18th James River Film Festival - Modern Times

Posted by: Jonathan – Apr 08, 2011

Check out all the films showing now through April 13th at JamesRiverFilm.com!

Chaplin’s Modern Times (dir: Charles Chaplin, 1936, 87 mins, b&w) – Restored 35 mm print!
Sunday, April 10, 1:00 p.m., The Byrd Theatre, Admission $7/$5 JRFS Members

Fresh from a European tour promoting City Lights (’31), where he’d hobnobbed with royalty, artists and Mahatma Ghandi, Chaplin decided, at the height of his powers and popularity, to use his status to say something more—the result was Modern Times. Still mostly a “silent” picture, this movie was better structured, and decidedly more didactic and satirical—Modern Times took the tramp out of the down-trodden and posited him squarely in the work place of the middle class. Despite the promise of upward mobility, Charlie’s Tramp is soon unemployed, and if there was any doubt about Chaplin’s politics, it was clear now. Any hardline commentary on life in the assembly line is subtly overshadowed by one of Chaplin’s most hilarious performances, and Mrs. Chaplin (Paulette Goddard) never looked better. It was to be the last incarnation of the beloved Tramp. For its social message, the film was banned in Germany, Italy, and Wisconsin. One of the greatest of American classics – for all ages! Introduction by Ted Salins who teaches film at Randolph Macon College and John Tyler Community College.