The Broadcast Log: NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies, 1961–62

NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies (via CLG)

Welcome to the first of many posts about the movies NBC has aired through the years. I've been collecting information about the Peacock Network's movie listings (title, year, TV runtime) for years, and I always like having my TV listing collection backed-up somewhere. So this is it, and if you have any corrections please let me know in the comments. I don't consider my research foolproof.

Sources: All the links in the movie listings are for your convenience if you want to learn more about the movie. The synopses are pulled from IMDb, and the listed cast are (usually) the key names on the movie poster. The genre is usually a compromise between IMDb and Wikipedia. For the early years, I note if a movie color or black-and-white. The listed runtime is how long the movie ran on NBC. This is a season with a list that is readily available, but I still double checked the titles, which were primarily from the Cedar Rapids Gazette and the San Bernardino Sun. However, the overruns (movies that ran more than NBC's allotted two hours) rarely has a clear consensus. I found confirmations for the Wikipedia entries, which cites The Lima News, but variations of five or 10 minutes were common to find. Others often search included The Capital Journal (Salem, OR), San Antonio Light, Detroit Free Press, Austin Daily Herald, and The Tampa Bay Times, among others. 

To the movies!

After Your Show of Shows ended in 1954, NBC had a rough run on Saturdays. Sure, there was the occasional hit — The Perry Como Show, People Are Funny — but there were several shows, some with high profile stars, that never broke out — The Mickey Rooney Show, Texaco Star Theater: The Jimmy Durante Show, The Polly Bergen Show. Even Your Hit Parade cooled a lot in its latter years. NBC started the 1960s with various public affairs filling an hour of Saturday programming — World Wide '60, The Campaign and the Candidates, The Nation's Future. The rising Western Bonanza slowly built up ratings during its second season, but if it was to thrive, it wouldn't be on Saturdays.

The landmark deal between NBC and 20th Century Fox in February 1961 remains a major deal in television history. The networks had aired plenty of movies over the years, but they were all pre-1948.  In our current era where recent movies are nearly aired on loop on cable TV and thousands are available with a few clicks/taps via a growing ecosystem of streaming services, it might be hard to imagine an era where the only movies available for home viewing were at least 13 years old. In today's terms, you'd be able to find the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, but no MCU movie because the TV landscape would only be pre-2007. Little Miss Sunshine, Over the Hedge, V for Vendetta, The Devil Wears Prada, and Casino Royale would be the newest movies you could find. (I picture Night at the Museum constantly playing on local stations.) NBC was now going to air movies that were in theaters only a few years prior. For plenty of people, this series served as an introduction to movies. Several movies were in color and all but one was from the 1950s. And yes, pan-and-scan was used on those mid and late '50s movies that were filmed with Fox's CinemaScope. Unlike later years, there isn't an overall theme or style to the selections. There's comedy, romance, war, musicals, and science fiction.

All movies started at 9 p.m. and several ran over the allotted two-hour timeslot, which wasn't a major dilemma since not every affiliate had a Saturday night newscast and NBC didn't air anything (yet) in Saturday late-night. On the other end, not every movie filled the timeslot with commercials, so afterward, there'd be a relevant newsreel or preview of next week's movie.

Like most programs of the era, the 30 movies aired for 30 consecutive weeks — no breaks. While the movie banner didn't ignite a ratings fire every week, Saturday Night at the Movies was a good competitor, to CBS' popular (black-and-white) lineup of The Defenders, Have Gun Will Travel, and Gunsmoke (now one hour) and ABC's variety stalwart The Lawrence Welk Show and sports duo The Fight of the Week and Make That Spare — another black-and-white lineup.

Leading into the movies were the aging Western Tales of Wells Fargo, which was now in color and extended to an hour, and the returning Saturday Western The Tall Man, which featured the adventures of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and remained in black-and-white. Neither were renewed. There wasn't a big premiere night for the lineup. When How to Marry a Millionaire premiered on 23 Sep, a Bonanza rerun led-off the night. The Tall Man had started its season two weeks prior. Tales of Wells Fargo wouldn't premiere for another week.

