Max presents himself with a letter of introduction to Mr. Charles Pathé. He is then passed from hand to hand until he finds himself facing a director who has him do a few tests: singing, dancing, performing a somersault, receiving a slap. Some time later, he is summoned for a screen test. We then see him at odds with his wife and especially his mother-in-law, who end up throwing him out of a window and then successively hurling a table, a wardrobe, a mattress, etc., at him while he is being filmed. Finally, the director asks him to make a face in front of the camera. And that's when Max rebels and turns against his tormentors.