Did old local TV programs like "Million Dollar Movie" develop your interest in Classic movies? (1 Viewer)

[Angelo Colombus]

In the 1970's one of our local tv stations had some of the RKO films to broadcast and as a kid it was the first time seeing Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Gunga Din, and Bringing Up Baby. Great film and Cary Grant in one of his best performances.

Moderator, this thread was established for people to discuss the local TV programs back in the day that introduced you to classic movies. Programs like "Million Dollar Movie" WWOR-Channel 9 or "Creature Feature" WPIX- Channel 11.

 

[SeanSKA]

In the 1970's one of our local tv stations had some of the RKO films to broadcast and as a kid it was the first time seeing Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Gunga Din, and Bringing Up Baby. Great film and Cary Grant in one of his best performances.

Channel 9 WOR had the rights to the RKO films when became a film buff as a kid in the 1970s- that's where I caught all those classics . They also had the Columbia library from the 1930s-50s.

 

[Robert Harris]

Channel 9 WOR had the rights to the RKO films when became a film buff as a kid in the 1970s- that's where I caught all those classics . They also had the Columbia library from the 1930s-50s.

General Tire

 

[Robert Crawford]

General Tire

I don't remember that sponsorship was it for "Million Dollar Movie"? Never mind, I found the answer as General Tire purchased RKO and made their film library available to their TV stations across the country including WWOR.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, because we had limited numbers of channels, we could manage to watch mostly everything (if reruns were figured into the mix), and that's how I caught up on the sound films that were released before I was old enough to appreciate them. Also older TV shows from the early to mid 1950s which were still rerunning in syndication.

 

[Will Krupp]

Channel 9 WOR had the rights to the RKO films when became a film buff as a kid in the 1970s- that's where I caught all those classics .

And, if I'm remembering correctly, didn't they run an afternoon movie every single weekday from 1:00-3:00pm?

 

[TravisR]

Also older TV shows from the early to mid 1950s which were still rerunning in syndication.

I was a kid in the 80's and that was the last time that you would see black and white TV shows still in regular rotation alongside color shows on most channels. Thanks to being regularly exposed to B&W shows and movies on TV, I was the last generation of kids to not completely reject anything not in color.

 

[RobertMG]

And, if I'm remembering correctly, didn't they run an afternoon movie every single weekday from 1:00-3:00pm?

Yes - that's how I saw Holiday Affair for the first time and it was Summertime! Their showings of King Kong, Son Of Kong and Mighty Joe Young every Thanksgiving was a years long tradition! Too bad TCM doesn't do that!

 

[Will Krupp]

Yes - that's how I saw Holiday Affair for the first time and it was Summertime! Their showings of King Kong, Son Of Kong and Mighty Joe Young every Thanksgiving was a years long tradition! Too bad TCM doesn't do that!

I miss those days growing up in Northeastern PA when our cable system was mostly made up of independent channels out of NYC (Channels 11 and 5), Philadelphia (48 and 17) and Newark NJ (Channel 9.) What little Channel 9 viewer can EVER forget:

Maybe you take yourself too seriously?

Just as an aside, I don't agree with Vincent's assessment of Mel Brooks, who I personally find a comic genius, or his movies, which I love. I respect, however, that he has every right to hold and express express a contrary opinion without being told there's something wrong with him.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

 

[TravisR]

I miss those days growing up in Northeastern PA when our cable system was mostly made up of independent channels out of NYC (Channels 11 and 5), Philadelphia (48 and 17) and New Jersey (Channel 9.) What little Channel 9 viewer can EVER forget:

I had all those channels down in southeastern PA too. Obviously, it was a different time but it still seems weird that I was able to see channels that were basically for areas 100 miles away from me. Whatever the reason, I'm glad it happened because I know I saw movies and TV shows that I otherwise wouldn't have seen on the Philadelphia channels. Also, I wouldn't know Crazy Eddie if not for the NY/NJ channels.

 

[Will Krupp]

I wouldn't know Crazy Eddie if not for the NY/NJ channels.

OR the Milford Plaza, I'll wager!!

 

[Matt Hough]

OR the Milford Plaza, I'll wager!!

OMG! I've stayed there many times!

 

[compson]

I was a kid in the 80's and that was the last time that you would see black and white TV shows still in regular rotation alongside color shows on most channels. Thanks to being regularly exposed to B&W shows and movies on TV, I was the last generation of kids to not completely reject anything not in color.

I grew up in eastern North Carolina in the 60s and 70s and remember seeing Citizen Kane playing on a local station in the afternoon! And then there was Will C’s Red-Eye Cinema on Saturday late-night, where a seventh-grader had his first (and for years, only) opportunity to see King Kong.

 

[SeanSKA]

And, if I'm remembering correctly, didn't they run an afternoon movie every single weekday from 1:00-3:00pm?

Yes. And for awhile they used to run the SAME movie everyday in the time slot for a week- Monday through Friday. If you really liked that week's film, you had a lot a chances to see it in that pre-VCR era

 

[Will Krupp]

Yes. And for awhile they used to run the SAME movie everyday in the time slot for a week- Monday through Friday. If you really liked that week's film, you had a lot a chances to see it in that pre-VCR era

I THINK that was an early evening slot, though, wasn't it? I vaguely remember the "Million Dollar Movie" but I was born in 1967 and think I was little little (unless it was completely before my time and I'm only remembering the name and not the Mon-Fri repeats) I think that practice had died out by the late 70's/early 80's, hadn't it?

 

[roxy1927]

They showed Arsenic and Old Lace a lot. Was that in the PD? I found it too frantic but now when I see it I realize Grant and Capra knew what they were doing.

