Poster of Modern Times

Modern Times (1936)

He stands alone as the greatest entertainer of modern times! No one on earth can make you laugh as heartily or touch your heart as deeply...the whole world laughs, cries and thrills to his priceless genius!

1936-02-05 · Comedy, Drama, Romance · 87 min

★ 8.3 (4256 votes)

Directed by Charlie Chaplin

Overview

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Cast

  • Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin The Tramp (A Factory Worker)
  • Paulette Goddard Paulette Goddard A Gamin
  • Henry Bergman Henry Bergman Cafe Proprietor
  • Tiny Sandford Tiny Sandford Big Bill
  • Chester Conklin Chester Conklin Mechanic
  • Hank Mann Hank Mann Burglar
  • Stanley Blystone Stanley Blystone Gamin's Father
  • Al Ernest Garcia Al Ernest Garcia President of the Electro Steel Corp.
  • Richard Alexander Richard Alexander Prison Cellmate
  • Cecil Reynolds Minister
  • Mira McKinney Mira McKinney Minister's Wife
  • Murdock MacQuarrie Murdock MacQuarrie J. Widdecombe Billows
  • Wilfred Lucas Wilfred Lucas Juvenile Officer
  • Edward LeSaint Edward LeSaint Sheriff Couler
  • Fred Malatesta Fred Malatesta Cafe Head Waiter
  • Sammy Stein Sammy Stein Turbine Operator
  • Juana Sutton Woman with Buttoned Bosom
  • Ted Oliver Billows' Assistant
  • Norman Ainsley Billows' Silent Assistant (uncredited)
  • Walter Bacon Shopkeeper (uncredited)

Crew

Director
Charlie Chaplin
Director of Photography
Roland Totheroh
Director of Photography
Ira H. Morgan
Director of Photography
Bud Thackery
Editor
Charlie Chaplin
Editor
Willard Nico
Original Music Composer
Charlie Chaplin
Producer
Charlie Chaplin
Screenplay
Charlie Chaplin

Details

Budget
$1,500,000
Revenue
$1,800,000
IMDb
tt0027977
TMDB
3082

Keywords

  • ambulance
  • assembly line
  • automation
  • black and white
  • burglars
  • communism
  • factory
  • great depression
  • hilarious
  • hospital
  • industrial revolution
  • invention
  • jail
  • machine
  • mental breakdown
  • orphans
  • pardon
  • police arrest
  • prison break attempt
  • screwdriver
  • silent film
  • slapstick comedy
  • smuggling
  • tramp
  • unemployment
  • wrongful conviction

Videos

Reviews

CinemaSerf · ★ 7 · 2022-06-19

I wonder how many people watch this nowadays and sympathise immediately with Chaplin's unskilled worker trying to keep up with the relentless march of technology? It starts with him being an unwilling guinea pig for a gadget that appears as useful for cleaning teeth as it is for feeding him - a cunning invention which allegedly saves time, money and increases productivity... Needless to say, it's a crock of the proverbial - but that's just the start with these wacky, frequently absurd, ideas that sees our hapless hero expend considerable energy and quick-wittedness trying to stay one step ahead of these "advances" - oh, and of just about everyone else he encounters as he struggles, comedically, along! Meantime, a starving, homeless, orphaned woman - Paulette Goddard - is caught pinching a loaf by a rather snooty passer-by, she bumps into Chaplin on the street whist effecting her getaway, and the pair are soon in cahoots together for more engaging escapades. Chaplin is outstanding in this film - his agility, timing and visionary direction - not just of the film, but of the portents for society at large - resonates just as soundly today as when audiences started watching it 85 years ago. It swipes at modernity, but not just for the sake of it , it's not luddite in outlook - just evaluative of what/who gets left behind - and that isn't just the blue collar workers either... The scenes on the ice skates in the department store are a delight to watch; charm, humour and agility all rolled into one - and I love his style consuming the rum! Definitely one for a big screen, there is so much going on...

Andres Gomez · ★ 8 · 2013-11-05

Really good movie from visionary and fun Charlie Chaplin in which industry literally swallows the human being.

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