The Matinee Idol

1928 "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."
The Matinee Idol
6.9| 0h56m| NR| en| Comedy, Romance
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.

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Where to Watch

The movie is currently not available onine

Producted By

Columbia Pictures

The Matinee Idol Trailers,Teasers and Images

  • The Matinee Idol Cast
Bessie Love as Ginger Bolivar
Johnnie Walker as Don Wilson - aka Harry Mann
Ernest Hilliard as Arnold Wingate
Lionel Belmore as Jasper Bolivar
Sidney Bracey as Don's Valet (uncredited)
Sidney D'Albrook as J. Madison Wilberforce (uncredited)
Mary Gordon as Woman in Audience (uncredited)