Hey, all you classic film fans who depend on TV for your old movie fix, good news! You now have more options for commercial free viewing in Southern California. KCET (the nation’s largest independent public television station) has begun a new classic movie series called KCET MUST SEE MOVIES, hosted by Deadline Hollywood's Chief Film Critic and host of KCET Cinema Series Pete Hammond. The weekly presentation provides a destination for viewers of all ages to watch legendary stars in timeless movies from Hollywood’s most iconic filmmakers. The series airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on KCET and encores Saturdays at 4 p.m. The series premiered in July with Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl and included in its first month’s schedule such renown classics as Gilda and Queen Christina.
I am so pleased to hear about this new showcase, because this is exactly how I was introduced to classic films when I was a kid. I remember my mom made a big deal about watching Singin’ in the Rain on PBS - this was back in the days when cable was literally an actual cable that run from the telephone pole into your home. She set aside a whole weekend afternoon for the event. Although we kids were suppose to be busy at the other end of the house, I plopped down next to her to see what the hoopla was all about. Mom tolerated my adolescent questions for awhile until she wisely told me to be quiet and just watch. Amazingly enough, I was and I did. I’ve been a classic film fan ever since.
The eclectic lineup of films celebrates some of the greatest classics created over the last century and are considered “essential” viewing by film experts worldwide. The wide variety of cinematic milestones included in the series are the 1957 Academy Award winning Best Picture, Bridge on the River Kwai, 1970‘s Best Picture, Patton, the rousing western, The Magnificent Seven, Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s buddy pic, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1988‘s Best Picture, Rain Man, the high velocity action film, Speed, Billy Wilder’s iconic comedy, Some Like It Hot, 1961‘s multiple Oscar winner, West Side Story, the epic WWII prisoner of war adventure, The Great Escape and many more. And to further heighten the film watching experience, KCET’s Facebook and Twitter platforms offer various trivia questions on and about each of the films.
For more information on the upcoming films of KCET MUST SEE MOVIES, including descriptions, images, and highlights please visit the official website by using the above image as a link. And be sure to join the conversation on social media using #MustSeeMovies. With so much opportunity to engage an audience in this new venture, I can’t see how KCET won’t recruit a plethora of new classic film fans of all ages.