Modern Times (1936)

United Artists released Modern Times to theaters on February 5, 1936; grossing $165,000. Charles Chaplin directs the film silent film starring Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, and Henry Bergman.

Modern Times Movie Summary

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.

Special Criterion Disc 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

* PLUS: An essay by film critic Saul Austerlitz and (Blu-ray only) a piece by film scholar Lisa Stein that includes excerpts from Chaplin’s writing about his 1930s world tour

New cover by Sam Smith

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