Modern Times   1935   1936   1937   next   previous

Modern Times Clippings 138/382

Karl K. Kitchen, Los Angeles Times, L. A., Cal., March 17, 1935.

Modern Times Scenes

& The Masses Cover, Jan. 1917.

      Cover artist is Frank Walts.

& The Masses Back, Jan. 1917.

„A humble worker in a high-pressure factory“

Editorial content. „Chaplin Tells Theme

      of His New Picture

      „The Masses“ Will Be Satire on Industry;

      Without Dialogue

      BY KARL K. KITCHEN

      I had been invited to dine at the Chaplin home at 8 o‘clock,

but, although I did not arrive until quarter past, my host

had not returned from his studio. Miss Paulette Goddard, his

leading lady in his new picture, and, unless I am

terribly mistaken, his leading lady in his private life, received

me in the library, where we chatted over cocktails

until he arrived, perhaps half an hour later. At any rate, it was

nearly 9 o‘clock before we sat down for dinner.

      Naturally, I wanted to hear about his new picture – Production

No. 5, as it has been called up to date. And, with some

reluctance, Charlie told me something about it. For instance,

he has definitely decided to call it The Masses. But,

although it has been in production more than five months, it is

still uncompleted. Even if it is finished this spring,

it will not be shown until next fall – when he will come to New

York, take a theater on Broadway and offer it to the

palpitating public – his first picture in four and a half years.

      MOST AMBITIOUS FILM

      Without betraying any confidences, I can set forth some

facts about The Masses which are unknown except

to a very limited number of friends. In the first place, it is the

biggest and in every way the most ambitious picture

he has ever made. He told me – and I believe it – that he is

putting $1,000,000 of his own money into the production.

I can believe it because I saw several of the sets when I visited

his studio, which, by the way, he has roofed over in order

to make some of the sequences.

      One of the big sets – built to resemble the interior of a huge

power plant – has moving machinery, made of wood

and rubber but painted to look like steel, fully a block long

and several stories high. One of the big comedy

effects in the picture is the result of Charlie‘s mishap in falling

into the machinery. He is spun around huge flywheels

and through grinding gears – seemingly at the risk of his life.

It happened the day following my evening at his home.

      I visited the studio and saw him at work on the sequence

in which he is caught in the machinery. The scores

of lamps and the big staff of electricians, carpenters and

helpers who were at work revealed the magnitude

of the production and gave an inkling of its cost. But as City

Lights, his last picture, grossed over $5,000,000,

there is little doubt that Charlie will get his million back

and a handsome profit in addition.

     The Masses, as already rumored, will be without spoken

dialogue. It will have sound effects, of course, but

Charlie will not utter one intelligible word. While he did not

disclose the plot of the picture, he told me enough

about it to give me an idea of its theme, which deals with

a humble worker in a high-pressure factory. The cog

in the machine, played, of course, by Charlie, is obliged to work

at such speed that he does not even have time

to scratch – so rapidly has he to place nuts on the machines

which move by on conveyors. When he does

finally drop a nut, in order to scratch himself, his action

upsets the entire factory. he is discharged, and,

on his way home, steals a ride on a repair wagon, only

to fall off with a red flag in his hand. Running

after the repair truck to replace the warning signal,

he is followed by a parade of Communists,

who mistake him for their leader. He runs into a policeman,

who, of course, raps him over the head, and

Charlie awakes in a jail, only to have other adventures

before the final rally.“ (...)

     The definite title of Chaplin‘s film will be „Modern Times.“

      Karl K. Kitchen, Chaplin and „The Masses,“

      New York Times, March 17, 1935

      (New York Times Co. and North American Newspaper

      Alliance, Inc., New York).

Redaktioneller Inhalt

     Modern Times   1935   1936   1937   next   previous