The Broadcast Log: NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies, 1963-64

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

In its third season — as mentioned in Monday's log — movie nights now included some MGM titles, comprising 29 of the 60 theatrical movies for NBC's 1963-64 season. Having some movies from MGM also (in retrospective?) helped lift the night with more memorable titles. Fox still offered a few, including The Asphalt Jungle and Let's Make Love.

The Saturday lineup continued to have movies that ran well over the two-hour timeslot. It also featured more dramatic movies than Monday, which usually had lighter movies. Saturday had its share of lighter movies, too, but also had its share of movies with dramatic subject matter, like The Diary of Anne Frank and Wild River.

Like the previous two season's, the premiere movie was a Marilyn Monroe movie, The Seven Year Itch. Though in a change from previous seasons, the summer repeats were a mix of movies from Monday and Saturday.

Programmer's Corner: With Have Gun Will Travel no longer around, CBS was vulnerable. Saturday Night at the Movies aired opposite The Defenders, which took a rating dive with The New Phil Silvers Show instead of Jackie Gleason as the lead-in. CBS would later flip the shows, but it was too late. Gunsmoke also took a small ratings tumble. On ABC, the movie continued to face Lawrence Welk, but now it also battled the network's expensive and weekly 2-hour live flop The Jerry Lewis Show. Variety program The Hollywood Palace was the replacement competition by winter. NBC threw another drama at the wall to start the night, but Gene Roddenberry's The Lieutenant didn't stick. The Joey Bishop Show continued to underwhelm, too.

NBC SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES, 1963–64

Regular season

21 Sep 1963: The Seven Year Itch (1955, 2 hours 5 minutes)

When his family goes away for the summer, a hitherto faithful husband with an overactive imagination is tempted by a beautiful neighbor. (Romantic Comedy / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Billy Wilder; with Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.8

28 Sep 1963: The Journey (1959, 2 hours 25 minutes)

A British woman trying to escape Hungary with her freedom fighter lover and a group of Westerners, as the Soviet Union moves to crush the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, finds herself the obsession of an enigmatic Communist officer. (War-Romance / Color, MGM)

Director: Anatole Litvak; with Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner, Jason Robards, Robert Morley, E. G. Marshall

More: Wikipedia | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 16.9

Programming Note: The first post-1950 MGM movie to air on TV.

5 Oct 1963: Ask Any Girl (1955, 2 hours)

Sales girl falls for the younger of a company run by two brothers. The elder falls for her but plans to help her get his brother because he doesn't know he's in love. (Romantic Comedy / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Charles Walters; with David Niven, Shirley MacLaine, Gig Young, Rod Taylor
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.5

12 Oct 1963: The Asphalt Jungle (1950, 2 hours 15 minutes)

A major heist goes off as planned, but then double crosses, bad luck and solid police work cause everything to unravel. (Film Noir / Black & White, MGM)

Director: John Huston; with Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.7

19 Oct 1963: The Tall Men (1955, 2 hours 25 minutes)

Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather. (Western / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Raoul Walsh; with Clark Gable, Jane Russell, Robert Ryan
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 22.9

26 Oct 1963: Something of Value (1957, 2 hours 15 minutes)

Although Peter and Kimani grew up together, Kimani discovers that different races are treated differently. After Kimani's father is jailed for following tribal customs, Kimani joins a band of rebels that wants all non-Kenyans out of their country and will go to violent extremes. (Drama / Black & White, MGM)

Director: Richard Brooks; with Rock Hudson, Dana Wynter, Wendy Hiller, Sidney Poitier
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 29.6

2 Nov 1963: Let's Make Love (1960, 2 hours 20 minutes)

When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway revue, he passes himself off as an actor playing him in order to get closer to the beautiful star of the show, Amanda Dell. (Musical Comedy / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: George Cukor; with Marilyn Monroe, Yves Montand, Tony Randall, Frankie Vaughan
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.3

9 Nov 1963: The Diary of Anne Frank (1959, 3 hours 20 minutes)

During World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands. (Drama / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: George Stevens; with Millie Perkins, Shelley Winters, Joseph Schildkraut, Richard Beymer, Diane Baker, Ed Wynn
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 23.1

Programming Note: Despite the long runtime, NBC preempted nothing. The movie ended at 12:20 a.m.

16 Nov 1963: Untamed (1955, 2 hours 10 minutes)

In 1847, the Irish potato famine forces Katie O'Neill and her husband to emigrate to a troubled South Africa where Katie runs into an old flame. (Adventure / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Henry King; with Tyrone Power, Susan Hayward, Richard Egan
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 23.0

23 Nov 1963: President Kennedy's memorial

Just about five hours since network anchors announced the death of President Kennedy, primetime TV would have began. Instead, NBC, like CBS and ABC, continued with their coverage of the days events. The news coverage would continue, commercial free, through Monday evening. Imitation General was originally planned to air. (The video below begins approximately at what was 7:30 p.m., when primetime television would have begun. Jump back to 41:10 for the first reports of the president's death, which are confirmed in the following two minutes.)

