NBC Monday Night at the Movies premiered as a mid-season replacement in February 1963. It returned for a second season that fall.
The second season began on September 16th, 1963 and ended on September 28th, 1964. A total of 29 movies were broadcast, followed by 22 weeks of repeats. Several of those repeat broadcasts were actually films that had premiered on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies.
Due to coverage of President Kennedy’s funeral on Monday, November 25th, NBC Monday Night at the Movies was pre-empted. Singin’ in the Rain was scheduled to air; it eventually would be broadcast in January 1964.
Season 2: 1963-1964 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Ep. # | Title | Airdate | Format |
17. | Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing | 09/16/1963 | Color |
18. | David and Bathsheba | 09/23/1963 | Color |
19. | Executive Suite | 09/30/1963 | B&W |
20. | The Wreck of the Mary Deare | 10/07/1963 | Color |
21. | The Rains of Ranchipur | 10/14/1963 | Color |
22. | The Mating Game | 10/21/1963 | Color |
23. | Good Morning, Miss Dove | 10/28/1963 | Color |
24. | White Feather | 11/04/1963 | Color |
25. | Father of the Bride | 11/11/1963 | B&W |
26. | The Reluctant Debutante | 11/18/1963 | Color |
PRE-EMPTED: Coverage of President Kennedy’s Funeral | 11/25/1963 | ||
27. | House of Numbers | 12/02/1963 | B&W |
28. | The Wings of Eagles | 12/09/1963 | Color |
29. | The Lost World | 12/16/1963 | Color |
30. | The Power and the Prize | 12/23/1963 | B&W |
31. | Kiss Me Kate | 12/30/1963 | Color |
32. | Seven Cities of Gold | 01/06/1964 | Color |
33. | Singin’ in the Rain | 01/13/1964 | Color |
34. | Action of the Tiger | 01/20/1964 | Color |
35. | House of Bamboo | 01/27/1964 | Color |
36. | Phone Call from a Stranger | 02/03/1964 | Color |
37. | Treasure of the Golden Condor | 02/10/1964 | Color |
38. | The Safecracker | 02/17/1964 | B&W |
39. | Prince of Players | 02/24/1964 | Color |
40. | Underwater Warrior | 03/02/1964 | B&W |
41. | The 39 Steps | 03/09/1964 | Color |
42. | The View from Pompey’s Head | 03/16/1964 | Color |
43. | The Racers | 03/23/1964 | Color |
44. | The Pride of St. Louis | 03/30/1964 | B&W |
45. | The Virgin Queen | 04/06/1964 | Color |
46. | Never Let Me Go | 04/13/1964 | B&W |
*Summer Repeats Begin* | |||
REP | Seven Cities of Gold | 04/20/1964 | Color |
REP | Father of the Bride | 04/27/1964 | B&W |
REP | Good Morning, Miss Dove | 05/04/1964 | Color |
REP | White Feather | 05/11/1964 | Color |
REP | Phone Call from a Stranger | 05/18/1964 | B&W |
REP | Count Your Blessings | 05/25/1964 | Color |
REP | Singin’ in the Rain | 06/01/1964 | Color |
REP | House of Bamboo | 06/08/1964 | Color |
REP | Never Let Me Go | 06/15/1964 | B&W |
REP | Underwater Warrior | 06/22/1964 | B&W |
REP | The Wreck of the Mary Deare | 06/29/1964 | Color |
REP | Pride of St. Louis | 07/06/1964 | B&W |
PRE-EMPTED: Republican National Convention | 07/13/1964 | ||
REP | Treasure of the Golden Condor | 07/20/1964 | Color |
REP | Imitation General* | 07/27/1964 | Color |
REP | Black Widow* | 08/03/1964 | Color |
REP | House of Numbers | 08/10/1964 | B&W |
REP | The Racers | 08/18/1964 | Color |
PRE-EMPTED: Democratic National Convention | 08/24/1964 | ||
REP | Man on Fire* | 08/31/1964 | Color |
REP | David and Bathsheba | 09/07/1964 | Color |
REP | The Lost World | 09/14/1964 | Color |
REP | Wings of Eagles | 09/21/1964 | Color |
REP | Ask Any Girl* | 09/28/1964 | Color |
*Originally aired as installments of NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
For the 1964-1965 season, NBC replaced NBC Monday Night at the Movies with 90 Bristol Court and premiered NBC Wednesday Night at the Movies.
“Action of the Tiger,” “Executive Suite,” “Father of the Bride,” “Imitation General,” “The Mating Game” and “Underwater Warrior” would later be syndicated as part of the ‘MGM/6′ package of 90 titles that were first made available to TV stations in late 1965; WABC-TV in New York ran films in that package (a combo of first-run and off-network, the latter including “Lolita”) well into the 1980’s. “Ask Any Girl,” “Count Your Blessings,” “House of Numbers,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Man on Fire,” “Never Let Me Go,” “The Power and the Prize,” “The Reluctant Debutante,” “The Safecracker,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Wreck of the Mary Deare” were later part of the massive 145-film ‘MGM/7’ package that was first offered to local TV stations in 1968 and, in New York, split between WNBC-TV and WOR-TV (whose respective leases of the differing titles lasted until 1978).
My apologies for an error: “Lolita” was one of the group of first-run films in ‘MGM/6’. Apparently it was “too hot” for network TV in those days. WABC-TV’s debut of that film on the Feb. 5, 1966 edition of their late-night “skein” “The Best of Broadway” brought perhaps the highest ratings in the seven-year (1963-70) history of that showcase. (And scored big ratings for them again when first repeated on that same show on Sept. 30, 1967.) For all practical purposes, all of WABC’s airings of “Lolita” were late at night, first on “The Best of Broadway” and then its successors (“Saturday/Sunday Night Movie” on weekends, or “The One O’Clock Movie” weeknights).
This was the first season when both “SATURDAY” and “MONDAY” editions featured theatrical films from more than one studio: MGM saw how much money 20th Century-Fox was profiting through their “package deals” with NBC, deciding to “stake their claim” with the network as well [“Singin’ in the Rain” was the title with the most “marquee value” in their initial package, with “Father of the Bride” a close second]. And this, from the studio that was the most vocal against television in the early ’50s…
And after 1964, Paramount began to dip their toe into the pool, leasing certain titles to not only “SNATM” but also “Wednesday Night at the Movies” (NBC moved their “other” movie show from Monday to Wednesday in ’64).
…and in the fall of 1964, MCA/Universal also began its long-term relationship with NBC’s various movie nights, including their “World Premiere Movies”, which began as “Project 120” during the 1964-’65 season. The studio filmed three two-hour {100 minutes, without commercials, billboards, etc.} films, exclusively for television, for NBC’s movie nights, with the option of releasing them theatrically overseas {to generate more revenue}. One of them was deemed “too violent” by NBC standards, and received domestic theatrical release, instead: a remake of Universal’s 1946 movie “The Killers”, featuring Ronald Reagan in his last acting appearance before shifting towards a politicial career. The other two- “See How They Run” with John Forsythe, and “The Hanged Man”, were scheduled in November and December 1964, respectively.