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.

Cast

Bessie Love

Ginger Bolivar

Johnnie Walker

Don Wilson - aka Harry Mann

Ernest Hilliard

Arnold Wingate

Lionel Belmore

Jasper Bolivar

David Mir

Eric Barrymaine

Joe Bordeaux

Auditoning Actor (uncredited)

Sidney Bracey

Don's Valet (uncredited)

Sidney D'Albrook

J. Madison Wilberforce (uncredited)

Mary Gordon

Woman in Audience (uncredited)