Charlie Chaplin Bid Farewell To The Tramp By Embracing Real-World Turmoil In Modern Times

Whether you're Bear in the Big Blue House or Johnny Carson, there comes a time when you must say goodbye. Whether it's because the general public has gotten tired of you, by your own choice or other external circumstances, there comes a moment when all pop culture figures must take their final bows and walk off gracefully into the sunset. This was true even for a cinematic icon like Charlie Chaplin's The Tramp character, who had been entertaining audiences for more than two decades since he first premiered in the 1914 short film Twenty Minutes of Love. Yes, even The Tramp couldn't last forever and so the character went out with a bang with the 1936 movie Modern Times.

With Chaplin once again taking on the duties of writing and directing as he always did on his starring vehicle, The Tramp's final film saw the character now working in an assembly line factory where he breaks his back just trying to make a living while the superiors at the factory try to figure out how to use newfound machinery to make the workers as productive as possible. The Tramp, however, is already working so hard at the factory that he can't stop screwing everything in sight with his trusty wrench, which inevitably lands himself into prison but also allows lead him down a path that eventually has him meeting Ellen Peterson (Paulette Goddard), a young woman plagued by tragedy who has big financial ambitions for her life.

Unlike other "Final Chapters" that populate the modern film landscape like the Deathly Hallows movies or Logan, Modern Times isn't really capping off a long-term mythology or anything like that given that The Tramp's individual adventures are mostly self-contained adventures so there's no real big payoff that Modern Times has to provide. What it does provide instead is lots and lots of great comedy as well as thoughtful social commentary that make it a superb enough movie to feel like a proper high note to send-off The Tramp on. Plus, would a modern-day definition of a traditional epic-in-scale "Final Chapter" really feel fitting for a character like The Tramp who was constantly getting in and out scrapes by accidental happenstance? 

In terms of the comedy Modern Times provides, there are numerous moments in here that feel like they could be among the best pieces of comedy Chaplin ever did. Almost a decade after sound became a common fixture in American cinema, Chaplin is still doing dialogue-free comedy (other characters in the story do speak with vocals the audience can hear) like nobody else. The prominent placement of inevitably flawed machinery in the factory The Tramp works in provides plenty of opportunities for humorous slapstick for this character and his co-workers to endure. I never expected to see one of these Tramp movies depict the character inadvertently snorting a line of cocaine but it's a hysterical thing to experience that provides perhaps one of the more hilarious sequences of the entire film. 

Just as successful as the yuks in Modern Times is the social commentary it provides on America in the mid-1930's. Those who spend/waste their time making YouTube videos attacking The Last Jedi for being "leftist propaganda" and "referencing real-world politics" would likely have a heart attack upon watching Modern Times and how it was very much built upon then-current events, particularly The Great Depression. The financial turmoil facing the vast majority of Americans in the 1930's is something The Tramp and particularly Ellen are having to grapple with themselves and the real-world circumstances informing the film's storyline lend affecting poignancy to scenes like a dream sequence where the two characters imagine them being able to live in more financially luxurious circumstances.

In addition to being cognizant of The Great Depression, Modern Times also makes a number of references to the rises of unions championing the individual rights of workers and frequently makes explicit condemnations of big businesses that were exploiting desperate workers in this era. Instead of being some sort of leech on the humorous parts of the movie, these story elements related to real-world turmoils enhance both the comedy and overall quality of Modern Times. The positive impact of Chaplin's screenplay being cognizant of events like The Great Depression even extends to the movies emotional affecting ending that serves as a departure from the typical ending of movies starring The Tramp that wrap everything up in a tidy bow.

By contrast, Modern Times ends with our two leads still on the run with nowhere to go, they haven't achieved their hopes and dreams and the one time it looked like potential success was in their grasp, the cops caught up to Ellen and sent them back to square one. The future for this duo is as uncertain as the future was for so many American citizens trying to just make it to the next day in this era of American history. But just as he did in so many movies prior, The Tramp provides a glimmer of joy for the audience in telling Ellen that they won't give up yet and that they must go forward together with joy on their faces and in their hearts. Hope can be found in the most unexpected places, including, as the two leads discover in the final moments of Modern Times, in facing down an uncertain future with someone you love. I can't think of a better scene to close out The Tramp's cinematic career on.