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The Matinee Idol

Film192856 min6.6/10 on TMDB

Directed by Frank Capra

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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 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.Read moreLess

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.

The story

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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Cast & crew

Bessie LoveBessie LoveGinger Bolivar
Johnnie WalkerJohnnie WalkerDon Wilson - aka Harry Mann
Ernest HilliardErnest HilliardArnold Wingate
Lionel BelmoreLionel BelmoreJasper Bolivar
David Mir
David Mir
Eric Barrymaine
Joe Bordeaux
Joe Bordeaux
Auditoning Actor (uncredited)
Sidney BraceySidney BraceyDon's Valet (uncredited)
Sidney D'AlbrookSidney D'AlbrookJ. Madison Wilberforce (uncredited)
Mary GordonMary GordonWoman in Audience (uncredited)
Explore the crew
Director
Frank Capra
Producer
Frank Capra
Director of Photography
Philip Tannura
Producer
Harry Cohn