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? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. in 1997.

6.4

56 min

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)

Director

Frank Capra