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
Au music-hall (At the Music Hall)
Jalousie
Max Wishes He Hadn't
Seven Years Bad Luck
(Max)
Le serment d'un prince
(Jacques de Lacerda)
Champion de boxe
(Max)
Max Wants a Divorce
(Max)
Max in a Taxi
(Himself)
Max Speaks English
(Max)
Max and His Mother-in-Law
(Max)
Max and His Dog Dick
(Max)
Max Takes Tonics
(Max)
La Petite Rosse
Max the Heartbreaker
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 Fears the Dogs
(Max)
Max Wants to Grow
(Max)
Max Juggles for Love
Max: Boxer By Love
Max's First Job
(Max)
Max Gets Stuck Up
(Max)
The Dentures
Romeo Turns Bandit
Max and the Lady Doctor
(Max)
Love's Surprises
Max Plays the Part
Max and the Donkey
(Max)
An Agitated Night
The Romance of Max
(Max)
Max and the Statue
(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)
The Water-Funker
(Max)
Long-Lasting Love
(Max)
Cordial Agreement
Max Is Convalescent
(Max)
Max as a Chiropodist
(Max)
Max's Vacation
(Max)
The Wedding Trunk
(Max)
Dogs used as smugglers
C'est Papa qui a pris la purge
(Lover in the street)
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
The Husband's Trick
King of the Circus
(Max Graf von Pompadour)
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
(Tartarin)
Max Makes a Touch
Max Toreador
Max Hates Cats
Max, Tango Teacher
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))
The Forced Marriage
Max in the Convent
Max Skiing
(Max)
An Unexpected Marriage
Max and the Jealous Husband
(Max)
Max Plays at Drama
I Want a Baby
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)
It Had to Be You
(Wedding Guest (uncredited))
Laugh with Max Linder
(Self (archive footage))
Phial of Poison
The Effects of Pills
(Max)
Max se marie
(Max)
Trop aimée
(Max)
Chaussure trop étroite
(Max)
Max émule de Tartarin
(Max)
Max a un duel
(Max)
Max est distrait
(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
La rencontre imprévue
Les étudiants de Paris
Julot va dans le monde
(Julot)
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 Dog Dick
(Writer)
Max in a Taxi
(Director)
Max Wants a Divorce
(Director)
Max and His Mother-in-Law
(Director)
Max Speaks English
(Director)
Max and His Mother-in-Law
(Writer)
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)
The Romance of Max
(Director)
An Agitated Night
(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)
The Water-Funker
(Director)
Max Is Convalescent
(Director)
Long-Lasting Love
(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)
Troubles of a Grass Widower
(Director)
Chance and Love
(Director)
Chance and Love
(Writer)
King of the Circus
(Writer)
Seven Years Bad Luck
(Writer)
Be My Wife
(Writer)
Be My Wife
(Producer)
Seven Years Bad Luck
(Producer)
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
(Writer)
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
(Director)
Max as a Musician
(Writer)
Jalousie
(Writer)
Max Wishes He Hadn't
(Writer)
Jalousie
(Director)
Max, Tango Teacher
(Director)
Max Hates Cats
(Director)
Max Toreador
(Director)
Max Takes Back His Freedom
(Director)
Max, médecin malgré lui
(Writer)
Max, médecin malgré lui
(Director)
The Forced Marriage
(Director)
Max and the Jealous Husband
(Director)
An Unexpected Marriage
(Director)
Hairdresser of Love
(Director)
I Want a Baby
(Director)
Max Gets Stuck Up
(Writer)
Max Fears the Dogs
(Director)
Max's Vacation
(Writer)
Max and the Lady Doctor
(Writer)
I Want a Baby
(Writer)
Max and Jane Want to Do Theater
(Writer)
Max Takes Back His Freedom
(Writer)
Max Is Convalescent
(Writer)
Une ruse de mari
(Writer)
Au Secours !
(Writer)
Laugh with Max Linder
(Writer)
Love's Surprises
(Director)
Au music-hall (At the Music Hall)
(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: Jockey for Love
(Director)
Max Wishes He Hadn't
(Director)
Max a un duel
(Director)
Max est distrait
(Director)
Max émule de Tartarin
(Director)
Max as a Musician
(Director)
Un pari original
(Director)
Max amoureux de la teinturière
(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)