Bill Kennedy at the Movies

And so Bill Kennedy's Showtime, as it was originally known, would start. Yes and agreed to all the previous submissions. But I have some other memories also when Bill was caught with his pants down ... so to speak.

One is: The Network Television Premier of "Joan of Arc" was going to air on the ABC Sunday Night Movie (tonight ... a major motion picture). Well Bill was in heaven since he 'co-starred' in the movie with Ingrid Bergman et al. Actually, Bill played Thierache (Joan's executioner). All week long Bill was expounding on the movie's production values, behind the scene stories, but most importantly ... how pivotal his role was in the story as he consoles Joan prior to her death. On and on he went, reciting his lines, semi acting them out, etc.

Well the movie aired and on Monday's show Kennedy is sitting behind his desk seething. In the modified for TV version all his parts were edited out ... except for the execution scene of Joan's burning at the stake. In it he was hooded -- so it could have been anybody.

I thought he was going to cry.

I was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario. One of my fondest memories is watching and enjoying Bill Kennedy at the Movies. His was a daily show on at 1:00 P.M. and I learned about Hollywood and the movies from watching him. He had a marvelous reference library full of still photos and the like that provided in depth reviews of both the picture and the stars. I watched his show as a youngster, through high school and as an adult. I would watch his show on my days off or when I was working an afternoon shift. He had a wonderful mix of movies including top notch movies. I remember seeing The Maltese Falcon for the first time on his program. He showed comedies, westerns, musicals, some real good movies and some even he did not like and would tell you so. Daytime television on Channel 9 is not the same today. Bill Kennedy was one in a million. I thank you Mr. Kennedy for all the enjoyment over the years.

Although I only saw the early years of "Bill Kennedy At the Movies" one incident should be recorded. Kennedy had received a letter castigating him for his less than stellar Hollywood career. Kennedy read at least part of the insulting missive including a line which called Kennedy a "has-been". With a wonderful dignity, Bill Kennedy addressed the writer and all his viewers and said, with great wisdom and humility, "Better a 'has-been' than a 'never-was'." The movies were undistinguished, the format antique even for the times, but the host was a memorable ex-actor who was far more than that. His words have remained with me through all these decades and are as true today as they were then.

Just after college, I was working as a factory night watchman in Marinette, Wisconsin (you take what you can get until something better comes along!). One night on my rounds, I stumbled and wrenched my ankle... off work for a week before I could walk on it.

I sat around in a horrible mood, unable to deal with my usual daytime routine, with my ankle elevated and hurting like hell, searching the cable TV system for something to keep me amused... and then I stumbled across an old submarine movie, Cary Grant's DESTINATION TOKYO, and I was thus introduced to BILL KENNEDY AT THE MOVIES.

I couldn't have encountered Bill on a better movie; he'd played the part of Grant's executive officer, and on the breaks Kennedy was in fine form spilling the beans with on the set gossip and trivia. The man was a gruff old curmudgeon on the air, but he was ALWAYS fascinating! It seemed like he'd known damned near EVERYBODY in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s.

The best episode of Kennedy's show I ever saw was when the station gave him a surprise. Just as he started the show and began his comments on the day's movie, an offstage voice interrupted him to announce that today was Bill's birthday, and to celebrate it they had a surprise for him. The scheduled movie would NOT be shown; in it's place they had found one of Bill's films, a very special one.... THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE. During his Hollywood years, Kennedy was always a supporting actor, but in this one he had the STARRING ROLE! While stagehands and floor managers applauded, the old man's face screwed up into an incredibly sour mass and turned bright red. It seems that their birthday surprise had backfired on them.

Bill finished up the break with the background story on THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE, and all these years later the film was STILL a major sore point with him.

It seems that he and a bunch of friends had gotten together to form their own production company to produce "B" movies, and all of them had invested heavily in it. THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE was one of their first films, one of a very small number that they'd produced.

The film turned out to be the biggest bomb since Nagasaki, and they'd ALL lost their shirts on the deal. I seem to remember comments to the effect that THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE was the main reason that he was STILL working for a living, hosting this program, instead of sitting in the sun in retirement! By the first commercial break Bill had simmered down a good bit, but it was WONDERFUL... it has to be the ONLY time that calm, sophisticated Bill Kennedy ever lost his cool on the air!

A couple of years later I moved away from Marinette's cable TV system, and when I did I lost the opportunity to listen to Bill Kennedy's stories and gossip. I really missed that.

It's been a long time now, but I still remember BILL KENNEDY AT THE MOVIES with a great deal of affection. Every time the 1940's Warner Brother's logo comes on the screen, I have a fleeting thought of Bill.

Thanks, Bill. Your fans are STILL out there and thinking of you now and then, remembering the hours of pleasure you gave us on WKBD-TV.

As a kid, one of the treats of staying home sick (aside from Vernor's, a local Detroit ginger ale) was getting to watch Bill Kennedy at the movies. He would ramble on about "the good old days" in Hollywood, and had a tendency to reveal the denouement of the film during the last commercial break, but he seemed to have a lot of heart. To this day, if I pronounce "WWII" as "double-u double-u eye eye," it evokes knowing laughter from others who were raised on Bill's quirky ways.

Especially fun were movies with Bill in them. He would give background information about the filming and the other actors on the set. Then, he would point out his scene - he might be the young thug to the left of the screen brandishing the gun, or cowpoke number seven, but there was always a vicarious thrill. Years later, Spalding Gray made high art out of describing his thoughts at playing a minor character in "The Killing Fields." For those of us from Detroit, we already knew a bit of what it was like.