A review of the 1936 Chaplin classic “Modern Times”
This is absolutely a Charlie Chaplin film: he wrote, produced and directed it, he composed the music, and he is the star who has one of the few and small speaking roles (actually it is a gibberish version of a song). Given the date, it should really have been a work of sound, but mostly it is a traditional silent movie complete with text cards, so it is a kind of bridge between the silent and the talkie eras.It is the last Chaplin film to feature his trademark little tramp, but this time the nameless character is a factory worker and the story is a satire on the brutalising effects of new technology and unemployment told through a succession of visual and aural gags – perhaps the most memorable being him being sucked into a huge machine of circling cogs. Some at the time regarded the film as too political and we do see the Chaplin character (accidentally) leading a workers’ protest and being imprisoned as a suspect communist.
The work highlights the scourge of poverty in this Depression era, although the representation of a gamin’s life is rather blunted by the obvious beauty of Paulette Goddard (it’s no wonder that Chaplin married her).