What was the first movie to be broadcast on HBO in 1972?

Today, HBO, or Home Box Office, is considered the leading pay TV network in the U.S. It is also one of the most influential networks in the world, due to its focus on quality television programs that are produced without restrictions on content. It can do this because it operates solely on subscriptions.

But before HBO beamed their first live sporting event in 1972—a New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks hockey game—the channel screened their first full length motion picture: Sometimes a Great Notion, to 325 subscribers. It had been a little seen 1971 drama about lumber unions starring Paul Newman and Henry Fonda. (Newman directed this film after Richard Colla was fired just several weeks into shooting this film's story.)

Currently, HBO has a very solid reputation for innovative programming. Programs such as Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Oz, etc. have raised expectations that programs on this network will have quality content all or most of the time.