Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Charles Chaplin | ... | A Factory Worker (as Charlie Chaplin) | |
Paulette Goddard | ... | A Gamin | |
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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) | |
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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 |
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. Written by Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>
Greetings from Lithuania.
"Modern Times" (1936) is my first movie which i saw that features Charles Chaplin. Saw it first time in 2015, but nevertheless it's a great movie. Comedy here is truly funny, and it's not just a comedy. It tells a story, with some underlying themes that are still kinda topical till this day – technology is changing, evolving, and if you are not keeping pace with it, you will have some hard times like our hero of this movie.
Acting here is very solid, actually i was surprised of how well acted this movie was – no one overreacted. Story itself is interesting and movie is very well paced – at running time 1 h 27 min it almost never drags and is entertaining from start till finish.
Overall, "Modern Times" is a black and white silent movie (there are some sounds actually) which safely can be viewed for the first time even in 2015 – 79 years after it's original release. It has some truly genuine comedic situations, it tells good story and pacing of picture is very solid. Maybe it is not possible to review this movie correctly now because it's very old, but great movies are great movies – they can be viewed no matter what.