User reviews

If this were not an early silent effort by master director Frank Capra, "The Matinée Idol" would likely have remained a lost film. However, this mildly amusing film has been found and restored, and it is well worth seeing to note how deft a director Capra was in his silent works. Led by an attractive pair of leads, Bessie Love and Johnny Walker, the familiar device of a bad stage play getting even worse during an inept performance is used to good effect here (actually used twice) and offers a few chuckles even to those who have seen this done to death in later films from "Auntie Mame" to "Noises Off." Unfortunately, as with many Capra films, there is a bitter aftertaste that lingers in the viewer's mind when the film is over. Using an honest effort by naive "country folks" as the object of amusement for "sophisticated" Broadway audiences is a cruel idea and forms the crux of the plot. Also, Capra has cast the lead actor as a black-face entertainer, which will make some viewers uncomfortable or even appalled, and Capra uses a gay "sissie" stereotype who is the object of other characters' derision, which is even more offensive to contemporary viewers. Although another use of black-face in a Capra film does not come to mind, he was not above using the "sissie" stereotype again, and it reappeared as the Edward Everett Horton character in "Lost Horizon." However, if one can overlook the dated plot and negative stereotyping, "The Matinée Idol" provides an hour of amusement and a peek at the formative years of a great film director.

This film genuinely brought tears to my eyes at one point, and it is quite funny, although some of the gags are milked for too long (example: crawling around on Don's dressing-room floor). I felt that it had potential which was perhaps ill-served in this case by a rather pedestrian musical accompaniment -- the picture needs broad burlesque emotion for the broad acting and appropriate showtunes for the stage/blackface moments, rather than the inoffensive steady vamp which was what we were getting. And it took quite a long time to get going; the gags at the beginning ("Broadway runs North and South and wild"?!) went down completely flat.

Bessie Love is very good. I found Johnnie Walker a little nondescript, without either the charisma or the charm implied by his casting as a major Broadway star; it's hard to warm to Don Wilson, and I didn't care what happened to him as I did what became of Ginger Bolivar. Lionel Belmore has an effective supporting role as her Falstaffian father, a bellowing ham actor of the old school.

The plot hinges around a somewhat improbable misidentification, as Don courts the girl in two personae at the same time, but even in intimate moments she never notices their resemblance; however, in film terms one more or less has to take this as given. (I can't help feeling that while Don might have pulled it off on stage from a distance during one rehearsal, he was really pushing his luck!) The final denouement, though, I found hard to swallow -- again, I don't think Johnnie Walker has the charm to manage this convincingly. Perhaps here too the trouble was that I found Ginger a lot more appealing than her beau.

On reflection I feel that with a different leading man and more responsive accompaniment I would probably have liked this film better; I'm rating it six out of ten ('inoffensive; nothing special') to reflect my actual average experience, however.

Blackface star Johnny Walker inadvertently gets a job in cute Bessie Love's struggling stage troupe. Ok comedy which really comes alive during the scenes in which the hopeless Bolivar Troupe hilariously perform their Civil War drama on stage.

THE MATINEE IDOL is a superb comedy, and much much more. In a way that suggests his later masterpieces, Frank Capra masterfully mixes comedy and drama in a unique way. And the result is the creation of genuinely real characters in a very real world - a world that can be loving and cruel.

A bunch of Broadway theatre producers stumble on a country theatrical troupe, who are really quite bad. So they decide to put the troupe into a Broadway show - so that they can be laughed at by the sophisticated New York audience. The results are funny for us too, but Capra manages to make us feel for the players as they work their hearts out to stop the audience laughing at their drama. Stunning stuff.

And the magnificent performance of Bessie Love is key to the success of this comic-tragic feel. Johnnie Walker is also excellent as the Broadway star who falls in love with her. And Capra displays, in this early film, the attention to detail and an understanding of humanity that would characterise all his later work. Just watch the country audience - the characters he captures so beautifully without being condescending. They might be funny people, but they are also real. Of course we can see this in the work he did with Harry Langdon too.

Capra was certainly a master - and this wonderful silent film is a testimony to his genius. Make sure you see it.

"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.

