Modern Times (Blu-Ray)

Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin’s last outing as the Little Tramp, puts the iconic character to work as a giddily inept factory employee who becomes smitten with a gorgeous gamine (Paulette Goddard). With its barrage of unforgettable gags and sly commentary on class struggle during the Great Depression, Modern Times—though made almost a decade into the talkie era and containing moments of sound (even song!)—is a timeless showcase of Chaplin’s untouchable genius as a director of silent comedy.

Special features: 
– New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
– New audio commentary by Chaplin biographer David Robinson
– Two new visual essays, by Chaplin historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance
– New program on the film’s visual and sound effects, with experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt
– Interview from 1992 with Modern Times music arranger David Raksin
– Chaplin Today: “Modern Times” (2004), a half-hour program with filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
– Two segments removed from the film
– Three theatrical trailers
– All at Sea (1933), a home movie by Alistair Cooke featuring Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, and Cooke, plus a new score by Donald Sosin and a new interview with Cooke’s daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge
– The Rink (1916), a Chaplin two-reeler highlighting his skill on wheels
– For the First Time (1967), a Cuban documentary short about a projectionist who shows Modern Times to first time moviegoers
– More!
– PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Saul Austerlitz and a piece by film scholar Lisa Stein that includes excerpts from Chaplin’s writing about his travels in 1931 and 1932