Prize Movie TV Show

[DetroitBoy]

Does anyone remember a TV show in Detroit called the "Prize Movie"? I think it was a daytime TV show hosted by a woman. Does anyone else remember this?

[Meddle]

Hosted by Rita Bell.

Ran on WXYZ Ch 7, 1PM weekdays I think.

[fanniemae]

The Detroit legend Rita Bell. There are a ton of stories floating out there about her. She gave away prize money, maybe 20 to 100 bucks in those days. Can't remember if it was based on trivia . I liked Bill Kennedy better.

[pffft]

Stories out there about Rita Bell, and you don't tell us? Come on...

Does anyone remember Starlit Stairway?

[reddog289]

My Mom always watched Rita Bell. She won an electric can opener from her back when I was a kid.

[Kathleen]

Hosted by Rita Bell.

Ran on WXYZ Ch 7, 1PM weekdays I think.

Pretty sure that Rita Bell's Prize Movie ran in the morning at 8 or 8:30 daily. When we were home sick from school, we would watch Rita in the morning, then Bill Kennedy at 1pm. Seems like another movie program ran at 4:30 opposite The Mike Douglas Show. This would be back in the 1960's, possibly early 1970's.

[Ed Golick]

The gimmick:
Rita played a few seconds from a record. If you guessed the name of the song correctly, you won the pot. If not, another 7 bucks went into the kitty.

[GPCharles]

From the Detroit News...

Rita Bell hosted "Prize Movie" on WXYZ for 21 years starting in 1960. She aired more than 6,000 movies. "Yes, I watch them all," she said.

From a blog...

Rita Bell Hansen, one of Detroit's most popular TV personalities, died on Dec. 16, 2003 from cancer. She was 78.
Bell graduated from Marygrove College in Michigan, and became a public relations representative. She also performed with big bands in and around Detroit. One night, the general manager of WXYZ-TV Channel 7 heard Bell sing; he promptly offered her a job as the first female weathercaster in Detroit television history.
At the end of TV's black-and-white era, Bell stopped announcing snowstorms in order to host Channel 7's "Prize Movie." Each weekday morning from 1959 to 1977, she played a song and offered a cash prize to anyone who called in during the show with the correct title. Out of the 6,000 films Bell hosted, her favorite was "Gone With the Wind."

From About.com...

Rita Bell:

Back in the day, Rita Bell was a daily fixture on TV as the host of Prize Movie, an intermission segment aired during the morning moving on Detroit’s WXYZ-TV. The segment consisted of Rita playing a song and the TV audience calling in to guess the title for a cash prize. Rita Bell made it into a caeer, hosting the segment throughout the 1960s and 70s. She was uniquely qualified for the position, having both broadcasting experience as Detroit’s very first woman weathercaster and music experience as a singer in a band. In fact, she was singing in a band when she was discovered by the general manager of WXYZ-TV.
Bell's sole acting credit outside of local TV, at least according to IMDB.com, is one 1968 episode of Big Valley. Lucky for Detroiters, her guest starring appearance didn't turn into a re-occurring role. Rita Bell died in 2003.

[pffft]

Rita had a lovely, calm presence...

Who was the host/hostess of Starlit Stairway?

[Ed Golick]

Dick Osgood was the original host of Starlit Stairway. Rita Bell, Johnny "Scat" Davis and others also hosted the show.

Bell was not the first female weathercaster in Detroit, and she never hosted Gone With The Wind on WXYZ.

[pffft]

Rita's show wasn't long enough to air Gone with the Wind, even chopped up. Ridiculous! All the black and white movies she ran were short and fairly cheap...

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Pretty sure that Rita Bell's Prize Movie ran in the morning at 8 or 8:30 daily. When we were home sick from school, we would watch Rita in the morning, then Bill Kennedy at 1pm. Seems like another movie program ran at 4:30 opposite The Mike Douglas Show. This would be back in the 1960's, possibly early 1970's.

My sibling and I went to Guyton on the eastside and always remember having a bowl of campbells soup while watching Rita Bell when we stayed home with the flu

[Buy American]

Anyone remember Mary Morgan and her dog Liebchen hosting a movie show?

[GPCharles]

If I remember correctly, Mary Morgan was on CKLW.

[Meddle]

Pretty sure that Rita Bell's Prize Movie ran in the morning at 8 or 8:30 daily.

Could have been. That would have been before the era of the network morning show [[ie Good Morning America), when the local affiliates actually did some of their own programming.

[reddog289]

Rita Bell was on in the morning, Then it was Bill Kennedy after lunch on WKBD 50, Then after that back to WXYZ for another movie at 4pm. Alot of the 4pm movies had a theme for the week, Elvis week, Monster week, ETC. Don't recall that with Ritas show.

[Brock7]

If I remember correctly, Mary Morgan was on CKLW.

Yes she was, and Bill Kennedy took her place there on channel 9 as host of a movie show for a few years before moving over to channel 50. I remember on the day of JFK's funeral I was home from school with the measles and he was showing "The Heiress" with Olivia DeHavilland and Montgomery Clift. I thought they had truncated the film to broadcast the funeral because the ending wasn't what I'd learned to come to expect for a love story. I thought it was odd they were showing the funeral on Canadian TV, and stupid because who would want to watch a boring funeral on TV.

My mother sent in postcards occasionally and my sister won some small kitchen appliance because she answered when Rita Bell called and my mom wasn't home. Were those the booby prizes?

[fanniemae]

Dennis Wholly worte about the lovely Rita is his bio. I am beginning to remember my childhood now and Rita on the phone with her prize give aways. She was a Detroit institution. Housewives and seniors watched her as we watch Regis and Oprah now. There were a lot of jokes about her too. But she was a ratings winner for many years. After her, maybe a few years later we had Kelly and Company. Someone , if they have any info on those 2 and Bill Bonds could make an interesting thread on here.

[preserve]

Anyone remember when Dick Purtan subbed for Bill Kennedy and he had all those picture frames up and showed the Japanese horror movies? It was a hoot.

[pffft]

Could have been. That would have been before the era of the network morning show [[ie Good Morning America), when the local affiliates actually did some of their own programming.

Well the Today show was broadcasting nationally in the '50s, so ...it wasn't all local. But it's true, I don't remember an ABC morning show going that far back.

[denise]

I went to Guyton too...what a surprise to see that...what years did you go? Mrs. Tisdale principle...Mr. Whiteshot....

[denise]

I went to Guyton too....Mr. whiteshot...Mrs Tisdale..principal...Mr & Mrs Elkins...Mr.Curry Miss Daley.....

[douglasm]

One of my "big" claims to fame is I once sold Ms. Bell a pair of shoes at Baker's in Northland.

[[My other "claim" is that I also sold John Culllum -- Holling Vincoeur of "Northern Exposure" -- a pair of shoes, too. Roslyn, WA is about 60 miles from here....)

[turkeycall]

Seems to me that "Bill Kennedy at the Movies" was on Sunday afternoon about 1 PM. Mary Morgan's "Million Dollar Movie" followed around 3:30 or 4 PM.

That would have been in the late fifties and early sixties. Both were on Channel 9.

Mary Morgan kind of dropped out of sight . . . then Bill Kennedy landed at Channel 50.

Where was he when he interviewed Brace Beemer [[sp) on a Sunday afternoon, then Brace died the next day?

[nick1894]

Mary Morgan was very classy. Her set on CKLW was nicely appointed and casual. Her voice was very cultured...Does anyone remember Guy Nunn...I believe he had a program on CKLW sponsored by the UAW and the Detroit Times....