October 31, 1955 - June 13, 1958

Broadcast Live this ambitious TV adaptation of the 1818 novel, FRANKESTEIN, written by English author Mary Shelley, was televised in Color on NBC TV, February 5, 1957, starring Tom Tyron, Christine White, Vic Perrin & Primo Carnera as the Monster.

While 55 references in WIKIPEDA of actors playing the role of the Monster (stage, film, TV), over the years, there is not mention of the characterization and version performed by Primo Carnera. 

This peerless COMPLETE AUDIO AIR CHECK broadcast  of FRNKENSTEIN was restored by Phil Gries from an original 1/4" reel to reel audio tape discovered and obtained by archivist scholar Gary Rutkowski (www.savetv.tv).

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 (including last two weeks of re-runs).
 
The series was broadcast on NBC television 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. During its three-year series run there were 7000 different performers employed, and hundreds of talented writers and directors who navigated its peerless television run, using 4,200 sets, 210,000 props, and 15,000 costumes.
 
Host for this series was John Conti.

When it was broadcast, Matinee Theater was the most heavily promoted regularly scheduled daytime program on U.S. television, part of the network's effort to "provide quality 'adult' entertainment" in daytime programming. 
 
The series ended in 1958 due to its high budget, much higher than any other daytime program in television. A few of the later episodes were preserved on color film for later rerun syndication under different titles.

Almost all of the 590 original and 81 re-run episodes broadcast have been wiped, destroyed, or are not known to exist any longer in any broadcast form (audio or kinescope, or video).

UCLA Film & TV has 20 different kinescopes in their archive, most not accessible. 

The Library of Congress has only TWO kinescopes in their archive, each on separate negative audio tracks, and separate 16mm Negative Kinescopes. However in 1986 when NBC TV donated 18,600 of their extant kinescopes (1948-1975) to the LOC, their was notated at that time SEVEN separate kinescopes (separate 16mm films and corresponding Negative Optical Sound tracks), for the broadcast dates, Oct. 31, 1955, Nov. 28, 1955, Nov. 29, 1955, Dec. 20, 1955, April 20, 1956, May 3, 1956 & Dec. 10, 1956. 

The Paley Center for Media has THREE composite kinescopes in their archive. 

*The following FOUR television audio air checks are extant in the Archival Television Audio, Inc. collection, archived on ¼” reel to reel audio tape originally used to record these programs off the air, direct line, resulting in excellent playback sound, at the time of their original broadcast. 

*All FOUR titles extant in the ATA archive are not included in the above three major USA media archives.

6 Nov. 1956
ATA#GR1 The Tell-Tale Heart – November 6, 1956

In this classic Edgar Allan Poe story, a man commits a murder, but afterward the victim's beating heart torments the murderer's mind.


5 Feb. 1957
ATA#GR2 Frankenstein – February 5, 1957 

An obsessed scientist assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses.


15 Feb. 1957
ATA#GR3 The Others – February 15, 1957
 7.8 (21)
 
A governess battles to save two children from an evil supernatural force.

13 Dec. 1956
ATA#GR4 Captain Brassbound's Conversion – December 13, 1957

Captain Brassbound, a vindictive sea captain, swears revenge on a visiting Englishman whom he blames for his mother's death.

*The scripts of the MATINEE THEATER series' later episodes are archived at the University of California, Los Angeles.