City Lights (1931)

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (writer)

Release Date:

6 February 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The Tramp struggles to help a blind flower girl he has fallen in love with.

Plot Keywords:

Happy Ending | Male Female Relationship | Drunk Driver | Person On Fire | Fight

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Virginia Cherrill	...	A Blind Girl
Florence Lee	...	The Blind Girl's Grandmother
Harry Myers	...	An Eccentric Millionaire
Al Ernest Garcia	...	The Eccentric Millionaire's Butler (as Allan Garcia)
Hank Mann	...	A Prizefighter
Charles Chaplin	...	A Tramp (as Charlie Chaplin)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean Carpenter	...	Extra in restaurant scene

Also Known As:

City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime (USA) (copyright title)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent | Mono (musical score)

Certification:

South Korea:All | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Spain:T | West Germany:12 (1951) | Germany:6 (re-rating: 1997) | USA:G (1972) | France:U | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Denmark:A (2003) | Norway:7 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Trivia:

When the film opened on 31 January 1931, Albert Einstein joined Chaplin at the theater. When the film opened in England, George Bernard Shaw joined him.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the tramp accidentally swallows the whistle, his real eyebrows are visible beneath his fake ones.

Quotes:

The Tramp: Can you see now?
A Blind Girl: Yes, I can see now.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)

Classic Chaplin

City Lights is simply put one of the best movies out there. Every scene is classic and had a huge impact on the history of film-making. Chaplin's last 'silent' film tells the story of a poor little man the tramp played by Chaplin who falls in love with a blind flower girl. He becomes friends with a wealthy man who constantly tries to commit suicide. The man only recognizes the tramp character when he is drunk. To impress the flower girl the tramp uses the man's wealth to make her fall in love with him. The only problem is that when the man is sober he doesn't recognize the tramp anymore. On top of this the flower girl has to pay 22 dollars of rent or she will be thrown out of her apartment. Now the tramp desperately seeks for jobs in the city to help his love. Out of this simple plot great comedy and heart breaking moments come forth.

The outcome of the movie is to almost all people known. It is regarded as one of the best endings ever taped on film. The movie itself still is masterpiece more than 70 years after it's release. I personally rate this as Chaplin's second best I have seen so far. My favorite remains The Gold Rush. Still this movie gets 5/5 stars from me.