100 Movies Every Catholic Should See #94: Modern Times (1936)

Directed by Charlie Chaplin. Starring Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard.

Part of our goal here at 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See is to help Catholics gain an appreciation of the history and great works of the cinematic art form. And no such project would be complete without at least one film from the great Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin was a true pioneer of cinema, bringing wit and artistry into his films at a very early stage of the motion picture. He was an incredibly talented comedian and a gifted performer, but he paired hilarious physical comedy with an artist’s eye for imagery and an exceptional story-telling ability. His films have a remarkable ability to create relatable comedic situations out of the life of the common man, resulting in jokes (often slapstick) that still retain their comedic force. Indeed, Chaplin’s film seem to have a timeless, universal quality that belies their early twentieth century settings. His most famous character, the Tramp, became a cinematic icon precisely because of his status as an everyman, a lovable idiot whose optimistic approach to life, even in the face of constant humiliation, was both relatable and inspiring to his audience.

Modern Times is the last and, arguably, the greatest of Chaplin’s Tramp films. It is consistently rated among Chaplin’s best films and even merited inclusion on the Vatican’s 1995 film list. That inclusion made me think about what makes this film in particular of interest to Catholics. All of the Chaplin films I’ve seen are, first and foremost, hilarious, but also allude to more universal themes of the dignity of human life and truth, goodness, and beauty. Modern Times, however, crystalizes some of the themes in Chaplin’s filmography and brings them together in one magnificent package, one which jives well with Catholic social doctrine while creating some stunning and enduring images and leaving us with lots of laughs.

The film begins with the Tramp working in a steel factory, doing repetitive assembly line work with no discernible purpose. He is merely a cog in a machine, given very little human dignity. He is watched by the owner of the company on a television screen even when trying to take a smoke break in the washroom; he is yelled out when he briefly gets behind on his production to brush away a fly; he is used as a test dummy for a new machine which promises to increase productivity by feeding employees their lunches right there on the line. The Tramp even gets sucked into the machine in an iconic sequence, becoming one with the mechanic system that values production over human life. It is no wonder that he suffers a nervous breakdown and begins attacking those around him. We see in this sequence the dehumanization that the Industrial Revolution and the mania for production which followed it has introduced into the world. Unfettered capitalism and productivity for its own sake are not compatible with human dignity, as Pope Leo XIII teaches in Rerum Novarum.

However, also in alignment with Rerum Novarum, socialism or communism are not seen as viable roads to human happiness either. The Tramp gets innocently mixed up with a Communist workers’ protest and jailed as a Communist leader. After a short (and hilarious) stint in jail, he is freed but (in a sequence that smacks of O. Henry) decides that jail is more comfortable than the outside world and tries his best to get locked back up. However, he meets the Gamin (an antiquated word for a street urchin) and falls in love with her, all of a sudden gaining meaning in his life. They dream of keeping house together, and he vows to find work and make their dreams come true. The answer to the Tramp’s troubles, therefore, lies not with the Communists but with the promise of love and family life, the foundational unit of society according to Rerum Novarum and Catholic social doctrine. The Tramp is not lazy; he is willing to work to provide for his lady love. Their vision of happiness is not a socialist utopia but a small house of their own with abundant food and love for one another. It is here, around the midpoint of the film, that the Tramp finds the purpose which drives him for the rest of the story.

The Tramp proves to be hilariously inept at all the jobs he tries, never quite being a good cog in the machinery of modern life. He certainly tries his best, but his antics expose that there is something inhuman about the tasks assigned to modern man. He is able to cause chaos on a gigantic scale because the machinery he works on has grown to grotesque proportions. In a scene mirroring his own earlier swallowing by the machine, he accidentally causes a fellow worker to be eaten by a large and seemingly purposeless mechanical apparatus, and although he gets him out again he insists on the small human comfort of eating lunch before wrestling again with the behemoth. He even has a stint as a waiter and a song-and-dance man, the latter job one where his clownishness finally pays off with the laughter and applause of the crowd. Alas, the government will not let him and the Gamin live in peace and they must flee the restaurant that promised to finally allow them a shot at the family life they crave.

Although the Gamin is tempted to despair, the Tramp pulls the film to an end on an optimistic note. There is no shame in poverty to the Tramp; “in God's sight poverty is no disgrace, and that there is nothing to be ashamed of in earning their bread by labor.”¹ The Tramp and the Gamin walk off together into the sunset, showing that even in these Modern Times the human spirit cannot be conquered and it is human relationship and love which provide hope for the future and the purpose and optimism that keeps us going.

Modern Times is one of the funniest films of the 1930s, but also reveals deep and abiding truths about the human spirit. The film is surprisingly concordant with the classic encyclicals that make up Catholic social doctrine, showing the absurdity of modern life but the dignity of the human beings living it. Chaplin is able to weave together drama and comedy, hijinks and social commentary in a masterful way, creating a film which is both deeply watchable and surprisingly profound. I suggest all Catholics give the entire filmography of Charlie Chaplin a look, but if there is one film which shows the master at the height of his power while simultaneously distilling the themes and humor of all his films into one, it is Modern Times.

1. Rerum Novarum 23.