Modern Times 1936

"New Times" is an emotional, comedic response to the excesses of the machine age. Little Tramp refuses to be a “cog” in the vast mega-machine of industrial production—and in human society, which so closely resembles it. Charlie battles dim-witted rich people, all-powerful police officers, and soulless assembly-line supervisors. Sometimes he wins these battles, but more often than not he loses; in the end, he fearlessly strides toward the dawn. Although *Modern Times* is considered Charlie Chaplin’s last silent film, it is in this film that the Little Tramp found his voice for the first and last time. True, he didn’t speak—he sang in the film’s final scenes, symbolizing a farewell to the golden age of silent cinema.