Saturday night at the movies

[Steve D.]

I remember, very well, the 1961 opening for NBC Saturday Night at the Movies. It was verticle multicolored-film strips rotating around each other. I think it was also the first use of pan and scan to accomodate the Cinemascope movies.

Here's some futher info from a UK site of all places.

"NBC Saturday Night At The Movies" (1961-1978): For many years, movies were seen as programming limited only to local television stations-mostly black and white features made before 1948. But on September 22 1961, the comedy "How To Marry A Millionaire" with Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable made its debut on NBC's new showcase for feature films. "Saturday Night At The Movies" quickly gained a following for two major reasons. First, the films were recent box office hits. Second, most of them were in color-a potent weapon at a time when NBC was pushing color programming.

-Steve D.