MODERN TIMES (1936)
90TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION
Charles Chaplin was Hollywood’s greatest holdout against the coming of sound. He didn’t want dialogue to destroy the universal appeal of his comedy. When audiences finally heard his voice 90 years ago, he was singing a nonsense song at the end of this primarily wordless comedy. Inspired by his distaste for the technology taking over Hollywood, he set his Little Tramp against the machine age as he grapples with factory work and machines that try to eat him alive. The only dialog heard came from mechanical devices like intercoms and phonograph records. The Tramp also gets involved with a homeless girl (Paulette Goddard) and tries to help her feed her family (including a very young Gloria De Haven). Although now considered a classic, when MODERN TIMES didn’t do quite as well with audiences as Chaplin’s previous picture, City Lights (1931), the director was undeterred, and became even more vocally political with his follow-up, The Great Dictator (1940).
d. Charles Chaplin, 88m, 35mm
35mm print courtesy of the BFI National Archive.
With thanks to Association Chaplin, MK2, Cineteca di Bologna.