The Romance of Max
About The Romance of Max
On a seaside holiday, Max (Max Linder) and a woman he does not know (Lucy d'Orbel) take adjoining rooms. They put their shoes in the corridor to be cleaned. In the night the shoes meet. The next day, while Max is out among the rocks and she sits on a bench, a shoe and a boot run off and find each other at the foot of a public bench. Max and the woman arrive there too, and they pair off.
Cast & crew
More about The Romance of Max
Max Linder wrote and directed it for Pathé. The English Wikipedia gives the release as 20 December 1912 and the length as 6 minutes 8 seconds. The French Wikipedia times a print at 3 minutes 32 seconds, from 160 meters. An alternate title is Petit roman.
Themes
Background
A Pathé Linder short from December 1912, a comedy in which the courtship is acted first by the shoes.
Technique
The shoes get up and move through the corridor, and later run to a bench, while the people are asleep or sitting still.
Preservation
A print is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The English Wikipedia says the story may come from Émile Cohl's Matrimonial Shoes (Les chaussures matrimoniales, 1909).
- French Wikipedia lists the hotel manager, the porters, and a woman who brings water among the players, without naming them.
- The two published timings, 6 minutes 8 seconds and 3 minutes 32 seconds, do not match.
Scenes
- The shoes in the corridor strike up with each other overnight.
- A shoe and a boot run to the foot of a park bench.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Le roman de Max - Film 1912.webm)
