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Season
1 (NBC
Daytime) (1955-56)
Episode Guide
compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by: Rina Fox [#1.30
Updated Jan 2020-RF]
references:
TV Guide /
Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive
############### Matinee Theater ##############
############## season 1 1955-56 ##############
##############################################
NBC Daytime (Daily) (Weekdays) (Monday - Friday)
1.01 [01] Matinee Theater: BEGINNING NOW
(debut, color) [Premiere]
[Updated Jan 2020-RF]
31-Oct-1955 NBC Mon 3pm NYT
Teleplay by Frank Gilroy / Short Story by John P. Marquand
Directed by Albert McCleery
Host John Conte
starring
Louis Hayward ..... John Kelsey
Frances Reid ...... Jane Kelsey
Philip Bourneuf ..... Joe
Mike Miller .... Pete
Julie Bennett
Addison Richards
Synopsis:
A wealthy irresponsible father has a terrible automobile accident shocking his
college-age son
and himself to soul-search their wicked ways and reform.
Synopsis 2:
Story of how a father's influence on his teenage son warps the boy's view of
realistic living.
The father's careless, philandering ways encourage the boy to follow in his
footsteps and it
takes major trouble in the family to bring sense to all concerned.
Note: First appeared in the Saturday Evening Post April 8, 1939.
*Note: Matinee Theater uses more scripts, actors, directors and properties than
any other show on the air.
Since its first show (J. P. Marquand's Beginning Now), some 2,000 actors have
slipped in and out of 5,000
costumes for Matinee's forays into contemporary drama (93), comedy (35), period
pieces (20)
and the classics (11).
Actor-Crooner John Conte has clocked in a record 3,240 minutes of work on-camera
as the show's host.
1.02 [002] Matinee Theater: MAKE BELIEVE MOTHER
01Nov1955
Story by Ricky Zurex
starring
Kevin McCarthy
Augusta Dabney
Synopsis:
A woman, married several years and still childless, tries to convince
her husband that they should adopt a youngster. [RF]
1.03 [003] Matinee Theater: THE PERSISTENT IMAGE
02Nov1955
from the novel by Gladys Schmitt
starring
William Bishop
Angie Dickinson
Synopsis:
A man cherishes the memory of a former sweetheart, even though
she threw him over for another man. [RF]
1.04 [004] Matinee Theater: I'M STRAIGHT WITH THE WORLD
03Nov1955
Written by Theodore Apstein
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
James Dunn
Joe De Santis
Peg Hillias
Lamont Johnson
Synopsis:
The lives of a middle-aged couple are disrupted when
the husband's business goes bankrupt. [RF]
1.05 [005] Matinee Theater: PROGRESS AND MINNIE SWEENEY
04Nov1955
Written by Edmond Kelso
Directed by Larry Schwab
starring
Ann Harding .............. Minnie Sweeney
Ross Elliott
Jonathan Hole
Synopsis:
A schoolteacher refuses to retire, though the school board has been objecting to her
old-fashioned methods for years. Finally one of the students rebels against staying
after school. The boy happens to be the son of the school superintendent. [RF]
1.06 [006] Matinee Theater: THE HOUSE ON WILDWOOD LANE
07Nov1955
Written by George Lowther
starring
Ross Elliot
Adrienne Marden
Bobby Hyatt
Synopsis:
A husband fears personal failure in business. [RF]
1.07 [07] Matinee Theater: BEYOND A REASONABLE
DOUBT [Updated Jan 2020-RF]
08-Nov-1955 NBC Tue
Written by Henry Misrock
Host John Conte
starring
Cara Williams ...... Anne Lawson
DeForest Kelley ...... Frank Lawson
Melinda Plowman ..... Jane
Synopsis:
A professor at a boarding school is accused of murdering a woman teacher. He
denies guilt even though
a letter from the victim implies a secret tryst: and a little girl claims she
saw the murder.
Synopsis 2:
A couple celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary with Anne's parents who are
visitors at the Lawson home.
Anne's father tries unsuccessfully to persuade Frank to give up teaching and
enter the family business.
In the midst of this, the police arrive to take Frank to the district attorney's
office for questioning
in the murder of Miss Speyer, the female teacher. A pupil, Jane discoverer of
the body, is approached
by Frank's wife who tries to uncover more evidence to clear her husband's name.
Jane's testimony produces
some surprises and eventually helps unravel the mystery.
Synopsis 3:
A Professor is implicated in the murder of a female teacher at a girl's boarding
school.
1.08 [008] Matinee Theater: ONE FOR THE ROAD
09Nov1955
Written by Ellis St. Joseph
starring
John Abbott ....... Jasper Purdy
Peter Hanson ....... Fred Purdy
Mary Scott ....... Virginia
Mike Winkleman ....... Jonathan
Ben Welden ............... Boss
Synopsis:
A man who left his wife and infant son turns up years later. He drops in for a visit at
the home of his now married son and grandchildren. His sudden appearance
and penchant for gambling wreak havoc in his son's home. [RF]
1.09 [009] Matinee Theater: AN APPLE FOR MISS MYRTLE
10Nov1955
From a short story Margaret Cousins
starring
Geraldine Page ........ Miss Myrtle
Synopsis:
A schoolteacher in a small town is frowned on by the
parents for her unorthodox behavior. [RF]
1.10 [010] Matinee Theater: THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY
11Nov1955
Adapted by Elihu Winer
From Edward Everett Hale's classic
Directed by Lamont Johnson
starring
Peter Hanson ............. Philip Nolan
Synopsis:
This is the story of a man who damned his country
and was subjected to a strange sentence. [RF]
1.11 [011] Matinee Theater: JIGSAW
14Nov1955
Written by Seymour Stern
starring
John Conte
Judith Evelyn
Tom Laughlin
Synopsis:
A middle-aged woman lives in a dream world. [RF]
1.12 [012] Matinee Theater: SHE'S THE ONE WITH THE FUNNY FACE
15Nov1955
Written by Robert Barbash
starring
Judy Canova
Synopsis:
A down-and-out entertainer zooms back to stardom on television. [RF]
1.13 [013] Matinee Theater: ALL THE HOFFMEYERS IN
THE WORLD
16Nov1955
Written by Anthony Spinner
Directed by Walter Grauman
starring
Ludwig Donath
Jean Inness
Gordon Mills
Kathleen Freeman
Synopsis:
A janitor working in an apartment building joins the social club for friendship.
1.14 [014] Matinee Theater: THE ASPERN PAPERS
17Nov1955
Adapted by Michael Dyne
Based on the novel by Henry James
Directed by Arthur Hiller
starring
Donald Murphy
Frances Reid
Katherine Warren
Ernest Sarracino
Synopsis:
A young writer goes to the Venetian villa of the elderly woman who was
once the mistress of a famous author, now dead many years. [RF]
1.15 [015] Matinee Theater: ROMAN FEVER
18Nov1955
Teleplay by H.R. Hays (Hoffman R. Hays)
Based on the story by Edith Wharton
Directed by Sherman Marks
starring
Claire Luce
Irene Hervey
Carla Balenda
Synopsis:
Two young girls are rivals for the affection of a young painter. [RF]
1.16 [016] Matinee Theater: MIDSUMMER
21Nov1955
Adapted by Speed Lamkin
Based on a short story by Nancy Hale
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
Margaret O'Brien ....... Victoria
Keith Andes
Ted Donaldson
Carolyn Craig
Synopsis:
The daughter of a well-to-do family in New England is bored with her aristocratic life.
While her parents are abroad, the teenager takes up with a man whose
background is the exact opposite. [RF]
1.17 [017] Matinee Theater: THE LADY CHOOSES
22Nov1955
Written by William McCleery
starring
Judith Evelyn
John Hoyt
Synopsis:
A New York Publisher is astounded to learn of his wife's dabbling in politics.
