A delightful film with one great scene after another, Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times" is hilarious, thoughtful, and timeless. Chaplin combined his silent film skills with creative use of sound effects and music, and added a wide variety of interesting and entertaining settings, to create a film that is very pleasing to watch. Chaplin's own fine acting is complemented by a delightful and charming performance by Paulette Goddard. And the story itself, filled with twists and turns, is a timeless commentary on "modern" life, much of which is applicable to any era.
Charlie's "Tramp" character joins up in this one with a lively, orphaned gamin (Goddard) to help each other through a lengthy series of setbacks and triumphs that reflect the stresses of fast-paced modern life. Most of their adventures are hilarious, but many also contain serious social commentary that is still just as relevant in any age. Chaplin and Goddard make a delightful pair who win the complete sympathy of the viewer in their fight for survival.
The movie has one great scene after another, from some wild sequences in a steel factory, to a set of sometimes breath-taking antics in a deserted department store, to the incomparable climactic sequence in a cafe, and many others in between. The settings are done with great care and wit, and the action makes full use of the props and possibilities at hand.
This is a wonderful movie that anyone who likes vintage cinema will enjoy. Even those who are thoroughly jaded by the excesses of modern cinema should at least give "Modern Times" a try. This is one of the great masterpieces of Chaplin's or any other era.
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