Cinema
Modern Times
Charlie Chaplin · 1936
Synopsis
A worker tightens bolts on an assembly line whose pace is being stepped up. The boss has a machine tried out on him that is supposed to feed workers without their leaving their posts; it breaks down. Seized by a nervous breakdown, he is sent to hospital. On his release, he picks up a red flag that has fallen from a lorry, is taken for the leader of a demonstration and goes to prison. He meets a young orphan girl who is fleeing the police after stealing bread, and together they look for work and a home.
Context
This is the last film in which the tramp appears, and the only one in which his voice is heard: he sings, to the tune of Titine, a song in gibberish mixed with words close to French and Italian, after losing the lyrics he had written on his cuff. The other words in the film pass through devices, a screen, a record, a radio. Paulette Goddard plays the gamine. Released in New York on 5 February 1936, the film was banned in Germany by Goebbels.
Who it is for
A silent film of about one hour twenty-five minutes, with music and sound effects added, and a single song.
Prizes and reception
Added in 1989 to the National Film Registry, in its first selection, and seventy-eighth in the AFI ranking in 2007.
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