Modern Times

Director: Charlie Chaplin
Writer: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard
Release Date: 1936
Genre: Silent, Comedy
Runtime: 87 min
Awards: selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry (1989)

Tomatometer Rating: 100%
My Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Modern Times @ IMDb
Modern Times @ Rotten Tomatoes

Charlie Chaplin is brilliant; I’ll give him that much. That being said, however, I’m absolutely convinced that Chaplin’s works translated much better onto the stage than they ever did to film.

Modern Times is widely considered to be Chaplin’s magnum opus. The film follows his most notable character, “The Tramp”, as he struggles to find stability and success in a newly revolutionized society plagued by rapid industrialization and widespread crime. In addition to being a standard fare slapstick comedy, the film brings politics into the mix, with obvious dissent towards industrialization, capitalism, elitism, and the criminal justice system.

As per the usual, Chaplin is addicting; his energy and dedication to each comic moment make watching him an absolutely incredible experience. He is a physically marvel – a master of bodily control; this is, of course, what made Chaplin the greatest and most famous mime to ever grace the planet (second perhaps only to Marcel Marceau).

As a film, however, Modern Times simply doesn’t work. It is episodic in the most extreme sense of the word, as the film is deliberately divided into 5 acts. This organization would work if only all of the acts were incredibly compelling and interesting, when in reality, they are most certainly not. The film begins with the perhaps its most gripping scene, a portrayal of The Tramp’s life as a factory worker as he deals with the troubles of working on an assembly line and is forced test a crude feeding machine, both of which lead him toward an eventual nervous breakdown. The factory is host to Chaplin’s best physical work in the entire film, as well as his most entertaining use of his surroundings, and one of the most famous shots in all of cinema (in which The Tramp gets sucked into a giant machine and rides a track of gears and axels until he is rescued).

From there, however, the entire movie is almost completely downhill. Chaplin’s physical comedy is not nearly as engaging as it was in the factory, and there is little he can do to play off his uninteresting counterpart, the Gamin (portrayed by Paulette Goddard).

Chaplin does make an effort to save the film towards the end, with a brilliant impromptu song-and-dance routine in a café as he tries to secure a job. Though it is too little too late, this bit is sheer genius and, along with the factory scene, could easily stand on its own without the rest of the film.

If nothing else, Modern Times is certainly a great perspective for how the other half lives (to quote Jacob Riis). It is fun, and though slow, is certainly worth watching.



Visit this link to view Chaplin's most famous shot in which he gets sucked into a machine at the end of an assembly line and enters a magical maze of gears and axels. Primitive cinematic beauty.