Works featuring "comedy" (255)
And so I am a comedienne, though I, too, once wanted to do heroic and tragic things. Today my objection to playing comedy is that it is so often misunderstood by the audiences, both in the theater and in the picture houses. It is so often thought to be a lesser art and something which comes to one naturally, a haphazard talent like the amateur clowning of some cut-up who is so often thought to be ‘the life of the party’. In the eyes of so many persons comedy is not only the absence of studied effect and acting, but it is not considered an art.
--Dorothy Gish

The Cleaning Man (Le Frotteur)

Fans of Rik Mayall/Ade Edmondson's brand of 'full-on destruction' comedy will bow down in homage to this pioneering work of riotous excess.

The Race for the Sausage (Course a la saucisse)

Dog goes for sausage, town goes after dog. Similar to Pathé's 'The Policemen's Little Run' (released the same year), but towers over the competition in scoring for PPM (Pratfalls Per Minute).

The Torn Trousers/In A Difficult Position (Mon Pantalon Est Décousu)

Max uses finesse to try to hide a rip in his trousers during a dance. This is quintessential Max: the dapper and loveable upper-class twit whose efforts to impress ladies crash and burn while he tries to keep face, in the modern man's dilemma of maintaining the delusion of stability as his world falls apart.

His First Cigar (Premier Cigare d'un Collegien)

This is not Max, the dapper and loveable upper-class twit, but appears to be the same schoolboy in 'In Love With The Bearded Woman' (same uniform and still living with parents), who takes a crack at cigar-smoking. Closeup shots showcase Linder's remarkable expressive abilities, as he demonstrates how to choke with finesse.

Troubles Of A Grasswidower (Vive La Vie de Garçon)

Max has a wife who tires of his annoying behavior and returns to her mother. At first, Max is quite pleased to have the house all to himself. But he quickly discovers that even the most basic domestic chores can be fraught with difficulty. Introduces the Crazy Max dance

Pedicure for Love/Unwilling Chiropodist (Pédicure Par Amour)

When papa steps in, Max must stop romancing the daughter and pretend to be a pedicurist.

An early version of what seems to have been a sort of signature skit for Linder: it was remade in 1914, and then a portion of the remake appears in another film as the catalyst that spawns a Max Linder imitator. This version includes André Deed (as the real pedicurist, who ends up romancing the wife), Pathé's star comic before Linder. Deed's exit from Pathé gave Linder his opportunity for stardom. This may be the only surviving film where they are seen together - although with the poor quality and distant camera, actually not much can be seen.