Matinee Theater
Matinee Theater is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1955 to 1958. The series, which ran daily in the afternoon, was frequently live. It was produced by Albert McCleery, Darrell Ross, George Cahan and Frank Price with executive producer George Lowther. McCleery had previously produced the live series Cameo Theatre which introduced to television the concept of theater-in-the-round, TV plays staged with minimal sets. Jim Buckley of the Pewter Plough Playhouse recalled: When Al McCleery got back to the States, he originated a most ambitious theatrical TV series for NBC called Matinee Theater: to televise five different stage plays per week live, airing around noon in order to promote color TV to the American housewife as she labored over her ironing. Al was the producer. He hired five directors and five art directors. Richard Bennett, one of our first early presidents of the Pewter Plough Corporation, was one of the directors and I was one of the art directors and, as soon as we were through televising one play, we had lunch and then met to plan next week’s show. That was over 50 years ago, and I’m trying to think; I believe the TV art director is his own set decorator —yes, of course! It had to be, since one of McCleery’s chief claims to favor with the producers was his elimination of the setting per se and simply decorating the scene with a minimum of props. It took a bit of ingenuity.
Season 2 Episodes
A well-known woman mystery writer believes she has found the way to commit the perfect murder. Unknown to her, a greedy …
Halvard Solness a brilliant architect and builder, becomes moody and afraid of life as he grows old. Hilda a girl who re…
The governess of two motherless children believes they are possessed by the spirits of two deceased servants.
the story of the romance of Jennie Jerome, an American girl, who fell in love with the son of the Duke of Marlborough, L…
A 15-year-old boy who suffers from lack of attention tries to get attention from his mother by showing off a watch he ha…
A teenage daughter tries to effect a reconciliation between her divorced parents. The father is a famous author who has…
The child star of a TV show has her father convinced she is capable only of angelic behavior. But when the father falls …
In 1874 a former New York city policeman walks all the way to Texas to claim a ranch left to him by a relative. He finds…
""A young girl's boy friend is appalled at the way she plays on people's emotions for monetary rewards. She tries to mak…
Harry Parker, a man who has spent his entire life traveling with carivals learns that the granddaughter of a woman he ha…
An aspiring violinist and his father disagree over the son's ability as a musician.
A young man pays a visit to the family mansion in Newport, R.I., now presided over by its sole occupant, his aunt.
Cast
