Today's movies-on-TV thread is devoted to a single film. The debut, 60 years ago today, of Dieterle's brilliant HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939) on WOR's "Million Dollar Movie.'' I first saw this masterpiece during at least one of its 16 showings on Channel 9 during New Year week. 
HUNCHBACK was was the only film shown at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1939, cancelled after World War II broke out. It was among the most famous of the 700-plus movies acquired by WOR's parent company, RKO General, when it bought the failing studio from Howard Hughes in 1955
I'm going to focus on two issues: how WOR severely cut the film for its first TV showings, as well as its mysterious, little-known showing on another New York City TV station 14 years earlier, which is why I'm not labeling its first appearance on MDM 12/29/58 as a "NY TV debut.''
It's also a great excuse to share some of the most wonderful poster and lobby card art of any classic film from this era, both from RKO's brilliant promotional staff and artists employed by foreign distributors.
According to listings in both the NY Times and Herald Tribune, HUNCHBACK was broadcast from 7:30 to 9 pm, repeated from 10:30 to midnight. That meant Channel 9's viewers saw, at most, only 80 minutes of a film that ran 117 minutes when it opened 12/31/40 at Radio City Music Hall.
More likely, it was closer to 75 or maybe even a little less as commercial loads on independent stations like WOR were heavier than the network affiliates. This was a wildly successful formula since MDM's launch in 1954 with MAGIC TOWN, an RKO release leased from Bank of America.
Even at that point, there were complaints from NY Times readers and writers about the cuts. WOR's general manager had a letter published in which he claimed the movies were being improved by the sometimes severe editing they received at the hands of Channel 9.
Of course, it's hard to imagine how the 1939 HUNCHBACK could be improved by the deletion of 37 to 47 minutes. The story is fairly complex, but I'd guess Channel 9's editors focused on the film's spectacular aspects, which certainly resonated with me at the age of 9.
WOR, which occasionally showed a very long movie like SINCE YOU WENT AWAY over two weeks on MDM, had expanded to two hours, apparently for the first time, for one-week run of CITIZEN KANE (originally 120 minutes) that began 11/24/58.
HUNCHBACK was followed on MDM by the 126-minute YANKEE DOODLE DANDY 1/5/59, which also got a two-hour time slot according to daily listings, though some earlier Sunday paper listings claim 90 minutes. Did Channel 9 change its mind after viewer blowback from butchering HUNCHBACK?
HUNCHBACK would routinely get two-hour time slots on WOR in the future, sometimes the 150 minutes that would accommodate the entire film, which was apparently cut by a couple of minutes for its 1957 theatrical re-release.
Ironically, HUNCHBACK got a full two hours for its first New York broadcast way back on 4/1/44 on NBC's flagship. At least according to very brief listing for the only station on the air that day, tucked under radio schedules in the New York Times and New York Herald Tribune.
WNBT (which moved to Channel 4 in 1946 and is now known as WNBC) had broadcast commercials since 1941, but who would buy spots in 1944, when many, possibly most, of the few TV sets in the public's hands were inoperable because parts/technicians were unavailable due to the war?
Maybe you were wondering if this listing was a mistake (there were many then), and WNBT was actually showing another film version of HUNCHBACK, perhaps Lon Chaney's 1925 classic (which was still in copyright)? I certainly did, at least momentarily.
No, apparently it actually was the 1939 HUNCHBACK. Exactly one week later, on Saturday 4/8/44, WNBT broadcast ANOTHER high-profile RKO title, more than a decade before their library was officially released to TV.
I've done a lot of searching on ProQuest, but have yet to turn up another RKO in-house production on TV in this era. Nor have I found any other references to these two anomalous film broadcasts anywhere -- not in consumer or trade publications, or even in books.
A friend who had access to RKO's corporate files did a search for me and couldn't find any record of deals with NBC for these two films. Richard B. Jewell, author of three excellent books on RKO's tortured history, told me he was surprised by my discovery.
One theory I had was this was some sort of corporate synergy at work, as NBC parent RCA was originally the majority shareholder in RKO. But it turns out RCA had sold its stake in the studio in 1942.
None of this made any sense. Another friend, the film historian John McElwee, suggested that maybe the two broadcasts were some sort of wartime fundraiser. But there was no advertising or news coverage suggesting that, and as I've said, the TV audience was very tiny at this point
I was also puzzled by the sudden uptick in broadcasts, which had been greatly curtailed by the war, at the end of 1943, well before D-Day. Then, a couple of years ago, I found this front-page article that revealed an TV audience I hadn't considered. timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1…
This eye-opening 3/6/44 ad in the New York Times clarified that it wasn't just Madison Square Garden events that those GI were watching. RCA was not only touting feature films (though not by name) on WNBT but also those being shown on rival CBS' station.
My theory is that RKO provided HUNCHBACK to RCA (they were still both headquarters in Rockefeller Center) for the benefit of GI audiences. There were a number of other high-profile films like NOTHING SACRED and THE LADY VANISHES that were also shown on WNBT in 1944. It make sense
In a larger context, RCA was clearly trying to remind the public at large that TV was still around and that they would have lots to watch when the war was finally over. New York's other two stations (there would be 7 by 1949) were clearly involved in this public relations effort.
A couple of TV historians I've spoken with say the explanation for the premature appearance of HUNCHBACK seems plausible. Perhaps the answer is buried in NBC's archives. Thanks for your patience as I rolled out this very wonky thread out over several hours.
I wonder if WNBT had more RKOs scheduled but they were pulled because of complaints from theater owners. It's also possible they were broadcast but simply not identified in the newspapers. This happened quite a bit later in the 1940s to protect theatrical reissues.