30 Nov 1963: Count Your Blessings (1959, 2 hours)

Grace hastily marries a French aristocrat during WWII, but is separated by circumstance from him for almost nine years. And when reunited, Charles' philandering causes them to divorce and share custody of their son, who never wants them to get back together. But that's not how they feel. (Comedy-Drama / Color, MGM)

Director: Jean Negulesco; with Deborah Kerr, Rossano Brazzi, Maurice Chevalier, Tom Helmore
More: Wikipedia | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 20.7

7 Dec 1963: The Left Hand of God (1955, 2 hours)

At a Catholic mission in China, long-awaited "Father O'Shea" proves to be a tough guy, disturbingly attractive to mission nurse Anne. (Drama / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Edward Dmytryk; with Humphrey Bogart, Gene Tierney, Lee J. Cobb, Agnes Moorehead

More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 19.7

14 Dec 1963: The Opposite Sex (1956, 2 hours 20 minutes)

Kay Hilliard, a former nightclub singer, discovers her husband is having an affair with a showgirl and the last to find out among her circle of girlfriends. She travels to Reno to divorce her husband, but then finds out that the showgirl isn't true to him. (Musical / Color, MGM)

Director: David Miller; with June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 22.2

21 Dec 1963: A Man Called Peter (1955, 2 hours 20 minutes)

The rise of Peter Marshall, from modest Scottish upbringing, to New York seminary, time in Atlanta churches, his marriage, appointment as chaplain of the US Senate, and early death at 46. (Drama / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Henry Koster; with Richard Todd, Jean Peters, Marjorie Rambeau
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 18.8

28 Dec 1963: The Secret Partner (1961, 2 hours)

A wealthy London-based shipping magnate is blackmailed by an evil dentist which threatens to reveal an old case of fraud, while the dentist himself is threaten by a mysterious masked man. (Mystery / Black & White, MGM)

Director: Basil Dearden; with Stewart Granger, Bernard Lee, Haya Harareet
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd

4 Jan 1964: Daddy Long Legs (1955, 2 hours 25 minutes)

A wealthy American has a chance encounter with a joyful young French woman, and anonymously pays for her education. She writes letters to her mysterious benefactor, nicknaming him from the description given by some of her fellow orphans. (Musical / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Jean Negulesco; with Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Terry Moore, Thelma Ritter
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 17.0

11 Jan 1964: Imitation General (1958, 2 hours)

Sergeant Murphy Savage impersonates a dead general in order to inspire the demoralized troops in fighting their way out of Nazi encirclement. (War Comedy / Black & White, MGM)

Director: George Marshall; with Glenn Ford, Red Buttons, Taina Elg, Dean Jones

More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 21.0

Programming Note: The Lieutenant was preempted for the NBC News Special Smoking and Health. The special, hosted by Frank McGee, aired to examine the Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health, which was released to the public earlier in the day. Smoking causes cancer?!

18 Jan 1964: The Naked Spur (1953, 2 hours)

A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers. (Western / Color, MGM)

Director: Anthony Mann; with James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 21.9

25 Jan 1964: Until They Sail (1957, 2 hours)

During WW2, husband-less New Zealand women meet and marry American soldiers who are fighting in the Pacific theater. (War / Black & White, MGM)

Director: Robert Wise; with Jean Simmons, Paul Newman, Joan Fontaine, Piper Laurie, Charles Drake
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 21.0

1 Feb 1964: Lust for Life (1956, 2 hours 25 minutes)

The life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh. (Drama / Color, MGM)

Director: Vincente Minnelli; with Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald, Pamela Brown
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 16.3

8 Feb 1964: The Band Wagon (1953, 2 hours 10 minutes)

A pretentiously artistic director is hired for a new Broadway musical and changes it beyond recognition. (Musical / Color, MGM)

Director: Vincente Minnelli; with Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 16.5

15 Feb 1964: Edge of the City (1957, 2 hours)

Two New York City longshoremen Axel Nordmann, an Army deserter and Tommy Tyler, an easy-going freight car loader whose growing friendship is threatened by Charles Malik, a notably repellent punk. (Film Noir / Black & White, MGM)

Director: Martin Ritt; with John Cassavetes, Sidney Poitier, Jack Warden
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 16.2

22 Feb 1964: The Story of Three Loves (1953, 2 hours 25 minutes)

An anthology film consisting of three very different stories about love set in Europe and told in flashback. (Romance / Color, MGM)

