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Famous Film Festival

February 26, 2023

Famous Film Festival was American television's first prime-time movie series. It aired Sunday nights 7:30-9:00 pm (EST) on ABC during the 1955-56 television season, switching to Saturday nights (7:30-9 pm) during its second and final season, 1956-57.

In 1955, ABC obtained permission to broadcast 35 British movies, the rights of which were owned by English film mogul J. Arthur Rank. Titles of these included The Man in Grey (1943), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), Odd Man Out (1947), Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), The Red Shoes (1948), and Hamlet (1948). However, many of these, such as Hamlet, ran two full hours or longer, and were either drastically cut to fit a ninety-minute time slot or shown in two installments a week apart. (It was not until November 3, 1956, with CBS's first presentation of MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939), that an uncut film lasting more than ninety minutes was telecast in one evening on a television network.)

ABC broadcast all Famous Film entries in black-and-white, despite several of them being photographed and exhibited theatrically in color. Thus, such films as Stairway to Heaven (1946) and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) would not be seen by American viewers in color until years later when they were released for exhibition by local and independent television stations.

Other British films from Rank Film Distributors obtained at the same time—including those from Ealing Rank still controlled the distribution rights before they were sold to Associated British-Pathé in 1958—were shown as part of ABC's daytime Afternoon Film Festival, which aired weekdays from 3:00-5:00 pm (ET). This show premiered January 16, 1956 and ended August 2, 1957, replaced by American Bandstand, which introduced Dick Clark to network television audiences and went on to become one of daytime's most popular programs, especially with teenagers.

Season One (1955-1956 Season)

All titles listed below for the series' two seasons were cited from the TV listings of The New York Times via microfilm copies of its backlogged issues, September 1955-May 1957.

  1. (09/18/1955) Odd Man Out (1947)
  2. (09/25/1955) Adam and Evalyn (1949)
  3. (10/02/1955) The Clouded Yellow (1951)
  4. (10/09/1955) Island Rescue (1951)
  5. (10/16/1955) Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945)
  6. (10/23/1955) The Man in Grey (1943)
  7. (10/30/1955) Notorious Gentleman (1945)
  8. (11/06/1955) Caesar and Cleopatra (part one) (1945)
  9. (11/13/1955) Caesar and Cleopatra (part two) (1945)
  10. (11/20/1955) The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
  11. (11/27/1955) Tight Little Island (1949)
  12. (12/04/1955) The Woman in Question (1950)
  13. (12/11/1955) The Promoter (1952)
  14. (12/18/1955) The Blue Lagoon (1949)
  15. (12/25/1955) The Red Shoes (part one) (1948)
  16. (01/01/1956) The Red Shoes (part two) (1948)
  17. (01/08/1956) White Corridors (1951)
  18. (01/15/1956) Ivory Hunter (1951)
  19. (01/22/1956) In Which We Serve (1942)
  20. (01/29/1956) The Mikado (1939)
  21. (02/05/1956) Stairway to Heaven (1946)
  22. (02/12/1956) The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)

The remainder of this first season consisted of reruns of the films above, some of which were repeated twice before the beginning of the second season in October 1956, when the series moved to a new night: Saturdays from 7:30 to 9:00 pm (Eastern Time).[1]

Season Two (1956-1957 Season)

  1. (10/06/1956) The Captive Heart (1946)
  2. (10/13/1956) Genevieve (1953)
  3. (10/20/1956) The Rainbow Jacket (1954)
  4. (10/27/1956) The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (part one) (1943)
  5. (11/03/1956) The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (part two) (1943)
  6. (11/10/1956) Tonight at 8:30 (1952)
  7. (11/17/1956) Golden Salamander (1950)
  8. (11/24/1956) The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)
  9. (12/01/1956) Hamlet (part one) (1948)
  10. (12/08/1956) Hamlet (part two) (1948)
  11. (12/15/1956) Miranda (1948)
  12. (12/22/1956) Desperate Moment (1953)
  13. (12/29/1956) School for Secrets (1946)
  14. (01/05/1957) Hungry Hill (1947)
  15. (01/12/1957) English Without Tears (1944)
  16. (01/19/1957) Forbidden Cargo (1954)
  17. (01/26/1957) A Queen Is Crowned (1953)
  18. (02/02/1957) Madness of the Heart (1949)
  19. (02/09/1957) The Girl in the Painting (1948)
  20. (02/16/1957) Don't Take It to Heart (1944)
  21. (02/23/1957) Broken Journey (1948)
  22. (03/02/1957) The Long Dark Hall (1951)
  23. (03/09/1957) The Man in Grey (1943) (Rerun from the first season's slate)
  24. (03/16/1957) Bitter Springs (1950)
  25. (03/23/1957) A Place of One's Own (1945)
  26. (03/30/1957) They Were Not Divided (1950)
  27. (04/06/1957) The October Man (1947)
  28. (04/13/1957) The Cruel Sea (1953)
  29. (04/20/1957) One Woman's Story (1949)
  30. (04/27/1957) The Stranger In Between (1952)
  31. (05/04/1957) Frieda (1947)
  32. (05/11/1957) Eureka Stockade (1949)
  33. (05/18/1957) The Rocking Horse Winner (1949)
  34. (05/25/1957) The Spider and the Fly (1949)

After re-running Tonight at 8:30 on June 8, ABC ceased airing its Famous Film Festival series. Instead, through the summer of 1957, the network used its 7:30-9:00 time-slot on Saturdays to broadcast televised sermons by Billy Graham and then later (beginning July 6) ABC aired Country Music Hayride.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ TV listing, The New York Times, September 1955-August 1956.
  2. ^ TV listings, The New York Times, October 1956-August 1957

