Modern Times

Charles Chaplin had always been concerned about the fate of his adopted country, and when poverty took to the streets, mingling with the opulent wealth of a ruling class, he could not remain silent. 1931: shortly after the United States was hit by crisis, the filmmaker left Hollywood and embarked on an eighteen-month journey around the world. During this journey, he met figures such as Gandhi and Einstein, and also witnessed an alarming rise in unemployment and poverty. To his mind, the solution to these ills lay in a fairer distribution of work and wealth. This moved him closer to the Marxist theories that would earn him so many enemies in the US. In one interview he told a journalist: ‘Unemployment is the key issue. Machines should serve for the good of humankind rather than causing tragedy and unemployment’. On his return from his travels, he only wanted one thing: to produce a major project that would serve as a crucible for his political ideas. After writing a final version of his screenplay, initially titled The Masses, Chaplin began a marathon shoot on 11 October 1934, which would not end until 30 August 1935!"" (Jim Stark; dvdclassik.com)