Silent movies - Troubles of a Grass Widower

Yet another short today, I'm sorry to say. Pre-hibernation, among other things, has rather messed up my time management in some areas including the blog.
Looking for a fun short, however, has introduced me to Max Linder for the first time, in this case in "Troubles of a Grass Widower" from 1908.
Max Linder was a French film pioneer and an international superstar inspiring other comedians, for example Charlie Chaplin who called him his professor.
He was known for his "Max" figure in tails and top hat.

Here's the plot of this little domestic comedy.

Max and his wife are sitting at the dinner table, Max refusing to stop hiding behind his newspaper. When his wife tells him angrily that she'll go back to her mother, Max is so overjoyed that he's doing a little dance.

Enjoy it while you can, Max.

Then he realizes he has to deal with the household by himself now, from washing dishes ...

So much easier with the hose than with the
brush, but of course he drops everything trying
to take it back to the kitchen.

... to grocery shopping and cooking ...

It's hard enough to keep control of the groceries without a lad trying to steal them.
And too much pepper in a dish can make you sneeze and lose your pan
(which is lucky in this case because shoe cleaning fluid doesn't make a good gravy).

... cleaning the house and making the bed ...

Max is trying his best, but without much success.

... but the worst of all is finding that darn tie!

It must be in one of those many closets!

Wife and mother find Max in deep despair - think he's going to be nicer to her from now on (especially after she has cleared up the chaos he left for her)?

Help!

Of course, this is a comedy about gender roles and the helpless man trying to tackle a household is not new to us, we know it as a plot in sitcoms and movies, but you have to keep in mind that this is from 1908 ... 117 years old (I'll never get over the age of those films)!
And Max Linder's performance of a husband going from overconfident to desperate is really charming.

Actually, thinking of it now some of it reminds me of Mr. Bean who is full of ingenious plans and good intentions, but usually messes up in the end, only that Max looks a lot less goofy.

This short definitely whetted my appetite for more of Max Linder who has more to offer than just a tad of slapstick from what I read.

By the way, in German we would call a person who is temporarily separated from their spouse (due to a trip for example) a "Strohwitwe/r" = "straw widow/er".


Sources:

1. Fritzi Kramer: Troubles of a Grass Widower (1908) - A silent movie review. On: Movies Silently, October 14, 2018
2. Marius Nobach: Chaplins Professor - Max Linder. Eine Würdigung von Max Linder, dem ersten Komiker-Star der Kinogeschichte, zum 100. Todestag am 1. November 2025. On: Filmdienst, November 17, 2025 (in German)