Je voudrais un enfant (1910)

Director: Max Linder

Cast: Max Linder

Synopsis: Max and his wife go to a quack Professor when they are unable to conceive after three years of trying.

In Je voudrais un enfant, Max (Max Linder – Max joue le drame) and his wife want a child, but after three unsuccessful years of trying, they’re starting to get on one another’s nerves a little. Then Max sees an advert for a Professor who guarantees results, and the desperate couple pay him a visit. He supplies them with a potion which has far better results than they could have expected, and by the final frame Max finds himself completely surrounded by a bevy of caterwauling babes. The story’s quite a simple one, and seems to be going nowhere for a while, but it’s actually just working its way up to a fairly amusing punch line. More a filmed joke than a comedy film, Je voudrais un enfant is worth six minutes of your time.

(Reviewed 9th February 2012)