The Matinee Idol Movie Review

"Lost" silent film from Frank Capra, this behind-the-scenes-at-Vaudeville drama is straightforward and quickly forgotten (maybe that's why they lost it). Too bad for Capra this story had been told a year earlier and with far more soul in The Jazz Singer (the protagonists are both even blackface performers). Interesting concept, though: Take a sad performing troupe and put it on Broadway to be laughed at. The subtext, though, is the usual romance, all loose ends tied up neatly within an hour.