WSNS Channel 44 - The Money Movie - "China Gate" (Break #1, 1979)

Here's some rare footage from another long-lost local movie show - "The Money Movie" on WSNS TV-44! The movie presented on this day was "China Gate". TMM was similar in concept to Dialing for Dollars. Viewers (mostly lonely housewives and old people from what it sounds like) would send in post cards with their name and phone number, and the host would call them live on the air during the movie breaks to see if they could answer some trivia questions. They answered an easy preliminary question for $10, and then had a chance to answer a harder question for the jackpot. If the person answered incorrectly on the second question, they would add $10 to the jackpot for next time. The host would also give recipies or show how to make simple crafts during the breaks.

According to my sources, "The Money Movie" lasted from about January of 1979 through approximately April of 1979. It was hosted by local Chicago actress Diane Dorsey. She apparently still resides in Chicago, though I haven't been able to contact her yet. (Diane - if you're out there, send me an e-mail - I'd love to talk with you about your time at WSNS) John Dickinson produced the show, and Kurt Mendelson directed it.

By the way, when Diane calls the gumby figure "Michael T. Gumby", she was likely referencing Michael Torchia, another WSNS director. As my source says, "No doubt Mike and Diane were flirting a bit at the time."

In this segment: A partial Chicago White Sox promo commercial featuring Harry Caray singing a disco version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" advertising the pre-season game of the White Sox Vs. Yankees on Thursday, March 29th at 7pm (ending voiceover by Linda Frost), then Diane speaks with the first contestant of the day - Irene Cotta (sp?) who is an avid stamp collector, and Diane gives the address to send post card entries to:

The Money Movie
P.O. Box A-3915
Chicago, IL 60690

This aired on local Chicago TV on Wednesday, March 14th 1979 at 1pm.

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