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.

Cast

Une ruse de mari
Unknown
At the Show
Unknown
Jalousie
Unknown
Max Wishes He Hadn't
Unknown
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
Unknown
Max in a Taxi
Himself
Max Takes Tonics
Max
Max Wants a Divorce
Max
The Little Vixen
Unknown
The Three Must-Get-Theres
Dart-In-Again
First Night Out
Unknown
The False Max Linder
Max
A Farmhouse Romance
Max
Max's Hat
Max
Max Takes a Picture
Unknown
Max Wants to Grow
Max
Max Fears the Dogs
Max
Max Juggles for Love
Unknown
Max: Boxer By Love
Unknown
Max's First Job
Max
Max Gets Stuck Up
Max
Romeo Turns Bandit
Unknown
Max Plays the Part
Unknown
The Dentures
Unknown
Max and the Lady Doctor
Max
Love's Surprises
Unknown
Max and the Donkey
Max
Max and the Statue
Max
An Agitated Night
Unknown
The Romance of Max
Max
Max Sets the Fashion
Max
His First Cigar
Unknown
In a Difficult Position
Dieutegarde
Harlequin's Story
Polichinelle / Ponchinella / Harlequin
Joined Lips
Unknown
Max Sets the Style
Max
Max in Monaco
Unknown
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
Unknown
Max Embarrassed
Max
Cordial Agreement
Unknown
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
Unknown
Max Linder Does All the Sports
Max
A Nervous Twitch Is Catching (Un Tic Nerveux Contagieux)
Unknown
Troubles of a Grass Widower
Unknown
Chance and Love
Max
The World of Yesteryear – Max Linder
Self
Le Petit Café
Unknown
For a Necklace
Unknown
King of the Circus
Max Graf von Pompadour
The Husband's Trick
Unknown
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
Tartarin
Max, Tango Teacher
Unknown
Max Toreador
Unknown
Max Hates Cats
Unknown
Max Makes a Touch
Unknown
A Short-Sighted Duellist
Max
Max, médecin malgré lui
Max
Attempted Suicide
Unknown
In Love with the Bearded Woman
Unknown
The Theft of the Mona Lisa
(archive footage)
Max in the Convent
Unknown
Max Skiing
Max
The Forced Marriage
Unknown
An Unexpected Marriage
Unknown
Max and the Jealous Husband
Max
I Want a Baby
Unknown
Max Plays at Drama
Unknown
Hairdresser of Love
Unknown
Life and Deaths of Max Linder
Self (archive footage)
Max Takes Back His Freedom
Max (uncredited)
Max devrait porter des bretelles
Max
A Conquest
Unknown
Beginning of the Serpentine Dance
The ballet master
Laugh with Max Linder
Self (archive footage)
Phial of Poison
Unknown
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
Unknown
Max's Latest Hobby
Unknown
Max manque un riche mariage
Max
The Gentleman Thief
Arsène Lupin
Max Linder's Appointment
Unknown
Unforeseen Meeting
Unknown
Les Étudiants de Paris
Unknown
Julot va dans le monde
Julot
Comment Max fait le tour du monde
Unknown
Pitou, bonne d'enfants
Unknown
Those Were The Days
(self)
Easter Parade
Audience Member (uncredited)
All in Good Fun
Archive Footage
Max Linder Collection 1917-1922
Unknown
The Way of the World
(Archive Footage)
King of Cinema
Unknown

Crew

Champion de boxe
Director, Writer
Seven Years Bad Luck
Director, Producer, Writer
The Three Must-Get-Theres
Director, Writer
The Gentleman Thief
Director
Max Juggles for Love
Director
Max Takes Tonics
Director
Max and His Dog Dick
Director, Writer
Max the Heartbreaker
Director
Max and His Mother-in-Law
Director, Writer
Max Wants a Divorce
Director, Writer
Max in a Taxi
Director
Max Speaks English
Director
A Farmhouse Romance
Director
Max Takes a Bath
Scenario Writer
Max's Hat
Director, Writer
Max Wants to Grow
Director
Max: Boxer By Love
Director
Max's First Job
Director
Be My Wife
Director, Writer, Producer
Max and the Statue
Director, Writer
Max and the Donkey
Director
An Agitated Night
Director
The Romance of Max
Director
Max Sets the Fashion
Director
Max Gets Stuck Up
Director, Writer
Max and the Lady Doctor
Director, Writer
Max Sets the Style
Director
Max in Monaco
Director
Max and Jane Want to Do Theater
Director, Writer
Max Embarrassed
Director
Max Linder's Appointment
Director, Writer
Long-Lasting Love
Director
The Water-Funker
Director
Max Is Convalescent
Director, Writer
Cordial Agreement
Director, Writer
Max as a Chiropodist
Director
Max's Vacation
Director, Writer
Max and the Purse
Director
Max Linder Does All the Sports
Director
Par habitude
Story
The Wedding Trunk
Director
Chance and Love
Director, Writer
Troubles of a Grass Widower
Director
King of the Circus
Writer
The Adventures of Tartarin the Younger
Writer, Director
Max Wishes He Hadn't
Writer, Director
Max as a Musician
Writer, Director
Jalousie
Writer, Director
Max Hates Cats
Director
Max Toreador
Director, Writer
Max, Tango Teacher
Director
Max Takes Back His Freedom
Director, Writer
Max, médecin malgré lui
Director, Writer
The Forced Marriage
Director
An Unexpected Marriage
Director
Max and the Jealous Husband
Director
I Want a Baby
Director, Writer
Hairdresser of Love
Director
Max Fears the Dogs
Director
Une ruse de mari
Writer
Au secours !
Writer
Laugh with Max Linder
Writer
Love's Surprises
Director
The Effects of Pills
Writer
Max devrait porter des bretelles
Director
Max se marie
Director
Le serment d'un prince
Writer, Director
Max: Jockey for Love
Director
Max est distrait
Director
Max émule de Tartarin
Director
Max a un duel
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, Director
Le billet doux
Scenario Writer, Director
Max asthmatique
Director
Max's Latest Hobby
Director
Max manque un riche mariage
Writer
Attempted Suicide
Director, Screenplay
Comment Max fait le tour du monde
Director