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City Lights
Sign in to save1931 film directed by Charlie Chaplin
"City Lights" is a 1931 film directed by Charlie Chaplin that tells the story of Chaplin's iconic "Tramp" character and his relationship with a blind flower girl in a modern city. The film is considered a masterpiece of silent cinema and remains significant for its blend of comedy and pathos, showcasing Chaplin's skill as both a performer and filmmaker during the era when sound films were becoming standard.
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Film · TMDB
8.3A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.
Cast
- Charlie Chaplin as A Tramp
- Virginia Cherrill as A Blind Girl
- Florence Lee as Her Grandmother
- Harry Myers as An Eccentric Millionaire
- Al Ernest Garcia as His Butler
- Hank Mann as A Prizefighter
Themes
- blindness and impaired vision
- eye operation
- operation
- love of one's life
- suicide attempt
- flower shop
- flower girl
- tramp
- love
- black and white
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Ratings
IMDb
8.5/10
215,345 votes
Rotten Tomatoes
95%
Metacritic
99/100
- Year
- 1931
- Runtime
- 87 min
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- G
- Awards
- 6 wins total
via OMDb · IMDb
~28 min read
Encyclopedic overview
City Lights is a 1931 American synchronized sound romantic comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind woman (Virginia Cherrill) and develops a turbulent friendship with an alcoholic millionaire (Harry Myers).
Although talking pictures (or films with recorded dialogue) were on the rise when Chaplin started developing the script in 1928, he decided to continue working without dialogue only incorporating sound with the use of a synchronized musical score with sound effects. Filming started in December 1928 and ended in September 1930. City Lights marked the first time Chaplin composed the film score to one of his productions and it was written in six weeks with Arthur Johnston. The main theme, used as a leitmotif for the blind flower girl, is the song "La Violetera" ("Who'll Buy my Violets") from Spanish composer José Padilla. Chaplin lost a lawsuit to Padilla for not crediting him.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “City Lights” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.