Was the night successful? A month into the season, Broadcasting noted that a "small but prosperous movie exhibitor chain" in New York saw a 15% drop in Saturday night attendance in the metro. Broadcasting ran TvQ charts throughout the season. Consistently, Saturday Night at the Movies remained quite popular with kids and young adults (and very not popular with the over 50 crowd) and had fairly consistent appeal among income groups. However, I do wonder what its regular reach was. Seeing a mid-November sweeps listing, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color aired on 182 affiliates, Bonanza aired on 178, Saturday Night at the Movies aired on just 132.

NBC's SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES, 1961–62

Regular season

23 Sep 1961: How to Marry a Millionaire (1953, 2 hours)

Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process. (Romantic Comedy / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Jean Negulesco; with Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, William Powell
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd

Ratings Report: With seven cities reporting, How to Marry was the top program of the night at 22.4. Final rating: 20.5.

30 Sep 1961: The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952, 2 hours 20 minutes)

Writer Harry Street reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection while on safari in the shadow of Mount Kilamanjaro. (Adventure / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Henry King; with Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Susan Hayward
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 18.7

7 Oct 1961: Titanic (1953, 2 hours)

An unhappily married couple struggle to deal with their problems while on board the ill-fated ship. (Drama / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Jean Negulesco; with Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Wagner, Audrey Dalton, Thelma Ritter, Brian Aherne, Richard Basehart
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 20.0

14 Oct 1961: Garden of Evil (1954, 2 hours)

A trio of American adventurers marooned in rural Mexico are recruited by a beautiful woman to rescue her husband trapped in a cave in Apache territory. (Western / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Henry Hathaway; with Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 21.3

21 Oct 1961: The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951, 2 hours)

The story of the final years of the respected World War II German general, Erwin Rommel. (War / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Henry Hathaway; with James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke, Jessica Tandy
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd

28 Oct 1961: There's No Business Like Show Business (1954, 2 hours 25 minutes)

Molly and Terry Donahue, plus their three children, are The Five Donahues. Son Tim meets hat-check girl Vicky and the family act begins to fall apart. (Musical Comedy / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Walter Lang; with Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Marilyn Monroe, Dan Dailey, Johnnie Ray, Mitzi Gaynor
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 16.2

4 Nov 1961: Soldier of Fortune (1955, 2 hours)

After Jane Hoyt's journalist husband disappears, she arrives in Hong Kong determined to find him but instead meets shady shipping magnate Hank Lee. (Adventure / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Edward Dmytryk; with Clark Gable, Susan Hayward, Gene Barry, Michael Rennie
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 17.8

11 Nov 1961: Halls of Montezuma (1951, 2 hours 20 minutes)

A company of Marines races against the clock to find a Japanese rocket base. (War / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Lewis Milestone; with Richard Widmark, Jack Palance, Reginald Gardiner, Robert Wagner, Karl Malden, Richard Boone
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 20.5

18 Nov 1961: Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954, 2 hours)

In 1st century Rome, Christian slave Demetrius is sent to fight in the gladiatorial arena and Emperor Caligula seeks Jesus' robe for its supposedly magical powers. (Biblical Drama / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Delmer Daves; with Victor Mature, Susan Hayward, Michael Rennie, Debra Paget
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 21.8

Programming Note: Sponsors at this time were: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Union Carbide, Thomas Leeming & Co., Maybelline, Lanolin Plus, Noxzema, International Latex, Chemstrand Corporation, Mogen David

25 Nov 1961: Dreamboat (1952, 2 hours)

Thornton Sayre, a respected college professor, is plagued when his old movies are shown on TV and sets out with his daughter to stop it. However, his former co-star is the hostess of the TV show playing his films and she has other plans. (Comedy / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Claude Binyon; with Clifton Webb, Ginger Rogers, Anne Francis, Jeffrey Hunter
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 15.7