When she decides to run for office, her husband tries to convince her
she's being used as a figurehead. [RF]
1.18 [018] Matinee Theater: THE COURTSHIP OF MILES STANDISH
23Nov1955
Adapted by Ellen & Richard McCracken
Based on the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Directed by Lamont Johnson
starring
John Dehner .............. Captain Miles Standish
Val Dufour
Olive Sturgess
Tudor Owen
Synopsis:
Widower Captain Miles Standish seeks the aid of his friend John Alden in asking
the hand of a young woman. Standish does not realize Alden is also in love with the girl. [RF]
pre-empted for Macy's Day Parade
24Nov1955
1.19 [019] Matinee Theater: DISPOSSESSED
25Nov1955
Adapted for TV by Elizabeth Hart
From a novel by Nedra Tyre
Directed by Allan Buchhantz
starring
Amzie Strickland
Helen Wallace
Robert Forrest
Synopsis:
Evil pervades the once happy atmosphere of a spinster's cottage. A strange and
domineering woman moves in unexpectedly and proceeds to rule the spinster's life. [RF]
1.20 [020 Matinee Theater: ONE FOR THE ROAD
28Nov1955
Written by Ellis St. Joseph
starring
John Abbott ....... Jasper Purdy
Peter Hanson ....... Fred Purdy
Mary Scott ....... Virginia
Mike Winkleman ....... Jonathan
Wendy Winkleman ....... Pamela
Ben Welden ....... Boss
Synopsis:
A man who left his wife and infant son turns up years later. He drops in for a visit at
the home of his now married son and grandchildren. His sudden appearance and
penchant for gambling wreak havoc in his son's home. [RF]
1.21 [021] Matinee Theater: THE TOUCHSTONE
29Nov1955
Adapted by Jerome Rose & Lois Jacoby
From the novel by Edith Wharton
Directed by Arthur Hiller
starring
Don Briggs ....... Stephen
Frances Robinson ....... Alexa
Anthony Eustrel ....... Dexter
Victoria Ward
Synopsis:
A once successful writer, who now verges on the alcoholic, makes one last attempt
to sell his latest work. When this fails, he must decide which is more important,
personal integrity or money. [RF]
1.22 [022] Matinee Theater: WUTHERING HEIGHTS
30Nov1955
Adapted by Lois Jacoby
From the novel by Emily Bronte
Directed by Lamont Johnson
starring
Richard Boone ....... Heathcliff
Peggy Webber ....... Cathy
Sammy Ogg ........ Young Heathcliff
Shelley Fabares .......... Young Cathy
Sean McClory ........... Hindley
Natalie Norwick ......... Isabella
Stanley Adams ........ Earnshaw
Synopsis:
This is the tragic love story of a man and woman who fell in love as youngsters,
but who each married another. [RF]
1.23 [023] Matinee Theater: THE BRASS RING
01Dec1955
Adapted by Helene Hanff (as Herman Knight)
Based on a story by Jacqueline Rhodes
Synopsis:
A young intern tries to convince his fiancee she shouldn't have the responsibility of
supporting her divorced sister and the sister's child. [RF]
1.24 [024] Matinee Theater: JASON
02Dec1955
Adapted by Lawrence Hazard
Based on the story by Samson Raphaelson
starring
John Hoyt
Helen Westcott
Synopsis:
An intellectual New York drama critic takes a personal interest in a young playwright.
Then he discovers the younger man has more than a casual interest in the critic's wife. [RF]
1.25 [025] Matinee Theater: ARROWSMITH
05Dec1955
Adapted by Kathleen and Robert H. Lindsay
Based on the story by Sinclair Lewis
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
Grant Williams ..... Martin Arrowsmith
Gregory Gay
Maudie Prickett
Reba Tassell
Synopsis:
Martin Arrowsmith, an idealistic young doctor, returns to his rural hometown
and establishes a small practice, and in his spare time eventually
develops a serum for a deadly cow disease.
1.26 [026] Matinee Theater: PASSING STRANGE
06Dec1955
Written by E. Jack Neuman
starring
Sally Brophy
Val Dufour
Synopsis:
A man leaves the religious confines of his upbringing
to journey around the world.
1.27 [027] Matinee Theater: FOR THESE SERVICES
07Dec1955
Written by Theodore Ferro & Mathilde Ferro
starring
Richard Jaeckel
Synopsis:
A young doctor's avarice for the almighty dollar comes into play
when a poverty stricken neighborhood stranger seeks
his help.
1.28 [028] Matinee Theater: CORDIALLY - WITH BOMBS
08Dec1955
starring
Arthur O'Connell
Synopsis:
A man plans to extort money from the city by planting
bombs around the city.
1.29 [029] Matinee Theater: WHITEOAKS
09Dec1955
(aka The White Oaks)
Adapted by Kay Arthur
Based on a story by Mazo De La Roche
Directed by Allan Buckhantz
starring
Lenore Shanewise
Myron Healy
Bob Arthur
Synopsis:
A young woman feels country life is robbing her of true happiness.
1.30 [30] Matinee Theater: O'TOOLE FROM MOSCOW
[Updated Jan 2020-RF]
12-Dec-1955 NBC Mon
Produced by Albert McCleery
Written by Rod Serling
Directed by Laurence Schwab
starring
Chuck Connors .... Joseph Bishofsky
Leo Durocher (dual role of a bartender and a baseball club general manager)
John Banner ........ Mushnik
Kurt Katch ...... Strumski
Jack Reitzen
Steve Pendleton
Dorothy Abbott
Gene Roth
Renny McEvoy
Synopsis:
A baseball loving Soviet citizen defects to the U.S. to play for the Cincinnati
Reds.
Synopsis 2:
Comedy about the adventures of two Russians who escape from their embassy and
seek
asylum with the Cincinnati Reds.
*Note: [Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph]
Rod Serling turned off his set after seeing two-thirds of his "O'Toole from
Moscow"
on NBC's Matinee Theater".
He says, "I thought it was a bomb, I couldn't stand it. They bludgeoned it to
death.
It lacked a deft touch. There were too many scenes, too many transitions,
too many characters and too many commercials.
I'm one of the culprits, make that clear."
And of the critics: "I think the reviews of my plays should have been worse."
1.31 [031] Matinee Theater: THE MILWAUKEE ROCKET
13Dec1955
Adapted by Dale Wasserman
Based on a story by Ted Prideaux
Directed by Jim Jordan
starring
Robert Horton
Alan Hale, Jr.
Karen Steele
Synopsis:
A small town is upset when they learn that a train will soon be going thru it.
1.32 [032] Matinee Theater: THIS ONE IS
DIFFERENT
14Dec1955
Written by S.S. Schweitzer
starring
John Conte ........ Tom Loring
Marcia Henderson .. Linda Gresham
Synopsis:
An architect meets a wealthy Wall Street broker's daughter
and has to compete for her attentions with an unsavory beau.
1.33 [033] Matinee Theater: THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
15Dec1955
Written by David Davidson
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
John Hoyt
Donald Murphy
Frances Reid
Carolyn Craig
1.34 [034] Matinee Theater: SEE YOU ON SUNDAY
16Dec1955
starring
Jan Merlin
Angie Dickinson
Kathy Garver
Synopsis:
A timid man finds it difficult to confront his in-laws until one
weekend he invites them so his wife can see what they are really like.
1.35 [035] Matinee Theater: COMING OF AGE
19Dec1955
Written by Harold & Johanna Brodky
Directed by Tad Danielewski
starring
Madge Evans
Elaine Stritch
(New York Origination)
Synopsis:
When the vivacious sister takes advantage of the shy
meek one sparks start to fly.
1.36 [036] Matinee Theater: TECHNIQUE
20Dec1955
Written by Lois Jacoby
starring
Shirley Ross
Hayden Rorke
Angie Dickinson
Claire Luce
1.37 [037] Matinee Theater: GALLIN ALL-AMERICAN
21Dec1955
starring
Douglas Kennedy
Synopsis:
A former All-American football player is blinded as the result of an auto
accident
and places the blame on his son who was driving.
1.38 [038] Matinee Theater: SANTA IS NO SAINT
22Dec1955
Written by Frank and Doris Hursley
Directed by Arthur Hiller
starring
Edmund Gwenn
Anita Louise
Robert Middleton
Jean Byron
Jerry Mather
Synopsis:
A stern business man believes his children should be told the truth about Santa
Claus. [RF]
1.39 [39] Matinee Theater: THE UNWELCOMED
23Dec1955
Written by Gladys Schmitt
Hosted by John Conte
Synopsis:
The three shepherds journey to Bethlehem with a young child
to welcome the Christ Child is told.
1.40 [040] Matinee Theater: THE RED SANDERS STORY
26Dec1955
Written by Wilton Schiller
Story by George Bruce
Directed by Walter Grauman
Hosted by John Conte
starring
Richard Arlen ......... Red Sanders
Dorthy Green
Philip Tonge
William Schallert
Synopsis:
This is the story of UCLA's football coach, Red Sanders,
who gave up a life of security to gamble on his convictions.
1.41 [041] Matinee Theater: ELISHA AND THE
LONG KNIVES
27Dec1955
Written by Dale Wasserman
Hosted by John Conte
starring
Harry Carey Jr.
Synopsis:
A boy survives an Indian massacre and three hunters become his caretakers.
1.42 [042] Matinee Theater: HORNS OF DILEMMA
28Dec1955
Written by Harold Callen
starring
Philip Bourneuf
Frances Reid
Synopsis:
A teacher tries to collect a debt from town officials.
1.43 [043] Matinee Theater: IT SOMETIMES HAPPENS
TWICE
29Dec1955
Synopsis:
A divorced man falls for a divorced woman,
they have more in common than they even realize.
1.44 [44] Matinee Theater: THE SHOT
30Dec1955
Written by E. Jack Neuman
Directed by Allan Buckhantz
starring
Myron Healy
James Griffith
Douglas Kennedy
Judith Ames
Synopsis:
A duel for a woman leads to many complications during the Civil War.
[--] Matinee Theater: 02Jan1956 pre-empted for the Cotton Bowl,
Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl.
