“Over a shot of a clock shaped to the size of the screen a terrible fanfare wails. An introduction one might find more befitting a Universal horror film than the newest Chaplin masterpiece. So begins Modern Times, Chaplin's final film centered on his iconic Little Tramp character, as well as being essentially his last silent film. Really a ‘part-talkie’ with fully synchronized music, sound effects and brief speech, though released in 1936, nearly a decade since sound was introduced and rapidly adopted industry wide, making Chaplin at this point in danger of coming off as a dinosaur. A first though for Chaplin was the more specifically critical and political perspective he expressed of modern industrial society, politics and capitalism, themes that would run even more strongly in the films made subsequently and lead to strong backlash and reversals in popularity (especially in America) over the course of the rest of his life.
“Which speaks to why Modern Times remains one of Chaplin's most iconic, timely, and most seen films today, and contains perhaps his most beloved routine, the Little Tramp at the factory sequence at the beginning. Encapsulating some of the best physical comedy ever filmed, sight gags, innovative sound effects, ominous music, brilliant set design and biting satire, the opening sequence finds the Little Tramp as a human cog in the industrial assembly line, struggling to tighten bolts as the big wig sits in his office watching from his futuristic video monitor keeps demanding the line increase their productivity. The Little Tramp becomes a guinea pig for feeding machine, the purpose of which is to automatically lift food directly into employee's mouths while working, eliminating the need to provide lunch breaks, increasing productivity and lowering overhead (is it a stretch to guess this is a problem that continues to keep the Elon Musks and Bezoses up at night?). As the machine quickly begins to malfunction, horrifically and hilariously dealing abuse upon the poor little tramp, it highlights what a brilliant actor Charles Chaplin was as he comically reacts and out of sight of the camera operating the machine himself, instills a menacing personality onto every movement it makes. The sequence climaxes with the Tramp overwhelmed the repetitive motions and fast pace as becomes more and more insane and manic, not even noticing as he's literally sucked into the machine and wound though it's gears. It's a brilliant (and much copied) sight gag whose visual metaphor unfortunately still carries a sting of recognition for anyone who has found themselves punching a clock for a large corporation nearly 90 years later.” ~ Patrick J. Miller
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