2 Dec 1961: Broken Arrow (1950, 2 hours)

Tom Jeffords tries to make peace between settlers and Apaches in Arizona territory. (Western / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Delmer Daves; with James Stewart, Jeff Chandler, Debra Paget
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 20.6

9 Dec 1961: Man on a Tightrope (1953, 2 hours)

Czech circus owner-Clown and his entire troupe employ a daring stratagem in order to escape en masse from behind the iron curtain. (Film Noir / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Elia Kazan; with Fredric March, Terry Moore, Gloria Grahame, Cameron Mitchell
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 16.4

16 Dec 1961: Destination Gobi (1953, 2 hours)

In 1944, US Navy specialists run a weather station in the Gobi desert where they are harassed by Japanese warplanes but aided by local Mongol nomads. (War / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Robert Wise; with Richard Widmark, Don Taylor, Casey Adams, Murvyn Vye
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.3

23 Dec 1961: O. Henry's Full House (1952, 2 hours 25 minutes)

Based on stories by O. Henry, the film is told in five segments about the New York Period (1902-1910). (Anthology / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Directors: Henry Koster, Henry Hathaway, Jean Negulesco, Howard Hawks, Henry King; with Fred Allen, Anne Baxter, Jeannie Crain, Farley Granger, Charles Laughton, Oscar Levant, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Peters, Gregory Ratoff, Dale Robertson, David Wayne, Richard Widmark
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd

30 Dec 1961: On the Riviera (1951, 2 hours)

An American entertainer impersonates a wealthy aviator and flirts with his lookalike's neglected wife. (Musical Comedy / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Walter Lang; with Danny Kaye, Gene Tierney, Corinne Calvet
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 14.6

6 Jan 1962: What Price Glory (1952, 2 hours 15 minutes)

The wartime romantic misadventures of Captain Flagg, commander of a company of US Marines in 1918 France. (War Comedy-Drama / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: John Ford; with James Cagney, Corinne Calvet, Dan Dailey
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 15.7

13 Jan 1962: People Will Talk (1951, 2 hours 15 minutes)

Dr. Noah Praetorius falls in love with Debra, a student who finds out that she is pregnant by her old boyfriend. (Comedy Drama / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz; with Cary Grant, Jeanne Crain
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.2

20 Jan 1962: 5 Fingers (1952, 2 hours 15 minutes)

During WWII, the valet to the British Ambassador to Ankara sells British secrets to the Germans while trying to romance a refugee Polish countess. (Thriller / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz; with James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 13.9

27 Jan 1962: Cheaper By the Dozen (1950, 2 hours)

Based on a real-life story, the large Gilbreth family moves from Rhode Island New Jersey. Frank Gilbreth Sr. was a pioneer in the field of motion study, and often used his family as guinea pigs with amusing and sometimes embarrassing results. (Comedy / Color, 20th Century Fox)
Director: Walter Lang; with Clifton Webb, Myrna Loy, Jeanne Crain, Betty Lynn
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 21.1

3 Feb 1962: The Frogmen (1951, 2 hours)

The new commander of a Navy Underwater Demolition Team — nicknamed Frogmen — must earn the respect of the men in his unit, who are still grieving over the death of their former commander and resentful of the new one. (War / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)
Director: Lloyd Bacon; with Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews, Gary Merrill
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 22.4

10 Feb 1962: With a Song in My Heart (1952, 2 hours, 20 minutes)

After landing a job singing on the radio, Jane Froman marries musical accompanist Don Ross, and she rises to stardom. Then she meets wounded military pilot John Burn. (Music Drama / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Walter Lang; with Susan Hayward, Rory Calhoun, David Wayne, Thelma Ritter
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 18.8

17 Feb 1962: Monkey Business (1952, 2 hours)

A chemist finds his personal and professional life turned upside down when one of his chimpanzees finds the fountain of youth. (Comedy / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)
Director: Howard Hawks; with Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Marilyn Monroe, Charles Coburn
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 23.7

