Friday Night Movies'' * ''The CBS Saturday Night Movies'' * ''NBC Saturday Night at the Movies'' * ''The CBS Sunday Night Movies'' * ''NBC Friday Night at the Movies'' * ''Fox Presents'' * ''Fox Saturday Late Night Movies'' The popularity of these movie broadcasts also provided a windfall profit to the movie studios, since competitive bidding for popular movies raised the price for broadcast rights. This, in turn, made it cost-effective to produce "made for TV" movies.


Announcers

As with the other movie anthology series of the time, there was no host for the program. Although an announcer's voice was heard at the beginning, the program itself simply consisted of the showing of the film and perhaps a
movie trailer A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction or attraction video) is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater/cinema. It is a product of creative and techni ...
afterward. For years, Don Stanley served as the show's main
announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...
and recorded the opening credits and
bumper Bumper or Bumpers may refer to: People * Betty Bumpers (1925-2018), American activist, First Lady of Arkansas, wife of Dale Bumpers * Dale Bumpers (1925–2016), American politician, governor of Arkansas and senator * Bumper Robinson (born 197 ...
s, mainly at NBC Studios in Burbank. In later years, those duties alternated among Stanley, Donald Rickles,
Peggy Taylor Peggy Taylor (born Margaret Tague, October 12, 1927 – February 9, 2002) was an American singer and actress who later became a radio and television announcer. Early life On October 12, 1927, Taylor was born as Margaret Tague in Inglewood, Ca ...
, and
Victor Bozeman Victor Emanuel Bozeman (August 11, 1929 in McLennan County, Texas – November 26, 1986 in Los Angeles, California) was an American television announcer, voice-over artist, and actor. In the 1950s, Bozeman was a disc jockey at WLIB in New York Ci ...
. Near the end of the show's run, opening credits (for the series, not for the films themselves) were handled by the network's New York announcing staff, which included Fred Collins and
Howard Reig Howard Reig (May 31, 1921 – November 10, 2008)NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
Saturday Night Movie'' has been periodically broadcast on Saturdays 8:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m. since 2000, and originally had hosted continuity by Ryan Seacrest. It was replaced by coverage of the
XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...
in 2001, but returned the next year without host continuity. By 2006, the network decided to only occasionally air theatrical films during sweeps weeks in various time slots, so the Saturday movie has been completely discontinued. In 2009 and 2010,
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
and
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...
purchased some Friday- and Saturday-night time on NBC and Fox to broadcast television films they produced and would distribute on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
the week after, such as ''
The Jensen Project ''The Jensen Project'' is the second in the Family Movie Night TV movies series produced by Procter & Gamble and Walmart aimed at families. The movie featured embedded marketing for the Kinect, a motion sensor add-on to the Xbox 360, several ...
'', although the ratings for these films were well below regular programming. The P&G/Walmart series of films was eventually discontinued, with Walmart eventually being one of the main sponsors of NBC's live musical event ''
The Sound of Music Live! ''The Sound of Music Live!'' is an American television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 Broadway musical ''T ...
'' in December 2013. As of 2020, it is known as ''NBC Movie Night'', and has Chick-fil-A as the film's presenting sponsor. Still very occasional on the network's Saturday night schedule, and are almost always connected to an
NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...
property's
vertical integration In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the suppl ...
involving an upcoming theatrically-released film; in 2020 for instance, the eighth installment in the ''
Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, ...
franchise'', ''
The Fate of the Furious ''The Fate of the Furious'' (alternatively known as ''F8'' and titled on-screen as ''Fast & Furious 8'' internationally) is a 2017 American action film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to '' Furious 7'' ...
'' aired to connect to the later-delayed release of '' F9'', with ''
Trolls A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
'' airing in March to promote the upcoming release of ''
Trolls World Tour ''Trolls World Tour'' (often named as ''Trolls 2: World Tour'') is a 2020 American computer-animated musical comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures, based on the Good Luck Trolls dolls created by ...
'' (which would eventually be released as a premium home rental due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
). In May 2022, '' Jurassic World'' aired to promote the June 10 release of '' Jurassic World Dominion''.


References


External links


''Saturday Night at the Movies'' open, May 27, 1978MOVIES ON NETWORK TV: 1961 ONWARD (PART ONE)

Episode List: NBC Saturday Night Movies - TV Tango

Episode List: NBC Sunday Night Movie - TV TangoThe Killers
- The Guardian {{DEFAULTSORT:NBC Saturday Night At The Movies 1960s American anthology television series 1970s American anthology television series 1961 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings NBC original programming