A lightweight but simply charming and absolutely delightful fairy tale, most ingratiatingly acted by all concerned, beautifully photographed, very cleverly scripted and most astutely directed. It's surprising that personable Johnnie Walker didn't go on to a big career in talkies. Bessie, of course, is simply captivating.

Some carping critics have complained that the hick actors in the story were cruelly treated. On the contrary, they were handled like royalty. All the actors I know (and I've known lots of actors in my time) would quickly have appropriated the plaudits of the crowd as a fitting reflection of their deliberate art. I remember Cecil Kellaway after a preview bemoaning to the manager that his performance was not supposed to be funny and that the audience had laughed in all the wrong places. But as moviegoers started to come out of the theater and people spied him talking to the manager, suddenly he was surrounded by a cheering crowd with everyone congratulating him on his superbly comic performance. Did Cecil try to reason with his fans and tell them they were all wrong? No fear! On the contrary, he swelled with pride and heartily thanked them for their perspicacity and their keen appreciation of his comic endeavors.

Broadway "black-face" star Johnnie Walker (as Don Wilson) leaves the hustle-bustle of the "Great White Way" for a vacation in the country. On a lark, he decides to join a local acting troupe (calling himself "Harry Mann"), and have some fun with the players - especially beautiful Bessie Love (as Ginger Bolivar). Ms. Love is the repertory company's leading lady, and daughter of producer/director Colonel Lionel Belmore (as Jasper Bolivar). Love also handles human resources, and hires Walker to perform with the group.

Walker's first part is in a Civil War drama, which plays so badly the audience erupts in hoots of laughter. Although they looked to be fully capable of bombing on their own, Love blames Walker for the flop, and fires him. But, Walker's erstwhile producer, Ernest Hilliard (as Arnold Wingate), thought the play was a hilarious comedy, and wants to hire the players for a Broadway show - with Walker, of course. Love, still believing in her dramatic hit potential, hires Walker back. And so, the stage is set for romance and deception…

That this long lost Frank Capra-directed film was found, and restored, is a cause for celebration - but, don't expect anything remotely approaching "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). It's about as good as a television sitcom (and, many used this plot). The "black-face" routine (which would have helped this film remain unseen during the time it was lost) is of the inoffensive Al Jolson sort. Admittedly, this is an arguable point - but, you can see the difference in this film - it's caricature (compare Walker's with David Mir's portrayal).

Walker (fresh from Capra's "So This Is Love?") and Love (on her way to "The Broadway Melody") are a charming couple. Capra directs with a flair exceeding what was expected at the time. The restoration of "The Matinée Idol" was extraordinary, and the movie looks great. Reportedly, some of the film deterioration was so bad, the restorers used original production stills to digitally restore background detail. The results are amazing, and bode well for the future of film preservation. Hopefully, there will be many more discoveries.

***** The Matinée Idol (3/14/28) Frank Capra ~ Johnnie Walker, Bessie Love, Lionel Belmore, Ernest Hilliard

Matinée Idol, The (1928)

*** (out of 4)

Charming silent film from Capra has a famous actor (Johnnie Walker) deciding to take a vacation to the country where he ends up, accidentally, in a small play where he gets fired by the lead actress (Bessie Love). To play a joke, the actor and his producers decide to take this small play to Broadway but they don't tell the lady that she just fired a famous face. This film was for many decades considered lost before a print turned up and it's good that it did because this is an extremely charming little gem that has the perfect mix of romance, comedy and drama. I was really surprised at how entertaining this film was but it's got a pretty smart little story even though you will have a hard time believing that this actress wouldn't be able to tell that both actors playing against her was the same person. I think Capra handles the material quite well and really delivers an entertaining film. What I enjoyed most is that the film seemed so natural and so smart that you really did get a feel as if you were really watching and seeing a small town acting squad. I've read that Capra learned from these types of groups growing up and it really seems like there's a lot of love being thrown towards these small actors and plays that are often overlooked. The comedy of the film works quite well as the play itself, a real misfire, is actually very funny even if the country actors feel like they're doing dramatic work. We get to see the play acted out twice and each time the film is able to get many laughs. The more dramatic stuff also works well because we can all understand the hurt feeling of trying to be and thinking you're doing good work only to have people laugh at you. Walker and Love both turn in fine performances and their chemistry together also makes the film even better. Love clearly steals the film with her charm and energy that practically jumps off the screen. Johnnie Walkers character is called the greatest "Black Face Comedian" and it seems to be an off note of Al Jolson but it's still pretty good. This isn't one of Capra's best known films and while it's not as powerful as some of his later day stuff, there's still enough here to make it worth viewing.

