City Lights

Released: January 30, 1931

Studio: United Artists

Genre: silent/comedy/romance

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 5.0 Worldwide: --

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Charles Chaplin

Screenwriting: Charles Chaplin

Starring: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee

Review:

Four years after “the talkie revolution” ^PD Charlie Chaplin, “cinema’s greatest clown,” ^PD “stuck to what made him the world’s biggest star: keeping his mouth shut.” ^PD For his final silent film, he was able to incorporate “the occasional comic use of sound” ^T95 though the use of sound effects. “In the opening sequence, the urban misfit (his quintessential ‘Little Tramp’ character) parodies ‘talking’ films.” ^FS

“The movie’s enormous success demonstrated that he was still a beloved star.” ^MSN “The silent comedian had spent years finding the right mix of silliness and sentimentality, and the combination was never more sublime than in this romantic pearl of a film,” ^VY Chaplin’s “magnum opus.” ^PD It was “eloquent, moving, and funny” ^LM and “critically acclaimed for its blend of sentimental drama, pathos, melancholy romance, slapstick, and comic pantomime.” ^FS Chaplin demonstrated “supreme delicacy in conveying all shades of human feeling.” ^T95

This was “ultimately his personal favorite of his many masterworks, it was his baby and he took an unusually long time to piece it together.” ^PD To get the moment just right when the Little Tramp meets a blind flower girl (Cherrill), Chaplin shot the scene 342 times. ^VY He even composed the movie’s score – a first for him – “adding that to his other credits: actor, writer, director, producer, editor and to quote W.C. Fields “the greatest ballet dancer who ever lived.” ^PD

The flower girl falls for the Little Tramp. Unable to see his tattered suit, she mistakenly believes he is a millionaire. He “befriends a rich drunk…to illegally get the money the girl needs for an eye operation.” ^VD

“Renowned, influential film critic James Agee called the film’s final scene ‘the greatest single piece of acting ever committed to celluloid.’” ^PD “The film’s final shot is unforgettably poignant;” ^FS “Many firmly regard…[it] as the best ending in movie history.” ^PD