Movies Made for TV

[Beckford]

The made for TV movie was a genre that flourished particularly in the 70's and 80's. As opposed to mini-series, these were self-contained one shot feature films, small screen equivalents of the movies people went to cinemas to see.
The form had its drawbacks - restricted budgets, often perfunctory visuals, predictable editing - scenes all too often ending with musical cues that virtually announced a commercial break. Not to mention, of course, those unavoidable commercials themselves . Yet despite all the caveats, some emerged as quality - even high quality - entertainment. Among them were compact thrillers, supernatural or otherwise, skillfully crafted vehicles for Golden Age stars like Rosalind Russell and Loretta Young, well-oiled melodramas and socially conscious dramas that aimed to make a difference.
Here's a chronological list of the ones I remember most fondly:

THE CROOKED HEARTS(1972) Rosalind Russell,Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER(1973) Belinda J. Montgomery,Shelley Winters
DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK(1973) Kim Darby,Jim Hutton,William Demarest
SMASH-UP ON INTERSTATE 5(1976) Robert Conrad,Buddy Ebsen,Harriet Nelson
ALEXANDER: THE OTHER SIDE OF DAWN(1977) Leigh McCloskey,Earl Holliman
THE SPELL(1977) Lee Grant,Susan Myers,James Olson,Helen Hunt
THE GOSSIP COLUMNIST(1980) Kim Cattrall,Bobby Vinton,Martha Raye
FOR LADIES ONLY(1981) Gregory Harrison,Marc Singer,Patti Davis,Lee Grant
CONSENTING ADULT(1985) Marlo Thomas,Martin Sheen,Barry Tubb
CHRISTMAS EVE(1986) Loretta Young,Trevor Howard,Patrick Cassidy
HEART FULL OF RAIN(1997) Richard Crenna,Carroll Baker,Rick Schroeder

Two or three of the horror titles have made it to DVD, a couple even to Blu-Ray. At this point it's unlikely any of the others will be so lucky. But I live in hope.

[kirkman1987]

I can highly recommend the Blu ray releases for the two Kolchak TV movies and the infamous British TV movie Threads.

[Beckford]

Originally Posted by kirkman1987

I can highly recommend the Blu ray releases for the two Kolchak TV movies and the infamous British TV movie Threads.

Thanks for the tips. I recently re-watched Darren McGavin's terrific 1958 noir "The Case Against Brooklyn" (part of the recent Noir Archive Vol. 3 Blu-ray) and was reminded of how much I like this guy. I've got dim memories of having enjoyed the two Kolchak movies when they first appeared. Your comment has encouraged me to seek them out again. My local library has "Threads" available for viewing so I'll probably give that one a look too. Any moment today I'm expecting delivery of one of the titles on my list - "The Spell" from '73 - on Blu-ray.