This 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 long spell in an asylum, he searches for work, only to be mistakenly arrested as a Red agitator. Released after foiling a prison break, Chaplin makes the acquaintance of orphaned gamine (Paulette Goddard) and becomes her friend and protector. He takes on several new jobs for ...
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This 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 long spell in an asylum, he searches for work, only to be mistakenly arrested as a Red agitator. Released after foiling a prison break, Chaplin makes the acquaintance of orphaned gamine (Paulette Goddard) and becomes her friend and protector. He takes on several new jobs for her benefit, but every job ends with a quick dismissal and yet another jail term. During one of his incarcerations, she is hired to dance at a nightclub and arranges for him to be hired there as a singing waiter. He proves an enormous success, but they are both forced to flee their jobs when the orphanage officials show up to claim the girl. Dispirited, she moans, "What's the use of trying?" But the ever-resourceful Chaplin tells her to never say die, and our last image is of Chaplin and The Gamine strolling down a California highway towards new adventures. The plotline of Modern Times is as loosely constructed as any of Chaplin's pre-1915 short subjects, permitting ample space for several of the comedian's most memorable routines: the "automated feeding machine," a nocturnal roller-skating episode, and Chaplin's double-talk song rendition in the nightclub sequence. In addition to producing, directing, writing, and starring in Modern Times, Chaplin also composed its theme song, Smile, which would later be adopted as Jerry Lewis' signature tune. Hal Erickson, Rovi
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Add this copy of Modern Times [Vhs] to cart. $3.50, good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by 20th Century Fox.
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Cecil Reynolds, Richard Alexander. Good. 1936 Run time: 87. Connecting viewers with great movies since 1972. All used discs are inspected and guaranteed. Used discs may not include digital content. Customer service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Modern Times to cart. $4.45, very good condition, Sold by CBExchange rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fontana, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by United Artists.
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Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard. VHS TAPE! ! -VERY GOOD! ! TAPE and BOX ARE VERY GOOD WITH A LITTLE WEAR! ! -FROM SELLER WITH OVER A DECADE OF EXPERIENCE SELLING ON-LINE.
Add this copy of Modern Times [Vhs] to cart. $6.25, good condition, Sold by Cheryls-Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Vinemont, AL, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by 20th Century Fox.
This edition is a Chinese-language version of the film. It's in English, but with Chinese subtitles and menus. Although the subtitles can be turned off, English speakers would be better off getting the (out-of-print) edition from the Chaplin collection. That one costs quite a bit more if you can find it, but it's worth it. The film itself merits five stars easily, but I'm knocking that down by one because this particular edition is so annoying.