1.45 [045] Matinee Theater: MR. KRANE
03Jan1956
Based on the story by Arthur Rodney Conebeare
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
Cedric Hardwicke ..... Mr. Krane
John Hoyt ............ Harry
Mary LaRoche ......... Elaine
Peter Hansen ......... Will
Synopsis:
Mr. Krane claims to be from outer space---and warns that men on Earth are
doomed. [RF]
1.46 [46] Matinee Theater: YESTERDAY IS GONE
04Jan1956
Written by Peggy Phillips
Synopsis:
A romance built around Thomas Jefferson's stay in France before his election as
President of the United States. The love affair between Jefferson and Maria Casway,
a woman whose husband used her friendship with
Jefferson to advance his own political ambitions.
1.47 [47] Matinee Theater: DOUBLE DOOR
05Jan1956
Synopsis:
A domineering woman meddles when her half-brother marries
a girl beneath her level. She decides to plant innuendo and near murder,
to break them up and she almost succeeds.
1.48 [48] Matinee Theater: THE HAPPY REST
06Jan1956
Written by N.R. Nash
Synopsis:
A lonely backwoods family disagrees with their expectant
daughter's fight for the unborn baby.
1.49 [49] Matinee Theater: THE GATE
09Jan1956
Written by Katherine Lindsay
Synopsis:
An elderly man justifies his wasted life and saves the
happiness of his son-in-law by telling him not to be what
others want but what he wants.
1.50 [50] Matinee Theater: ONE LEFT OVER
10Jan1956
starring
Harry Townes
Joan Sudlow
Synopsis:
After the death of his wife and two-children in a car crash, a man is left with
one child.
His neighbors offer a lot of advice but it takes an
Air Force veteran to really straighten him out.
1.51 [051] Matinee Theater: ALL THE TREES IN THE FIELD
11Jan1956
Written by Sylvia Richards
Directed by Alan Neuman
starring
James Bell ............ Rancher
Robert Karnes ......... Son
Melinda Plowman ....... Granddaughter
Adrienne Marden ....... Mother
Amzie Strickland ...... Daughter-in-law
Carolyn Craig ......... Cousin
Sammee Tong ........... Nurseryman
Synopsis:
An father is being pressured to sell his orange grove to real estate developer.
Note: A television history first, when the first live color remote was broadcast
from
an orange grove in the San Fernando Valley [RF]
1.52 [52] Matinee Theater: THE CENTURY PLANT
12Jan1956 (rerun 09Aug56)
written by Theodore Apstein
starring
Constance Ford
Ross Elliott
Synopsis:
The idyllic existence of an American college professor, who has moved with his
second wife and two children to Mexico, is menaced by the sudden appearance of
his first wife, who is determined to win him back.
1.53 [53] Matinee Theater: FRIDAY THE 13TH
13Jan1956
Written by Sumner Locke Elliot
Directed by Allan Buckhantz
starring
Rex Reason
Maxine Cooper
Cathy Downs
Glenn Langan
Virginia Gibson
Mary Beth Hughes
Paul Burke
1.54 [054] Matinee Theater: THE OLD MAID
16Jan1956
Adapted from the play by Zoe Akins
Based on the novel by Edith Wharton
Directed by Lamont Johnson
starring
Sarah Churchill ....... Charlotte Lovell
Katharine Bard
Karen Sharpe
Rhodes Reason
Synopsis:
The story of a woman who is unable to tell her daughter she is her real mother.
[RF]
1.55 [055] Matinee Theater: MOTHER WAS A BACHELOR
17Jan1956
Written by Irving W. Phillips
starring
Billie Burke
Synopsis:
A spinster aunt who for years acted as mother to the children of her dead
sister,
suddenly decides she wants to live a life of her own. [RF]
1.56 [056] Matinee Theater: BOTTOM OF THE RIVER
18Jan1956
Written by Arnold Schulman
Synopsis:
A social worker tries to organize a gang of unmanageable
youngsters into a decent boys' club. [RF]
1.57 [057] Matinee Theater: COMPANY MANNERS
19Jan1956
Written by William McCleery
Synopsis:
A young family encounter opposition as they enter
a housing area to keep their family together.
1.58 [058] Matinee Theater: THE CHILD AND THE MUSE
20Jan1956
starring
Frances Robinson
Synopsis:
A precocious child of eight has her poems submitted to a magazine by her mother.
1.59 [059] Matinee Theater: THE BIG BOX
23Jan1956 NBC Mon
Written by Arnold Auerbach
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
John Hoyt
Randy Stuart
Benny Baker
Synopsis:
A girl who has faith in a down-and-out radio comedian tries to talk
him into doing a new television show. [RF]
1.60 [060] Matinee Theater: SINCERELY YOURS, CHARLIE FISHER
24Jan1956 NBC Tue
written by Donald Symington and Dean Harens
starring
Gene Lockhart
Lee Meriwether
Martin Milner
Synopsis:
A young employee of a small-town post office spends most of his time
day-dreaming
about traveling to the far corners of the globe. His mother and sweetheart try
to convince him that he must settle down. [RF]
1.61 [061] Matinee Theater: DOC
25Jan1956 NBC Wed
starring
Ann Doran
Dabbs Greer
Olive Sturgess
Synopsis:
A father tries to get his daughter to postpone her marriage. Because of his own
past experience,
he fears that the career of the groom-to-be will be
hampered by marriage. [RF]
1.62 [062] Matinee Theater: THE AMATEUR
26Jan1956 NBC Thur (rerun 18Sep56)
Guest cast:
Paul Gilbert ............. Bernie
Adrienne Marden .......... Sara
Bea Benaderet ............ Edna
Synopsis:
A young man weary of his job at a garment factory,
has aspirations to enter show
business. [RF]
1.63 [063] Matinee Theater: LIGHT AND SHADOW
27Jan1956 NBC Fri
Guest cast:
Argentina Brunetti
Jeanne Cooper
Paul Lukather
Synopsis:
A social worker reports that a middle-aged woman is
mentally unbalanced. But the woman's friends and neighbors stand
behind her, knowing that her delusion concerning a son she never had
is only her way of clinging to a small shred of happiness. [RF]
1.64 [064] Matinee Theater: ROMNEY
30Jan1956
starring
Peter Votrian
Synopsis:
After the sudden death of his older brother, a young boy
rejects and is rejected
by his father. [RF]
1.65 [065] Matinee Theater: O PROMISE ME
31Jan1956
Written by Greer Johnson
Guest cast:
Dick Elliott ............. Dr. Lamarr Grimp
Cheerio Meredith ......... Ola Jean Darter
Jean Sudlow .............. Sofan Vestal
Robert Sampson ........... Buford
Synopsis:
A middle-aged doctor has been courting his sweetheart for 43 years!
All is calm and the doctor advises two young lovers to wait before
marrying until they are financially prepared. Angry, his fiancee
files suit against him for breach of
promise. [RF]
1.66 [066] Matinee Theater: HOLD MY HAND AND RUN
01Feb1956
Written by Jeanette and Francis Letton
Guest cast:
Claire Luce .............. Jean Blake
Lowell Gilmore ........... Bill Blake
Synopsis:
A married couple have avoided telling their daughter the truth about
the
father's job and their martial plans. [RF]
1.67 [067] Matinee Theater: DARK POSSESSION
02Feb1956 (rerun 27Aug56)
Written by Gore Vidal
Directed by Lamont Johnson
starring
Karen Sharpe
Carol Stone
Katherine Bard
Adrienne Marden
Kathleen Crowley
Maury Hill
Synopsis:
A series of anonymous letters creates fear and havoc in the lives of three
sisters.
The mysterious writer accuses one of the sisters of murder. [RF]
1.68 [068] Matinee Theater: THE DIAMOND
03Feb1956
Written by David Chandler
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
Helen Westcott
Richard Crenna (as Dick Crenna)
Gloria Blondell
Synopsis:
A plain, unglamorous secretary whose life thus far has been quite ordinary,
finds herself the center of attention when she becomes heir to a huge diamond. [RF]
1.69 [069] Matinee Theater: SUSAN AND GOD
06Feb1956
Adapted by Lawrence Hazard
Story by Rachel Crothers
Directed by Walter Grauman
starring
Sarah Churchill
Walter Coy
Cathy Downs
Elinor Donahue
Synopsis:
A wealthy socialite finds religion while on a European vacation
and returns home to spread the good word. [RF]
1.70 [070] Matinee Theater: AS YOUNG AS YOU FEEL
07Feb1956
starring
Ann Harding
Synopsis:
A woman encourages a older man to live it up a little.
1.71 [071] Matinee Theater: THE WHITE KNIGHT
08Feb1956
starring
Josephine Drew
Gregory Gay
Synopsis:
A biographer falls in love with the daughter of the man he is writing about.
1.72 [072] Matinee Theater: THE ANXIOUS YEARS
09Feb1956
Written by Thyra Samter Winslow
starring
Irene Hervey
Philip Ober
Synopsis:
A doting mother almost ruins the lives of her grown children.
