"The Broken Violin" was among several of the Star Film Company's output in 1908 that, while generally attributed to Georges Méliès himself, was in fact more likely directed in Studio B by the filmmaker's production assistant, a man known simply by the name Manuel. Although generally speaking Manuel was a better actor than he was a director, what is left of this originally ten-minute work seems to be supervised competently, almost as though it was under the boss's direction himself, though the lack of Méliès's presence onscreen definitely shows. Nonetheless, it is an unusual film for the Star Film Company's catalog overall, mostly due to actually being a work of historical fiction - a biography of the famous 17th century composer and instrumentalist Jean-Baptiste Lully (hence the French title and explaining the period sets and costumes).
What remains of "The Broken Violin" is probably the opening scene, which appears to be introducing the main character; the title is obviously referencing an incident which occurred later in. The film begins with the interior of a kitchen, showing a lot of busy helpers and maids working. A new helper (Lully himself) is brought in, who does not seem enthusiastic about working there and once everybody leaves the room he begins to play a hidden violin - before being discovered by the others. However, everyone appears to like his playing so that he is soon playing for all while they dance with each-other and neglect their work. Interrupted suddenly by the boss, a rich nobleman, Lully is dismissed and everyone scolded for fooling around. The scene then changes to the interior of a ornately-decorated parlor, but sadly only a few seconds of this scene remain, with little action occurring in what is left of it.
The film was advertised as having four scenes and a ballet, so unfortunately a lot of the story is currently missing, with the violin probably being broken farther in. No descriptions of this movie appear to exist either, and even the Méliès historian John Frazer is clueless as to what the rest of it featured. Thus, with seven minutes lost, it is hard to rate accurately, and probably something the average person would be fine missing out on. Although even as a fragment it definitely serves at least as an interesting example of how Méliès (or Manuel) had to begin producing more works of realism, since the fantasy and trick films the company had specialized in previously were going out of style.