User Reviews

Among the hundreds of one-reel comedies Max Linder made, MAX TAKES TONICS (in French MAX VICTIME DU QUINQUINA) from 1911 stands as one of his best. Here, Max suffers from an illness, and so his doctors orders him to take one glass of wine with tonic water to each meal. Max does as he is told, but too much so; as he's handed a ridiculously large glass by his maid, he soon finds himself quite drunk. In these circumstances he decides on a night out, whereby he soon finds himself offending a series of respectable gentlemen --a South American diplomat, and even the chief of police himself-- all of whom give him their card and challenge him to a duel. Each time our drunken friend is pestered by a cop, he simply hands the officer one of "his" cards, leading the cops to believe that Max is the cards' rightful owner and thus "cannot" be arrested. From this neatly constructed scenario unfolds a very funny little comedy that holds up well to this day. Around 1911, Linder was at the peak of his popular fame, and no wonder; his performance is out-and-out hilarious, and he's thoroughly engaging to watch in every scene.

This short film is included on Grapevine's DVD Comedy of Max Linder. Unfortunately, the copy presented there isn't in the best of shape, and provides only French intertitles. Let's hope that someone, someday will have the opportunity to release the big DVD box-set Max Linder deserves, and that this film then will be included, restored and remastered.

The style of comedy in the 1910s wasn't as refined as it became in the 1920s. Yet, despite this roughness (and usually a complete lack of a script), there were a few absolute gems during this era--and "Max Takes Tonics" is definitely one of them. There is a word of warning, though, about the film. The only copy I have so far found is from the link on IMDb--and it is with French subtitles. My French, though very rusty, helped enough that I understood what was happening. My bet is that even if you don't know the language, you probably will enjoy the film--particularly if you read a summary (which I will provide below).

Max goes to the doctor--he's feeling fatigued and out of sorts. The doctor prescribes a 'tonic'--an alcoholic drink that will reinvigorate him (common in the 'good old days'). However, either the doctor is an idiot or the people reading his prescription were idiots, as they gave Max a HUGE dose--an entire bottle! And, not surprisingly, after downing what appears to be a fifth, he's very intoxicated (perhaps too quickly so). Regardless, he goes off on a series of obnoxious adventures--fueled by a huge dose of tonic.

Repeatedly, Max bumps into folks and makes a nuisance of himself--so much so that three gentlemen hand him their cards (i.e., challenge him to a duel). These men are the Ambassador, the Minister of War and the Chief of Police! Armed with their cards he gets himself into lots of trouble--and each time the police stop him, he gives him his card. But, begin too drunk to do it properly, he hands out the cards of the Ambassador, the Minister and the Chief! And naturally the police think he's an important dignitary and help him home--to the WRONG homes! Hilarity ensues--including a hilarious but gross bit involving vomiting. Ultimately, the three gendarmes all discover their mistake and capture the troublesome drunk.

Unlike most silent shorts of the decade, this one did NOT appear to be a case where they just turned on the camera and told the actors to 'wing it' (VERY common at the time--and all of Chaplin's early shorts were done that way). Instead, the jokes were well-crafted and Linder was hilarious. Considering that he also directed this wonderful film, the world certainly had a great loss when this gifted man killed himself several years after completing this nice film.