Matinee Theater - Jane Eyre

1957 · drama

16 May 1957 Director: Lamont Johnson Writers: Charlotte Brontë, Robert Esson, Albert McCleery John Conte, Patrick Macnee, Joan Elan After a harsh childhood, orphan Jane Eyre is hired by Edward Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house to care for his young daughter. Matinee Theater was an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from October 31, 1955 to June 27, 1958 Its name is often seen as Matinee Theatre. The series, which ran daily from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m Eastern Time, was usually broadcast live and most of the time in color. Its live dramas were presented with minimal sets and costumes. It was the first daily hour-long dramatic series on television. When it was broadcast, Matinee Theater was the most heavily promoted regularly scheduled daytime program on U.S. television. Along with NBC's Home, the show was part of the network's effort to "provide quality 'adult' entertainment" in daytime programming. In its second season, the program had an audience of 7 million daily viewers. The series ended in 1958 due to its high budget; much higher than any other daytime program in television. In 1956, the program's budget was "about $73,000" to produce five episodes per week. A few of the later episodes were preserved on color film for later rerun syndication under different titles. The scripts of the series' episodes are archived at the University of California, Los Angeles. Several episodes are preserved at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, The Paley Center, and the Library of Congress. (Wikipedia)