THE MATINEE IDOL (Columbia, 1928), directed by Frank R. Capra, is a silent comedy/drama taken from the story, "Come Back to Aaron," by Robert S. Lord and Ernest S. Pagano. Starring Bessie Love and Johnnie Walker (the actor, not the drink), it's a pleasing story about actors from different walks of life getting together for a stage play production.

Opening with view of the New York City district of Broadway, "a street that runs north, south and wild," the story introduces Don Wilson (Johnnie Walker), the "king of blackface comedies" who "arrived at stardom with both feet so the shock won't go to his head." Because of his overwork profession, Don decides to take his long overdue rest somewhere in the country. Taking his fellow actors and Arnold WIngate (Ernest Hilliard), stage producer, with him, they drive off only to have the car break down in some small town, forcing the men to push the car over to the nearest garage. With the mechanic gone to attend a stage show, Don and his friends walk over to find him. They approach the theater where "The Bolivar Players" are staging a Civil War melodrama written and directed by Colonel Jasper J. Bolivar (Lionel Bellmore). Because one of the actors is fired for refusing to do labor work, Bolivar's daughter, Ginger (Bessie Love), who also acts in her father's plays, puts up a sign, "Actor wanted. No experience necessary." Not satisfied by the wanna-be actors on line outside her tent, Ginger accidentally approaches Don. Satisfied by the way he says, "I love you," she hires him on the spot. Passing himself off as Harry Mann, the professional actor purposely gives a bad performance, turning the dramatic play into a comedy hit. With Wingate and friends in the audience, Don arranges for Wingate to hire this unprofessional troupe to perform their play on Broadway, using everyone in the cast, including the fired Harry Mann. While in New York, Don hides himself in blackface and costume party mask so not to give himself away to Ginger, and coming out as Harry Mann during rehearsals. Problems arise as theater patrons react differently towards the play than Ginger expected, and Don resuming his guise from Ginger for reasons of his own. Among the other cast members are Sidney D'Albrook (J. Madison Wilderforce); and David Mir (Eric Barrymaine).

Noted as a long lost movie discovered in the 1990s, THE MATINEE IDOL, coming late into the silent era, with plot resembling an early talkie with musical sequences. Johnnie Walker mannerisms as a blackface entertainer immediately makes one think of Al Jolson. Jolson, who's great in comedy, would have excelled in something like this, as opposed to his overly sentimental musical melodramas as SAY IT WITH SONGS (1929). Bessie Love, who would achieve brief popularity following her Academy Award nominated performance triumph in the early sound musical, THE BROADWAY MELODY (1929), is wonderfully cast as Ginger. Of a handful of previous silent movie roles in which she appeared, one would wonder about her other long forgotten and unseen movies of the 1920s. Frank Capra, early in his career as director before achieving his three Academy Award wins as Best Director in the 1930s, keeps the pace moving, blending humor and sentiment to the best degree. Take note that the camera tracking towards theater audiences would capture a young boy picking his nose while watching the stage performance. After viewing Johnnie Walker's leading role here, the next question is, Whatever became of him? The plot to THE MATINEE IDOL was musically revamped as THE MUSIC GOES ROUND (Columbia, 1936) starring Harry Richman and Rochelle Hudson.

With the original theatrical score unavailable, THE MATINEE IDOL features a good new mix of orchestration and piano accompaniment conducted by Robert Israel, whose scoring for silent movies is often great and pleasing to the ear. Other than its availability on DVD including a Frank Capra biographical documentary on the disc flip side, THE MATINEE IDOL at 55 minutes, with few missing scenes, did have some television exposure on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: October 18, 1997). Highly recommended. (***)

Frank Capra directed March 1928's "The Matinee Idol," his third movie for Columbia Pictures. The director was in his comfort zone by handling this romantic-comedy, a genre he returned to time and again at the peak of his career. The storyline involved the fictitious tale of a female heart-throb Broadway actor, Don Wilson, a.k.a. Harry Mann (Johnnie Walker), who is on a leisurely drive when his car breaks down in a remote area near a traveling stock company's theater tent. The owner's daughter filling in as the manager, Ginger (Bessie Love), had just fired the main actor and is looking for a replacement. Up walks Wilson. The play is later seen by Wilson's Broadway producer. He wants to take the supposed drama to New York where he knows the sophisticated city audiences will find it hilariously campy. Surprises await when the play hits Broadway.

