City Lights

Plot synopsis:
The officials of a city unveil a new statue, only to find The Tramp sleeping on it. They shoo him away and he wanders the streets, destitute and homeless, and is soon tormented by two newsboys. He happens upon a beautiful Flower Girl (Virginia Cherrill), not realizing at first that she is blind, and buys a flower. Just when she is about to give him his change, a man gets into a nearby luxury car and is driven away, making her think that the Tramp has departed. The Tramp tiptoes away.
That evening, the Tramp runs into a drunken Millionaire (Harry Myers) who is attempting suicide on the waterfront. (It is later mentioned that his wife has sent for her bags.) The Tramp eventually convinces The Millionaire he should live. He takes the Tramp back to his mansion and gives him a change of clothes. They go out for a night on the town, where the Tramp inadvertently causes much havoc. Early the next morning, they return to the mansion and encounter the Flower Girl en route to her vending spot. The Tramp asks The Millionaire for some money, which he uses to buy all the girl's flowers and then drives her home in the Millionaire's Rolls-Royce.After he leaves, the Flower Girl tells her Grandmother (Florence Lee) about her wealthy acquaintance. When the Tramp returns to the mansion, the Millionaire has sobered and does not remember him, so has the butler order him out. Later that day, the Millionaire meets the Tramp again while intoxicated, and invites him home for a lavish party. The next morning, having sobered again and planning to leave for a cruise, the Millionaire again has the Tramp tossed out.Returning to the Flower Girl's apartment, the Tramp spies her being attended by a doctor. Deciding to take a job to earn money for her, he becomes a street sweeper. Meanwhile, the Grandmother receives a notice that she and the girl will be evicted if they cannot pay their back rent by the next day, but hides it. The Tramp visits the girl on his lunch break, and sees a newspaper story about a Viennese doctor who has devised an operation that cures blindness. He then finds the eviction notice and reads it aloud at the girl's request. He reassures her that he will pay the rent. But he returns to work late and is fired.As he is walking away, a boxer persuades him to stage a fake fight, promising to split the $50 prize money. Just before the bout, however, the man receives a telegram warning him that the police are after him. He flees, leaving the Tramp a no-nonsense replacement opponent. Despite a valiant effort, the Tramp is knocked out.Some time later, he meets the drunken Millionaire who has just returned from Europe. The Millionaire takes him to the mansion and after he hears the girl's plight, gives the Tramp $1,000. Unbeknownst to the Millionaire and the Tramp, two burglars were hiding in the house when they entered. Upon hearing about the cash, they knock out the millionaire and take the rest of his money. The Tramp telephones for the police, but the robbers flee before they arrive, and the butler assumes he stole the money. The Millionaire cannot remember the Tramp or giving him the $1,000. The Tramp narrowly escapes and gives the money to the girl saying he will be going away for a while. Later, he is arrested in front of the newsboys who taunted him earlier, and jailed.Months later, the Tramp is released. Searching for the girl, he returns to her customary street corner but does not find her. With her sight restored, the girl has opened up a flourishing flower shop with her Grandmother. When a rich customer comes into the shop, the girl briefly wonders if he is her mysterious benefactor. But when he leaves with no acknowledgement, she realizes again she is wrong. While retrieving a flower from the gutter outside the shop, the Tramp is again tormented by the two newsboys. As he turns to leave, he finds himself staring at the girl through the window. His despair turns to elation and he forgets about the flower. Seeing that he has crushed the flower he retrieved, the girl kindly offers him a fresh one and a coin. The Tramp begins to leave, then reaches for the flower. When the girl takes hold of his hand to place the coin in it, she recognizes the touch of his hand and realizes he is no stranger. "You?" she says, and he nods, asking, "You can see now?" She replies, sobbing, "Yes, I can see now." The Tramp smiles shyly at the girl as the film ends.