    External links

    • Afternoon Film Festival at IMDB

    February 26, 2023
    famous, film, festival, american, television, first, prime, time, movie, series, aired, sunday, nights, during, 1955, television, season, switching, saturday, nights, during, second, final, season, 1956, 1955, obtained, permission, broadcast, british, movies, . Famous Film Festival was American television s first prime time movie series It aired Sunday nights 7 30 9 00 pm EST on ABC during the 1955 56 television season switching to Saturday nights 7 30 9 pm during its second and final season 1956 57 In 1955 ABC obtained permission to broadcast 35 British movies the rights of which were owned by English film mogul J Arthur Rank Titles of these included The Man in Grey 1943 The Lavender Hill Mob 1951 Odd Man Out 1947 Caesar and Cleopatra 1945 The Red Shoes 1948 and Hamlet 1948 However many of these such as Hamlet ran two full hours or longer and were either drastically cut to fit a ninety minute time slot or shown in two installments a week apart It was not until November 3 1956 with CBS s first presentation of MGM s The Wizard of Oz 1939 that an uncut film lasting more than ninety minutes was telecast in one evening on a television network ABC broadcast all Famous Film entries in black and white despite several of them being photographed and exhibited theatrically in color Thus such films as Stairway to Heaven 1946 and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp 1943 would not be seen by American viewers in color until years later when they were released for exhibition by local and independent television stations Other British films from Rank Film Distributors obtained at the same time including those from Ealing Rank still controlled the distribution rights before they were sold to Associated British Pathe in 1958 were shown as part of ABC s daytime Afternoon Film Festival which aired weekdays from 3 00 5 00 pm ET This show premiered January 16 1956 and ended August 2 1957 replaced by American Bandstand which introduced Dick Clark to network television audiences and went on to become one of daytime s most popular programs especially with teenagers Contents 1 Season One 1955 1956 Season 2 Season Two 1956 1957 Season 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksSeason One 1955 1956 Season EditAll titles listed below for the series two seasons were cited from the TV listings of The New York Times via microfilm copies of its backlogged issues September 1955 May 1957 09 18 1955 Odd Man Out 1947 09 25 1955 Adam and Evalyn 1949 10 02 1955 The Clouded Yellow 1951 10 09 1955 Island Rescue 1951 10 16 1955 Madonna of the Seven Moons 1945 10 23 1955 The Man in Grey 1943 10 30 1955 Notorious Gentleman 1945 11 06 1955 Caesar and Cleopatra part one 1945 11 13 1955 Caesar and Cleopatra part two 1945 11 20 1955 The Lavender Hill Mob 1951 11 27 1955 Tight Little Island 1949 12 04 1955 The Woman in Question 1950 12 11 1955 The Promoter 1952 12 18 1955 The Blue Lagoon 1949 12 25 1955 The Red Shoes part one 1948 01 01 1956 The Red Shoes part two 1948 01 08 1956 White Corridors 1951 01 15 1956 Ivory Hunter 1951 01 22 1956 In Which We Serve 1942 01 29 1956 The Mikado 1939 02 05 1956 Stairway to Heaven 1946 02 12 1956 The Importance of Being Earnest 1952 The remainder of this first season consisted of reruns of the films above some of which were repeated twice before the beginning of the second season in October 1956 when the series moved to a new night Saturdays from 7 30 to 9 00 pm Eastern Time 1 Season Two 1956 1957 Season Edit 10 06 1956 The Captive Heart 1946 10 13 1956 Genevieve 1953 10 20 1956 The Rainbow Jacket 1954 10 27 1956 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp part one 1943 11 03 1956 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp part two 1943 11 10 1956 Tonight at 8 30 1952 11 17 1956 Golden Salamander 1950 11 24 1956 The Titfield Thunderbolt 1953 12 01 1956 Hamlet part one 1948 12 08 1956 Hamlet part two 1948 12 15 1956 Miranda 1948 12 22 1956 Desperate Moment 1953 12 29 1956 School for Secrets 1946 01 05 1957 Hungry Hill 1947 01 12 1957 English Without Tears 1944 01 19 1957 Forbidden Cargo 1954 01 26 1957 A Queen Is Crowned 1953 02 02 1957 Madness of the Heart 1949 02 09 1957 The Girl in the Painting 1948 02 16 1957 Don t Take It to Heart 1944 02 23 1957 Broken Journey 1948 03 02 1957 The Long Dark Hall 1951 03 09 1957 The Man in Grey 1943 Rerun from the first season s slate 03 16 1957 Bitter Springs 1950 03 23 1957 A Place of One s Own 1945 03 30 1957 They Were Not Divided 1950 04 06 1957 The October Man 1947 04 13 1957 The Cruel Sea 1953 04 20 1957 One Woman s Story 1949 04 27 1957 The Stranger In Between 1952 05 04 1957 Frieda 1947 05 11 1957 Eureka Stockade 1949 05 18 1957 The Rocking Horse Winner 1949 05 25 1957 The Spider and the Fly 1949 After re running Tonight at 8 30 on June 8 ABC ceased airing its Famous Film Festival series Instead through the summer of 1957 the network used its 7 30 9 00 time slot on Saturdays to broadcast televised sermons by Billy Graham and then later beginning July 6 ABC aired Country Music Hayride 2 See also Edit1955 56 United States network television schedule 1956 57 United States network television scheduleReferences Edit TV listing The New York Times September 1955 August 1956 TV listings The New York Times October 1956 August 1957 Time magazineExternal links EditAfternoon Film Festival at IMDB Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Famous Film Festival amp oldid 1069890254, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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