Max Linder
Although all too frequently neglected by fans of silent comedy, Max Linder is in many ways as important a figure as Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, or Harold Lloyd, not least because he predated (and influenced) them all by several years, and was largely responsible for the creation of the classic style of silent slapstick comedy. He started out as an actor in the French theatre, but after making his screen debut in 1905 he quickly became an enormously famous and successful film comedian on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks to his character "Max", a top-hatted dandy. By 1912, he was the highest-paid film star in the world, with an unprecedented salary of one million francs. He began to direct films in 1911 and showed equal facility behind the camera, but his career suffered an almost terminal blow when he was called up to fight in World War I. He was gassed, and the illness that resulted would blight his career. Although offered a contract in America, recurring ill-health meant that his US films had little of the sparkle of his early French work, and a brief attempt to revive his career by making films for the recently-formed United Artists (one of whose founders, of course, was Chaplin) in the early 1920s came to little, although these later films are now regarded as classics. He returned to France and killed himself in a suicide pact with his wife in 1925.
Une ruse de mari
At the Show
Jalousie
Max Wishes He Hadn't
Seven Years Bad Luck
(Max)
Le serment d'un prince
(Jacques de Lacerda)
Champion de boxe
(Max)
Max Speaks English
(Max)
Max and His Mother-in-Law
(Max)
Max and His Dog Dick
(Max)
Max the Heartbreaker
Max in a Taxi
(Himself)
Max Takes Tonics
(Max)
Max Wants a Divorce
(Max)
The Little Vixen
The Three Must-Get-Theres
(Dart-In-Again)
First Night Out
The False Max Linder
(Max)
A Farmhouse Romance
(Max)
Max's Hat
(Max)
Max Takes a Picture
Max Wants to Grow
(Max)
Max Fears the Dogs
(Max)
Max Juggles for Love
Max: Boxer By Love
Max's First Job
(Max)
Max Gets Stuck Up
(Max)
Romeo Turns Bandit
Max Plays the Part
The Dentures
Max and the Lady Doctor
(Max)
Love's Surprises
Max and the Donkey
(Max)
Max and the Statue
(Max)
An Agitated Night
The Romance of Max
(Max)
Max Sets the Fashion
(Max)
His First Cigar
In a Difficult Position
(Dieutegarde)
Harlequin's Story
(Polichinelle / Ponchinella / Harlequin)
Joined Lips
Max Sets the Style
(Max)
Max in Monaco
Max Takes a Bath
(Max)
Max Learns to Skate
(Max)
Be My Wife
(Max, the Fiancé)
Au secours !
(Max)
Max and Jane Want to Do Theater
(Max)
Max: Jockey for Love
(Max)
The Barometer of Fidelity
Max Embarrassed
(Max)
Cordial Agreement
Max Is Convalescent
(Max)
Long-Lasting Love
(Max)
The Water-Funker
(Max)
Max as a Chiropodist
(Max)
Max's Vacation
(Max)
The Wedding Trunk
(Max)
C'est Papa qui a pris la purge
(Man on park bench)
Max and the Purse
Max Linder Does All the Sports
(Max)
A Nervous Twitch Is Catching (Un Tic Nerveux Contagieux)
Troubles of a Grass Widower
Chance and Love
(Max)
The World of Yesteryear – Max Linder
(Self)
Le Petit Café
For a Necklace
King of the Circus
(Max Graf von Pompadour)
The Husband's Trick
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
(Tartarin)
Max, Tango Teacher
Max Toreador
Max Hates Cats
Max Makes a Touch
A Short-Sighted Duellist
(Max)
Max, médecin malgré lui
(Max)
Attempted Suicide
In Love with the Bearded Woman
The Theft of the Mona Lisa
((archive footage))
Max in the Convent
Max Skiing
(Max)
The Forced Marriage
An Unexpected Marriage
Max and the Jealous Husband
(Max)
I Want a Baby
Max Plays at Drama
Hairdresser of Love
Life and Deaths of Max Linder
(Self (archive footage))
Max Takes Back His Freedom
(Max (uncredited))
Max devrait porter des bretelles
(Max)
A Conquest
Beginning of the Serpentine Dance
(The ballet master)
Laugh with Max Linder
(Self (archive footage))
Phial of Poison
The Effects of Pills
(Max)
Max se marie
(Max)
Trop aimée
(Max)
Max a un duel
(Max)
Chaussure trop étroite
(Max)
Max est distrait
(Max)
Max émule de Tartarin
(Max)
Un pari original
(Max)
Max amoureux de la teinturière
(Max)
Le duel de Max
(Max)
Max as a Musician
(Max)
The Man in the Silk Hat
(Self (archive footage))
