A Broadway matinee idol famous for his black-face portrayals anonymously joins an amateur acting troupe and falls in love with the leading lady.A Broadway matinee idol famous for his black-face portrayals anonymously joins an amateur acting troupe and falls in love with the leading lady.A Broadway matinee idol famous for his black-face portrayals anonymously joins an amateur acting troupe and falls in love with the leading lady.
Joe Bordeaux
- Auditoning Actor
- (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey
- Don's Valet
- (uncredited)
Sidney D'Albrook
- J. Madison Wilberforce
- (uncredited)
Mary Gordon
- Woman in Audience
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis restored version runs 57 minutes but is still missing about five minutes. The restoration was a joint venture of the Cinematheque Francais, the Motion Picture Academy and Sony Entertainment.
- Quotes
Don Wilson, Harry Mann: [after meeting a feminine actor] Who is that? Helen of Troy?
- Alternate versionsIn 1997, Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., copyrighted a 56-minute restored version of this film with a musical score arranged and conducted by Robert Israel, The addition of modern credits stretched the running time to 57 minutes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Frank Capra's American Dream (1997)
Featured review
One of the great romantic comedies of the silent era is a well kept secret
"The Matinée Idol" is an unremembered gem of a silent film. Columbia was still a poverty row studio in 1928, but this production is every bit as polished as anything that MGM or Paramount would have put out at the time. The story revolves around the star of a Broadway Revue, Don Wilson (Johnnie Walker), who is a black-face comic. The management of the theater thinks that Don has been working too hard, so they advise a rest in the country. The group drives out to a small town where their car breaks down. The whole town - including the mechanic - are all at the "show" - the most recent play by the Bolivar players, the star of which is Ginger Bolivar (Bessie Love). Don is just looking for the mechanic when he stumbles into an audition for a bit part involving a love scene with Ginger. He gets the part because the other applicants are just so bad. The show is just terrible, but the town thinks it is terrific as do the Bolivar players. The show is a Civil War drama - or at least it's supposed to be. Instead it turns out to be more like the play that Buster Keaton invaded in "Spite Marriage", except here everyone is playing Keaton. The fact that the Bolivars are playing it straight with unintentionally hilarious results gives our urban visitors ideas on a way to enliven their New York revue at the expense of the Bolivars' dignity.
Bessie Love gives the same perky performance here that she always does, but at this point in her career she is on the way out since the age of 30 was a magic number for actresses at that time. The coming of sound gives her career about a two year revival as she stars in "The Broadway Melody of 1929" and several other musicals in 1929 and 1930. When the early musicals fall out of favor with the Depression-era public Bessie is back on the poverty row circuit once again, leaving films pretty much altogether from 1931 until World War II.
As for leading man Johnnie Walker, this was pretty much his first and last hurrah in both silent and talking pictures. He had supporting roles before and after this one, but it was his only starring one. This is surprising since he is so engaging here.
This film is one of the best of the silent romantic comedies that I've seen. It certainly has that Frank Capra "feel-good" touch about it, even at this early stage of his directing career.
Bessie Love gives the same perky performance here that she always does, but at this point in her career she is on the way out since the age of 30 was a magic number for actresses at that time. The coming of sound gives her career about a two year revival as she stars in "The Broadway Melody of 1929" and several other musicals in 1929 and 1930. When the early musicals fall out of favor with the Depression-era public Bessie is back on the poverty row circuit once again, leaving films pretty much altogether from 1931 until World War II.
As for leading man Johnnie Walker, this was pretty much his first and last hurrah in both silent and talking pictures. He had supporting roles before and after this one, but it was his only starring one. This is surprising since he is so engaging here.
This film is one of the best of the silent romantic comedies that I've seen. It certainly has that Frank Capra "feel-good" touch about it, even at this early stage of his directing career.
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- AlsExGal
- Oct 24, 2009
Details
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- Country of origin
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- Also known as
- Stjärnan På Broadway
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 6 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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