Modern Times (1936) |
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Modern Times Cast |
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Movie Highlights |
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Other InformationAwardsBest Classic DVD Release Satellite Awards [2004] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) National Film Registry National Film Preservation Board, USA [1989] Plot SummaryThis 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... TaglineLaugh . . . Cry and Thrill To his Genius . . ! You`ll never laugh as long and as loud again as long as you live! The laughs come so fast and so furious you`ll wish it would end before you collapse! 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! DiscographySinglesJe cherche après Titine [1917] Hallelujah, I`m a Bum How Dry I Am In the Evening by the Moonlight The Prisoner`s Song Theme from Modern Times |
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Full Cast and Crew |
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Actor CreditsNon Actor Credits |
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Trivia |
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Trivia and QuotesQuotes A gamin: [Last lines] What`s the use of trying?
A factory worker: Buck up - never say die. We`ll get along. President of the Electro Steel Corp.: [from the Telescreen in the restroom to the factory worker] Hey you! Get back to work! [Listening to a phonograph record]
The Mechanical Salesman: Good morning, my friends. This record comes to you through the Sales Talk Transcription Company, Incorporated: your speaker, the Mechanical Salesman. May I take the pleasure of introducing Mr. J. Widdecombe Billows, the inventor of the Billows Feeding Machine, a practical device which automatically feeds your men while at work? Don`t stop for lunch: be ahead of your competitor. The Billows Feeding Machine will eliminate the lunch hour, increase your production, and decrease your overhead. Allow us to point out some of the features of this wonderful machine: its beautiful, aerodynamic, streamlined body; its smoothness of action, made silent by our electro-porous metal ball bearings. Let us acquaint you with our automaton soup plate - its compressed-air blower, no breath necessary, no energy required to cool the soup. Notice the revolving plate with the automatic food pusher. Observe our counter-shaft, double-knee-action corn feeder, with its synchro-mesh transmission, which enables you to shift from high to low gear by the mere tip of the tongue. Then there is the hydro-compressed, sterilized mouth wiper: its factors of control insure against spots on the shirt front. These are but a few of the delightful features of the Billows Feeding Machine. Let us demonstrate with one of your workers, for actions speak louder than words. Remember, if you wish to keep ahead of your competitor, you cannot afford to ignore the importance of the Billows Feeding Machine.Trivia According to a fall 1935 issue of Variety, Charles Chaplin was expected to run behind schedule on the release of the movie as he tweaked the soundtrack. He also wanted to chop over 1,000 feet of film from his then existing cut. According to Paulette Goddard, Chaplin was deeply and profoundly involved in the recording of the musical score. He spent days upon days in the recording studio writing themes, and only left when Paulette begged him. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #78 Greatest Movie of All Time. A full dialogue script was written for the film, as Charles Chaplin had intended to make a complete talkie. According to a documentary on the DVD release, Chaplin went so far as to film a scene with full dialogue before deciding instead to make a partial talkie. Charles Chaplin allows the Tramp to speak on camera for the first time during the restaurant scene, but insisted that what the Tramp says be universal. Therefore, the song the Tramp sings is in gibberish, but it is possible to follow the story he tells by watching his hand gestures. Co-star Paulette Goddard actually made significant story contributions. Discounting later parodies and novelty films, this was the last major American film to make use of silent film conventions such as title cards for dialogue. The very last dialogue title card of this film (and thus, it can be said, the entire silent era) belongs to The Tramp, who says "Buck up - never say die! We`ll get along." Paulette Goddard`s character`s name is Ellen Peterson. Supposedly was to be Charles Chaplin`s first full sound film, but instead, sound is used in a unique way: we hear spoken voices only when they come from mechanical devices, a symbol of the film`s theme of technology and dehumanization. Specifically, voices are heard from: - The videophones used by the factory president - The phonographic Mechanical Salesman - The radio in the prison warden`s office The film originally ended with Charles Chaplin`s character suffering a nervous breakdown and being visited in hospital by the gamin, who has now become a nun. This ending was filmed, though apparently only still photographs from the scene exist today (they are included in the 2003 DVD release of the film). Chaplin dropped this ending and shot a different, more hopeful ending instead. The Little Tramp`s last words: "Smile! C`mon!" (it is easy to read Charles Chaplin`s lips at the very end of the film). The singers in the restaurant are also heard, and some scenes include sound effects. This was one of the films which, because of its political sentiments, convinced the House Un-American Activities Committee that Charles Chaplin was a Communist, a charge he adamantly denied. He left to live in Switzerland, vowing never to return to America. | ||
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