Modern Times
Charlie is an assembly-line worker driven insane by the monotony of his job. He is taken to a hospital, but immediately after his release, he is arrested when he is mistaken for a radical leader. By helping quell a prison mutiny, he wins a pardon. He befriends a feisty young girl, Paulette Godard (the Gamin), who lives by her wits on the streets and steals bread to survive.
The couple nurse each other through subsequent mishaps and crises. 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. Juvenile court officials descend on the cabaret to arrest the Gamin. Escaping, she and Chaplin walk together up that desolate and endless road.
Cast:
- Charles Chaplin ... A Factory Worker
- Paulette Goddard ... A Gamin
- Tiny Sandford ... Big Bill
- Richard Alexander ... Prison Cellmate
- Henry Bergman ... Cafe Proprietor
- Stanley Blystone ... Gamin's Father
- Chester Conklin ... Mechanic
- Al Ernest ... President of the Electro Steel Corp.
- Hank Mann ... Burglar
- Cecil Reynolds ... Minister
Quote:
[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.
Soundtrack:
"Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" (uncredited) Music from the traditional folk song "Revive Us Again"
"The Prisoner's Song" (1924) (uncredited) Written by Guy Massey
"How Dry I Am" (uncredited) Traditional
"In the Evening by the Moonlight" (1880) (uncredited) Music and Lyrics by James Allen Bland
"Je cherche après Titine" (1917) (uncredited) Music by Léo Daniderff
"Theme from Modern Times" (1935) (uncredited) (Later known as "Smile")
Bibliography » Books:
Bibliography » Web:
-
The Guardian in 1936 - A Communist film