SHORT TAKES

MODERN TIMES: Charlie Chaplin is even funnier than his legend. He can break your heart with his humor; every time you’ve caught your breath, he’s doing something that is so completely outrageous — and relevant — that you’re in stiches again. Politically, Godard should take lessons. You haven’t seen anything like this in your life, because nobody has made anything like this in your life — see it now while you’ve got the chance, fit’s playing art houses and stuff, so you’ll have to watch the papers, but don’t miss it for anything. This isn’t just great art, it’s fun, and funny, which counts for more.) (It is also great art.)

THE CAREY TREATMENT: Director Blake Edwards (Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Days of Wine and Roses, Darling Lili) has time and again proven himself to be a master of light entertainment; his latest film, a murder mystery centered around a Boston hospital, is one of his lesser, but still enjoyable, efforts. The primary stumbling block is an inconsequential made-for-TV-movie type of script which forces Edwards to rely entirely on his performers for the kind of behavioral nuances and gossamar texture which have made his films memorable. He succeeds with everyone except Jennifer O’Neill, who remains as lusciously untalented as before.

FROGS: The only environmental horror flick — The Man Versus Nature Syndrome. The starring roles are played by Gila Monsters, Blue Racers, Black Widow Spiders, Alligators and Chameleons. These creatures knock off a Florida millionaire’s family one by one for abusing the sanctity of the swamp and slime. But The Frogs strike nary a blow, they just lunge their amphibious creepy little bodies against the den windows. Those wonderfully horrendous ads with the human hand hanging limply from the impressive jaws of Gigantor Frog were just a sham. Everybody knows Frogs don’t have teeth.