Manos the hands of Fate Question/TV Broadcast History

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by midniteinsanjuan, Jul 28, 2021.

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  1. midniteinsanjuan

    midniteinsanjuan Senior Member Thread Starter

    As I'm very aware of it's history and it's subsequent resurrection via MST3K, my question is rather specific to its TV broadcast history between it's very limited theatrical release and the MST broadcast in the 90's.

    I just found out that it was broadcast on TV in the Quebec City market in early 1976, does anyone know if it was shown anywhere else during that time period? And also how the heck could a local TV station in Quebec get a copy?

    Which now makes me wonder if it was dubbed or subtitled in French
     
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  2. SmallDarkCloud

    SmallDarkCloud Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    Details are scarce, but at some point Manos fell into the public domain, and began to be offered in low-budget syndication packages by small companies, which is where the MST3K crew found it. It’s possible the Quebec station found it the same way, especially if it was a small UHF type station.
     
  3. midniteinsanjuan

    midniteinsanjuan Senior Member Thread Starter

    Indeed it was, that makes total sense. Thanks for the info.

    I'm guessing it was also broadcasted as is, in English.

    BTW- The TV Guide listings in the QC newspaper has a capsule review of all the movies shown that week except for Manos!
     
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  4. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni

    Location:
    USA
    It’s indescribable.
     
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  5. midniteinsanjuan

    midniteinsanjuan Senior Member Thread Starter

    I know..do you imagine? I just love knowing that a local french speaking UHF TV station in 1976 without knowing any of the film's history were faced with broadcasting it.

    In case anyone was curious, it was broadcast at 23:20 on Sunday February 1st 1976 on CKMI channel 5

    As mentioned, the listing does not have a capsule review but it does mention "T. Neyman" and "D. Mahree"
     
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  6. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    Yep.

    Search - Newspapers.com
     
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  7. SmallDarkCloud

    SmallDarkCloud Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    Out of curiosity, I decided to check Michael Weldon's 1983 book Encyclopedia of Psychotronic Movies to see if Weldon included an entry on Manos. Sure enough, he did, and he recounts the film's origins as the production of a local (El Paso) fertilizer salesman, Hal Warren. So, Manos: The Hands of Fate was known in cult movie circles before the MST3K gang got a hold on it.

    (On a similar note, Weldon's 1996 follow-up book includes an entry on the 1980 Golan-Globus disco musical The Apple, several years before that film became a cult sensation)
     
  8. midniteinsanjuan

    midniteinsanjuan Senior Member Thread Starter

    After checking the entry in the Montréal Gazette, it turns out it was a simulcast and it was broadcast in Montréal and Quebec City. So anyone with a decent enough antenna in the province could've watched it. As far as I can tell it was the first and only time it was broadcast in Canada
     
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  9. RexKramer

    RexKramer Senior Member

    Location:
    Outside of Philly
    I just watched "The Apple". I turned to my wife after and said "Can't Stop the Music" and Xanadu are better movies." She started going "whoa, hey..." but I said "at least there was a continuous story that made logical sense in those films."

    But getting back to Manos - it's not in "Golden Turkey Awards" (1980 edition). But the video age was in full swing by 1983 and I'd imagine "Psychotronic" had access to a wider variety of films. I was looking for an old Leonard Maltin film guide but can't scrounge it up at the moment.
     
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  10. aphexj

    aphexj Sound mind & body

    Untranslatable!
     
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  11. Avenging Robot

    Avenging Robot Senior Member

    In Toronto we had City TV that in the '80s had Not-So-Great-Movies which used to show really, really bad movies. I remember seeing many exquisitely bad movies but I can't recall if Manos was shown or not.
     
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