Modern Times

Released: February 25, 1936

Studio: United Artists

Genre: comedy, drama, family

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 0.16 Worldwide: ?

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 5.80 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Charles Chaplin

Screenwriting: Charles Chaplin

Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman

Review:

In this “consistently hilarious, and unforgettable” ^LM “Chaplin masterpiece” ^VD he says farewell to his “beloved character The Tramp.” ^MSN “This social protest film was also Chaplin’s final great effort in the silent era, as the talkies overtook silent films. The film was made between 1932 and 1936, with Chaplin writing, directing, producing and scoring it.” ^MSN

It is “a ‘mostly silent,’ funny and poignant comedy/satire in which Charlie Chaplin bids farewell to silent comedy.” ^FS Modern Times “perfectly captures Chaplin: naive, but ever so heartfelt.” ^TV It is a comic nightmare of mass production, runaway capitalism, the police state – all of which helped get the film (and its star) labeled Red.” ^TV

Chaplin is a factory worker “in the Depression era of poverty and unrest” ^FS slaving “on a dehumanizing automated assembly line” ^FS overseen by his “‘Big-Brother’ tyrannical boss who spies on employees with a giant TV monitor and demands greater speed and efficiency.” ^FS Chaplin “quickly has a nervous breakdown [and] goes insane.” ^FS

“After several trips to the hospital and jail, ultimately finds happiness with a kindred soul.” ^A07 “He meets and falls in love with an orphaned street waif and fellow vagabond The Gamine (Goddard), and the two dream of a contented, suburban existence.” ^FS

The movie “includes some utterly stunning sequences” ^TV such as “his trip through the cogs of a factory.” ^TV “In one of the ‘sound’ sequences, the Tramp impersonates a singing waiter.” ^FS “The feeding-machine sequence is priceless.” ^FS The “final shot is among Chaplin’s most famous and most poignant.” ^LM It is “a touching ending – a final farewell to the Little Tramp character.” ^FS