The Matinee Idol

The Matinee Idol

56 mins | Comedy, Romance | March 14, 1928

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?

The Matinee Idol

56 mins | Comedy, Romance | March 14, 1928

The Matinee Idol
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?
IMDb rating 6.9
Producers Columbia Pictures
Original title The Matinee Idol
Directors Eugene De Rue, Frank Capra
Writers Elmer Harris, Peter Milne, Ernest Pagano, Robert Lord

Cast

Bessie Love

as Ginger Bolivar

Johnnie Walker

as Don Wilson - aka Harry Mann

Ernest Hilliard

as Arnold Wingate

Lionel Belmore

as Jasper Bolivar

David Mir

as Eric Barrymaine

Joe Bordeaux

as Auditoning Actor (uncredited)

Sidney Bracey

as Don's Valet (uncredited)

Sidney D'Albrook

as J. Madison Wilberforce (uncredited)

Mary Gordon

as Woman in Audience (uncredited)