Seven Years Bad Luck (1921)

Directed by Max Linder. Starring Max Linder, Alta Allen, F. B. Crayne, Ralph McCullough, Betty Peterson, Chance Ward, Lola Gonzales.

On the eve of his wedding, superstitious Linder smashes a mirror, loses his fiancée, and attempts to “outrun” the bad luck he believes he’s inherited. A ripe silent comedy premise that might have worked gangbusters in the hands of, say, Buster Keaton, but Linder never quite managed the grace or soul at feature-length to reach the top tier in this form (compounded by his tragically short life and career), and the bad-luck gimmick is all but forgotten for long stretches. Some good gags, but the execution is uneven, to the point that it sometimes feels like a warm-up or rehearsal caught on film; several bits would be improved upon (or made more iconic) by later acts—the broken mirror routine (Marx Brothers), the stacked heads (Three Stooges), etc. It’s hard to say whether or not the blackface jokes are more or less offensive today than average—Linder “fools” people simply by pulling a dark stocking over his head! Photographed by Charles Van Enger.

63/100