The Matinee Idol (1928)

The Matinee Idol

1928

Romance Comedy

Synopsis

The famous matinee idol and blackface comedian, Don Wilson, heads out of town to escape adulation. There, calling himself Harry Mann, he accidentally joins a traveling acting troupe, and falls in love with Ginger Bolivar, who runs the troupe and stars in their Civil War melodrama. Don's producer sees the play, and thinks it's a comic masterpiece, and just what Don's Broadway show needs. But when Ginger finds out she's been played for a fool, will she forgive Don? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. in 1997.

Credits

Director

Frank Capra

Cast

Bessie Love as Ginger Bolivar

David Mir as Eric Barrymaine

Ernest Hilliard as Arnold Wingate

Joe Bordeaux as Auditoning Actor (uncredited)

Johnnie Walker as Don Wilson - aka Harry Mann

Lionel Belmore as Jasper Bolivar

Mary Gordon as Woman in Audience (uncredited)

Sidney Bracey as Don's Valet (uncredited)