1.73 [073] Matinee Theater: HEART OF MARY LINCOLN
10Feb1956
starring
Mercedes Shirley ..... Mary Todd Lincoln (young Mary Lincoln)
Lenore Shanewise ..... Mary Lincoln (older Mary Lincoln)
Synopsis:
After the death of Abraham Lincoln the further downfall of Mary's
mental state unfold as she struggles to come to grips with the loss
of her beloved husband and her young son.
1.74 [074] Matinee Theater: THE MIDDLE SON
13Feb1956
starring
Ernest Truex
Sylvia Field
1.75 [075] Matinee Theater: VALENTINE'S DAY
14Feb1956
starring
Frances Reid
Philip Bourneuf
Synopsis:
The daughter and sister of a pretty widow decide to play Cupid.
Both want to marry her off to a likely suitor. [RF]
1.76 [076] Matinee Theater: SUMMER CANNOT LAST
15Feb1956
Based on a
story by Elizabeth Hart
starring
Barbara Billingsley
Geoffrey Toone
Synopsis:
A mother discovers she is falling in love with the man her daughter has married.
[RF]
1.77 [077] Matinee Theater: THE LAST BATTLEFIELD
16Feb1956
Written by Harold Callen
starring
Joey Walsh
Synopsis:
A Polish merchant learns that his teen-age son and daughter have been
won over to communism. He laboriously arranges an escape from the country,
with his rebellious son virtually his prisoner. Even in Sweden their trouble
continues, as the son informs on a priest who has aided their escape. [RF]
1.78 [078] Matinee Theater: THE CATBIRD SEAT
17Feb1956
Adapted by Robert J. Shaw
Based on James Thurber's story
Directed by Sherman Marks
starring
Mary Wickes
Dabbs Greer
Phillip Tonge
Lillian Bronson
Synopsis:
A meek little file clerk turns into a veritable tiger when his boss hires
an efficiency expert. His file system has worked for 30 years. and he's
not going to change it for an efficiency expert. [RF]
1.79 [079] Matinee Theater: DREAM HOUSE
20Feb1956
Written by Arthur Cavanaugh
starring
Virginia Vincent
Herbert Rudley
Synopsis:
Having always dreamed of a rose-covered cottage and prosperity
a woman is sadly disillusioned with her new husband
and her life.
1.80 [080] Matinee Theater: THE RUNAWAYS
21Feb1956
Written by Alfred Brenner
starring
John Barrymore Jr.
Karen Sharpe
Synopsis:
A young man evades giving police evidence and a girl tries to escape a serious
operation.
1.81 [081] Matinee Theater: THE LEDGER
22Feb1956
Written by Jack Laird
starring
Lyle Talbot
Tom Brown
Ann Doran
Synopsis:
An investment counselor is sued by a fortune hunter for embezzlement.
1.82 [082] Matinee Theater: WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS
23Feb1956
Written by Michele Cousin
starring
Betty Lynn
Ray Stricklyn
Alex Gerry
Jimmy Lydon
Jean Del Val
Synopsis:
The story of a family's sacrifices for a musically talented son and no money to
spare.
1.83 [083] Matinee Theater: I WANT TO MARCH
24Feb1956
Teleplay by Hoffman R. Hays
starring
Robert Warwick
Martin Milner
Ruth McDevitt
Synopsis:
The story of two New York biology professors during the infancy of the 20th
century
are horrified when the wife of one and the daughter of the other
join the suffregette movement. They are horrified even more when romantic
complications develop between the daughter and
the other professor's son.
1.84 [084] Matinee Theater: SKYLARK
27-Feb-1956
Written by Sam Raphaelson
Story by Lawrence Hazard
Directed by Arthur Hiller
starring
Gene Raymond ........ Tony Kenyon
Sarah Churchill
Sheila Bromley
June Vincent
Casey Adams
Synopsis:
The wife of a successful advertising executive feels he pays too much attention
to the value of a dollar bill and not enough to the value of life. [RF]
1.85 [085] Matinee Theater: TALL, DARK STRANGER
28Feb1956
Written by Peter Barry
starring
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Hugh O'Brian
Synopsis:
A man is hired to follow the wife of his boss, who suspects she is involved
in a romance with a tall dark stranger. Unwillingly, he falls in love
with her, and murder seems the only way out. [RF]
1.86 [086] Matinee Theater: ANYTHING BUT LOVE
29Feb1956
Written by William McCleery
starring
Diana Lynn
John Conte
Synopsis:
Even though he does not believe in romance, a producer is attracted to his
latest star.
There's a small hitch however, he is willing to marry her in order to keep
her in the theater. She wants to marry and retire from the theater. [RF]
1.87 [087] Matinee Theater: ROBIN DAW
01-Mar-1956
Written by Ira Avery
starring
June Havoc
Alex Talton
Synopsis:
A sophisticated Hollywood woman commentator is bored with most of her suitors.
She finally falls in love, but with a scientist who plans to isolate himself on
an island to study an incurable illness. [RF]
1.88 [088] Matinee Theater: LETTER TO A STRANGER
02-Mar-1956
Adapted from the novel by Elswyth Thane
starring
Jeff Morrow ...... Beaumont Marshall
Susan Kohner ........ Joanna Marshall
Margaret Hayes ...... Eve Endicott
Synopsis:
The curiosity of a woman novelist is aroused by a letter from a young girl.
She claims her father keeps her a virtual prisoner in their home. [RF]
1.89 [089] Matinee Theater: DINNER AT ANTOINE'S
05Mar1956
Adapted by Samuel W. Taylor
Based on a story by Frances Parkinson Keyes
Directed by Allan Buckhanz
starring
Tod Andrews
Jean Parker ....... Amelie
Vinton Hayworth ....... Foxworth
Synopsis:
A beautiful young New Orleans socialite is found murdered.
The police captain is certain someone in her family is guilty. [RF]
1.90 [090] Matinee Theater: THE MATING OF WATKINS TOTTLE
06Mar1956
Adapted by William Kozlenko
Based on a novel by Charles Dickens
Directed by Lamont Johnson
starring
Alan Mowbray
Charles Davis
Phyllis Stanley
John Irving
Synopsis:
A middle-aged bachelor thus far has avoided matrimony. His friends, knowing
he is in need of money, arrange a meeting with a prospective bride who
might be willing to support a husband. [RF]
1.91 [091] Matinee Theater: HER SON'S WIFE
07Mar1956
Adapted by Peggy Phillips
Based on a story by Claire Wallis
starring
Irene Hervey
Douglas Kennedy
Synopsis:
Three generations come together to celebrate the grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.
During the evening the newly wedded granddaughter insists on modeling her
grandmother's wedding gown. As a result, many true family relationships
are revealed for the first time. [RF]
1.92 [092] Matinee Theater: THE SHINING PALACE
08Mar1956
Written by Peggy Phillips
starring
Darren McGavin
Dorothy Shay
Synopsis:
A husband has definite ideas about bringing up his children. He feels his way of
life on an isolated island is better than letting his offspring be subjected to
education and other cruelties of civilization. [RF]
1.93 [093] Matinee Theater: THE ODD ONES
09Mar1956 (rerun 14Jun57, 07Feb58, Jun58)
Written by Betty Ulius
Directed by Livia Granito
Hosted by John Conte
starring
Marilyn Erskine ...... Judith Mann
Darryl Hickman ....... Ben de Franco
Olive Blakeney ....... Mrs. Mann
Walter Kelley ........ Howie Mann
Stephen Coit ......... Philip Field
Ron Foster ........... Jerry
Opal Euard ........... Janitor
Synopsis:
A woman art instructor entering her 30's falls in love with a pupil younger than she.
Her overbearing brother tries to convince the woman that the artist is only
using her to further his career. [RF]
1.94 [094] Matinee Theater: A COWBOY FOR CHRIS
12Mar1956
Written by Walter Black & William Mendrek
starring
Ray Montgomery
Synopsis:
A once-famous movie cowboy takes a room in a boarding house
run by a very attractive widow. [RF]
1.95 [095] Matinee Theater: THE ROCKING CHAIR
13Mar1956
Adapted by Anthony Spinner
From a story by Bob Barbash
starring
Lamont Johnson ..... Steve
Addison Richards ... Frank
Synopsis:
On the eve of his daughter's return from her honeymoon, the father of the
bride dies suddenly. The grief-stricken mother transfers her dependence
to her daughter, endangering the marriage of the
newly-wedded couple. [RF]
1.96 [096] Matinee Theater: THE BIG GUY
14Mar1956
Written by Leonard Freeman
starring
Alan Hale Jr. ...... Duke
Toni Gerry ......... Susan Wilson
William Schallert .. Henry
Synopsis:
A man still rests on his laurels as a big-time football player, but he is
brought up
short when he realizes his business success is
due only to his former athletic glory. [RF]
1.97 [097] Matinee Theater: STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
15Mar1956 (rerun 15May56)
Written by A.J. Russell
starring
Herbert Anderson ... Professor Finch
Sallie Brophy ...... Mona
Richard Crane ...... Joe
Joe Devlin ......... Marvin
Mary Adams ......... Mother
Synopsis:
A professor masterminds a million-dollar holdup and splits the loot three ways
with his accomplices. A few years later, just before the statue of limitations has
run out, the police get a strange clue when one of the
thieves is committed to a hospital. [RF]
1.98 [098] Matinee Theater: THE BARON AND THE BANSHEES
16Mar1956
Written by Seamus White
starring
John Carradine
Betty Lynn
Synopsis:
Four good friends in old Eire share living quarters. Their friendship
is put to the test when one of the cronies brings home his intended bride. [RF]
1.99 [099] Matinee Theater: NOTEBOOK WARRIOR
19Mar1956 Mon
Written by Ira Levin
starring
Ben Cooper
Onslow Stevens
Richard Carlyle
Synopsis:
A Concert violinist is drafted into the Army over his father's strenuous
objections. [RF]
1.100
[100] Matinee Theater: TEMPTATION FOR A KING
20Mar1956 Tue
Adapted by Michael Dyne
From the novel by John Secondari
starring
John Conte
Synopsis:
An exiled king must decide between abdication or an attempt to regain his power.
