The Matinee Idol
1928 · 56 MIN · IMDB 6.9 · 662 VOTES · DIR. Frank Capra
Overview
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.
Dialogue Timeline — 172 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:17 THE MATINEE IDOL
00:02:02 "Don's better than ever, but he's been working too hard...
00:03:41 Forty years ago, old Bolivar played a one night stand with Booth...
00:05:29 Many a weekend party has started a mile-a-minute pace...
00:07:00 "All you have to say is one line... I love you."
00:10:20 "Put some feeling into it."
00:13:20 "Flag! Army!"
00:16:07 "Where was you brung up?...
00:19:00 "Look, Ma... there's Pa!"
00:22:31 "You were terrible... you almost spoiled the whole show!"
00:24:09 ...it witnesses a performance by the Bolivar Players."
00:26:37 "What's the idea of rehearsing in black-face?"
00:29:08 "Whoops, Dearie!"
00:31:56 "Round up a lot of guests, Arnold. I find I'm giving...
00:35:39 ...You're too darn fresh!"
00:37:56 Opening night... and Bolivar found that his fling...
00:39:57 "Oh, Harry'll be here... he wouldn't fail me."
00:43:18 "I am off to the war!"
00:48:18 "S-s-st! Do I come on now?"
00:52:23 "We were a sensation... the audience went wild."
00:54:35 "Beat it, all of you!"
00:55:56 ...were provided by Immagine Ritrovato in Bologna...
Cast & Characters
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
Sidney Bracey
Don's Valet
Sidney D'Albrook
J. Madison Wilberforce
Mary Gordon
Mother in Audience
Dorothy Vernon
Mother in Audience
Dialogue Record
Lines indexed172
Dialogue density3.1 lines / min
First line00:00:17
Final line00:55:56
Production Record
DirectorFrank Capra
LanguageEnglish
IMDb votes662