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 #39 | 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:

jail | actor director writer | music score composed by director | factory | satire | 

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Taglines:

You'll never laugh as long and as loud again as long as you live! The laughs come so fast and so furious you'll wish it would end before you collapse!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Previous to his nonsense song in the film, Charles Chaplin's voice had been heard only once before on film, saying "Guten tag" in a newsreel filmed during a stop in Vienna in 1931.

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Goofs

(at around 15 mins) When Charlie comes back out of the machine, the footage is played backwards. The men hammering in the background give this away.

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

The opening credits on the 2003 DVD release have been digitally changed to insert a new copyright notice. The 2003 DVD release includes, in its supplementary material, a deleted scene in which Chaplin unsuccessfully tries to cross a busy street.

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Connections

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: 10th Anniversary Edition (2007)

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Soundtracks

Theme from Modern Times
(1935) (uncredited)
(Later known as "Smile")
Music by Charles Chaplin

User Reviews

THE FEEDING MACHINE SCENE IS UNSURPASSED

I saw this as a child and my laughter at the feeding machine scene was so WILD that I have never laughed so hard at anything again in my entire life. I literally slid out of my chair to the ground gasping for air. The whole film is absurd and brilliant, crisply realized by a comedy genius but for me that one moment transcends even greatness and touches the sublime where is poetry and God. Seeing the 'feeding machine' again as an adult there are tears mixed with laughter. To eat is to live, it is the personal realm and the invasion of the authoritarian state into the personal realm is so arrogant and pompous that it frightens me a lot to see how far it has gone as 'they' regulate our speech, our food, our sex lives according to the latest PC doctrines of 'nice'. Chaplin would not have recognized this new world of ours where the working class he represents here is ruled by progressive billionaires spouting inanities.

Details

Official Sites:

Instagram Official Site

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:

$35,809, 28 December 2003

Gross USA:

$163,577

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$457,688

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System) Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1