Capra shows an uncanny ability to wring the heartstrings of his viewers, unleashing tear ducts galore. He also displays a knack for handling crowd scenes, made up of both country folks and urban sophisticates, another Capra trademark. "The Matinee Idol" proved to be the pinnacle to Johnnie Walker's screen acting. He was one of so many Hollywood performers who never made the transition to talkies. He left film in 1932 after receiving only small roles that hardly paid him anything to survive. For Capra, however, the two movies in his first year at Columbia proved to be a welcome respite from comedian Langdon as well as a chance to prove his brand would soon resonate with the public like no other director before had.

With Al Jolson at the height of his popularity and Warner Brothers's the Jazz Singer having been the highest grossing film of 1927, it was inevitable that the other studios would churn out a few vehicles for their own Jolson-esquire characters. But while the Jazz Singer was a sensation for its being the first part-talkie, the Matinée Idol lacks the singing voice of its star (the now obscure Johnnie Walker), and has to make do with just his visual antics.

The Matinée Idol was an early directorial assignment for the renowned Frank Capra. Capra's first couple of full-length features for Harry Langdon reveal a very showy, excessive style, which made Langdon's already mediocre slapstick almost unwatchable. A couple of pictures later and Capra has learnt to ease off a bit, with some fairly regular and decent camera-work. However he still shows no aptitude for shooting physical comedy. The longest comic routine - the stage performance - seems to have a few good gags, but it's all cut up into lots of different camera angles, and there is no chance for the comedy to flow naturally from the performances. Theoretically, a good portion of the jokes are in the intertitles, but there are far too many of these and none of them is especially funny.

Of course, Capra would eventually mature into a fine dramatic and romantic director, and you can see him beginning to develop in this respect. He cuts down the line, closing in on Walker and Bessie love in the scene where she first lays eyes on him in his Don Wilson get up, neatly establishing the wordless connection between them. Then there is some beautiful and tender framing of the couple in their scene together at the masquerade, which is all very reminiscent of the love scenes in Capra's early 30s output.

Johnnie Walker, Columbia's answer to Al Jolson, is not an exceptional talent. His comic timing is good but there is nothing to make him stand out. Bessie Love on the other hand is a pretty good actress, with a very expressive face. Kudos to her for getting involved with the physical comedy and losing her dignity with the boys. There's also a good role for Lionel Belmore, that rotund and jolly character actor who seems to turn up in absolutely everything in the late 20s and early 30s.

The Matinée Idol is one of those pictures that has gained more than its fair share of attention thanks to its director later having made a handful of masterpieces. In and of itself it is a very uninteresting piece, and like most of Capra's work before he met screenwriter Robert Riskin, a disappointment.

This Frank Capra fellow just keeps getting better and better. This quick, 56 minute long feature is a real little gem of Capra's early career, further refining his combination of comedy and drama around winning performances. It's also another portrait of the little guy winning over the big guy, even if the win isn't exactly the way one might expect. I think he's already got an authorial stamp, though there's no need to discount Elmer Harris who had written every film Capra had made since leaving Harry Langdon's employ.

Don Wilson (Johnnie Walker) is famous on Broadway for his blackface performances, and he's so tired of the fame and the women throwing themselves at him for it, that he happily agrees to take a weekend in the country with his producer Arnold (Ernest Halliard) where they end up stopping outside the makeshift tent of the traveling acting troupe led by Jasper Bolivar (Lionel Balmore) and his daughter Ginger (Bessie Love). They lead their troupe in a Civil War play of such amateurishness that it derisively entertains the little traveling party, with the added benefit of Don getting a tiny role in the play when ginger fires the actor, using the false name of Harry Mann, and getting some good laughs in the process. It gives Arnold the idea of bringing the troupe to Broadway to add to the revue.

