(Frank Capra, US 1928, 60 min., 35mm)

The spunky Bessie Love stars as Ginger, a small-town gal whose amateur production, a laughably inept Civil War show, is viewed as a comic masterpiece by a cynical producer. The show is taken to Broadway, but Ginger and her crew aren’t in on the joke! Funny and sentimental, The Matinee Idol is an early effort from its director that is still decidedly Capra-esque. Preceded by the hilarious DON’T TELL EVERYTHING (Leo McCarey, US 1927, 20 min.). Live piano by Philip C. Carli.