The Max Linder Collection (DVD)

Kino Classics and Lobster Films celebrate the legacy of Max Linder, a pioneer of comedy whom Charlie Chaplin referred to as "the great master." With his trademark silk top hat and cane, the French-born Linder blended slapstick with sophistication, and invested his films with a layer of cleverness that elevated them above mere knockabout comedies, paving the way for such multi-dimensional screen comedians as Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. The collection includes four of Linder's American-made productions, meticulously restored from archival materials: THE THREE MUST-GET-THERES (1922, a parody of The Three Musketeers), SEVEN YEARS BAD LUCK (1921, a masterpiece of physical comedy), and the romantic farces BE MY WIFE (1921) and MAX WANTS A DIVORCE (1917).

THE THREE MUST-GET-THERES
U.S. 1922 Color Tinted 57 Min.
Written and Directed by Max Linder
Photographed by Max Dupont and Enrique Juan Vallejo With Max Linder, Bull Montana, Frank Cooke, Jobyna Ralston, Caroline Rankin
Compositions and Arrangements: Maud Nelissen
Digital restoration and special contents © 2011 Lobster Films

BE MY WIFE
U.S. 1921 B&W 57 Min.
Written and Directed by Max Linder
Photographed by Charles Van Enger
With Max Linder, Alta Allen, Caroline Rankin
Music by Eric Le Guen
Digital restoration and special contents © 2014 Lobster Films

SEVEN YEARS BAD LUCK
U.S. 1921 Color Tinted 64 Min.
Written and Directed by Max Linder
With Max Linder, Alta Allen, Ralph McCullough, Betty K. Peterson
Music Compiled and Directed by Robert Israel
Digital restoration and special contents © 2014 Lobster Films

MAX WANTS A DIVORCE
U.S. 1917 B&W 27 Min.
Written and Directed by Max Linder
With Max Linder, Martha Mansfield
Music by Donald Sosin
Digital restoration and special contents © 2014 Lobster Films