Rare Films Of Max Linder (1906-1921)

The Rare Films of Max Linder DVD  contains mostly early films from 1905 to 1912. To give this some chronological perspective, keep in mind that by the time Mack Sennett founded Keystone Studios in 1912, Linder had already made a couple of hundred films.  In 1913, Sennett hired Chaplin, who did not debut his tramp character until the following year. As for Keaton, his first film appearance wasn't until 1917, when he had a role in Fatty Arbuckle's   The Butcher Boy.

So Linder was pretty much on his own, ahead of his time and far from Hollywood, in the beginning grinding out a film a day for Pathé in Paris. In the process, he pretty much invented the comic narrative film. While early filmmakers often used gags as their subject matter (see these previous posts), it was Linder who developed a recognizable character — that of an often inebriated Paris dandy — and began to develop stories around him.  The first movies were nothing more than simple gag ideas, but over time Linder developed his foppish character, his storytelling skills, and his use of film language.

By the time you get to Linder's "feature-length" films (about an hour long), the artistic progress is very much in evidence. Now working in Hollywood and Paris, his fame eclipsed by Chaplin, Linder is still somewhat ahead of his time in shooting features.

Incluye:

• Le Premier cigar d'un collegian / His First Cigar (1906))
• La vie de Polichinelle / The Legend of Polichinelle (1907)
• Max patineur / Max Learns to Skate (1907)
• Max et la doctoresse / Max and the Lady Doctor (1909)
• Max prend un ban / Max Takes a Bath (1910)
• Max et sa belle mere / Max and His Mother-in-Law (1910)
• Max, victim du quinquina / Max and the Quinquina (1911)
• Max et Jane veulant faire du Thatre / Max plays at Drama (1911)
• Max reprend sa liberte / Troubles of a Grass Widower (1912)
• Max jongleur par amour / Max juggles for Love (1912)
• Max et son chien Dick / Max and his Dog (1912)
• Max et la statue / Max and the Statue (1912)
• Max a peur des chiens / Max Fears the Dogs (1912)
• Max veut grandir / Max gets stuck up (1912)
• Le chapeau de Max / Max's Hat (1913)
• Be My Wife (1921)