They say silence speaks louder than words. In the case of “Modern Times” truer words have never been spoken.
Nine years after Al Jolson introduced the talking motion picture, Charlie Chaplin was still protesting the medium while also protesting the age of industry in this film. Chaplin, ever the opportunist, still had his eye on the world’s market (by which I mean the global market, not the cheesy store where you buy wicker elephants) rather than just the English speaking parts and held out as long as he could on making a talking picture. He continued making silent pictures for over 13 years after everyone else had switched over to sound, and looking back, thank God he did. “Modern Times” would not have been the same movie it was had dialogue been added.
The film begins with blatant imagery of sheep being herded and fading into humans pushing their way out of a subway tunnel on the way to work. That is about as tame as the comparisons get. Next, we are shown Chaplin’s “Little Tramp” character working on a random assembly line tightening widget bolts on a conveyor belt. The tediousness of the work begins to impact his psyche, as he is still making the tightening motion when he goes on his break or attempts to eat. The factory owner, who bears a non-coincidental resemblance to Henry Ford is so focused on abundance at the cost of the worker’s sanity that he even entertains the notion of implementing a feeding machine that crudely shoves food into the employee’s mouths as they work, thus eliminating the need for a lunch hour. Not only is this one of the most comical sequences in the film, but also illustrates just how bad things were pre-OSHA.
It is also no accident that Chaplin did insert a small amount of talking for this part of the film alone, the owner of the factory is able to shout at employees and bark orders via-closed circuit TV. The insistence that only the wealthy and powerful have a voice in modern society is not lost on any moderately intelligent viewer.
After suffering a nervous breakdown due to the redundancy of his job, the Tramp returns from the psych ward jobless in the midst of the Great Depression. Not only does this development advance the story, but it is also very telling of the times. There was no kind of protection in place for people who became debilitated by their work and instead they were basically thrown out on the street, literally and figuratively.
The next “gag” in the movie takes square aim at the poorly prioritized sentiments at the time as well as incorporates elements of Chaplin’s real life struggles with the Communist witch hunts. As he is wandering aimlessly, the Tramp sees a red construction flag fall off of a truck. Attempting to do a good deed and return the flag to the driver he begins chasing the truck and waving the flag in hopes of getting his attention. As humorous misfortune would have it, a parade of pro-Communist protestors rounds the corner a few steps behind him. Charlie is mistaken for their leader and is subsequently jailed as a Communist sympathizer, which quietly serves the comedic purpose of pointing out the irony of someone being jailed for their beliefs in a NON-Communist country.
While in prison, the Tramp accidentally gets high off smuggled cocaine and thwarts an attempted jailbreak in the process and is pardoned and released, despite his protests that he is happy and comfortable in jail. The prison sequence features two comedic routines that are decades ahead of their time. First, the Tramp’s cellmate is depicted as a burly and manly bully- yet he is doing needlepoint angrily on the bed as Charlie looks on in horror, proving that you can imply a gay prison rape joke without having to mention dropping the soap. The second being the entire cocaine scene- showing a comical result of drug ingestion blazed (pun VERY much intended) the trail for films like “Reefer Madness” and the Cheech and Chong series… though I forgive Chaplin for accidentally unleashing this on the world.
Now if you don’t know anything about Charlie Chaplin’s personal life, this next part of the narrative might shock/horrify or confuse you- people like me just accept it as a quirk. He meets a 16 year old orphan who has escaped from child welfare workers and subsequently becomes his love interest. This character is played by Charlie Chaplin’s real-life teenaged third wife. The two move into a shanty and live as good a life as they can under the circumstances while focusing on the goal of finding work and living in domestic, suburban bliss.
”I’ll do it! I’ll get us a home, even if I have to work for it!” (The Little Tramp, “Modern Times”
Just when things start looking up, The Tramp and the girl are forced to become fugitives as child protection services are hot on their trail looking to keep her in custody. Following a brief moment of despair, the Tramp pep-talks the girl into finding the courage to move on in the face of adversity. The relative creepiness of the ending is belied by the beauty and emotion of it, as the Tramp and the girl head down the road together in search of, well, anything. The contrived and stereotypical “walking off into the sunset” is given a positive and encouraging twist as we watch the two side-by-side moving toward the horizon.
“Modern Times” not only was a scathing social commentary, but more importantly it was a beacon of hope for Depression-era Americans. I don’t know if it was good timing or if the end of the Depression was in sight, but not long after it’s release, the United States began to turn the corner. It was as if Chaplin’s motivational speech (on title cards of course) energized a nation. After almost a decade of abysmal prospects, people needed to laugh again. Specifically, they needed to laugh at what had happened to them. Had Chaplin not been able to find some humor in the darkest of times, and had he not illustrated the extreme levels of despair that had not yet come to pass, there may have been many more suicides in the late 30’s.
Rarely do I get to use the expression that a movie may have saved lives, but “Modern Times” makes a strong case for having done so.
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