Modern Times (1936) Rank 4 Reviews

Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)

Chaplin's satiric dissection of the economy circa 1936 looks downright prescient. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)

Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)

A great movie, a funny movie, an important movie. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)

filethirteen.com

Charlie Chaplin is nothing short of an icon. His emblematic Little Tramp is practically a logo for film itself. Here, well past the dawn of sound, Chaplin takes the Tramp (in his last screen appearance) inside the modern age as he comments on ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at filethirteen.com

TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

Chaplin's sentimental but keenly satirical swipe at the mechanization of everyday life is by consensus the last of the great silent features. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

Teen Movie Critic (Roger Davidson)

The last great silent comedy, Charlie Chaplin finally retired the Little Tramp here. The Tramp (Chaplin) is trying to find work, which leads to the usual assortment of hilarious complications. This time, he has a young vagabond in tow (Paulette Goddard, ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Teen Movie Critic (Roger Davidson)

BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)

he last appearance of the Little Tramp was in one of Chaplin's most side-splitting films. "Modern Times" remains a wonderful production line of physical sight gags. Get ready to enjoy it like never before, with a comprehensive array of extra features ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)

CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)

This is the film where Chaplin gets sucked into the bowels of a machine, tightening screws as he get squeezed through a series of cogwheels. There's also a great scene with a gadget that's designed to feed him so that he can work without interruption. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)

DVD Review e-zine

Charlie Chaplin would have loved digital filmmaking. Watch his films (especially the Mutual two-reelers) and you see an artist in love with the technology of movies. When film was not malleable enough, only then did he resort to props (e.g. the shoe ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at DVD Review e-zine

DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)

Charlie Chaplin, according to Roger Ebert, was the most famous person in the world for the first half of the twentieth century. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)

DVD Net (Jules Faber)

His name is synonymous with classic comedy. He is regarded as one of the finest comedians of all time. His caricature is still recognised today by the majority of the western world. He has inspired generations of actors and comedians, even from the ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at DVD Net (Jules Faber)

Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)

Charles "Charlie" Chaplin (1889-1977) is still the most famous person in the world. That's thanks to the universal appeal of motion pictures, to which the stage-trained Chaplin took like a fish to water. He instinctively adopted a universal persona ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)

Seattle Times (Erik Lundegaard)

Good physical comedy will always be funny, and Chaplin was a master. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Seattle Times (Erik Lundegaard)

Nick's Flick Picks (Nick Davis)

Finds the comedy in the dashing of hopes, though it has both the verve to be funny for funny's sake when it feels the urge and the fortitude not to tidy up every dark stroke. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Nick's Flick Picks (Nick Davis)

Boston Globe (Ty Burr)

Chaplin's sentimental politics and peerless comic invention dovetailed more perfectly in this film than in any other he made. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Boston Globe (Ty Burr)

Boxoffice Magazine

Summer of 2003 marks the long-awaited return to DVD of the films of Charles Chaplin, initially released through Image and CBS Fox video but discontinued in August of 2001. Since that time only the Essanay and Mutual shorts have been available, also ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Boxoffice Magazine

Daily-Reviews (Mike Pinsky)

Nearly 70 years later, Modern Times is still one of the most fascinating works in American cinema. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Daily-Reviews (Mike Pinsky)

Sun Newspapers of Cleveland (Gerry Shamray)

Charlie Chaplin is the Orson Welles of comedy. One of his funniest silent films is Modern Times , a brilliant spoof on technology that's more stinging today than back in its 1936 release year. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Sun Newspapers of Cleveland (Gerry Shamray)

DVD Savant (Glenn Erickson)

Charles Chaplin was so wealthy after City Lights, he could easily have retired. But six years after the change to talking pictures, he instead came back with an essentially silent comedy. Maybe he felt that the Tramp needed the silent world around him to ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at DVD Savant (Glenn Erickson)

CinemaZone.dk

Efter den store genudgivelsesserie af Charles Chaplins nyrestaurerede spillefilm pÃ¥ DVD, er det nu ogsÃ¥ blevet til en biograf-repremiere pÃ¥ Moderne Tider fra 1936. For fÃ¸rste gang i mange Ã¥r bliver det hermed muligt at se en af mesterens allerbedste ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at CinemaZone.dk

Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (Nell Minow)

This Chaplin classic (he produced, wrote, directed, starred, and composed the music) is about two people struggling with the isolation of the industrial era. Chaplin (simply called "A worker" in the credits) is tightening bolts on an assembly line. He ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (Nell Minow)

Movie Magazine International (Casey McCabe)

