Modern Times

Modern Times. 1936 United Artists, distributed to DVD by MK2 Diffusion and Warner Home Video.
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Stanley Sandford, Chester Conklin
Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin
Available at Amazon:
Two-disc special edition.
Part of the Chaplin Collection, Volume 1.
Limited Edition Collector's Set (still available!)

Charlie Chaplin originally intended for this film to be his first "talkie", writing a script with dialogue and experimenting with sound scenes. For whatever reason, that didn't suit Chaplin, so he turned the movie into a silent one with music and sound effects. The only speaking voices heard come from mechanical devices (phonographs, radios, and the like).

Chaplin, as his famous Tramp character, is a factory worker, employed on the assembly line. The facility is rapidly modernizing, which sees Chaplin force-fed by a "modern" feeding machine, and he is also subjected to a faster assembly line than he and his coworkers are used to. Suffering a mental breakdown, he is sent to a hospital.

After his release from the hospital, Chaplin is mistakenly arrested for allegedly leading a Communist demonstration when he was simply trying to return a red flag that fell off a delivery truck. While in jail, the Tramp eats what he believes is salt, but it's actually cocaine. While high, Chaplin walks into the middle of a jailbreak and knocks out the escaping inmates. He is hailed as a hero, and released, but he finds life on the outside is tough, and tries getting arrested again when failing to find a good job.

The Tramp meets an orphan named Ellen Peterson (Goddard), who is by his side for the rest of his misadventures, which sees him getting assorted odd jobs, getting arrested a few more times, and protecting Ellen from the police. She is wanted for stealing a loaf of bread.

Highly recommended, and funny too!