 

[SeanSKA]

I THINK that was an early evening slot, though, wasn't it? I vaguely remember the "Million Dollar Movie" but I was born in 1967 and think I was little little (unless it was completely before my time and I'm only remembering the name and not the Mon-Fri repeats) I think that practice had died out by the late 70's/early 80's, hadn't it?

WOR Channel 9 in NYC had an afternoon movie slot, I'm pretty sure it was 1:00-3:00 every weekday afternoon. The Million Dollar Move ran weekday nights at 8:00 (It used the "Tara" theme from "GWTW" as their theme music). This was definitely throughout the 70s and into at least the early 80s in memory serves

Both Channel 4 (NBC Affiliate) and Channel 7 (ABC affiliate) had 4:30-6:00 afternoon movies- this often necessitated that the films be split and run over 2 or even 3 consecutive days . What a crazy way to watch movies- again, the only way before VCRs and home video changed some of these ridiculous practices.

You even knew which channel had which library : Channel 9 had the RKO and Columbia films, Channel 5 (WNEW) had the Warner Brothers films and the 30-40s Paramounts that Universal controlled , Channel 11 (WPIX) had the Universals of the 50s and 60s , Channel 2 (CBS affiliate) had the MGM films of the 30s and 40s

 

[SeanSKA]

Yes - that's how I saw Holiday Affair for the first time and it was Summertime! Their showings of King Kong, Son Of Kong and Mighty Joe Young every Thanksgiving was a years long tradition! Too bad TCM doesn't do that!

It wasn't Thanksgiving unless you had an afternoon of giant apes !

 

[Will Krupp]

You even knew which channel had which library : Channel 9 had the RKO and Columbia films, Channel 5 (WNEW) had the Warner Brothers films and the 30-40s Paramounts that Universal controlled , Channel 11 (WPIX) had the Universals of the 50s and 60s , Channel 2 (CBS affiliate) had the MGM films of the 30s and 40s

Am I remembering correctly that some of the RKO films ran under a "C&C" credit? Did C&C Cola buy the broadcast rights for awhile? I know I'm distinctly remembering seeing Hitchcock's MR & MRS SMITH running on Channel 9 with a "C&C Presents" credit (I'm not sure of the exact verbiage) over the titles.

 

[Garysb]

Am I remembering correctly that some of the RKO films ran under a "C&C" credit? Did C&C Cola buy the broadcast rights for awhile? I know I'm distinctly remembering seeing Hitchcock's MR & MRS SMITH running on Channel 9 with a "C&C Presents" credit (I'm not sure of the exact verbiage) over the titles.

Here some info on C&C and RKO Radio Pictures.

C&C TELEVISION CORPORATION

rec.arts.movies.past-films.narkive.com

For the uninitiated, C&C stood for Cantrell & Cochrane, a
California-based (and I guess,now Canada-based) firm which
manufacturer a variety of consumer products, notably soft drinks and
power tools. In 1955, C&C purchased the TV rights to approx. 740 films
from the vaults of RKO Radio Pictures, which was then on its last
legs. The films, released between 1929 and 1954, were sold to local
stations (in perpetuity, in many cases), with the proviso that C&C
products would be advertised when the films were tele
cast. Eventually, the C&C-RKO connection lapsed, but except for the
film packages seen by stations owned by RKO, the TV prints still
carried the C&C opening logo and "THE END" title card.

For many of us who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, C&C Television and
RKO Radio were one and the same--in fact, I was ten years old before I
actually saw the "beeping tower" on a television screen. Thus, as far
as we were concerned, C&C was a wonderful, mysterious entity which
produced such marvels as KING KONG, GUNGA DIN and CITIZEN KANE.
Eventually, the first "TV children" came to realize that the RKO TV
prints had been altered, leading many of us to seek out original
theatrical-release versions of our favorite RKO films.

Many of the C&C prints were from the shortened reissue
versions. Films like GUNGA DIN, KING KONG, FOLLOW THE FLEET and I
REMEMBER MAMA were for several years unavailable in their complete
form. A curious exception was the C&C print of THE THING, which was
more complete than the version currently being seen on TCM.
Finally, those intrusive C&C titles were often ascetic and artistic
disasters. In the old TV print of MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, for example,
Orson Welles' opening narration, which originally began in utter
darkness and slowly dissolved into a lovely shot of Amberson mansion,
was overladen with the "C&C MOVIETIME" card, followed by a reshot
title card for the film itself--whereupon there was an abrupt, ragged
cut to the Amberson mansion shot, almost as if some idiot TV movie
editor had simply chopped off one of the opening scenes for time
reasons. Even worse, in many cases the local TV station would begin
running AMBERSONS just when the "MOVIETIME" title appeared, thereby
cutting off the first few words of Welles' narration. Unhappily, it
was the C&C version that was generally available to film societies
and schoolrooms in the 1970s.

While most of the RKO films currently available have been restored to
their original form in the past three decades (though not always the
original quality), several circulating prints still bear the mark of
C&C. The various distributors who have controlled the RKO package have
tried to "camouflage" this by removing the C&C designation and
restoring the "RKO Radio Presents", and by reshooting the closing
titles, but still there are many films out there--THEY KNEW WHAT THEY
WANTED and STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR immediately come to
mind--which apparently do not exist in any form other than the C&C
version.

There seem to be a few RKO films that have the wrong RKO opening. For example
the Criterion version of "The Most Dangerous Game" from 1932 opens as "An RKO Radio Picture" instead of "A Radio Pictute". The "An RKO Radio Picture" opening didn't start until 1937. It's possible the printing material used was from a re release of the film or an error when restoring a C&C version. I believe I read somewhere that the C&C credits were cut into the printing negatives.

A number of RKO films have a frozen title card, where instead of a fade to the next credit there is a jump that doesn't match the rest of the credits. This seems to happen mostly in "B" films like "Beauty For Asking" with Lucille Ball.