Modern Times: 90th Anniversary!

Paramount and Stateside Theatres are bringing Modern Times back to the big screen on Sunday, July 19, as part of the Paramount Summer Classic Film Series. It's a 90th anniversary screening of the 1936 Charlie Chaplin classic, and since it's part of a series, it's one of several classics the theatre is running through the summer.

Modern Times is Chaplin's last outing as the Little Tramp. In it, the iconic character becomes a giddily inept factory employee who falls for a gamine played by Paulette Goddard. By the time it came out in 1936, the talkie era was already nearly a decade old, and while the film does have moments of sound, it's still a silent comedy at heart. It's widely seen as one of Chaplin's best showcases as a director of silent comedy, full of his trademark physical gags and a sly commentary on class struggle during the Great Depression. The film runs 87 minutes in black and white, and this screening is a DCP projection.

The venue itself is a bit of a landmark. The Paramount has stood on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin for over 100 years, built in 1915, making it the city's oldest surviving theatre. It's a City and State Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and one of the few remaining 'hemp houses' in the country. It's also where Austin's red-carpet film premieres happen, and it plays a role in SXSW and the Austin Film Festival.

Tickets are $2, and the screening is part of the Paramount Summer Classic Film Series at the Paramount Theatre. Modern Times stars Charles Chaplin and Paulette Goddard and was directed by Chaplin himself.