SYNOPSIS: Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin’s last outing as the Little Tramp, puts the iconic character to work as a giddily inept factory employee who becomes smitten with a gorgeous gamine (Paulette Goddard). With its barrage of unforgettable gags and sly commentary on class struggle during the Great Depression, Modern Times—though made almost a decade into the talkie era and containing moments of sound (even song!)—is a timeless showcase of Chaplin’s untouchable genius as a director of silent comedy.
| A factory worker | Charlie Chaplin |
| A gamine | Paulette Goddard |
| Café proprietor | Henry Bergman |
| Big Bill and worker | Stanley J. Sandford |
| Mechanic | Chester Conklin |
| Burglars | Hank Mann |
| Louis Natheaux | |
| The gamine’s father | Stanley Blystone |
| President, Electro Steel Corp. | Allan Garcia |
| Cell mate | Dick Alexander |
| Prison chaplain | Dr. Cecil Reynolds |
| Chaplain’s wife | Myra McKinney |
| J. Widdecombe Billows | Murdoch McQuarrie |
| Billows’s assistants | Mr. Ainsley |
| Ted Oliver | |
| Juvenile officer | Wilfred Lucas |
| Sheriff Couler | Edward LeSainte |
| Turbine operator | Sam Stein |
| Woman with buttoned bosom | Juana Sutton |
| Warden | John Ince |
| Workers | Jack Low |
| Walter James | |
| Angry café patron | Lloyd Ingraham |
| Workman | Heinie Conklin |
| Convict | John Rand |
| Head waiter | Fred Malatesta |
| The gamine’s sisters | Gloria DeHaven |
| Gloria Delson |
| Director | Charlie Chaplin |
| Writer | Charlie Chaplin |
| Producer | Charlie Chaplin |
| Photography | Roland Totheroh and Ira Morgan |
| Assistant director | Carter DeHaven |
| Art directors | Charles D. Hall and Russell Spencer |
| Music | Charlie Chaplin |
| Music arrangement | Edward Powell and David Raksin |
| Musical director | Alfred Newman |
| Music recording | Paul Neal and Frank Maher |
| Visual effects | Bud Thackeray |
| Production manager | Alfred Reeves |
By November 16, 2010
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November 23, 2010
Charlie Chaplin’s comedy classic Modern Times may have been made in 1936, but the critics reviewing Criterion’s new, restored editions of the film are finding it to be as sharp as ever. “More than Read more »
