There's some debate of who truly was the first star in movies. Early film studios wanted to depress their actors' salaries by not promoting them. But French actor Max Linder is cited by most as cinema's first int'l star because of his reoccurring Max character, a dapper, rich guy always getting into jams because of his womanizing and his pompous attitude. As the Max persona was repeatedly seen, so was his popularity. The 1st Max film was 1907 "The Skater's Debut." The director of this film, Louis Gasnier, saw Lake Daumesnil in Paris frozen over and thought the ice would be a good backdrop for Linder's physical comedy. Dressed up in his soon-to-be trademark attire, Linder improvised all his stunts on ice skates. You can see the influence Linder had on Charlie Chaplin just in this 5-minute film, as seen here by Max's whirlwind skating legs, which is reminiscent of The Tramp's "The Rink" made 9 years later. Both were good friends during Chaplin's early screen days.