[RF]
1.101 [101] Matinee Theater: THE ANTIDOTE
21Mar1956
Written by Richard McCracken
starring
James Bell
John Lupton
Synopsis:
A beloved country doctor and the son who doesn't seem to be big enough to follow
in his father's giant footsteps.
1.102 [102] Matinee Theater: SHADOWS
22Mar1956
starring
Debra Paget ........ Ruth Brand
Joe Kirkwood Jr. ... Chris Brand
Synopsis:
A motion picture star and his overly imaginative wife who has cried wolf so
often her husband doubts her when she reports another man is romancing her.
1.103 [103] Matinee Theater: 'M' IS FOR THE MANY
...
23Mar1956
Written by Joan Cunningham
Directed by Livia Granito
starring
Ann Harding
Lewis H. Martin
Carol Nugent
Synopsis:
A woman was married multiple times hopes this one is the final one.
1.104 [104] Matinee Theater: SILENT PARTNER
26Mar1956
starring
Steven Geray
Lili Darvas
Synopsis:
Following the death of her husband, a widow insists on keeping his tailor shop
open
even though business is falling off. A long-time friend, who has been in love with her
for many years, tries to convince the grief-stricken widow she is making a mistake by
treating the shop as a shrine to her husband's memory.
[RF]
1.105 [105] Matinee Theater: WINTER IN APRIL
27Mar1956 (rerun 22Apr57)
starring
Margaret O'Brien
Synopsis:
An elderly man of letters supports his orphaned teen-age granddaughter.
When he hires a young male secretary, the girl believes she has fallen in love.
[RF]
1.106
[106] Matinee Theater: BREAD UPON THE WATERS
28Mar1956 (rerun 12Mar57)
Written by Irwin Shaw
starring
Marshall Thompson
Patricia Smith
Mary Young
Jacqueline deWitt
Betsy Paul
Synopsis:
A young couple moves into the ground floor apartment of a mansion owned by
an elderly woman. The husband at first resents the fact that the old lady imposes on
his wife to do household chores. Then they learn they have been made sole heirs in her will. [RF]
1.107 [107] Matinee Theater: THE GIANT KILLER
29Mar1956
Written by Joseph K. Caldwell
starring
Lloyd Corrigan
Irene Tedrow
Cynthia Baxter
Synopsis:
A father is determined to prevent his teenage daughter from
leaving home and entering a convent. [RF]
1.108 [108] Matinee Theater: THE BOOK OF RUTH
30Mar1956
Adapted by Howard Rodman
Director &
Narrator Lamont Johnson
starring
Sarah Churchill ...... Ruth
Katherine Warren ..... Naomi
Fay Bainter
Synopsis:
This is the well-known story of Biblical times about Ruth, whose devotion
to her mother-in-law takes her into a new land among strangers. [RF]
1.109 [109] Matinee Theater: SINGER IN THE VALLEY
02Apr1956
Written by Dorothy Rood Stewart
starring
Betty Lynn Tyler
Jane Darwell
Synopsis:
A temporary school teacher faces the dilemma of leaving the school
or remaining to help the troubled youngsters with whose
problems she has become Involved.
1.110 [110] Matinee Theater: HEART OF A HUSBAND
03Apr1956 (rerun 04Oct56)
Written by Mort Thaw
starring
Gene Raymond
Catherine McLeod
June Vincent
Synopsis:
A lawyer's wife is successful in her own right which drives her
husband to another woman who is equally aggressive.
1.111 [111] Matinee Theater: FROM THE DESK OF MARGARET TYDINGS
04Apr1956 (rerun 14Apr58 & 25Jun58)
Teleplay by Robert Esson
Based on a story by Blanche Gregory
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
Margaret Hayes ....... Margaret Tydings
Donald Murphy ....... Jim Tyding
DeForest Kelley ...... Alan Brecker
Virginia Stefan ...... Edith Martin
Johnny Crawford ...... Jimmy
Maidie Norman ........ Rose
Anna Karen ........... Doctor Irene Glenn
Virginia Arness ...... Betty
Synopsis:
A successful career woman becomes ill and discovers that someone
has been giving her small doses of poison every day. [RF]
Synopsis 2:
After a successful businesswoman falls ill, she learns that she's
being receiving small daily doses of a poison. Her leading suspects are
her husband and her ambitious assistant.
Synopsis 3:
A successful career woman becomes ill and discovers that someone has been
giving her small doses of poison every day. Her suspicion falls on both her
ambitious assistant and her husband. [RF]
Synopsis 4:
Suspicion falls on an envious husband when a successful woman learns that she is
being poisoned. [RF]
*NOTE: Syndication airing on Cameo Theater 11Mar62 ABC Sat)
1.112 [112] Matinee Theater: BUT YOU LOOK LIKE
SISTERS
05Apr1956
Written by Lois Jacoby
starring
Vicki Cummings
Richard Arlen
1.113 [113] Matinee Theater: THE HOUSE OF SEVEN
GABLES
06Apr1956 (rerun 15Aug56, 09Oct56, 29Nov56)
Adapted by Elihu Winer
Based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Directed by Allan Buckhantz
starring
John Carradine ...... Jaffrey Pyncheon
Marshall Thompson ... Clifford Pyncheon
Helen Wallace ....... Hepzibah Pyncheon
Synopsis:
In Puritan times, a wealthy man takes a fancy to some property owned
by a man named Maule, and has Maule executed on trumped-up charges
of witchcraft. The doomed man places a curse on
his accuser's family.
1.114 [114] Matinee Theater: FIDDLIN' MAN
09Apr1956 (rerun 22Aug56)
Produced by Albert McCleery
Written by Dale Wasserman
Story by William Brandon
Directed by Lamont Johnson
starring
Gene Nelson
Murvyn Vye
Synopsis:
When young, personable Dr. Rainwater rides his medicine show wagon into town,
he's clapped into jail by the sheriff. The sheriff says he'll release him only if
Rainwater will aid the sheriff in acquiring a very fine horse from a young lady
who refuses to have any dealings with him. [RF]
1.115 [115] Matinee Theater: THE HOLLOW WOMAN
10Apr1956 (rerun 23Aug56, 11Oct56)
Written by Bruce Kimes
starring
Diana Lynn .......... Laura
Jess Barker ......... Charles
Ellen Corby ......... Cissie
Sara Haden .......... Charlotte
Ottola Nesmith ...... Anna
Robert Patten ....... Spencer
Synopsis:
A young woman hides her sensitivity about not being attractive to men behind
a facade of sophistication and sarcasm. Her elderly aunt, once a musical-comedy star,
tries to help the girl break away from her domineering
mother. [RF]
1.116
[116] Matinee Theater: PEOPLE IN GLASS
11Apr1956
Written by Kathleen & Robert Howard Lindsay
starring
Virginia Bruce .... Margaret Ames
Robert Karnes
John Qualen
Synopsis:
The matriarch of an aristocratic but now penniless family
is aghast when she learns her widowed daughter plans
to marry a "common" man who owns a greenhouse. [RF]
1.117
[117] Matinee Theater: ONE OF THE FAMILY
12Apr1956 (rerun 10Oct56)
Written by S.S. Schweitzer
starring
Irene Ryan ........... Ray Moore
Peter Hanson ......... Jim Thatcher
Vinton Haworth ....... Robert Masters
Frances Helm ......... Olivia Dunne
Herbert Rudley ....... Walter Grimm
Synopsis:
A girl who has helped to build a talent agency into a successful business is,
in spite of a good salary and the respect of her colleagues, disturbed
by the feeling that she has to do all the dirty work.
