1931 Directed by Charlie Chaplin
City Lights is the first silent film that Charlie Chaplin directed after he established himself with sound accompanied films. The film is about a penniless man who falls in love with a flower girl. The film was a great success and today is deemed a cult classic.
Charlie Chaplin Virginia Cherrill Florence Lee Harry Myers Al Ernest Garcia Hank Mann Albert Austin Eddie Baker Henry Bergman Buster Brodie Jeanne Carpenter Tom Dempsey James Donnelly Ray Erlenborn Robert Graves Charles Hammond Jean Harlow Joseph Herrick Austen Jewell Willie Keeler Robert Parrish John Rand W.C. Robinson Cy Slocum Tony Stabenau Mark Strong Tiny Ward Stanhope Wheatcroft Florence Wix Show All…
A lighthearted comedy about homelessness, suicide, disability, manic depression, substance abuse, handguns, bipolar disorder, drunk driving, robbery, rheumatic fever, and incarceration.
Ladies and gentlemen.....the 1930s!
“You can see now?” “Yes, I can see now.”
Life was hard for the Blind Girl (Virginia Cherrill). Lacking vision was difficult enough without scraping by on the meager earnings from selling flowers on the sidewalk. It was barely enough to pay the rent on her Spartan tenement. Her Grandmother (Florence Lee) was old and frail and could not be a breadwinner, nor did the Great Depression give most people the wherewithal to keep her canary fed and her Grandmother warm. She was daydreamy and not without her limitations, but it was hard not to hope for something better. Yet when confronted with her sightless gaze and simple flower basket, people saw someone blind and poor and alone—someone on whom…
For my 300th film of the year, I decided to check out another Charlie Chaplin film and, once again, I was not disappointed. City Lights is incredibly charming, funny and touching with the kind of heartfelt ending I'll never forget. Brilliant stuff and I really look forward to checking out Modern Times next.
In a time when film industry was making its transition to talkies & silent films were becoming obsolete, Charlie Chaplin's City Lights entered into the theatres as a late example of its era yet in the long run, it didn't just turn out to be the greatest achievement of silent filmmaking but has endured the test of time so well that it still remains the quintessential romantic comedy.
The penultimate silent feature from Charlie Chaplin, City Lights chronicles the adventures of The Little Tramp who falls in love with a beautiful blind girl who sells flowers for a living. His desire to make her life better becomes a possibility when he saves a suicidal, drunken but wealthy man from killing himself…
"Live life! Be brave!"
Charlie Chaplin makes pure cinematic comedy. Silent (or "pantomime") comedies like this deserve an incalculable amount of respect for being able to deliver jokes without the crutch of dialogue. They truly utilize all the tricks available from film.
During the eight decades since City Lights was released, the comedy genre seems to have forgotten how to do this entirely. Modern comedies rely almost exclusively on funny dialogue, and often on improvised dialogue at that, and while I can appreciate the talent behind these types of performances, they utilize only a very small amount film's potential. Jokes have to be told in flat, close-up shots of actors because the unpredictable nature of that sort of comedy demands…
"Tomorrow the birds will sing."
Before Raging Bull or Rocky, Charles Chaplin brought us one of the most memorable boxing scenes in film history. The scene is so well choreographed and performed by Chaplin that it proves what a genius he truly was. It's been more than 80 years since the film was released and it still remains as one of the best romantic comedies ever made. City Lights has a lot of heart, several funny moments, and a perfectly executed final scene that will touch even the hardest hearts. I've seen many famous scenes from Chaplin's work, but this is the first time I sat through a full movie of his. It was a unique and joyous experience despite…
The boxing scene had me in stitches once again, just as it does every time I watch it. Truly one of the funniest scenes in cinema. Chaplin makes a boxing match into a brilliant showcase of slapstick choreography. Absolutely wonderful film all around, but that scene stood out most of all. Also the ending, as always, crushed my soul. I love this movie.
Rewatched with the commentary by Jeffrey Vance on the Criterion blu-ray release.
This is it. On a second watch, this has got to be my new favorite film.
Chaplin may have been a terrible person in more ways than one, but if there ever was a more tortured artist who made some of the most beautiful films for moments in their life that could be played for comedy, played for romance, and played for heartbreak... Well I don't know them.
Thank you.
Simply delightful! I would have rated it even higher if it weren’t for all the sound issues I was having.
One of those movies that has already had everything possible said about it. I'll just add how I think it is very good and all actors should study Charlie Chaplin.
4k update is stunning.
Deserves every bit of its reputation as being one of the greatest films ever made. Chaplin deftly makes us laugh with his clockwork timing before punching us in the gut with one of the most moving endings in all of cinema.
Leider werden solche Filme nicht mehr gemacht (oder ich kenn nur keine aus der heutigen Zeit). Ich meine Komödien die harmlos, ruhig und wundervoll sind. Filme wie City Lights, Mein Freund Harvey oder Der kleine Lord um nur ein paar aus sehr unterschiedlichen Zeiten zu nennen. Diese Filme bringen mich nicht zum lachen, sondern zum schmunzeln. Sie berühren etwas ganz tief in meinem Herzen, wegen ihrer wundersamen, fast schon poetischen Handlung und ihren Charakteren, die einem schnell ans Herz wachsen.
City Lights ist halt so ein Film, der trotz des vielen Slapsticks immer noch eine herzergreifende Story erzählt und den ich persönlich zu einem der besten Chaplin-Filme zähle.
Me before every Chaplin viewing: this is the time I’m gonna fall in love with Chaplin!
Me after every Chaplin viewing: that was ok.
Breaks my heart to rate it like this, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Chaplin's other films.
The Social Commentary is there, of course, otherwise, it wouldn't be Chaplin. But it's very sparse, not focusing or honing down on an issue, instead slapping different setpieces together very clumsily and tying them thinly to the plot's themes. I was bored throughout most of it, a blasphemous thing to say about a Chaplin film.
I'd rather watch the masterpieces Modern Times and The Gold Rush that deal with similar themes in a most effective and entertaining way.
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