Birth of the Tramp
(Self (archive footage))
Max Comes Across
(Max)
Max Linder Visits Charlie Chaplin
(Self)
Le billet doux
(Max)
Tout sur mon père Max Linder
(Self (archive footage))
Max asthmatique
(Max)
Noisy Neighbors
Max's Latest Hobby
Max manque un riche mariage
(Max)
The Gentleman Thief
(Arsène Lupin)
Max Linder's Appointment
Unforeseen Meeting
Les Étudiants de Paris
Julot va dans le monde
(Julot)
Comment Max fait le tour du monde
Pitou, bonne d'enfants
Those Were The Days
((self))
Easter Parade
(Audience Member (uncredited))
All in Good Fun
(Archive Footage)
Max Linder Collection 1917-1922
The Way of the World
((Archive Footage))
King of Cinema
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
(Self (archive footage))
Champion de boxe
(Director)
Champion de boxe
(Writer)
Seven Years Bad Luck
(Director)
The Three Must-Get-Theres
(Director)
The Three Must-Get-Theres
(Writer)
The Gentleman Thief
(Director)
Max Juggles for Love
(Director)
Max Takes Tonics
(Director)
Max and His Dog Dick
(Director)
Max the Heartbreaker
(Director)
Max and His Mother-in-Law
(Director)
Max Wants a Divorce
(Director)
Max and His Mother-in-Law
(Writer)
Max and His Dog Dick
(Writer)
Max in a Taxi
(Director)
Max Speaks English
(Director)
A Farmhouse Romance
(Director)
Max Takes a Bath
(Scenario Writer)
Max's Hat
(Director)
Max Wants to Grow
(Director)
Max: Boxer By Love
(Director)
Max's First Job
(Director)
Be My Wife
(Director)
Max and the Statue
(Director)
Max and the Donkey
(Director)
An Agitated Night
(Director)
The Romance of Max
(Director)
Max Sets the Fashion
(Director)
Max Gets Stuck Up
(Director)
Max and the Lady Doctor
(Director)
Max Sets the Style
(Director)
Max in Monaco
(Director)
Max and Jane Want to Do Theater
(Director)
Max Embarrassed
(Director)
Max Linder's Appointment
(Director)
Max Linder's Appointment
(Writer)
Long-Lasting Love
(Director)
The Water-Funker
(Director)
Max Is Convalescent
(Director)
Cordial Agreement
(Director)
Max as a Chiropodist
(Director)
Max's Vacation
(Director)
Max and the Purse
(Director)
Max Linder Does All the Sports
(Director)
Par habitude
(Story)
The Wedding Trunk
(Director)
Chance and Love
(Director)
Troubles of a Grass Widower
(Director)
Chance and Love
(Writer)
King of the Circus
(Writer)
Seven Years Bad Luck
(Producer)
Seven Years Bad Luck
(Writer)
Be My Wife
(Writer)
Be My Wife
(Producer)
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
(Writer)
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
(Director)
Max Wishes He Hadn't
(Writer)
Max as a Musician
(Writer)
Jalousie
(Writer)
Jalousie
(Director)
Max Hates Cats
(Director)
Max Toreador
(Director)
Max, Tango Teacher
(Director)
Max Takes Back His Freedom
(Director)
Max, médecin malgré lui
(Director)
Max, médecin malgré lui
(Writer)
The Forced Marriage
(Director)
An Unexpected Marriage
(Director)
Max and the Jealous Husband
(Director)
I Want a Baby
(Director)
Hairdresser of Love
(Director)
Max Gets Stuck Up
(Writer)
Max Fears the Dogs
(Director)
I Want a Baby
(Writer)
Max and the Lady Doctor
(Writer)
Max Takes Back His Freedom
(Writer)
Max Is Convalescent
(Writer)
Max's Vacation
(Writer)
Max and Jane Want to Do Theater
(Writer)
Une ruse de mari
(Writer)
Au secours !
(Writer)
Laugh with Max Linder
(Writer)
Love's Surprises
(Director)
Max's Hat
(Writer)
Max and the Statue
(Writer)
Cordial Agreement
(Writer)
The Effects of Pills
(Writer)
Max devrait porter des bretelles
(Director)
Max se marie
(Director)
Le serment d'un prince
(Writer)
Le serment d'un prince
(Director)
Max Wishes He Hadn't
(Director)
Max: Jockey for Love
(Director)
Max est distrait
(Director)
Max émule de Tartarin
(Director)
Max a un duel
(Director)
Max as a Musician
(Director)
Max amoureux de la teinturière
(Director)
Un pari original
(Director)
Le duel de Max
(Director)
Le Petit Café
(Writer)
Maxim's Porter
(Writer)
Max Comes Across
(Writer)
Max Comes Across
(Director)
Le billet doux
(Scenario Writer)
Le billet doux
(Director)
Max asthmatique
(Director)
Max Wants a Divorce
(Writer)
Max's Latest Hobby
(Director)
Max manque un riche mariage
(Writer)
Attempted Suicide
(Director)
Attempted Suicide
(Screenplay)
Comment Max fait le tour du monde
(Director)
Max Toreador
(Writer)