[RF]
1.118
[118] Matinee Theater: YOUNG HANDS, YOUNG FEET
13Apr1956
Written by Steven Gethers
starring
Regis Toomey ......... Phil Gordon
Irene Hervey ......... Myra Gordon
Ellen Corby .......... Louise
John Eldredge ........ Frank Ross
Sally Fraser ......... Diane
Jess Kirkpatrick ..... Eddie
Ann Seaton ........... Jeannie
Margaret Brayton ..... Mrs. Patterson
Synopsis:
A middle-aged couple, successful in business, are unsuccessful
when it comes to holding their marriage together. [RF]
1.119 [119] Matinee Theater: THE LARK SHALL SING
16Apr1956
Adapted by Peggy Phillips
Story by Elizabeth Cadell
Synopsis:
A young English couple decide that they will live with the groom's aged mother
after the wedding. When the bride puts up her house for sale, her five brothers
and sisters, whom she has not seen for years, descend upon her from all corners
of the British Isles to try to prevent the sale. [RF]
1.120 [120] Matinee Theater: THE DOCTOR'S WIFE
17Apr1956
Written by Nicholas E. Baehr
starring
Kathleen Freeman
John Eldridge
Mae Clarke
Synopsis:
A doctor marries on the rebound and after 20 years meets the woman he has always
loved.
1.121
[121] Matinee Theater: IN DREAD OF WINTER
18Apr1956
Adapted by Jess Greg
starring
Diana Douglas
Paul Langton
Synopsis:
A governess, in love with the father of her charge, is dismayed when she learns
the
widower is unaware of her feelings and plans to marry another woman. In her bitter
disappointment, the governess turns the young boy against his prospective stepmother
in an effort to prevent the marriage from taking
place. [RF]
1.122
[122] Matinee Theater: THE BABYLONIAN HEART
19Apr1956 (rerun12Oct56)
Written by Robert Arthur
TV Adaptation by Henry Misrock
starring
Zsa Zsa Gabor ....... Jessica Winslow
Philip Reed ......... Charles Winslow
Dorothy Green ....... Elizabeth
Herschel Bernardi ... M. Plevian
Synopsis:
The fifth wealthiest woman in the world hires detectives to trail her fifth
husband
and ensure his faithfulness. The husband decides to regain his
freedom by arranging his own "death." [RF]
1.123 [123] Matinee Theater: ASK ME NO QUESTIONS
20Apr1956 (rerun 24Aug56)
Written by Max Wilk
starring
Alan Young
Marcia Henderson
Synopsis:
When a confirmed bachelor who owns a restaurant tries to sell his special recipe
for a salad dressing, he gets involved with a beautiful girl FBI agent.
1.124 [124] Matinee Theater: WHOM DEATH HAS JOINED TOGETHER
23Apr1956
Written by Alvin Sapinsley
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
Vincent Price
Catherine McLeod
Andrea King
Harry Carey Jr.
Synopsis:
A matinee idol whose advances to a married woman help
rouse her husband's romantic impulses. [RF]
1.125 [125] Matinee Theater: TIN WEDDING
24Apr1956
Writers Hagar Wilde & Judson O'Donnell
Synopsis:
A busy-body spinster enlightens her married sister about her husband's
infidelity.
1.126 [126] Matinee Theater: THE RECKONING
25Apr1956
Writer Daniel Morgan
starring
John Bleifer
Sue England
Jerry Eskow
Synopsis:
A newlywed couple's honeymoon is marred by an ailing father.
1.127 [127] Matinee Theater: A WOMAN NAMED RUBY
26Apr1956
Written by Doris Gilbert & Christie Munro
starring
Mary Webster
K.T. Stevens
Johnny Crawford
Synopsis:
Ruby decides to run for a political office even with her family against her.
1.128 [128] Matinee Theater: THE BRIGHT BOY
27Apr1956
Writer John Boruff
Synopsis:
A boy's prep school life turns around when a wise young class president
takes the sting out of a bright boy's vengefulness.
1.129 [129] Matinee Theater: THE CAREFREE TREE
30Apr1956 (rerun 11Mar57)
Teleplay by Helene Hanff
Story by Aldyth Morris
starring
Karen Sharpe
Lamont Johnson
Carol Stone
Synopsis:
Centuries ago in the Orient, two families are warring against each other
for the throne. Matters take an unexpected turn when the daughter of the
dowager empress falls in love with a young member of the opposite faction.
Synopsis 2:
In the Orient, war seems imminent between rival family factions. A young royal
couple,
whose son may someday occupy the throne, tries an unusual scheme to avert hostilities. [RF]
1.130 [130] Matinee Theater: GREYBEARDS AND WITCHES
01May1956 (rerun 17Sep56)
Written by Robert Easton
starring
Agnes Moorehead ...... Mrs. Barnes
Cathy O'Donnell ...... Velna
Judy Nugent ....... Emma
Louis Letteiri ........ Billy
Synopsis:
A woman passes off her deformed son as deceased
1.131 [131] Matinee Theater: THE LEGEND OF JENNY
LIND
02May1956
Written by Irve Tunick
Directed by Walter Grauman
starring
Dorothy Kirsten
James Flavin
Ralph Clanton
Ray Anthony
Werner Klemperer
1.132 [132] Matinee Theater: DAUGHTER OF THE
SEVENTH
03May1956 (rerun 03Oct56 & 28Jan57)
Writer S.S. Schweitzer
starring
Leon Ames
Cynthia Baxter
Synopsis:
The story of a ward-of the commander of the aristocratic seventh regiment
in the New York State militia in 1860 who causes trouble when she
falls for a lieutenant from the Brooklyn squadron of cavalry.
1.133 [133] Matinee Theater: NIGHT MUST FALL
04May1956
Written by Emlyn Williams
Directed by Sherman Marks
starring
Richard Jaeckel
Marilyn Erskine
Synopsis:
An aunt comes between a young man and woman's romance.
1.134 [134] Matinee Theater: THE 25TH HOUR
07May1956
Writer James Blumgarten
starring
Bonita Granville
Hugh Beaumont
Synopsis:
A young mother becomes distraught with her domestic routine
and runs away, leaving a bewildered husband behind.
1.135 [135] Matinee Theater: A MAN AND A MAID
08May1956
Writer Therese Lewis
starring
Helen O'Connell
Craig Stevens
Synopsis:
A candidate for Governor accepts an invitation to dine at the home
of one of his backers and finds that one of the other guests is his ex-wife.
1.136 [136] Matinee Theater: PERSPECTIVE
09May1956
Writer Hoffman R. Hays
starring
Phyllis Avery
Synopsis:
A troubled artist fears she has lost her craft.
1.137 [137] Matinee Theater: THE CATAMARAN
10May1956
Writer J.P. Miller
starring
Mary Astor
Patrick O'Neal
Synopsis:
The story of a mother and daughter who both have found rough going
in the sea of matrimony. Daughter follows mother in marital separation
only to find the mother's footsteps turning back to
reconciliation.
1.138 [138] Matinee Theater: JOHNNY CAME MARCHING HOME
11May1956
Written by Anthony Spinner
starring
Richard Davalos ... Johnny
Synopsis:
A young veteran is changed by the war and his struggle to
escape his unchanging home town, family and girl.
1.139 [139] Matinee Theater: A FAMILY AFFAIR
14May1956 (rerun 21Aug56)
Written by Henry Misrock
starring
Jim Backus
Lurene Tuttle
Ronnie Burns
Synopsis:
A struggling artist, now a successful businessman,
is upset over the play his son has written.
[--] Matinee Theater: STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
15May1956 (rerun or postponed from 15Mar56)
1.140 [140] Matinee Theater: BLIND DATE
16May1956
Written by Joan Cunningham
Synopsis:
A blind date that nearly didn't show up changes a backward girls life.
1.141 [141] Matinee Theater: TO HAVE AND TO HOLD
17May1956
Written by Wilton Schiller
starring
Phyllis Thaxter
Patrick O'Neal
Synopsis:
A remarried Korean War widow learns that her first husband is still alive but
dying.
1.142 [142] Matinee Theater: EDWINA BLACK
18May1956
Written by Warner Law
Based on the play by William Dinnie
starring
Signe Hasso ......... Lisa
Synopsis:
Both the caregiver and the husband of an invalid woman are prime suspects
when she suddenly dies. It appears to some to have been a poisoning.
1.143 [143] Matinee Theater: THE SPARE ROOM
21May1956 (rerun 23Apr57)
Teleplay by Peggy Phillips
story by Nelia Gardner White
starring
Lurene Tuttle
Synopsis:
A small town nurse tries to bring together two heart-scarred victims
of life's struggles, a mysterious young man and a
cynical young widow.
1.144 [144] Matinee Theater: THE BOTTLE IMP
22May1956
Adapted by Bill Templeton
Based on the book by Robert Louis Stevenson
Directed by Livia Granito
starring
Richard Davalos
Nephru Malouf
Donald Randolph
H.M. Wynant (as
Haim Winant)
Synopsis:
A sailor finds a cursed bottle with a demon, it brings him all he desires but at
a cost.
