Max joue le drame (1910)

Director:

Cast: Max Linder

Synopsis: A man attempts to prove to his friends that he’s a great dramatic actor.

French comic actor Max Linder – a major influence on the young Charles Chaplin – believes himself to be a great dramatic actor in the early French short Max joue le drame, but all his friends think he’s a bit of a joke.   Determined to prove them wrong, he invites them all to a play in which he plays the lead role.   Of course, once on stage Max has trouble with various props, including a fulsome wig. Linder’s films from this period tended to resemble a joke – a lengthy set-up with one (intended) big laugh for the punch line.   Linder may have been better advised to provide a few more laughs on the way to that conclusion – especially when the punch line isn’t all that funny.

(Reviewed 7th March 2012)