Probably Charlie Chaplin's most important film is his comic masterpiece Modern Times, made in 1936. Set in the Great Depression era, the film's main concerns are those of millions of people at the time: unemployment, poverty, and economic oppression. Chaplin was motivated to make the film by a journalist who, while interviewing him, happened to describe working conditions in industrial Detroit. Chaplin was told that healthy young men were attracted by promises of high wages to come work on the assembly lines in the automobile factories there. The stress of long hours and endlessly repetitive work soon destroyed these young men's physical and mental health.
Chaplin not only starred in Modern Times but also wrote the script and the music and directed and produced it. It was the last movie in which Chaplin played the "Little Tramp," a popular character he had first created in 1915. The Little Tramp is a simple, kind wanderer with a small mustache, a Derby hat, baggy pants, and a cane. He falls into many misfortunes but always maintains a sweet, sad optimism. Modern Times was also Chaplin's final silent movie. "Talkies" had appeared nine years earlier, but Chaplin's humor was mostly based on body language and visual gags. [A] However, it is somewhat deceptive to call Modern Times a silent film. [B] While there is no dialogue, there is music and sound effects, such as the roar of machinery and the scream of factory whistles. [C] In Modern Times, the world of sound is the noisy world of technology, while the Tramp, a symbol of humanity, is silent. [D]
Only about one third of Modern Times takes place inside a futuristic factory (the Electro Steel Works), but these are the scenes viewers remember most vividly. The Tramp has one job, to tighten nuts and bolts on the machines in the factory with a large wrench. In one inventive scene, he is chosen to test an automatic feeding machine. The machine can be brought to the assembly line so that workers do not have to pause for lunch. The device suddenly malfunctions. It hurls food at the Tramp, who is strapped into his position on the assembly line and cannot escape. This illustrates people's utter helplessness in the face of machines that should be serving them. In another memorable scene, the owner orders that the speed of the assembly line be increased to its maximum level. No one who has seen the film can forget watching Chaplin vainly trying to keep pace with the conveyor belt. At one point in this scene, he is taken inside, literally "eaten" by the nightmarish machinery, and caught up in its whirring wheels, gears, and cogs. The Tramp loses his mind and rushes around trying to tighten anything that resembles a nut, including the buttons on a woman's dress. He is led from the factory by attendants in white coats and is taken away.
The Tramp recovers from his nervous breakdown and is released. The doctor tells him, "Take it easy and avoid excitement," but for the rest of this episodic film, the Tramp experiences one calamity after another. He unintentionally joins a labor strike and later is sent to jail. He becomes a roller-skating night watchman at a department store, an overstressed singing waiter, and a fugitive from the law. He meets an orphan (played by Chaplin's real-life wife, Paulette Goddard) and becomes her friend and protector. In the final scene, the Tramp walks down a country road into the sunset. This is a stock ending for Chaplin films, but usually the tramp walks off alone. In his last film, the Tramp walks off arm-in-arm with the girl.
Clearly, Modern Times has its flaws, but it is the best film about the effects of technology on humanity ever made. It is as relevant now as it was when it was first made. It does not offer a radical social message, but it warns that standardization, mechanization, and misuse of authority rob men and women of their individuality. It also offers a reminder that, no matter how bad things seem, one can always smile.
*talkies: films in which you can hear the actual voices of the actors, not just music
