Modern Times (1936)
- Starring:
- Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, (more)
- Director(s):
- Charles Chaplin
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- G
- Category:
- Comedy
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This episodic satire of the Machine Age is considered Charles Chaplin's last "silent" film, although Chaplin uses sound, vocal, and musical effects throughout. Chaplin stars as an assembly-line worker driven insane by the monotony of his job. After a long spell in an asylum, he searches for work, only to be mistakenly arrested as a Red agitator. Released after foiling a prison break, Chaplin makes the acquaintance of orphaned gamine (Paulette Goddard) and becomes her friend and protector. He takes on several new jobs for her benefit, but every job ends with a quick dismissal and yet another jail term. During one of his incarcerations, she is hired to dance at a nightclub and arranges for him to be hired there as a singing waiter. He proves an enormous success, but they are both forced to flee their jobs when the orphanage officials show up to claim the girl. Dispirited, she moans, "What's the use of trying?" But the ever-resourceful Chaplin tells her to never say die, and our last image is of Chaplin and The Gamine strolling down a California highway towards new adventures. The plotline of Modern Times is as loosely constructed as any of Chaplin's pre-1915 short subjects, permitting ample space for several of the comedian's most memorable routines: the "automated feeding machine," a nocturnal roller-skating episode, and Chaplin's double-talk song rendition in the nightclub sequence. In addition to producing, directing, writing, and starring in Modern Times, Chaplin also composed its theme song, Smile, which would later be adopted as Jerry Lewis' signature tune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 83 mins
Complete Cast:
- Charles Chaplin - Worker
- Henry Bergman - Cafe Owner
- Hank Mann - Burglar
- Allan Garcia - President of a Steel Corporation
- Richard Alexander - Convict
- Frank S. Hagney - Shipbuilder
- Edward J. Le Saint - Sheriff Conlon
- Fred Malatesta - Waiter
- Juana Sutton - Woman with Buttoned Bosom
- Dr. Cecil Reynolds - Prison Chaplain
- Ted Oliver - Biddle's assistant
- Frank Moran - Convict
- Stanley "Tiny" Sandford - Burglar
- Murdock MacQuarrie - J. Widdecombe Biddle
- Edward M. Kimball
- Stanley Blystone - Sheriff Couler
- Gloria de Haven - Gamin's Sister
- Paulette Goddard - Gamine
- Chester Conklin - Mechanic
- Louis Natheaux - Burglar
- Norman Ainsley
- Bobby Barber - Worker
- Walter James - Assembly Line Foreman
- Wilfred Lucas - Juvenile Officer
- Harry Wilson - Worker
- Sammy Stein - Turbine Operator
- John Rand - Convict
- James C. Morton - Assembly Worker
- Mira McKinney - Minister's Wife
- Lloyd Ingraham - Prison Governor
- Jack Low - Worker
- Chuck Hamilton - Worker
- Charles "Heinie" Conklin - Workman
- Director(s):
- Charles Chaplin
- Writer(s):
- Charles Chaplin
- Producer(s):
- Charles Chaplin
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- G(Suitable for Children)
- Categories:
- Comedy
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 1998 - Modern Times - American Film Institute - 100 Greatest American Movies
- 1988 - Modern Times - Library of Congress - U.S. National Film Registry
