Movie #98: Modern Times

Movie #: 98
Movie Title: Modern Times
Year Released: 1936

Director: Charlie Chaplin
Notable Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford, Chester Conklin

Short Description: The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #78
IMDB.com: #45
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #76



Date Watched: 6/19/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: Thankfully my feelings towards Modern Times ended up being more like The Gold Rush than The Great Dictator. Having now seen three Charlie Chaplain films, two of which featured his Tramp character, I can say safely that’s Chaplain at his best and Modern Times benefits from having the Tramp in it. There’s something about the Tramp that’s entertaining enough to feel slapstick without overdoing it and Chaplain is so good at using visual expressions to convey what he’s feeling and thinking. My only complaint is there are major decisions by characters that aren’t explained and you as the viewer are made to just go with it, but I’m willing to take those bumps in the road when everything else is working so well.