As I remember it the series was called The American Film Theatre and
others included GALILEO and (now I'm really dragging the depths of my
memory!) the Osborne play about an aging performer starring either Alan
Bates or Albert Finney.
In Australia they were released as a series but screened theatrically in
the normal way, albeit being marketed as "quality" films because of their
theatrical origins. My memory is that as films most of the ones I saw
were very tedious!