Modern Times is a classic American motion-picture comedy starring Charlie Chaplin. Although the movie was released in 1936, when sound films were well established, Modern Times is essentially silent. The movie has no spoken dialogue but does include music and humorous sound effects. Chaplin wrote and directed the film and also composed its music. Chaplin’s score included the well-known song “Smile.” Modern Times was the last motion picture in which Chaplin appeared as his most famous character, “the Tramp.”
Modern Times satirizes the dominance of machines over workers. Chaplin plays an assembly-line worker in a factory who goes berserk trying to keep up with the demands of his boring job. The Tramp is fired and tries a succession of jobs. Along the way, he meets a young woman who has no family, and they eventually team up to start a new life together. The final image of the film, and of the Tramp, shows the little man and the young woman walking away down a dusty road, hoping for a better future.
Modern Times is a typical Chaplin blend of brilliant comic invention and sentimentality. The movie is a succession of creative visual gags rather than a strong story. Paulette Goddard, Chaplin’s third wife, played the young woman. Supporting players included Henry Bergman, Chester Conklin, Heinie Conklin, and Hank Mann, all associates of Chaplin during his silent-film days.
See also Chaplin, Charlie .
