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66% Critic Match
The Matinee Idol
“Here's a real comedy of the theater, which takes you behind the scenes of a thrilling melodrama and shows you how they acted in the old ten-twenty-thirties. You'll learn how to make love and say nice things to your sweetheart.”
6.6 / 10• 1928• 56m•NR• English
RomanceComedy
Storyline
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.
Cast & Crew
Bessie Love
Ginger Bolivar
Lead
Johnnie Walker
Don Wilson - aka Harry Mann
Ernest Hilliard
Arnold Wingate
Lionel Belmore
Jasper Bolivar
DM
David Mir
Eric Barrymaine
JB
Joe Bordeaux
Auditoning Actor (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey
Don's Valet (uncredited)
Sidney D'Albrook
J. Madison Wilberforce (uncredited)
What People Are Saying
4.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Frank Capra's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
3.0
“Every frame feels alive. The Matinee Idol is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