24 Feb 1962: Stars and Stripes Forever (1952, 2 hours)

A film biography of the composer John Philip Sousa, from his early days in the Marine Corps Band through the Spanish-American War in 1898. (Music Comedy / Color, 20th Century Fox)
Director: Henry Koster; with Clifton Webb, Debra Paget, Robert Wagner, Ruth Hussey
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.6

3 Mar 1962: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, 2 hours)

An alien lands and tells the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or be destroyed as a danger to other planets. (Science Fiction / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Robert Wise; with Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 25.6

10 Mar 1962: The Black Rose (1950, 2 hours 15 minutes)

A disinherited 13th Century Saxon nobleman leaves Norman England with an archer friend to seek his fortune in the Far East. (Adventure / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Henry Hathaway; with Tyrone Power, Orson Welles, Cécile Aubry, Jack Hawkins
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 17.2

17 Mar 1962: Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950, 2 hours)

Det. Sgt. Mark Dixon wants to be something his old man wasn't: a guy on the right side of the law, but he has a vicious side that gets him in trouble. (Film Noir / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Otto Preminger; with Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney

More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 16.1

24 Mar 1962: No Highway in the Sky (1951, 2 hours)

An aeronautical engineer predicts that a new model of plane will fail catastrophically and in a novel manner after a specific number flying hours. (Drama / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Henry Koster; with Marlene Dietrich, Glynis Johns, Jack Hawkins, Janette Scott

More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 17.2

31 Mar 1962: Bird of Paradise (1951, 2 hours)

An island Princess falls for a visiting Frenchman, but her people are against it. (Romance Drama / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Delmer Daves; with Debra Paget, Louis Jourdan, Jeff Chandler

More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.5

7 Apr 1962: It Happens Every Spring (1949, 2 hours)

A scientist discovers a formula that makes a baseball which is repelled by wood. He promptly sets out to exploit his discovery. (Comedy / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Lloyd Bacon; with Ray Milland, Jean Peters, Paul Douglas

More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.6

14 Apr 1962: Diplomatic Courier (1952, 2 hours)

Cold War yarn about a U.S. State Department courier who tangles with Soviet agents and seductive women in post WW2 Europe. (Film Noir / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Henry Hathaway; with Tyrone Power, Patricia Neal, Stephen McNally

More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 18.9

Summer season

(Movies aired entirely in their allotted timeslot unless otherwise noted.)

21 Apr 1962: Soldier of Fortune (1955)

28 Apr 1962: How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)

5 May 1962: The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952, 2 hours 20 minute)

12 May 1962: Titanic (1953)

19 May 1962: Garden of Evil (1954)

26 May 1962: The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)

2 Jun 1962: Halls of Montezuma (1951, 2 hours 20 minutes)

9 Jun 1962: Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954)

16 Jun 1962: Broken Arrow (1950)

23 Jun 1962: With a Song in My Heart (1952, 2 hours 20 minutes)

30 Jun 1962: People Will Talk (1951)

7 Jul 1962: The Frogmen (1951)

14 Jul 1962: Destination Gobi (1953)

21 Jul 1962: Monkey Business (1952)

28 Jul 1962: Stars and Stripes Forever (1952)

4 Aug 1962: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

11 Aug 1962: The Black Rose (1950, 2 hours 15 minutes)

18 Aug 1962: Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950)

25 Aug 1962: No Highway in the Sky (1951)

1 Sep 1962: Bird of Paradise (1951)

8 Sep 1962: It Happens Every Spring (1949)

15 Sep 1962: Diplomatic Courier (1952)

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NBC's NIGHT AT THE MOVIES

THE 1960s... 61–62: Sat | 62–63: Mon, Sat | 63–64: Mon, Sat | 64–65: Wed, Sat | 65–66: Tue, Sat | 66–67: Tue, Sat | 67–68: Tue, Sat | 68–69: Mon, Tue, Sat | 69–70: Mon, Tue, Sat