Cheap Modern Times (2 Disc Special Edition) (DVD) (Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman) (Charles Chaplin) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Modern Times (2 Disc Special Edition)

Encore to Charlie, the Little Tramp
Chaplin's Modern Times leaves us awed with various noteworthy marks. First of all, Chaplin endeavored to make his second sound film following City Lights (1931), in spite of the wide-conquering trend of talkie. Not only the background music but also occasional sound effects bring out the brilliance of the director. Second, even after two decades since his silver screen debut in 1914, the performance of Charlie the Little Tramp and Chaplin's directing had been matured, not faded, like a good wine. Those laughing spots fairly spread in the entire film proves it. Last but not least, you can never forget this film for the moment when the long-time silent Little Tramp finally open his mouth to sing!--for the first and final time, unless you count The Great Dictator (1940), the following film and another masterpiece of Chaplin. --After all those struggles, Charlie gets a job at a cafe, where his adventure partner the Gamine (Paulette Goddard; Chaplin's wife at that time) works as a dancer. Charlie is to wait and sing. As he can't remember the lyrics when rehearsing, the Gamine helps him writing the lyrics on his cuff for a cheat sheet. A fanfare goes and the Little Tramp marches in the floor stage performing an eccentric dance until he dances so hard that the cuffs are blown away. He frantically and desperately searches for the cuffs and the Gamine says (in the spoken title) "Sing! Never mind the words!"-- It is well known that Chaplin was the last resistant against talkie claiming the universality of silent films. What he performed in this "Titina" sequence, singing in the stateless language (still obvious it is conjured up with a few languages such as French or Italian) and storytelling by his brilliant pantomime. The audience in the film reacts the same way as we do: get a nice-surprise, laugh and applaud. With its theme song "Smile", composed by Chaplin, the performance of Charlie the Little Tramp is definitely one of the highlights of this film. Play it again, Charlie!

---

Chaplin's best
Modern Times (1936) is quite possibly the defining picture of Charlie Chaplin's career. I've been renting Chaplin movies lately and Modern Times is by far the best one that I've seen. The Little Tramp (Chaplin) is a factory worker who has been working on the assembly line a bit too long. Even not on the line, he finds his hands making the movements that he did when working. He goes a little kooky and finds himself taking the blame for stealing bread to protect a young woman (Paulette Goddard). The Tramp also inexplicably steals from a couple of merchants and requests that the police officer nearby pay for it. This lands him in jail. He gets out, but lands himself right back in jail when he appears to lead a communist workers revolt.

The film focuses on the Tramps relationship with the woman as well as his attempts to work in the factory (several different jobs). The funniest stuff is in the factory as Chaplin lets loose with his trademark physical humor. I think this is Chaplin's best and most well-crafted films and if he is only remembered for one film, it should be this one.

---

'Where's the Boss?'
Caught between the cog wheels???

If you are suffering from work woes, this film is a great one to watch. A co-worker at my last job recommended this film to me. We worked for one of those genome companies, some of us working in a production capacity, doing the same repetitive tasks ad nauseum. The, (in real life), multi-talented Chaplin in this film is a simple-minded factory worker who spends his day going through the same motions over and over again. He does get lunch breaks, but of course his day at work is not without its mishaps. Funny that a 70 year old film about modern times is still not dated.

This film was made in 1936 during the Great Depression, a time when money and bread were scarce, many people feeling the effects. The story line for this movie reveals some of these circumstances, but as Chaplin lives through them, as when he is forced to drink rum bursting out of casks shot by robbers of a department store, one of whom was a previous co-factoryworker, you can't help but laugh, and as the song says, 'just smile'.