Hello, all.
At long last, a [hopefully] less conventional/pedestrian pick with today's recommendation. Well, I should qualify that... it wouldn't be an unconventional pick if we were living through the Great Depression. It isn't DUCK SOUP, but from the mind of a comic actor as brilliant as all the Marx Brothers put together [yes, including Zeppo, the bigtime inventor], Charlie Chaplin.
The film is MODERN TIMES.
From IMDb, the plot is about how "The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman."
Yeah, it smacks of socialist pablum from the opening frame, but who cares? It's a brilliant [and, for the time, fairly technologically groundbreaking] piece of filmmaking, featuring Chaplin in his best iteration as The Tramp [in my opinion], and he cranked out some good ones. It isn't as profound as THE GREAT DICTATOR, perhaps, but still, what a flick.
If you're interested, I've embedded the trailer below [check out the 1:22 mark for one of the most iconic shots in cinema history, the same one you've probably seen even if you've never seen the movie (which you should remedy as quickly as possible!)].
If that isn't enough to whet your appetite, I'll include a scene that I share with my students. Even the ones who are trying to be "too cool for school" are eventually howling by the end. [Quick setup not provided in the link - an inventor approaches the factory boss about a machine he invented that would allow workers to work through their lunch hour rather than taking a break... and, of course, The Tramp is the hapless guinea pig chosen to show how well it works.]
Enjoy!
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - GROUNDHOG DAY, Day 2 - KINGPIN, Day 3 - TRADING PLACES, Day 4 - FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF]
At long last, a [hopefully] less conventional/pedestrian pick with today's recommendation. Well, I should qualify that... it wouldn't be an unconventional pick if we were living through the Great Depression. It isn't DUCK SOUP, but from the mind of a comic actor as brilliant as all the Marx Brothers put together [yes, including Zeppo, the bigtime inventor], Charlie Chaplin.
The film is MODERN TIMES.
From IMDb, the plot is about how "The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman."
Yeah, it smacks of socialist pablum from the opening frame, but who cares? It's a brilliant [and, for the time, fairly technologically groundbreaking] piece of filmmaking, featuring Chaplin in his best iteration as The Tramp [in my opinion], and he cranked out some good ones. It isn't as profound as THE GREAT DICTATOR, perhaps, but still, what a flick.
If you're interested, I've embedded the trailer below [check out the 1:22 mark for one of the most iconic shots in cinema history, the same one you've probably seen even if you've never seen the movie (which you should remedy as quickly as possible!)].
If that isn't enough to whet your appetite, I'll include a scene that I share with my students. Even the ones who are trying to be "too cool for school" are eventually howling by the end. [Quick setup not provided in the link - an inventor approaches the factory boss about a machine he invented that would allow workers to work through their lunch hour rather than taking a break... and, of course, The Tramp is the hapless guinea pig chosen to show how well it works.]
Enjoy!
Other films recommended:
[Day 1 - GROUNDHOG DAY, Day 2 - KINGPIN, Day 3 - TRADING PLACES, Day 4 - FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF]
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