Il teatro di Minnie

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

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.

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 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.