Saturday Night at the Movies (1974)

Seated in a comfortable chair, Elwy Yost introduces a double bill of old movies every Saturday night. For many years, his trademark phrase was, "Now it's time to turn those lights down a wee bit low." The films are usually American, sometimes British, very, very rarely Canadian. Each double bill encompasses a certain theme. There may sometimes be guests in the studio to discuss the theme. Taped interviews with filmmakers, performers, and critics may pursue the theme. Interviews also relate to the making of the films on that night's double bill. Very frequent interview subjects are American critics Leonard Maltin and Charles Champlin, plus many older performers, directors, screenwriters, and so on rarely, if ever, seen elsewhere. The show's interview archive is very extensive, and one such interview was used in the 1999 Academy Awards presentation. The interviews are run between the two films, and afterwards. In the very early days, short subjects or experimental films would sometimes follow the two features, but that practice was discontinued.