1972: 007 makes his U.S. television debut; Sam Rolfe revisits the spy genre

In the early 1970s, ABC would run long-form promos where it would spend a half-hour to highlight its programming for the upcoming television season. For 1972-73, that included a segment on the movies that would be shown. Top on the list was Goldfinger, the first 007 movie to appear on U.S. television. The first 35 seconds or so of the following clip show that. Character actor Harold Gould provides the voiceover:

Goldfinger was shown on The ABC Sunday Night Movie that season. In fact, it was the first Sunday Night Movies for the season, airing in September 1972. The network ended up editing out the gunbarrel sequence (while playing its music). Goldfinger took up 2 hours and 15 minutes, with commercials, airing from 9 vp.m. eastern time until 11:15 p.m.. In later showings, ABC cut out the entire pre-credits sequence and other scenes entirely to keep the movie to a 2-hour time slot.

There’s also something of interest for fans of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. At the end of the clip, there’s a promo for The Delphi Bureau, a short lived series created by Sam Rolfe, the developer of U.N.C.L.E.

This is an interesting clip beyond the spy entertainment. It also reflects its era. Networks considered movies an important part of their schedules. Other movies ABC promos include Lawrence of Arabia (which must have looked really crappy in pan-and-scan) and the original Dr. Doolittle. What’s more, ABC actually promotes its news coverage of the upcoming presidential election.