Works from Pathé (71)
Featured image for The Water-Funker (La peur de l'eau)

The Water-Funker (La peur de l'eau)

Max's romance is derailed by a challenge to his fear of water. Only two comic moments: this first one at 9 minutes. The final comic moment (at 13 minutes) is Max in his best manic form. It's even more impressive because it is preceded by a chillingly grim portrayal of broken-hearted depression: like a cinematic display of manic-depression.

Featured image for Max And The Statue (Max et l'inauguration de la statue)

Max And The Statue (Max et l'inauguration de la statue)

After a party, Max passes out drunk in a knight's costume and is mistaken for a stolen statue.

Featured image for The Compleat Sportsman (Max Linder pratique tous les sports)

The Compleat Sportsman (Max Linder pratique tous les sports)

To wed a rich American, Max must beat competing suitors in sports.

Starts out looking like a gender switch of the 1904 How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the New York Herald Personal Columns. Like that earlier film, this also is long, with few laughs. Basically, it is an excuse for Linder to show off his skills - he looks like he could have been an early Douglas Fairbanks.

Interesting that one of the suitors appears to be a dark-skinned non-European (who moves like a real boxer), since such a marriage was illegal in 30 of the 48 US states at that time. Perhaps that is why the film's IMDB entry gives no indication of a US release. But, according to Wikipedia, there was never any racial law about marriage in France, and all administrative prohibitions were canceled by a law in 1833.

Featured image for Max's Hat (Le chapeau de Max)

Max's Hat (Le chapeau de Max)

Max's hat is dogged by misfortune.

Featured image for Max Takes A Picture (Max fait de la photo)

Max Takes A Picture (Max fait de la photo)

Max goes nuts when he sees big butt. Max tries to sneak snapshots of a Rubenesque beauty on the beach, but she gets payback - as Max ends up frantic with guilt. Too little content, dragged out too long.

Featured image for Germinal

Germinal

The original film is 2.5 hours, so this version is missing more than half the film - most notably, the intertitles. Also, the two main male leads share similar costumes, physique, mustaches, and hair styles, and are both seen with the same woman. So this version is tricky to follow, but is worth the effort: a more natural acting style, location filming, unforgettable scenes of crowd uprising, and a story that subtly surveys the intersection between emotional and social landscapes - at a time when US film was still honing its huckster skills of grabbing the attention of the audience, then ramming views and values (aka, propaganda) down its throat.