It would have to be one compact walky talky, even now walky talkies still have antennas, they're pretty fucking hard to not notice, I don't think walking around with a walky talky before such a thing was even invented is a good way to blend in with the crowd, which would be time traveler priority number one I would imagine.

I'd also think time travelers would know when Charlie Chaplin is making a movie and be smart enough to not accidently get caught on camera, wouldn't you?

It's a man in drag portraying what I assume is a crazy woman talking to herself, sheesh. Some asshole overacts even though he's just a fucking extra and 82 years later he's a Youtube phenomenon.

But I could be wrong, maybe Skynet tried to have Charlie Chaplin killed for some reason.

1921 The Kid 8
1923 A Woman of Paris N/a
1925 The Gold Rush 9
1928 The Circus 7
1931 City Lights 9
1936 Modern Times 9
1940 The Great Dictator 8
1947 Monsieur Verdoux 7
1952 Limelight 6

1921 The Kid 9
1923 A Woman of Paris 7
1925 The Gold Rush 9
1928 The Circus 7
1931 City Lights 9
1936 Modern Times 8
1940 The Great Dictator 6
1942 The Gold Rush ("Daddy"version) (never finished, but what I saw was bad)
1947 Monsieur Verdoux 7
1952 Limelight 7

1925 The Gold Rush 8.7
1931 City Lights 10.0
1952 Limelight 7.8

so, uh, City Lights is really good

This is an observation so obvious that it can't be original, but I've never read it before and I've only now picked up on it myself, so here goes: I had always wondered why in its final scenes, Modern Times seems to totally abandon the themes of technological advances and their effect upon the worker, but having watched it again, I'm struck by how the famous "singing" scene is actually a reflection of Chaplin's relationship as a director to the changes in cinematic technology. By the time of the film's production sound film was already well established, and Chaplin was still (justly) uneasy about how his talents would translate into non-silent comedy. The "singing" scene--wherein the Tramp loses the words but due to the audience has to sing so proceeds to rely on his pantomime and gibberish--reflects the whole film: Chaplin is basically forced by market pressures to make a sound film, but knows that he really doesn't know how, and so technically makes a "sound" film by economical use of sound effects and cleverly placed dialogue, while really still playing to his strengths and relying on physical comedy and even intertitles. Chaplin hasn't abandoned the questioning of technological progress at all, he's simply made a meta-cinematic shift from accepting that he has no solution for the workers' problems with technology to instead illustrating how the artist, the only thing he truly feels qualified to comment on, must adapt to it.

I've seen The Circus, The Great Dictator, Modern Times and City Lights and loved all of them. He's the only silent film actor that makes me laugh but then again I hardly ever watch silent films.

1. The Gold Rush 10/10
2. City Lights 10/10
3. The Great Dictator 10/10
4. Modern Times 10/10
5. The Kid 9.5/10
6. A Dog's Life 8.5/10
7. The Idle Class 8/10
8. Shoulder Arms 8/10
9. The Immigrant 8/10
10. The Tramp 7/10
11. The Rink 6.5/10