Modern Times (1936)

The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.

Director:

Charles Chaplin (as Charlie Chaplin)

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (as Charlie Chaplin)

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman

Top Rated Movies #38 | 4 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charles Chaplin	...	A Factory Worker (as Charlie Chaplin)
Paulette Goddard	...	A Gamin
Henry Bergman	...	Cafe Proprietor
Tiny Sandford	...	Big Bill (as Stanley Sandford)
Chester Conklin	...	Mechanic
Hank Mann	...	Burglar
Stanley Blystone	...	Gamin's Father
Al Ernest Garcia	...	President of the Electro Steel Corp. (as Allan Garcia)
Richard Alexander	...	Prison Cellmate (as Dick Alexander)
Cecil Reynolds	...	Minister
Mira McKinney	...	Minister's Wife (as Myra McKinney)
Murdock MacQuarrie	...	J. Widdecombe Billows (as Murdoch McQuarrie)
Wilfred Lucas	...	Juvenile Officer
Edward LeSaint	...	Sheriff Couler (as Ed Le Sainte)
Fred Malatesta	...	Cafe Head Waiter

Storyline

Chaplin's last 'silent' film, filled with sound effects, was made when everyone else was making talkies. Charlie turns against modern society, the machine age, (The use of sound in films ?) and progress. Firstly we see him frantically trying to keep up with a production line, tightening bolts. He is selected for an experiment with an automatic feeding machine, but various mishaps leads his boss to believe he has gone mad, and Charlie is sent to a mental hospital - When he gets out, he is mistaken for a communist while waving a red flag, sent to jail, foils a jailbreak, and is let out again. We follow Charlie through many more escapades before the film is out.

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Plot Keywords:

actor director writer | music score composed by director | the little tramp character | national film registry | afi | 

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Taglines:

Laugh . . . Cry and Thrill To his Genius . . !

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Masses

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,507, 9 January 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$163,245, 24 October 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eleven-year-old Gloria DeHaven made her film debut in an uncredited part as one of the Gamin's sisters. Her father, actor-director-producer Carter DeHaven, is credited as assistant director, although some reports say he had a hand in shaping the script as well.

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Goofs

(at around 14 mins) One of the men on the moving line with Charlie, is operating a press/drill. When he moves it down towards the plates with the two nuts, it never actually touches the plates.

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Quotes

President of the Electro Steel Corp.: [first lines]
President of the Electro Steel Corp.: Section 5, speed her up, 401.

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Alternate Versions

The laserdisc edition contains an extra scene that the film was never released with. An extra verse of the Tramp's gibberish song "Titina" appears (33 seconds in length) at Chapter 13: frames 36235 - 37009 which corrects a continuity jump. This was obviously a last minute removal on Chaplin's part, before the initial release, but was never removed from his 35mm lavender preservation masters which were used to master the laserdisc. The last verse of the Tramp's gibberish song is also shown as a deleted scene on the Chaplin Collection version of Modern Times and with lyrics to it as a karaoke piece.

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Connections

Referenced in De slimste mens ter wereld: De slimsten vs de rest 2 (2017)

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Soundtracks

The Prisoner's Song
(1924) (uncredited)
Written by Guy Massey

User Reviews

As relevant today as it was then - and still very funny

Part satire, part slapstick comedy, part melodrama; the great pioneer of film, Charles Chaplin, has created his own monument with this film. At the same time, 'Modern Times' was Chaplin's last goodbye to the era of silent film - which, remarkably, had already ended almost a decade earlier.

After nearly 80 years, this screen marvel still makes me laugh, cry - and think about the ongoing automatization of practically every trivial little thing in our lives. Modern times, indeed.

To me, this film is as entertaining and funny today as I imagine it was then, and it's certainly as relevant as it was then.

The tramp still rules. My vote: 9 out of 10.

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