1.145 [145] Matinee Theater: BRIEF MUSIC
23May1956
Teleplay by Irving Phillips
Play by Emmet Lavery
starring
Laurie Carroll
Mary Webster
Synopsis:
Two college girls are in love with their professor.
1.146 [146] Matinee Theater: THE GIRL FROM BORO
PARK
24May1956
Writer Albert Meglin
starring
Lili Darvas
Virginia Vincent
Synopsis:
A mother tries everything to marry off her daughter.
1.147 [147] Matinee Theater: TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
25May1956
Writer Ralph Rose
starring
Les Tremayne
Constance Ford
Synopsis:
A middle-aged man hopelessly stricken with cancer is prevented from
making plans for his own death by the predatory nature of his family.
1.148 [148] Matinee Theater: BACHELOR BUTTONS
28May1956
Writer Michelle Cousin
Synopsis:
A seamstress is so bemused by a college professor she is
unaware of the devotion of a co-worker.
1.149 [149] Matinee Theater: THE CHILDREN OF PAPA JUAN
29May1956
Written by Robert Claborne
starring
Herschel Bernardi
Jeanette Nolan
Johnny Crawford ..... Pepe
1.150 [150] Matinee Theater: HERSELF ALONE
30May1956
Teleplay by Roger Marston
Writer Charles Mergendahl
starring
Frances Rafferty
Richard Crane
Peter Hansen
Synopsis:
A young wife alone at a mining camp finds herself threatened.
1.151 [151] Matinee Theater: THREE FOR THE
MONEY
31May1956
Writer Jack Laird
starring
Richard Carlson
Doe Avedon
Synopsis:
A man has to find the poisoner of his wife and son before the police accuse him
of the crime.
1.152 [152] Matinee Theater: TAXI TO THE MOON
01Jun1956
writer Sheppard Kerman
starring
Constance Moore
Richard Long
Synopsis:
A successful middle-aged career woman has everything but what she
seeks most the revived love of her bored and much younger husband.
1.153 [153] Matinee Theater: THE GOOD TIME BOYS
04Jun1956
Written by Nicholas E. Baehr
starring
Patrick O' Neal
Addison Richards
Synopsis:
The retired founder of a publishing company doesn't agree
with his son's business decisions.
1.154 [154] Matinee Theater: THE AMERICAN
05Jun1956
Adapted by Michael Dyne
Based on the novel by Henry James
Directed by Pace Woods
starring
Peter Graves
Cloris Leachman
Lili Darvas
Synopsis:
A man believes the woman in a portrait is his lost love.
1.155 [155] Matinee Theater: THE LUCK OF AMOS
CURRIE
06Jun1956
written by Katherine Lindsay and Robert Howard Lindsay
starring
Charles Ruggles ... Amos Currie
Synopsis:
Old Amos Currie lives in a rest home and is allegedly getting rich by playing
the horses.
1.156 [156] Matinee Theater: FIGHT THE WHOLE WORLD
07Jun1956 (rerun 27Dec57)
Written by Caleb Gray
Directed by Allan Buckhantz
starring
Sidney Blackmer
Dean Stockwell
Nancy Malone ..... Jan
Dayton Lummis .... Father
Irene Tedrow ..... Mother
Susan Harrison
Kathleen Freeman
Synopsis:
A young orphan, raised on a farm, runs away and joins the Navy. [RF]
Synopsis 2:
An adopted orphan runs away to join the Navy---
then returns wanting to marry his foster sister. [RF]
1.157 [157] Matinee Theater: AUTUMN CROCUS
08Jun1956
Teleplay by Elizabeth Hart
Adapted from the Broadway play by C.L. Anthony
Synopsis:
A vacationing old maid schoolteacher finds tender but tentative summer
romance with the married proprietor of an Austrian Inn.
*NOTE: Margaret Truman was to star but due to illness canceled.
1.158 [158] Matinee Theater: GEORGE HAS A BIRTHDAY
11Jun1956 (rerun 01Nov56)
written by Jean Clifford Raymond
starring
Eddie Cantor ..... George Morris
Mae Clarke
Synopsis:
A meek elevator operator's sisters plot to kill for an inheritance.
Synopsis 2:
Two old maid sisters have long since frittered away the inheritance left them.
They plot to do away with their meek brother as soon as he receives
his inheritance on his next birthday. [RF]
1.159 [159] Matinee Theater: THE SERPENT'S TOOTH
12Jun1956
written by B.M. Atkinson Jr.
starring
Bill Goodwin
Johnny Crawford
Robert Eyer
Synopsis:
When a father tells his two boys to earn their spending money, he doesn't
anticipate that they write a newspaper article accusing him of being a tyrant.
1.160 [160] Matinee Theater: CRIME AT BLOSSOM'S
13Jun1956
Teleplay by Jerome Ross
Story by Mordaunt Shairp
starring
Nydia Westman
Synopsis:
A woman is persuaded by an aunt to move into a house in which a murder was
recently committed.
1.161 [161] Matinee Theater: CAUSE FOR SUSPICION
14Jun1956
From Peggy Lamson's play
Synopsis:
A story of one romance that blossoms among four men and two women who
are thrown together for a week of testing in their training to become spies for the U.S.
1.162 [162] Matinee Theater: ALISON'S HOUSE
15Jun1956
Teleplay by Richard McCracken
story by Susan Glaspell
starring
Lenore Shaneweiss
Dayton Lummis
Synopsis:
A famed poetess wrote some love poetry to a married man.
1.163 [163] Matinee Theater: A SAFE PLACE
18Jun1956
written by S.S. Schweitzer
starring
Steve Allen
Synopsis:
The story about the bitter rivalry revolves around two brothers, one a chief of
police,
the other the mouthpiece for a group of gamblers who decide to take over the city.
1.164 [164] Matinee Theater: THE GUEST COTTAGE
19Jun1956
Written by William McCleery
starring
Frances Reid
Chet Marshall
Synopsis:
The story of a young psychiatrist who parlays confusion among
the house guests of his fiancee's stubborn father into a reconsideration
of the lad's quest for the girls' hand in marriage.
1.165 [165] Matinee Theater: FORSAKING ALL OTHERS
20Jun1956
Teleplay Peggy Phillips
Adaptation of Alice Duer Miller's poem
Synopsis:
A chronicle of what happens when circumstances bring together a beautiful
woman and a handsome man, each of whom is married to an invalid.
1.166 [166] Matinee Theater: LOVE, HONOR AND O'DAY
21Jun1956
Writers Eileen Mason, Robert Mason Pollock
Synopsis:
A light hearted story of a sponsor's wife who tries to reunite the TV
man-and-wife team of Johnny and Amanda O'Day for her husbands sponsors.
1.167 [167] Matinee Theater: THE DAMASK CHEEK
22Jun1956
Teleplay by Theodore Apstein
Story by John Van Druten
Synopsis:
The story of a young woman who comes to visit relatives in this country
and winds up in the middle of two romances being carried on by her two cousins.
1.168 [168] Matinee Theater: THE LIGHTED WINDOW
25Jun1956
Teleplay by Betty Ulius
Based on Pearl S. Buck's "Moon Over Manhattan".
starring
Scott Forbes
Fran Bennett
Synopsis:
An unhappily married New York executive's wife involves
herself in the romantic and financial problems of an artist.
1.169 [169] Matinee Theater: BUT FEAR ITSELF
26Jun1956
Writer Martin Grupsmith
Synopsis:
An ex film star comes out of 14 years retirement to appear on a television
show.
1.170 [170] Matinee Theater: THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT
27Jun1956
Story by Andrew Rosenthal
Synopsis:
An attractive wife's world falls apart.
1.171 [171] Matinee Theater: THE GHOST OF GREENWICH
VILLAGE
28Jun1956
Adapted by Robert Esson
Based on a novel by Elsie Milnes
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
John Barrymore Jr.
1.172 [172] Matinee Theater: THE YOUNG AND THE
DAMNED
29Jun1956
Teleplay by Warner Law
Story by Kenneth Phillips Britton
Synopsis:
A college boy's efforts to cover up his murder of an off-campus bad
girl who accuses him fathering her expected child.
1.173 [173] Matinee Theater: THERE'S ALWAYS JULIET
02Jul1956
Teleplay by Helene Hanff
Story by John Van Druten
starring
John Conte
Joan Elan
Synopsis:
A young Englishwoman is swept off her feet by the attentions of a handsome American.
But he doubts that their sudden love can be real or lasting. [RF]
1.174 [174] Matinee Theater: SEASONED TIMBER
03Jul1956
Adapted by Elihu Winer
From the novel by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
starring
James Whitmore
Synopsis:
The principal of a Vermont Academy opposes one of the school's trustees who
wants to alter the curriculum in order to make the academy more exclusive. [RF]
1.175 [175] Matinee Theater: THE DECLARATION
04Jul1956
Written by Stephen R. Callahan & John Vlahos
starring
Victor Jory
Synopsis:
The aristocratic father of a young man decries the Declaration of Independence and
such 'rebels' as Franklin, Jefferson and Adams. Loyal to the king, the father orders his
son out of the house when the young man persists in his radical ideas. [RF]
1.176 [176] Matinee Theater: HIGH PLACES
05Jul1956
Written by Roger Garis
Synopsis:
A newspaper editor feels that his principles are being compromised by his
publisher's policies. But when it comes to his private life, he is lee high-principled. [RF]
1.177 [177] Matinee Theater: BLACK CHIFFON
06Jul1956
Adapted by Philip Barry Jr.
