New Movies on Blu-ray & DVD: November 16
'Modern Times' on Blu-ray
Look closely and you may see a woman walk by talking on a cell phone in this 1936 Charlie Chaplin classic... All kidding aside, 'Modern Times' is just as much a sly commentary on class struggle during the Great Depression as it is a clever visual comedy, marking Chaplin's final outing as his iconic Little Tramp character. In this crisp, newly restored Criterion Collection Blu-ray edition, Chaplin plays an inept factory employee who loses his job and falls for a beautiful, spirited waif, played by Paulette Goddard, sparking a variety of misadventures on the streets, on the assembly line and behind bars.
Special features include a new audio commentary track by Chaplin biographer David Robinson; a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Saul Austerlitz and a piece by film scholar Lisa Stein with excerpts from Chaplin's writing about his 1930s world tour; two new visual essays by Chaplin historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance; experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt weigh in on the film's visual and sound effects; a 1992 interview with 'Modern Times' music arranger David Raksin; two segments cut from the film; the Chaplin film 'The Rink'; the 1933 home movie 'All at Sea' by Alistair Cooke featuring Chaplin and actress Goddard (with a new score by Donald Sosin and a new interview with Cooke's daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge); the 2003 program "Chaplin Today: Modern Times"; the 1967 Cuban documentary short "For the First Time" about first-time moviegoers seeing 'Modern Times'; theatrical trailers and more!