Director: Vincente Minnelli, Gottfried Reinhardt; with Pier Angeli, Ethel Barrymore, Leslie Caron, Kirk Douglas, Farley Granger, James Mason, Agnes Moorehead, Moira Shearer
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 15.8

29 Feb 1964: Violent Saturday (1955, 2 hours)

Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly. (Film Noir / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Richard Fleischer; with Victor Mature, Richard Egan, Stephen McNally
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 16.5

7 Mar 1964: Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958, 2 hours 5 minutes)

All about the citizens of Putnam's Landing and their reactions to an Army missile base in their backyard. (Comedy / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Leo McCarey; with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Joan Collins, Jack Carson
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 20.9

14 Mar 1964: Black Widow (1954, 2 hours)

A young writer insinuates herself into the life of a Broadway producer. (Film Noir / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Nunnally Johnson; with Ginger Rogers, Van Heflin, Gene Tierney, George Raft
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 18.6

21 Mar 1964: Man on Fire (1957, 2 hours)

A wealthy businessman is bitter about his divorce and prevents his ex-wife from seeing their child. The ex-wife takes him to court, where a judge must determine what will be best for the child. (Drama / Black & White, MGM)

Director: Ranald MacDougall; with Bing Crosby, Inger Stevens, Mary Fickett
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 18.2

28 Mar 1964: Wild River (1960, 2 hours 10 minutes)

A TVA bureaucrat comes to the river to do what none of his predecessors have been able to do -- evict a stubborn octogenarian from her island before the rising waters engulf her. (Drama / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Elia Kazan; with Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 21.6

4 Apr 1964: Fourteen Hours (1951, 2 hours)

An unhappy man threatens suicide by standing on the ledge of a high-rise building for 14 hours. (Film Noir / Black & White, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Henry Hathaway; with Paul Douglas, Richard Basehart, Barbara Bel Geddes
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 17.2

11 Apr 1964: The Vintage (1957, 2 hours)

A young Italian fugitive and his older protective brother hide among the grape pickers at a vineyard in Provence. (Drama / Color, MGM)

Director: Jeffrey Hayden; with Pier Angeli, Mel Ferrer, John Kerr, Michèle Morgan
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 15.8

18 Apr 1964: The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955, 2 hours 10 minutes)

The true story of Evelyn Nesbit, a beautiful showgirl caught in a love triangle with elderly architect Stanford White and eccentric young millionaire Harry K. Thaw. (Drama / Color, 20th Century Fox)

Director: Richard Fleischer; with Ray Milland, Joan Collins, Farley Granger
More: Wikipedia | Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd; Nielsen Rating: 17.2

Summer repeats

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

25 Apr 1964: The Reluctant Debutante (1958)

2 May 1964: The Seven Year Itch (1955, 2 hours 5 minutes)

9 May 1964: Executive Suite (1954)

16 May 1964: Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

23 May 1964: Untamed (1955, 2 hours 10 minutes)

30 May 1964: Something of Value (1957, 2 hours 15 minutes)

6 Jun 1964: The Opposite Sex (1956, 2 hours 20 minutes)

13 Jun 1964: The Asphalt Jungle (1950, 2 hours 15 minutes)

20 Jun 1964: The Left Hand of God (1955)

27 Jun 1964: Lust for Life (1956, 2 hours 25 minutes)

4 Jul 1964: Let's Make Love (1960, 2 hours 20 minutes)

11 Jul 1964: Edge of the City (1957)

18 Jul 1964: View from Pompey's Head (1955)

25 Jul 1964: Until They Sail (1957)

1 Aug 1964: A Man Called Peter (1955, 2 hours 20 minutes)

8 Aug 1964: Rains of Ranciphur (1955)

15 Aug 1964: The Journey (1959, 2 hours 25 minutes)

22 Aug 1964: Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958, 2 hours 5 minutes)

29 Aug 1964: Wild River (1960, 2 hours 10 minutes)

5 Sep 1964: The Naked Spur (1953)

12 Sep 1964: The Diary of Anne Frank (1959, 3 hours 20 minutes)
Programming Note: Unlike the original broadcast, this broadcast of Diary started a half hour earlier. It still ran over by 50 minutes. It was preceded by an edition of The Campaign and the Candidates, featuring Barry Goldwater and his wife, first daughters Luci (17) and Lynda (20), and Frank McGoe reporting on the political situation in the South.

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NBC's NIGHT AT THE MOVIES

Sources: IMDb for movie information; Television Obscurities, Cedar Rapids Gazette, and San Bernardino Sun for listing information; Wikipedia-listed runtime information was confirmed but slight variations exist (5 or 10 minutes) depending on the source; if you see any bad links or otherwise incorrect (or contestable) information, let me know.

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