NBC Saturday Night at the Movies

NBC Saturday Night at the Movies was television's first anthology series to air relatively recent films coming from major Hollywood studios in colour.

During television's early stages, major Hollywood studios did not release their films on television.

Instead, films shown on television during its early stages were typically low-budget B movies or older monochrome academy ratio films that have already lost their value in theatres.

By the 1950's decade, movies were on local television stations or during non-primetime line-ups.

Famous Film Festival and Hollywood Film Theatre are movie series on ABC in the 1950's decade.

While Famous Film Festival presented British films made during and after WWII, Hollywood Film Theatre presented some pre-1948 films by RKO.

RKO sold some pre-1948 films to ABC, while others were syndicated to local television stations.

Together, Famous Film Festival and Hollywood Film Theatre, both on ABC in the 1950's, aired films lasting 90 minutes, which meant some have to be severely either edited or aired in 2 parts.

NBC Saturday Night at the Movies was the first network movie anthology series to run two hours (or occasionally longer), so that almost all films can be aired on one night.

From its September 1961 premiere to its October 1978 end, NBC Saturday Night at the Movies was a showcase for recently-released colour films from major Hollywood studios.

Before NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, films on television were low-budget and monochrome.

However, with NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, viewers at homes enjoyed recently-released colour films from major Hollywood studios unavailable at the time on television.

The September 1961 launch of NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, in particular with the rise of colour television, enhanced the cinematic experience at home.

In addition, the huge popularity of some network movie anthology series on television, including NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, offered a windfall to the film studios.

Even before it became widespread, NBC actively promoted colour programming and was a pioneer in bringing colour to television.

Colour television offers a more vibrant and visually appealing experience that mirrors the cinema.

Don Stanley was the main announcer of NBC Saturday Night at the Movies and recorded the opening credits and bumpers at NBC Colour City Studios.

The first three seasons of NBC Saturday Night at the Movies began with a Marilyn Monroe film being released in the 1950's decade.

How to Marry a Millionaire, the first movie being shot on CinemaScope, was also the first colour and CinemaScope film on primetime television, just before Marilyn Monroe's death.

In addition, How to Marry a Millionaire was the first film on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was the first film of the second NBC Saturday Night at the Movies season.

Plus, on television's NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was a tribute to the recently-deceased Marilyn Monroe, whose pink dress and Diamonds number have been iconic.

The Seven Year Itch, noted for its sexy scene, where Marilyn Monroe's white dress is lifted by a breeze from a subway grate, was the first film in the third NBC Saturday Night at the Movies season.

In addition to the films that started the first three NBC Saturday Night at the Movies seasons, the other Marilyn Monroe films include Niagara, Point of No Return and Let's Make Love.

The ABC Sunday Night Movie, which started to air on a regular basis in the mid-1960's, was the new name for its short-lived and irregular Hollywood Special series.

CBS, meanwhile, jumped on the bandwagon of both NBC Saturday Night at the Movies and the ABC Sunday Night Movie with The CBS Thursday Night Movies.

Unlike both NBC and ABC, CBS delayed running feature-length films at the behest of its hierarchy.

James T. Aubrey was an opponent of the plan for CBS to launch a movie series.

With James T. Aubrey's departure, CBS was given the go-ahead to launch The CBS Thursday Night Movies in the mid-1960's or before 1966.

After 10 years, CBS decided to move its movie series to Friday nights in 1975.