So, like most of Capra's films up to this point, this is essentially a two-act production. In this, the first half is the more purely comic take on what's going on with Don having a whale of a time making Ginger flustered during the performance, getting laughs from his friends, and the rest of the provincial audience taking it more seriously (though with Capra still getting some very good comedy out of them at the same time, like the elderly man who can't hear even with his ear horn and the young son who lies to him about what people are saying). There's been a certain imbalance to Capra's films where one half works materially better than the other, and I think this might represent something of a serious change for him. For, while I do think the second half works better than the first, it's actually the second that I end up having more problems with. It's just that the second half's highs are so very high at the same time that Capra and Harris were refining their output in a way that was really conducive to bringing all of the elements together.

The Bolivar performers come to Broadway with Don maintaining the farce that he's just nobody Harry Mann by using his blackface to appear before them as Don and taking it off when he must appear before them as Harry. There's a masquerade where Jasper drinks too much, and we get to their premiere the next day. The premiere is exactly what the audience would expect with the cosmopolitan crowd taking in the pratfalls of the provincial troupe bumbling their way through the performance with Don in blackface mugging in the background, and it's all countered by Jasper attending the performance in the crowd, highly expectant of a great reception and getting derision instead. It's surprisingly crushing to watch, and it's all cut together in the middle of this botched performance that is really funny at the same time. I think this is successful tonal whiplash, intentionally throwing the audience back and forth making us both part of the problem in enjoying the pain of the poor provincial actors not understanding why they're being laughed at while also sympathizing with them in equal measure.

So, by losing, they end up winning because they teach Don a lesson who decides that he has to make up for it later.

It's another instance of the little guy beating the big guy, but it's done in a way that is more of a moral victory than a literal one. They don't take over Broadway, but Ginger does win over Don's heart, and Don gets Ginger to forgive him his part.

It was during Jasper's pain that I decided that this was the film for me. I think the whiplash works, but I'm just ever so slightly put off by it at the same time, and the ending wrap up feels a bit thin, though I do buy it overall.

It really is kind of amazing to see Capra forming so distinctly and executing so well so early. He feels like he's in complete command of the physical production from the subtle and effective direction of actors to the clear use of visual language (even a couple of jokes through intertitles), and his scripts are creeping up in quality at the same time. I shudder to think of how sound is going to send everything backwards, and it's just right around the corner.

THE MATINEE IDOL is a minor Frank Capra comedy made shortly after he came to Columbia in 1928. While certainly not top drawer it already deals with many themes which Capra would expand on as his career progressed. Comic bits, sentiment, and the determination of "the little guy" to succeed are well blended in this short but entertaining feature about a top Broadway star and the country acting troupe he brings to New York as a joke until he falls for their leading lady.

The performances by Bessie Love and the now forgotten Johnnie Walker are quite good while Lionel Belmore (the Burgomaster in FRANKENSTEIN and subsequent films) steals the show as the troupe leader. Unfortunately the dated nature of some of the material in which the star performs in blackface (to cash in on the success of THE JAZZ SINGER the year before) does not play well with today's audiences. Although it's tastefully done (what Capra film isn't), it remains a product of its time and should be viewed as such.

The real story here is the rediscovery and digital restoration of the film. It is beyond remarkable. The DVD comes with an insert which chronicles the extensive work necessary to bring this film back to life. Whether the film was worth it is debatable, the time and techniques used are not. This will be the future of old movies on video.

The added bonus on this disc is the real reason to purchase it. FRANK CAPRA'S AMERICAN DREAM is a superb documentary that no student of film or fan of Capra should be without. An important release for the documentary and the restoration job rather than the film itself. If you are a film lover then it is definitely worth having...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

"The Matinée Idol" is a silent drama/comedy/romance set with an intriguing backstage setting. The film stars the wonderful Bessie Love as the daughter and leading lady in a family of troupers. A very likable Johnnie Walker co-stars as a successful actor taken with Miss Love. Consequently he takes up with the small town thespians, throwing himself into their sincere, yet corny theatrics.

When the troupe bring their melodrama to the big town and face scorn from the critics and sophisticated audiences, romance is there to ease the sting of rejection. "The Matinée Idol" is a delight, filled with director Frank Capra's insights and affection for all types of people.