Max Linder, the French silent film comedian who Charlie Chaplin called “The Professor,” began his screen career in 1905 and became the first internationally recognized film comedian, influencing the work of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd among others, until his career was cut short by his death in 1925 at the age of 42. Typically playing a dapper dandy of the idle class, Linder was writing, directing and supervising his own films from 1911. He created and refined a subtle and complicated style of character comedy, while simultaneously reveling in the slapstick manner of the day. His dashing appearance and mischievous grin were put to good use in his films as he relentlessly pursued the female sex, boldly and humorously.

Linder appeared in over 600 shorts and six features, with only 80 of the shorts and three of the features known to survive today. Most of the films that do survive were gathered through the tireless efforts of Max’s daughter, Maud, who began reconstructing her father’s legacy when she learned of her true birthright as an adult.

The Academy is pleased to offer a unique opportunity to return Max Linder to the silver screen with the additional benefit of biographical and critical commentary by his daughter. In addition to a screening of one of his Hollywood-produced features, The Three Must-Get-Theres (1922), the evening will feature fragments from his features Be My Wife (1921) and Seven Years Bad Luck (1921) as well as the complete short subjects Une Nuit Agitée (An Agitated Night – 1912) and Max a Peur de L’eau (Max Is Afraid of the Water – 1912).

“An Homage to Max Linder” is presented as part of The Jack Oakie Lecture on Comedy in Film series, which provides an opportunity for established filmmakers and historians to share their experiences and to discuss the specific challenges and delights of the comedy film genre. The lecture is named in memory of character actor Jack Oakie, whose career included vaudeville, Broadway musicals and eighty-seven pictures, most of them comedies or musical comedies. His career included such notable films as Once in a Lifetime, Million Dollar Legs and It Happened Tomorrow, and was crowned by his portrayal of a Mussolini-like head of state in The Great Dictator, for which he received an Academy Award nomination.