It would be tempting to look at the newly restored print of Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times and say that the 1936 film is as relevant now as it was then. That Chaplin's enduring image of a man literally caught in the wheels of industry remains an apt ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Movie Magazine International (Casey McCabe)

DVD Journal (Mark Bourne)

ixty-seven years after Modern Times premiered, a stunning restoration of it screened after Cannes' Sunday awards ceremony. It was a high point of the festival, where an empty seat was illuminated by a spotlight to honor Chaplin, who died in 1977. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at DVD Journal (Mark Bourne)

DVDBeaver.com (Gary W. Tooze)

The title alone would mark Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times as a period piece. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at DVDBeaver.com (Gary W. Tooze)

filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)

"Modern Times" is Charlie Chaplin's last silent film. It is my favorite of his movies, at least of those that I've seen. It has several outstanding sets, and a great score. There are also many clever gags, and the Tramp character is, as always, both ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)

The Fresh Films Review (Norwegian)

En vanlig fabrikkarbeider opplever en sÃ¦rdeles tÃ¸ff arbeidsdag, og gÃ¥r amokk pÃ¥ maskinene. Han blir lagt inn pÃ¥ sykehus, og nÃ¥r han kommer ut er han ikke sÃ¦rlig begeistret for maskiner. Han er heller ikke sÃ¦rlig begeistret nÃ¥r politiet tar ham ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at The Fresh Films Review (Norwegian)

The Film Judge

The film can be viewed as a discussion of the conditions faced by the lower classes - the worker and the unemployed... it also discusses the role of the media as dictator and as entertainer... ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at The Film Judge

Decent Films Guide - faith on film

Silent films were already old-fashioned and out of vogue in 1936 when Charlie Chaplin completed his last silent feature film, Modern Times, almost ten years after the sound revolution began with The Jazz Singer. A silent film consciously made for the ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Decent Films Guide - faith on film

The Village Voice (J. Hoberman)

The title alone would mark Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times as a period piece. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at The Village Voice (J. Hoberman)

San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)

Every time the Castro shows "Modern Times," someone sees a Charlie Chaplin feature for the first time -- and a door opens on something wonderful. Taking yourself or someone else through that door is an ideal thing to do for the holidays, especially ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)

Reel.com DVD review (Tim Knight)

With his trademark bowler hat, cane, and mustache, Charlie Chaplin's "The Little Tramp" is instantly recognizable worldwide, even to generations of filmgoers whose idea of comedy begins and ends with Adam Sandler. In Modern Times (1936), "The Little ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Reel.com DVD review (Tim Knight)

CultureDose.net (John Nesbit)

There once was a time when films could not be digitally enhanced. It was an era without special effects, without Technicolor, and without sound. Before you think that no one should have to suffer through watching one of these films from the cave man era ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at CultureDose.net (John Nesbit)

The Greatest Films - comprehensive analysis of classic US film

This social protest film is Charlie Chaplin's final stand against the synchronized sound film - and it is also his last full-length "silent film" - although it must be noted that it is a quasi-silent film. There is no traditional, synchronized voice ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at The Greatest Films - comprehensive analysis of classic US film

ToxicUniverse.com (John A. Nesbit)

There once was a time when films could not be digitally enhanced. It was an era without special effects, without Technicolor, and without sound. Before you think that no one should have to suffer through watching one of these films from the cave man era ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (John A. Nesbit)

Rotten Tomatoes - Reviews from the Nation's Top Critics

What we have is not just a story about a funny little man, but a morality fable, or cautionary tale, about people on the chuckholed road to the American ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Rotten Tomatoes - Reviews from the Nation's Top Critics

Edwin Jahiel (--)

A masterpiece. One of the best movies ever made. Perhaps Chaplin's very best. And you can watch it in a new, digitally restored print Âand sound. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Edwin Jahiel (--)

Offoffoff -- The Guide to Alternative New York

Filmed during the Depression of the 1930s, this timeless adieu to the world-famous Little Tramp features a synthesis of everything we've come to love as Chaplinesque, including a silent hero seven years after the advent of sound. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Offoffoff -- The Guide to Alternative New York

Michael D's Region 4 DVD Info Page

The Tramp has a demeaning job tightening bolts on an assembly line in a factory that makes a product that is never revealed. Driven mad by the conditions (and by an automated feeding machine) he winds up on the streets, then is run into gaol after being ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Michael D's Region 4 DVD Info Page

Exclaim! (--)

Four Chaplin classics get the deluxe DVD treatment with this series of two-disc issues that delves deep into the history of the Little Fellow, fleshing out the restored classic films with documentaries, archival footage, and in many cases more than one ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Exclaim! (--)

