I did find this film funny and entertaining, specially when the tramp being used to test the feeding machine. I also liked the scene where he's spraying oil over the other workers and when he's feeding the repairman when the factory reopens. In the first scene there's a flock of sheep shown on the screen, symbolizing the workers who are doing nothing but following the rest on their way to their workplace and not thinking in an individual way. In some time of this shot we can also see a black sheep that symbolizes disgrace and shame to society, in this case, the tramp is slowing and/or hindering the factory's production, making everyone upset.
I don't think it's difficult to understand what's happening even there's no conversation, because the characters' expressions, gestures and movements, and also the scenes help to explain everything very simple. When the factory closed, workers had to find a way to barely satisfy their needs. So, they looked for another job or simply began robbing food or whatever they needed. In the tramp's case we can see that he tries to stay in prison even after he was released, because "he was so happy in there". I think his happiness comes to the fact that he had his basic needs satisfied, those being food and a place to sleep. IIndustrialists and employers just want to get the maximum profit from their industries. This means that they could or could not care about their employees thoughts and just go with whatever they consider convenient. The police intervention was needed because, as it happens nowadays, people who want thinks done their way do watever it takes to achieve it, even recurring to violence.
Misery and opulence can be compared when the tramp starts imagining the house of his dreams, where he lives with the Gamin. He has fruits, a cow to get fresh milk, meat, and last but no least, good and comfortable furniture. After several scenes we see the reality, when the Gamin takes the tramp to a very humble house, where the wood falls from the ceiling, the chair sinks in the floor, they are using campbell's soup cans as glasses and so on. This show us the very big difference between the poor, who only dream to live better, and the rich, who only want to have even more stuff.
There are several police interventions affecting the main characters. One of them is when they take the tramp to prison after he blames himself of stealing the loaf of bread. When he's released, the Gamin, dressed with pretty clothes is waiting for him outside the jail. When he sees her, he's completely amazed about the way she looks and he's obviously very happy to see her. Also at the end of the film, when the Gamin an the tramp are working in the restaurant, the police comes in and wants to arrest her. This makes her desperate while the tramp is just trying to comfort her. However, they manage to escape from the police, staying together and walking down the road as the shot fades out. This shows us that anything is possible and even better when we stay together, as well as there's always someone who will make your life better, no matter their socioeconomic status, because what really counts is our way of thinking and our feelings.
I think the ending was modified because it would imply a lot of time where the tramp is not "in his best conditions", so everything that happened (his house's dream, getting a job at the store, etc.) in this version would not be seen, making it much harder to get them know eachother in their must humble situation and they would not probably end up the same way. I prefer the modified version because there's a lot more action than it would be in the other version. There would probable not be all this police interventions to get the tramp and the gamin and it could make the plot a little boring.