Charlie Chaplin - Modern Times and The Others Original Movies Hits • EUR 7,90 (2024)

FAQs

What is Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times about? ›

This comedic masterpiece finds the iconic Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) employed at a state-of-the-art factory where the inescapable machinery completely overwhelms him, and where various mishaps keep getting him sent to prison. In between his various jail stints, he meets and befriends an orphan girl (Paulette Goddard). Both together and apart, they try to contend with the difficulties of modern life, with the Tramp working as a waiter and eventually a performer.

Modern Times / Film synopsis

Often described as a satire of the machine age, Modern Times has in fact a broader theme: the dehumanizing effects of many aspects of modernity, including industrialization, bureaucracy, urbanization, and law enforcement.

While usually remembered for his work in front of the camera, Charlie Chaplin's contributions to film go beyond his performances as a comedic actor. As a director, cinematographer, and even a composer, Chaplin made crucial contributions to the developing art of silent film.

Through its universal themes and comic inventiveness, the film remains one of Chaplin's greatest and most enduring works. Per- haps more important, it is the Tramp's finale, a trib- ute to Chaplin's immortal character and the silent- film era he commanded for a generation.

There is certainly plenty of social criticism (the film highlights the dehumanizing impact of technology), but he plays the story mostly for laughs. The sight gag of Chaplin haplessly trying to keep pace with the assembly line in the factory is regarded as a classic comedy sequence.

This was Chaplin's first overtly political-themed film, and its unflattering portrayal of industrial society generated controversy in some quarters upon its initial release.

Audience Reviews

Charlie Chaplin is a legend for a reason this film brings out the stresses that we even feel up to this day. He mirrored the day's real issues and made them relatable even to our time. The staging and even the seamless editing for the time are remarkable.

Instantly recognisable, internationally loved. When Chaplin sang this song in Modern Times it was the very first time that the world heard his voice, after two decades of silent pantomime.

He married his first wife, actress Mildred Harris, after a pregnancy scare when she was just 16 years old. The couple divorced in 1920. In 1924, Chaplin quietly married another 16-year-old actress, Lita Grey, whom he met on the set of The Gold Rush. The couple had two sons, Charles Jr.

He took control of the stories and the production of his films over all; he became a director and screenwriter, and also edited his movies. As the Tramp, Chaplin became a nearly instant celebrity: his fame and fortune rose meteorically. So did his artistry, along with critical recognition of it.

Why Charlie Chaplin is so great? ›

Comedian, actor, producer, writer, and director Charlie Chaplin is widely regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen and one of the most important figures in motion-picture history.

The 1940s were marked with controversy for Chaplin, and his popularity declined rapidly. He was accused of communist sympathies, and some members of the press and public were scandalised by his involvement in a paternity suit and marriages to much younger women.

Life is a beautiful, magnificent thing, even to a jellyfish. We think too much and feel too little. From Chaplin's final speech in The Great Dictator. Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles.

Chaplin was a man of many talents, but he is most reknowned for his contributions to the art of film. He was one of the first comedians to finance and produce all of his pictures (with the one exception being A Countess from Hong Kong (1966)) - and to write, cast, act, direct, edit, and compose for them as well.

The modern era or the modern period , also known as modern history or modern times , is the period of human history that succeeds the post-classical era (also known, particularly with reference to Europe, as the Middle Ages ), which ended around 1500 AD, up to the present.

In the film Modern Times , by Charlie Chaplin, there are several scenes that lead a person to believe that Chaplin s character was na ve and was not aware of his surroundings. Chaplin s character is released from a mental institution and is not paying attention and ends up arrested as a communist leader.

We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…

Plot. The Tramp works on an assembly line, where he suffers greatly due to the stress and pace of the repetitive work. He eventually suffers a nervous breakdown and runs amok, getting stuck within a machine and throwing the factory into chaos; he is then sent to the hospital.