The Matinee Idol is a 1928 American silent comedy-drama[1] film directed by Frank Capra, and starring Bessie Love and Johnnie Walker.

Wingate has an idea; he signs the company for his Broadway show as a comedy act, though the Bolivars and the rest of the actors are deceived into believing their play has been appreciated.

Even so, he is nearly caught out by Ginger; hurriedly putting on a costume to hide his face, Don has to invent a masquerade party as a reason, and invites her and her troupe to attend.

In early February 1928, Columbia Pictures announced that Bessie Love would have the female lead in the film, which had the working title of Broadway Daddies.

[5] The film was slated to begin production on February 2[6] with Frank Capra directing[6] and Joe Jackson writing the continuity.

[7] Later, it was announced that Johnny Walker would co-star with Love, that Sidney D'Albrook and Lionel Belmore had been added to the cast,[8] and that the name of the project had changed from Broadway Daddies to The Matinee Idol.

[10] It was a French-language version of the film, originally obtained by a French cinema club, that was eventually rediscovered at the Cinémathèque Française in the 1990s.