Charles Chaplin

Modern Times

Modern Times

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.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1936
  • 87 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.33:1
  • English
  • Spine #543

Special Features

  • Restored 2K-resolution digital transfer, created in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • Audio commentary from 2010 by Charlie Chaplin biographer David Robinson
  • Two visual essays, by Chaplin historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance
  • Program from 2010 on the film’s visual and sound effects, with experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt
  • Interview from 1992 with Modern Times music arranger David Raksin, plus a selection from the film's original orchestral track
  • Two segments cut from the film
  • All at Sea (1933), a home movie by Alistair Cooke featuring Chaplin and actress Paulette Goddard, with a score by Donald Sosin and an interview with Cooke’s daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge
  • The Rink (1916), a Chaplin two-reeler
  • For the First Time (1967), a short Cuban documentary about first-time moviegoers seeing Modern Times
  • Chaplin Today: “Modern Times” (2003), a program with filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
  • Three theatrical trailers
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Saul Austerlitz and, for the Blu-ray edition, a piece by film scholar Lisa Stein that includes excerpts from Chaplin’s writing about his 1930s world tour

    New cover by Sam Smith

Purchase Options

Special Features

  • Restored 2K-resolution digital transfer, created in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • Audio commentary from 2010 by Charlie Chaplin biographer David Robinson
  • Two visual essays, by Chaplin historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance
  • Program from 2010 on the film’s visual and sound effects, with experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt
  • Interview from 1992 with Modern Times music arranger David Raksin, plus a selection from the film's original orchestral track
  • Two segments cut from the film
  • All at Sea (1933), a home movie by Alistair Cooke featuring Chaplin and actress Paulette Goddard, with a score by Donald Sosin and an interview with Cooke’s daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge
  • The Rink (1916), a Chaplin two-reeler
  • For the First Time (1967), a short Cuban documentary about first-time moviegoers seeing Modern Times
  • Chaplin Today: “Modern Times” (2003), a program with filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
  • Three theatrical trailers
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Saul Austerlitz and, for the Blu-ray edition, a piece by film scholar Lisa Stein that includes excerpts from Chaplin’s writing about his 1930s world tour

    New cover by Sam Smith
Modern Times
Cast
Charles Chaplin
A factory worker
Paulette Goddard
A gamine
Henry Bergman
Café proprietor
Stanley J. Sandford
Big Bill and worker
Chester Conklin
Mechanic
Hank Mann
Burglars
Louis Natheaux
Stanley Blystone
The gamine’s father
Allan Garcia
President, Electro Steel Corp.
Dick Alexander
Cell mate
Dr. Cecil Reynolds
Prison chaplain
Myra McKinney
Chaplain’s wife
Murdoch McQuarrie
J. Widdecombe Billows
Mr. Ainsley
Billows’s assistants
Ted Oliver
Wilfred Lucas
Juvenile officer
Edward LeSainte
Sheriff Couler
Sam Stein
Turbine operator
Juana Sutton
Woman with buttoned bosom
John Ince
Warden
Jack Low
Workers
Walter James
Lloyd Ingraham
Angry café patron
Heinie Conklin
Workman
John Rand
Convict
Fred Malatesta
Head waiter
Gloria DeHaven
The gamine’s sisters
Gloria Delson
Credits
Director
Charles Chaplin
Writer
Charles Chaplin
Producer
Charles Chaplin
Photography
Roland Totheroh
Photography
Ira Morgan
Assistant director
Carter DeHaven
Art directors
Charles D. Hall
Art directors
Russell Spencer
Music
Charles Chaplin
Music arrangement
Edward Powell
Music arrangement
David Raksin
Musical director
Alfred Newman
Music recording
Paul Neal
Music recording
Frank Maher
Visual effects
Bud Thackeray
Production manager
Alfred Reeves

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