From the play by Leslie Storm
Synopsis:
Two days before the marriage of her son, a woman who has an absolutely
untarnished reputation unaccountably steals a black-chiffon nightgown. [RF]
1.178 [178] Matinee Theater: CLASS OF '58
09Jul1956
Written by Louis S. Peterson
starring
Dean Stockwell
Synopsis:
A college freshman is expelled from school and is returning home
to uncertainty when he meets a business man who changes his life.
Matinee Theater was pre-empted on July 10th, 1956 by the All-star Game.
1.179 [179] Matinee Theater: MARRIAGE BY THE
MILLIONS
11Jul1956
Written by George Lowther
Synopsis:
A successful woman marriage counselor's husband asks for a divorce.
1.180 [180] Matinee Theater: BACKFIRE
12Jul1956
Writer Marc Brandel
Synopsis:
A fame-seeking professor and the lawyer suitor of his
daughter feel guilty over a murder suspect.
1.181 [181] Matinee Theater: THE BISHOP MISBEHAVES
13Jul1956
Teleplay by Kay Arthur
Synopsis:
An English Bishop finds himself in the middle of a robbery.
1.182 [182] Matinee Theater: THE REMITTANCE MAN
16Jul1956
Written by James Elward
starring
James Bell
Ann Doran
Synopsis:
An imaginative old man's fanciful anecdotes change the
lives of the family with whom he boards.
1.183 [183] Matinee Theater: BEG, BORROW OR STEAL
17Jul1956
Teleplay by Jay Presson
starring
Regis Toomey
Synopsis:
A respected attorney's career of embezzlement catches up with him
on the eve of his daughter's marriage to his junior law partner.
1.184 [184] Matinee Theater: SUMMER PAVILION
18Jul1956
Written by Gore Vidal
starring
Isabel Jewell
Richard Crane
Synopsis:
An outwardly docile Southern girl who falls in love with the engineer who
is tearing up the heirloom summer house of her matriarchal mother.
1.185 [185] Matinee Theater: THE FEAST
19Jul1956
Teleplay by Hoffman R. Hays
Story by Margaret Kennedy
starring
Joan Elan
Synopsis:
The story of the life of the eccentric residents of a guest
house perched on the edge of a cliff.
1.186 [186] Matinee Theater: THE RICH FULL LIFE
20Jul1956
Teleplay by Jack Paritz
Writer Vina Delmar
starring
Judith Evelyn
Synopsis:
A wife in a humdrum marriage battles her husband and her husband's
family to save her daughter from a similar fate.
1.187 [187] Matinee Theater: THE REVERBERATOR
23Jul1956
Adapted by Lois Jacoby
Based on Henry James' short novel,
first published as a serial in Macmillan's Magazine
in 1888.
Directed by Arthur Hiller
starring
Jacques Sernas
Betty Lynn
Synopsis:
A Parisian family is exploited by the American tabloids and causes a scandal.
1.188 [188] Matinee Theater: WOMAN AT THE WINDOW
24Jul1956
Writer Nelia Gardner White
starring
Cloris Leachman
Synopsis:
A young woman is about to free herself from the limitation of her
charming sister when tragedy turns the latter into a dependent invalid.
1.189 [189] Matinee Theater: ANOTHER SKY
25Jul1956
Written by Naomi Lane Babson
starring
Inger Stevens
Robert Horton
Synopsis:
A young girl's silent adoration of first a missionary, then a sea
captain finally brings her fulfillment of her dreams.
1.190 [190] Matinee Theater: LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
26Jul1956
Writer William Templeton
starring
Audrey Totter
Synopsis:
The story of an American divorcee, transplanted to Paris
who receives a letter stating that she is about to be visited
by a young man who doesn't know she is his mother.
1.191 [191] Matinee Theater: HOME AT SEVEN
27Jul1956
Teleplay S.S. Schweitzer
Story R.C. Sherriff
starring
Ronald Howard
Pat Hitchcock
Synopsis:
A bank employee suffers a 24-hour lapse of memory.
1.192 [192] Matinee Theater: THE CYPRESS TREE
30Jul1956
Writer Robert J. Shaw
Synopsis:
The story of a recently widowed woman's determination to rebuild
her own life despite her sister's strange insistence on mournful respect for the dead.
1.193 [193] Matinee Theater: BELONG TO ME
31Jul1956
Teleplay by Gail Ingram
Based on Ann Pinchot's unpublished novelette "Love Wears A Golden Crown"
Directed by Livia Granita
Guest cast:
David Janssen ........ Paul Merrick
Judith Braun ......... Liss Hale
Helen Westcott ....... Victoria
Ann B. Davis ......... Peg Miller
Sandy Descher ........ Maidy
Lisa Golm ............ Landlady
Synopsis:
A young governess to a child whose parents are divorced is attracted to the
father.
1.194 [194] Matinee Theater: PYGMALION JONES
01Aug1956
Teleplay Gail Ingram Clement
Story Dorothy Kilgallen & Richard Kollmar (her producer husband)
Synopsis:
The story of an accidental photograph that catapults an obscure
young woman from school teacher to pin-up girl and playgirl.
1.195 [195] Matinee Theater: GRETEL
02Aug1956
Written by Vance Bourjaily
Directed by Lamont Johnson
starring
Dennis Hopper
Tamzen Allen
Synopsis:
A young boy marries an Immigrant girl then must explain to his parents his reasons.
1.196 [196] Matinee Theater: SOME MAN WILL WANT YOU
03Aug1956
Written by Helen Hanff
starring
John Banner
Synopsis:
A girl is tossed into the tension of a presidential nominating convention.
1.197 [197] Matinee Theater: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER
06Aug1956 (rerun 05Nov57, 28Apr58)
Adapted by Robert Esson
Story by Edgar Allan Poe
Directed by Boris Sagal
starring
Tom Tryon ......... Roderick
Marshall Thompson .... David
Eduardo Ciannelli
Synopsis:
A friend pays a visit to a man who lives in a sinister, dark mansion.
The day he arrives, his host's sister is taken mysteriously ill and is not seen again. [RF]
Synopsis 2:
An eccentric man is haunted by his dead sister's voice. [RF]
*Note: Great article and pictures of the making of
this
episode in TV Guide Oct 6-12 '56 Gale Storm on cover.
**Note: Syndication airing on Cameo Theater 16Apr61.
1.198 [198] Matinee Theater: CUPID ROAD A HORSE
07Aug1956
Written by B.M. Atkinson Jr.
starring
Lloyd Corrigan
June Vincent
Johnny Crawford
Synopsis:
Grandpa Hoyt will be sent back to Iowa if he doesn't stop betting on the horses.
The old man's grandsons want to keep him around, so they try
and fix him up with wealthy Mrs. Conkwright.
1.199 [199] Matinee Theater: THE OLD PAYOLA
08Aug1956
Written by Abby Mann
starring
Jackie Coogan
John Conte
Jeff Donnell
Synopsis:
A crooner turns rock 'n' roll hipster at his manager's request to pick up a fast
buck. [RF]
[---] Matinee Theater: THE CENTURY PLANT
09Aug1956 rerun from 12Jan56.
1.200
[200] Matinee Theater: PERFECT ALIBI
10Aug1956
Teleplay by Nikki Justin
Based on a story by William Noble
From A.A. Milne's play
starring
Reginald Denny
Joan Elan
Synopsis:
The young ward of a man whom police believe committed suicide,
sets out to prove that it was murder.
[--] Matinee Theater:
13Aug1956 pre-empted for Republican convention
[--] Matinee Theater:
14Aug1956 pre-empted for Republican convention
[--] Matinee Theater: THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN
GABLES
15Aug1956 (rerun from 06Apr56)
[--] Matinee Theater:
16Aug1956 pre-empted for Democratic convention
[--] Matinee Theater:
17Aug1956 pre-empted for Convention coverage
[--] Matinee Theater:
20Aug1956 pre-empted for GOP Convention coverage
[--] Matinee Theater: A FAMILY AFFAIR
21Aug1956 (rerun from 14May56)
[--] Matinee Theater: FIDDLIN' MAN
22Aug1956 (rerun from 09Apr56)
[---] Matinee Theater: THE HOLLOW WOMAN
23Aug1956 (rerun from 10Apr56)
[---] Matinee Theater: ASK ME NO QUESTIONS
24Aug1956 (rerun from 20Apr56)
[--] Matinee Theater: DARK POSSESSION
27Aug1956 (rerun from 02Feb56)
############### Matinee Theater
##############
############### end of season 1 ##############
##############################################
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