From Screen to Stage and Back: Max Linder and the ‘Cinematographic Sketch’, 1908–1913

Abstract

Between 1908 and 1913, as Max Linder emerged as a major international film star for Pathé, he made a specialty of combining film projections with live theatre performances. In these ‘cinematographic sketches’, action that began onscreen appeared to continue onstage. Using considerable primary-source evidence drawn from French, British, and American film and theatre trade periodicals, the essay demonstrates the liminality of Linder’s multimedia stardom during cinema’s ‘transitional period’ by demonstrating how frequently he went from screen to stage and back.