New York Times (Frank S. Nugent)

The hands of the cinema clock were set back five years last night when a funny little man with a microscopic mustache, a battered derby hat, turned up shoes and a flexible bamboo cane returned to the Broadway screen to resume his place in the affections ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at New York Times (Frank S. Nugent)

moviediva

Charles Chaplin bids farewell to both his Little Tramp character and the silent era in this hilarious film with serious undertones, as two non-conformists, a factory worker and a gamine, search for happiness in an increasingly soulless society. Charlie ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at moviediva

Hollywood Reporter (--)

The picture is a two-hour almost continuous gale of laughter with sidesplitting gags generously distributed throughout the five major sequences and the several minor ones. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Hollywood Reporter (--)

Time Out (--)

The last appearance of the Chaplin tramp, before Hitler, Monsieur Verdoux and other personae took over. Antics and situations from the earliest shorts are revived in a narrative framework designed to portray 'humanity crusading in the pursuit of ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Time Out (--)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Chaplin's almost-silent masterpiece has been cleaned up, polished to an art-deco sheen and re-released simultaneously into theaters and to DVD stores around the country. (The film plays at Webster University this ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Philosophical Films (Dr. Jorn K. Bramann)

Chaplin's film is, of course, not a philosophical treatise on social conditions, but a successful comedy. It is nevertheless a most striking illustration of what Marxists have analyzed as Alienation. The relevant philosophical text is Karl Marx's ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Philosophical Films (Dr. Jorn K. Bramann)

Orbital Reviews

Modern Times opens with a great scene comparing men to sheep through showing both groups hurrying through tight spaces in a similar fashion. In the movie, Charlie Chaplin plays a factory worker who has a monotonous job on an assembly line. He is even the ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Orbital Reviews

MediaScreen.com

In 1930, Garbo spoke. But it took until 1936 for Chaplin to reveal a semblance of speaking when he performed a nonsense song towards the end of his hilarious Depression Era satire, "Modern ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at MediaScreen.com

Musings of a Cinemaphile - Revisiting the Greatest Films Ever Made

Chaplin didn't think much of talking pictures. He famously predicted that they would die out in five years and gleefully pressed on making silent films long after his contemporaries had abandoned the process all together. Chaplin made only two silent ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Musings of a Cinemaphile - Revisiting the Greatest Films Ever Made

Parent/Teacher Learning Guides at teachwithmovies.org

In this classic film we follow the misadventures of the Little Tramp as he tries to survive and find fulfillment in a depression ravaged United States. The movie contains several enduring images of life in an industrial age. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Parent/Teacher Learning Guides at teachwithmovies.org

DVD Town (John J. Puccio)

Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" (1936) has been referred to as the last great silent movie, the last appearance by the Little Tramp, and the funniest movie ever made. Those references may be close to the truth, but they may not be entirely accurate. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at DVD Town (John J. Puccio)

Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)

This mostly silent film features Charlie Chaplin as his most famous character, the Little Tramp. In this wonderful film, Chaplin faces the dangers of the modern factory. He is less than a cog in a wheel, since a cog doesn't get tired or have a nervous ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A lot of movies are said to be timeless, but somehow in their immortality they fail to draw audiences. They lead a sort of half-life in film society revivals, and turn up every now and then on the late show. They're classics, everyone agrees, but that ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

At-A-Glance Film Reviews

With Modern Times, made in 1936, nine years after the technology to make sound films became available, Chaplin was still doing what he could with a medium that seemed antiquated even then. We're lucky he was so stubborn. Modern Times is the last film ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at At-A-Glance Film Reviews

Movie Mirror

The president (Allan Garcia) of Electro Steel watches factory workers on a screen and orders them to speed up. The Worker (Charlie Chaplin) tries to keep up, tightening bolts on an assembly line. The president is given a recorded sales pitch for an ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Movie Mirror

Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

Chaplin's last silent and the last time he uses his signature character of the Little Tramp (familiarly garbed in a small derby, mustache, baggy pants, tight jacket and cane). Though a protest of talkies it's not entirely silent, as sound is used ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)

The fact that the film is still playing in theaters today is a testament to its effectiveness. ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)

Filmdog - (Mike Fisher)

"Modern Times" is located at the crossroads where silent film meets the talking picture. Everyday dialogue is silent, but voices are heard from radios, phonographs, and videophones used by big industry heads. Chaplin uses this technique to symbolize ...read the complete Modern Times movie review at Filmdog - (Mike Fisher)

Critic Reviews

Modern Times (1936) Rank 4 Reviews

User Reviews

User Comments

RANKINGS: