When it premiered in April 1962, ABC’s Hollywood Special was the second regularly-scheduled network movie night, following The NBC Saturday Night at the Movies (which premiered in September 1961). The network purchased a package of 15 films from United Artists Association and repeated nine of them, filling a total of 24 weeks.
My spotlight on Hollywood Special can be found here.
| Season 1: 1962 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ep. # | Title | Airdate | Format |
| 1. | Run Silent, Run Deep | 04/08/1962 | B&W |
| 2. | Indian Fighter | 04/15/1962 | B&W |
| 3. | Shake Hands with the Devil | 04/22/1962 | B&W |
| 4. | Pork Shop Hill | 04/29/1962 | B&W |
| 5. | Witness for the Prosecution | 05/06/1962 | B&W |
| 6. | Man of the West | 05/13/1962 | B&W |
| 7. | Moby Dick | 05/20/1962 | B&W |
| 8. | The Kentuckian | 05/27/1962 | B&W |
| 9. | Men in War | 06/03/1962 | B&W |
| 10. | The Wonderful Country | 06/10/1962 | B&W |
| 11. | Not As a Stranger | 06/17/1962 | B&W |
| 12. | Marty | 06/24/1962 | B&W |
| 13. | Ten Seconds to Hell | 07/01/1962 | B&W |
| 14. | Johnny Concho | 07/08/1962 | B&W |
| 15. | The Pride and the Passion | 07/15/1962 | B&W |
| *Summer Repeats Begin* | |||
| REP | Pork Chop Hill | 07/22/1962 | B&W |
| REP | Witness for the Prosecution | 07/29/1962 | B&W |
| REP | The Wonderful Country | 08/05/1962 | B&W |
| REP | The Indian Fighter | 08/12/1962 | B&W |
| REP | The Kentuckian | 08/19/1962 | B&W |
| REP | Not As a Stranger | 08/26/1962 | B&W |
| REP | Men in War | 09/02/1962 | B&W |
| REP | Run Silent, Run Deep | 09/09/1962 | B&W |
| REP | The Pride and the Passion | 09/16/1962 | B&W |
In September 1962, ABC retitled the series The Sunday Night Movie. It was cancelled at the end of the 1962-1963 season but would return in September 1964 and remain on the air almost continuously until 1998.
This is fascinating, thanks. I’m trying to find out about a 15 minute ‘documentary’ made for Hollywood Special with the working title ‘Hollywood Goes Independent’ (reported in Broadcasting 29.10.62 p 66) and subsequently retitled The Declaration of Independents’ and transmitted on ABC on Sunday 30.12.62 (Boxoffice 7.1.63: 11). The main subject was the Mirisch Company, which was then producing The Great Escape, Irma la Douce, The Pink Panther and two for the Seesaw. It was narrated by Arthur Knight. (Jack Lemmon’s narration was used for the foreign version). The Mirisch brothers also produced the movies Man of the West (which was 6th in that first run of Hollywood Special) and, through their company Moulin Productions, Moby Dick (which was 7th in that first run). I would be very grateful for anything further you can tell me about this episode.