Seven Years Bad Luck (1921)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Max Linder wrote, directed and stars in this comedy about a superstitious man who breaks a mirror and does anything he can to avoid falling into bad luck. Of course, the more he tries staying away from the bad luck the more he falls victim. There's no question Linder had an influence on Chaplin and various others but this film here doesn't show too much greatness. The film starts off with some incredibly funny moments but it slowly gets rather tiresome even with its short running time of just over a hour. The opening gags with the cat and one dealing with a servant trying to fool Linder into thinking the mirror isn't broke. There's an outrageous blackface joke, which is one of the most offensive I've seen and things went downhill from here. Things went down for Linder as well as he committed suicide in a pact with his wife four years later.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Max Linder wrote, directed and stars in this comedy about a superstitious man who breaks a mirror and does anything he can to avoid falling into bad luck. Of course, the more he tries staying away from the bad luck the more he falls victim. There's no question Linder had an influence on Chaplin and various others but this film here doesn't show too much greatness. The film starts off with some incredibly funny moments but it slowly gets rather tiresome even with its short running time of just over a hour. The opening gags with the cat and one dealing with a servant trying to fool Linder into thinking the mirror isn't broke. There's an outrageous blackface joke, which is one of the most offensive I've seen and things went downhill from here. Things went down for Linder as well as he committed suicide in a pact with his wife four years later.