Modern Times

Modern Times is a 1936 film by Charlie Chaplin in which his Little Tramp character struggles to survive in an industrialized world. In one memorable and often parodied sequence, Chaplin's character is pulled into the gears of a machine and sent through it looking to tighten a bolt.

In another famous scene the Tramp sees a (presumably red) warning flag fall off the back of a van, picks up the flag and runs after it, waving the flag to try and attract the driver's attention. He does not realise that behind him a group of protest marchers has come around a corner; the police arrest him as their leader, believing the flag to be a communist banner.

After being released from jail, the Tramp rescues a young woman from the authorirties who want to put her in an orphanage, and tries to support her by getting a job. He doesn't have too much success; he is fired from a department store after failing to prevent a robbery, goes back to the factory for a day and then finds himself on strike, and has problems as a waiter in a cabaret when his route to a hungry customer is blocked by a crowd of dancers.

The scenes in the factory have a futuristic look and may have been influenced by Fritz Lang's Metropolis, but the rest of the film has a contemporary setting.

Modern Times was one of the last silent films made, although it did include sound effects, music, singers, and voices coming from radios and loudspeakers. Near the end of the film the Little Tramp's voice is heard for the first time as he ad-libs pseudo-French and Italian gibberish to the tune of a popular song.

Most of the film was actually shot at "silent speed", 18 frames per second, which meant that when projected at "sound speed", 24 frames per second, the slapstick action appeared even more frenetic. Chaplin must have noticed this on re-releases of his earlier silent films, and decided to re-create the effect deliberately.

The music score was composed by Chaplin himself. The romance theme was later given words and became better known as the song "Smile" ("Smile though your heart is breaking...") and was covered by such artists as Liberace and Nat King Cole.

The movie also stars Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Stanley Sandford and Chester Conklin. It was written and directed by Chaplin.

The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

In the News

Light Guides Flight Of Migratory Birds
Virginia Tech researchers have demonstrated that migratory birds calibrate their magnetic compass based on polarized light patterns at sunset and sunrise -- solving a 30-year puzzle.

Anti-aging Enzyme's Secrets Revealed
Johns Hopkins researchers have determined how a tiny molecule normally squelches the activity of an enzyme that otherwise could help yeast, worms and flies live longer.

One Awesome Media Vault, to Go
The ultra-portable Archos AV400 transforms your pocket into a media mecca. It plays almost any digital file you can throw at it, and it's the world's smallest digital video recorder. A product review by J. L. Kim.

Women Are Receiving Less Aggressive Treatment For Chest Pain And Heart
Women with one of a group of heart problems known as acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are almost one-third less likely to receive invasive treatments when compared with men with the same conditions, according to data from an international study of more than 12,000 people. Consequently, women are about one-sixth more likely than men to suffer recurrent heart problems, reports the new paper, to be published in the Nov. 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

It Is 'One Small Step for a Man'
An Aussie computer programmer downloads Neil Armstrong's historic "one small step for man" declaration from his 1969 moonwalk. Sound-editing software shows Armstrong got it right in the transmission from the moon.

Justin Frankel Rocks On
The guy who created Winamp, unleashed Gnutella on the world and quit AOL after clashing with his corporate overlords is still chasing the music. Commentary by Eliot Van Buskirk.

Most Diabetics Risk Serious Foot Problems By Wearing The Wrong-sized S
Diabetics are risking foot amputation, impaired quality of life and even elevated death rates by wearing the wrong-sized shoes, according to new research.

Explosive Crystal: Chemists Reveal Molecular Structure Of Dynamite Det
Known to the alchemists and long used as a detonator to set off dynamite--mercury fulminate has a checkered past. Now, more than 300 years after the discovery of this explosive compound, German researchers have been able to characterize its crystal structure and thus finally reveal the molecular structure of mercury fulminate.

Synthetic Biology: Researchers Mass Produce Genes On A Chip
Imagine that the bricks used to build a house cost $1,000 each--building a home would be cost prohibitive. Similarly, the bricks to build living organisms--genes and genetic assemblies--can cost thousands of dollars to make in the lab, which is also cost prohibitive. But now, scientists have developed a way to make the materials for genes on a microchip in mass quantities, for a fraction of the current cost.

Brain Changes In Alzheimer's Disease Are More Likely To Present As Dem
Researchers from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center found that plaques and tangles in the brain, the changes seen in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), are more likely to be expressed as dementia in women than in men.

MP3 Music Downloads

Preview songs, Download Free Music,Burn CDs at ITunes.com

Modern Times

In the News

MP3 Music Downloads

Movies