Modern Times (1936)

Charlie waves goodbye to silent films with the classic sound effects-imbibed satire on the modern age of progress and industrial revolution; the "age of the machine". Staging a protagonist's failing efforts to keep up with the impending demands of his rapid industrial job, complements of a new "automatic feeding" machine, whereby his frantic and failing efforts result in his boss misdiagnosing him for a madman and thus he is shipped off to a mental asylum. Once out, his tragic blunders continue as he is mistaken for a communist and immediately sent to jail, until his release…and so the episodic picaresque continues with our protagonist at the mercy of the industrial age all the while. The only question remains… in the end, will he be left standing?

The cast includes: Charles Chaplin, Tiny Sandford, Henry Bergman, Paulette Goddard, Richard Alexander, Cecil Reynolds, Al Ernest Garcia, Stanley Blystone, Hank Mann, and Chester Conklin.

Written and directed by: Charles Chaplin.