Tuesday, October 27, 2009

'Modern Times'

Some fun facts:

1. Only three actors/actresses in this film have photos on their IMDB pages. Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard and Bobby Barber who played an uncredited worker. Barber has 181 film/TV credits, mostly bit parts. His most extended work came with Abbott and Costello who hired him to basically keep everyone happy, laughing and focused.

2. Chaplin produced, composed the music and co-edited "Modern Times."

3. Goddard is extremely interesting. She started in The Ziegfeld Follies, was a Goldwyn Girl and eventually got involved with Chaplin, who cast her in "Modern Times." The two were married the same year before separating in 1940.

4. Goddard apparently was the leading candidate for Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wing" but apparently couldn't provide a marriage license to prove her nuptials with Chaplin and then Vivien Leigh showed up and that's all she wrote.

5. Goddard left $20 million to NYU at her death.

6. She was married four times, no kids. One marriage was to Chaplin. Her third was to The Penguin, Burgess Meredith.

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