AMC Serves a Turkey-Free Thanksgiving Festival of Six Award-Winning Films On November 22.

Entertainment Editors

JERICHO, N.Y.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2001

On Thursday, November 22, AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS serves a Thanksgiving Day feast of five-star fare when it presents "A Turkey-Free Thanksgiving," a festival of six award-winning films and a special episode of the original AMC series BACKSTORY.

Featuring the Oscar(R) winners A MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, HEAVEN CAN WAIT, and THE GREAT GATSBY, the festival line-up was collectively nominated for a total of 19 Academy Awards(R), 15 Golden Globes and two Cannes Film Festival awards.

AMC's "Turkey-Free Thanksgiving" festival begins at 10:00 AM (ET) with MIRACLE ON THE 34TH STREET (1947). Macy's executive and single mom Maureen O'Hara and her cynical daughter, Natalie Wood, learn the true nature of hope and faith when Edmund Gwenn convinces all of New York - and a court of law - that he is truly Santa Claus. Filmed on location at Macy's department store in New York's Herald Square and in the midst of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the film garnered four Academy Award(R) nominations, including Best Picture, and won three Oscars, including Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Gwenn).

At 12:15 PM (ET), four boys set out to find the body of a missing child in STAND BY ME (1986), a coming-of-age story set in the 1950s. Richard Dreyfuss is the adult narrator recalling his youthful adventure, and Will Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell are the childhood friends. The adaptation of a novella by Stephen King was nominated for Best Screenplay, and Wheaton, Phoenix, Feldman and O'Connell won the Young Artist Awards' special Jackie Coogan Award.

Following, at 2:00 PM (ET), Warren Beatty is a pro football player who dies before his time and reemerges in the body of a recently murdered millionaire in the comedy HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1978). Dyan Cannon is the millionaire's conniving wife, and Julie Christie is his diving inspiration. Beatty, who also produced, co-directed and co-wrote the screenplay, was nominated for Academy Awards(R) in all four categories. The film earned a total of nine nominations, and won the Oscar(R) for Best Art Direction. Buck Henry, James Mason and Jack Warden co-star.

In the Academy Award(R)-winning film, THE GREAT GATSBY (1974), airing next at 4:00 PM (ET) Robert Redford is a Long Island tycoon and Mia Farrow is the debutante he loved and lost in the film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's timeless novel of the jazz age. The film won Oscars(R) for Best Costume Design and Best Music for Nelson Riddle's original score. Sam Waterston and Bruce Dern co-star. (Also at 12:45 AM.)

AMC's "A Turkey-Free Thanksgiving" Festival continues at 8:00 PM (ET) with an encore presentation of MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, followed at 9:45 PM (ET) by an all new episode of AMC's BACKSTORY, which details the making of this timeless holiday favorite.

Next, at 10:15 PM (ET), Goldie Hawn and William Atherton lead the Texas State Police on a high-speed chase across the state when they try to kidnap their son from his foster parents in Steven Spielberg's THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS (1974). Nominated for the Golden Palm at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival, the film, based on a true story, won for Best Screenplay.

The final course in AMC's "A Turkey-Free Thanksgiving" is CINDERELLA LIBERTY (1973) at 3:15 AM (ET). James Caan is a sailor on extended leave from the Navy who falls in love with Marsha Mason, a prostitute raising her son alone. Mason won the Golden Globe for Best Actress and earned one of the romantic drama's three Oscar(R) nominations. Eli Wallach and Burt Young co-star.

AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS is the nation's premier classic movie network, bringing timeless favorites to a broad audience by placing them in a fresh and contemporary context. Award-winning original documentaries, series and specials are infused with the energy and excitement of Hollywood past and present. Launched in 1984, AMC is currently available in 81 million homes.

AMC is owned and managed by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. A subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) and NBC, Rainbow manages American Movie Classics, WE: Women's Entertainment, Bravo, The Independent Film Channel, MuchMusic USA, Rainbow Sports, News 12 Networks and MetroChannels as well as the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. In addition, Rainbow is a fifty-percent partner in FOX Sports Net. AMC is one of the assets included in a new series of Cablevision common stock -- Rainbow Media Group tracking stock (NYSE: RMG) -- which began trading on the NYSE on March 30th. MGM (NYSE: MGM) owns a 20 percent stake in four of Rainbow's national networks - AMC, Bravo, IFC and WE: Women's Entertainment.