THE MATINEE IDOL
Starring Bessie Love and Johnnie Walker
HARRISON'S REPORTS
April 7, 1928
A good comedy-drama. Most of the comedy is of the burlesque sort. This occurs mostly in the scenes where the hero, a famous actor, while out in the country, accidentally finds himself employed by the heroine who did not know that he was a famous actor, to act a small part in her traveling tent show. The crudeness with which dramatic productions were given in the country places in the old days has been faithfully reproduced; and it is a source of many laughs. Laughs are caused also in the performances given by the heroine's troupe on Broadway, New York City, where she went after being engaged by a New York producer; the producer hoped to make the New Yorkers laugh as they had never laughed before. And he succeeded. There is some pathos toward the end where it is shown that the heart of the heroine was broken when she saw the audience laugh when in her opinion they should feel sad; she was unaware of the fact that she had been "kidded" right along. The interest is maintained fairly tight from the beginning to the end.
The plot has been founded on a story by Robert Lord and Ernest Pagano. It has been directed by Frank Capra; Lionel Belmore, Ernest Hilliard, David Mir and others are in the cast.
For more information, see "The Matinee Idol" as our "Feature of the Month"