# Time-traveler in 1928 Charlie Chaplin film **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330 "2010-10-25T20:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/21 "2010-10-26T15:19:31Z")
That’s so retarded. When you hold a cell phone or whatever your fingers are together for a secure grip, not splayed apart like that. There’s nothing in her hand. She’s holding onto her hat or wig. You can see the breeze moving the plants behind her. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/22 "2010-10-26T15:26:33Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > [Hearing aid.](http://www.hearingaidmuseum.com/gallery/Carbon/WesternElectric/info/westelect34a.htm) That does look like the right size to look like a phone. Mr. Clarke is a loony. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/23 "2010-10-26T15:28:44Z")
Did you notice the man walking in front of her reaching into his jacket pocket just before walking off-frame? Clearly, he’s reaching for _his_ cell phone, because _the lady in black is calling him!_ They are fellow time travelers and thus cannot risk being seen interacting directly. _It’s the **only** explanation that makes sense!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/24 "2010-10-26T15:29:38Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > Playing devil’s advocate Or she is a time traveler from a distant future where cell phone towers are an antiquated idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/25 "2010-10-26T15:30:29Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > That does look like the right size to look like a phone. > > Mr. Clarke is a loony. If he had no idea that a hearing aid that size and shape was available in 1928 (and I certainly didn’t), then he is not necessarily a loony. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/26 "2010-10-26T15:41:16Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > If he had no idea that a hearing aid that size and shape was available in 1928 (and I certainly didn’t), then he is not necessarily a loony. He thinks the only possible explanation is the woman is a time traveler. He’s a loony. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/27 "2010-10-26T15:44:50Z")
Do an experiment. Pick up your cell phone (mine is a Droid). Are your fingers splayed apart like the woman’s in the film, or are they together? There is nothing in her hands. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/28 "2010-10-26T15:46:04Z")
If the premise is that Charlie Chaplin, as writer/director, put a time-traveling, cell-phone using character from the future in this movie as a conscious effort, I could, almost believe it—if it were a movie about time traveling from the future…but, it isn’t—it’s a movie about a circus!?! If, on the other hand, the premise is that it is a real time-traveling, cell-phone using person from the future who just happened to beam into the scene of a 1928 Charlie Chaplin movie…well, I’m OK with that. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/29 "2010-10-26T16:20:25Z")
> [@Tibbytoes](#): > > If the premise is that Charlie Chaplin, as writer/director, put a time-traveling, cell-phone using character from the future in this movie as a conscious effort, I could, almost believe it—if it were a movie about time traveling from the future…but, it isn’t—it’s a movie about a circus!?! > > If, on the other hand, the premise is that it is a real time-traveling, cell-phone using person from the future who just happened to beam into the scene of a 1928 Charlie Chaplin movie…well, I’m OK with that. It was behind the scenese footage of the premiere at the Mann Theater in Hollywood, not a scene from the film. Also, that guy’s nuts. She’s not holding anything. Just a batty woman walking around Hollywood talking to herself. Certainly nothing unique about that. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/30 "2010-10-26T17:34:03Z")
Here’s what we know: 1. She has her hand up near her ear 2. Her lips are moving at the same time Since nobody could do any two things simultaneously before 1935, when Leonardo DiVinci and Flavor Flav invented the clock, I declare her to be a time traveler. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/31 "2010-10-26T19:27:15Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > Playing devil’s advocate – if it IS a time-traveler, maybe she’s talking on one of those Nextel two-way devices to another time-traveler. A two-way radio would still work without cell phone towers, wouldn’t it? I know after Hurricane Katrina, a lot of people found that their Nextels were the only things that worked. Nextel PPT devices are still dependent on cell towers. The reason they worked after Katrina is because the signal travels as packets, so many, many more will “fit” on any particular interoffice line. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/32 "2010-10-26T19:57:32Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Do an experiment. Pick up your cell phone (mine is a Droid). Are your fingers splayed apart like the woman’s in the film, or are they together? . I tried that (HTC Touch), and my fingers were splay city. Maybe that woman has an HTC? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/33 "2010-10-26T20:10:34Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > As an aside, I loved his logic that it was impossible to have been a transistor radio as early as 1928 so it must have been a mobile phone. 😕 Right. Clearly, she was a time traveler _from 1955_ holding a transistor radio to her ear! ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/34 "2010-10-26T20:15:53Z")
Well, I’m stumped…completely stumped. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/35 "2010-10-26T20:25:28Z")
The shadow her hand casts looks like a cell phone…but it’s just a shadow. Look at it when it’s shown in close up in really slow motion. You’ll see just before the fadeout her angle change where the sun hits inside her hand. Suddenly there’s no shadow and no cell phone! This can clearly mean one of two things 1. There’s no cell phone. There’s no nothing. It was all just a shadow all along. 2. The time traveler also has cloaking technology. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/36 "2010-10-26T21:03:52Z")
Holy Time Slip Batman! We’ve detected a time traveler with an invisible cell phone. It’s the only logical explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/37 "2010-10-26T21:13:39Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Do an experiment. Pick up your cell phone (mine is a Droid). Are your fingers splayed apart like the woman’s in the film, or are they together? She has a cell phone _of the futurre_ that has 500 different antennas built in, suitable for picking up signals from thousands of outer-space cellphone service providers. Unfortunately, the designers of the phone had insufficient testing time, and if she places her finger on the wrong spot on the side of her phone, she creates a contact point between the different antennas, and the number of bars goes from 5 to 1. Hence the awkward position of the fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/38 "2010-10-26T21:16:09Z")
I’m calling fake. The guy is a film maker and he made that scene himself. Unless someone checks their own copy of the dvd with the extra on it then and proves those seconds of viedo are on every copy then it’s fake. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/39 "2010-10-26T21:37:52Z")
Toothache. And holding her hand to her cheek. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/40 "2010-10-26T21:47:27Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Toothache. > > And holding her hand to her cheek. Why would a time traveler have dental disease? I would think that woulda been cured… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330.md?page=3)