Charlie Chaplin and Silent Films: Modern Times

Immediately following the release of City Lights, Chaplin embarked on a world tour upon which he was exposed to a Europe in social and political turmoil. At this time, he began to view himself as a public figure, and took to professing his economic and political opinions often. This new, highly politicized Chaplin returned to America to find himself an anachronism in the film industry. Despite the extreme success of his last silent film, the entire organization of cinema had changed in response to the sound invasion. "Hollywood was...going through a change of life. Most of the silent screen stars had disappeared - only a few of us were left. Now that the talkies had taken hold, the charm and insouciance of Hollywood were gone. Overnight it had become a cold and serious industry." (Chaplin, pg.380) These changes disturbed Chaplin for several years, and not until 1936 did he release his next film, Modern Times. Like City Lights, the film remains silent in essence, while still incorporating synchronization technology. On the other hand, unlike City Lights, Chaplin includes dialogue in the film as the voice of the machine. Through analyzing this film, this page will explore how Chaplin uses sound in Modern Times both to criticize the talkies, and to express a social message.

Chaplin takes a stab at the talkies in this film by implementing sound in a voiceless comedy scene. In this scene, the Tramp is left alone in a quiet room with the wife of a pastor. Their gestures and expressions convey that it is an uncomfortable situation. Then to make it worse, both of them come down with a case of gas. This comedic element is of course introduced by the advent of sound effects. The camera simply pans back and forth between the two characters as they shyly attempt to ignore the noises. Then, the woman's dog complicates the situation by looking in the direction of each sound and barking. To alleviate the tension, the Tramp places the dog on the floor and reaches over to switch on the radio. The radio then blares out the voice of an advertiser, "Have gas? If you do, you need..." The Tramp quickly shuts of the radio and the scene ends.

This scene is an attack on talkies in that it artfully incorporates sound without incorporating dialogue. The comedy stems from the pantomimic reactions of the characters to the noisy intrusions of sound. The sound effects become mere props that the actors define and shape through expressive movement and gesture. This sort of humor negates the importance of dialogue by celebrating the art of pantomime as it subdues and manipulates sound. Also, the scene depicts speech negatively as the voice of the machine, which blares into the Tramp's world to make his dilemma more immediate.

Near the close of the film, Chaplin assaults the talkies again through the use of a comedy scene bereft of dialogue. The Tramp has landed a job as a cabaret singer and has forgotten the words before his first performance. The gamine writes the words upon his sleeve, but before the number they fall off into the crowd. Rather than disappoint the crowd, he proceeds to sing in unintelligible gibberish while pantomiming the meaning. The crowd enjoys the act so much that the club owner offers him a steady job. This scene again celebrates the art of pantomime while minimizing the effect of words. Without the eloquent imagery provided by the artist, the voice is merely a meaningless noise. In this way, Chaplin turns the medium against itself again.

Chaplin uses sound in his social commentary by pitting his silent hero against the noisy world of the industrial workplace. In Modern Times, the world of sound is the noisy world of machinery and modern technology. The Tramp, a symbol of humanity, struggles to survive in this world that continually threatens to rob him of his individuality. The implementation of dialogue as the voice of the machine solidifies this connection. For example, the only voices heard throughout the movie are those of the boss speaking through an interactive television, the mechanical salesman over the phonograph, and the voice of the radio heard throughout the film. In all three cases, these voices represent a means by which technology dehumanizes the protagonist. The boss's voice over the television monitor, for example, continually observes the Tramp's performance and pushes him to the extent of his abilities. At one point in the film, the boss's image actually appears in the bathroom during the Tramp's break and yells, "Get back to work!" This constant pressure to perform efficiently like a machine eventually drives the protagonist to a nervous breakdown.

In the case of the mechanical salesman, the voice represents a force that further attempts to mechanize the worker by feeding him on the assembly line. The Tramp is chosen for a trial run of the machine, which goes awry as the machine erratically batters him. Instead of reacting with sympathy for the helpless protagonist, the voice focuses on the mechanical problems with the feeding apparatus and demands retrial after retrial. This blatant disregard for the Tramp's humanity reflects Chaplin's view of the modern workplace as a dehumanizing environment.

Chaplin also uses sound to critique the modern workplace by contrasting the peaceful silence of the Tramp against the chaotic noise of the machine. The sound effects and music that represent machinery in the film combine in a dissonant and disturbing combination. As the silent Tramp interacts with the this dissonance, he becomes transformed into a machine himself. Chaplin reveals this relationship through the use of sound effects. After tightening nuts on the assembly line at constantly increasing speeds, the Tramp undergoes a nervous breakdown. He leaves his spot on the line and begins neurotically performing his assembly-line movements while his stomach emits a rhythmic rumbling sound. Here, sound effects represent the dehumanizing effect of modern technology on the worker as they link the image of the Tramp to the image of the machine. The message is that the modern workplace converts the individual into a mindless machine.

Modern Times also incorporates sound into its social commentary as it makes the film less imaginative and more realistic. The film begins in a factory where the Tramp is employed as an assembly-line worker. Although he remains silent, the world around him is alive with the sounds of the machine world. Chaplin uses these sound effects to make the factory experience realistic. The constant sound of the machines grinding away, and the cry of the factory whistle approximate the American factory-worker's experience. This realistic approach sets the scene for Chaplin's social commentary in that it connects the images on the screen to a familiar aspect of American culture: the modern workplace. [Back]