Tags: dramatic, comedy, entertaining, romantic, melodrama

Review:
If there is one Charlie Chaplin film to recommend, as others have pointed to in the past, City Lights is the one.
Though Chaplin played his Tramp character superbly in other movies, like Modern Times and The Gold Rush, City Lights displays the Tramp at his funniest, his bravest, his most romantic, and his most sympathetic.
The other person in the Tramp's life is the Blind Flower Girl (Virginia Cherrill, one of the most absorbing, beautiful, and key female performances in silent film), who are quite fond of each other despite the lack of total perception.
Once again Chaplin plays his famous creation, the beloved Tramp The noble Little Fellow meets and falls in love with a blind flower girl She assumes he is wealthy man and offers him a flower, which he attentively accepts with his last penny One night by chance he rescues a drunken millionaire from drowning The rich gentleman becomes a generous friend when drunk but doesn't recognize the tramp when sober Chaplin takes the blind girl under his wing, and takes flight with the millionaire's money to cure her blindness "City Lights" engaged a true genius in a graceful and touching performance which arouses profound feelings and joy with great simplicity of style and tragic tale Each scene was the result of hard-working detail and planning.
The musical score which Chaplin composed for the film was one of the many highlights, and even though Charlie's performance is much more dramatic than usual in some scenes, the hilarious comedy for which he is known and loved is still abundant.
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.
Kudos, too, to Harry Myers as the "eccentric millionaire."There's a lot of drama as well as humor in this 86-minute gem as the Tramp tries to aid a blind girl, raising money so she can get an operation to restore her sight.Comedy, romance, drama (with suffering) all combine to make this an extraordinary piece of entertainment.
CITY LIGHTS (United Artists, 1931), written, directed and starring Charlie Chaplin (1889- l977), is a silent comedy-drama released at the height of the sound era.
Although Chaplin hails THE GOLD RUSH (1925) as the one movie he would most want to be remembered, CITY LIGHTS nearly dims out his GOLD RUSH and at the same time, practically places his other silent masterpiece, THE CIRCUS (1928) to oblivion.
CITY LIGHTS has stood the test of time, balancing perfectly a mixture of comedy and drama, but in Chaplin's case, pathos.Subtitled, "A comedy romance in pantomime," the story opens in the early morning where the mayor is dedicating a statue to the citizens of the city.
Watching CITY LIGHTS surrounded by an appreciative audience theater is one way to truly appreciate and experience the feel of silent film comedy, and to think back as to how the audience reacted in same back in 1931.After Chaplin's death in December of 1977, CITY LIGHTS, along with his other silent features, were not only resurrected for a new generation to endure, but became readily available on video cassette at the time of Chaplin's 100th birthday, 1989.
To learn more about the making, difficulties and long term preparations to CITY LIGHTS, either watch Kevin Blownlow's 1980 documentary, Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film, as narrated by James Mason, or Brownlow's other documentaries dedicated entirely to Chaplin's career, including outtakes to CITY LIGHTS as well as scenes involving Virginia Cherrill's temporary replacement, Georgia Hale, Chaplin's co-star in THE GOLD RUSH.
The picture was City Lights and its producer, writer, director, editor, composer and star was Mr Charlie Chaplin.Chaplin was of course primarily a comedian, and his humour was of broad appeal, but audiences of the time were not exactly starved of easy comedy.
City Lights is probably one of the most well loved, along with Modern Times, Chaplin movies.
He also saves a drunken millionaire from suicide, and despite his gratefulness, doesn't remember the poor tramp unless he is drunk.City Lights is no doubt a magnificent feat in motion picture history.
its only genius film-maker can do and chaplin is one of them.silent movie such as city light is a hard-kind of movie to made.
However when he is at his lowest he stumbles upon a drunken man who he helps out who may be able to help him in turn  if the two of them can sober up long enough.In response to seeing some modern trash posing as "comedies" recently (Little Man, Norbit, Pluto Nash  I'm looking at you) I decided to check out some comedies that have stood the test of time  a few Chaplin films being among them.
Cherrill provides attractive heart despite her simple character, while Myers, Garcia, Mann and a few others do good physical work alongside Chaplin.City Lights is a really great film that is all the more impressive for still feeling fresh and funny more than seventy years after it was made.
Four years into sound Charlie Chaplin wrote, performed, directed and scored one of film's finest masterpieces.The story is about the "Little Tramp" befriending a blind woman who mistakenly thinks he is rich.
As much as I loved The Kid, The Gold Rush, Modern Times and The Great Dictator, City Lights is the film I consider Charlie Chaplin's masterpiece.
The comedy is brilliantly done, the scene in the boxing ring is not only one of my favourite scenes in a Chaplin movie(along with the final sequence and the dance of the bread rolls of The Gold Rush, the final scene of The Kid and the speech from The Great Dictator) but ever in a comedy, while there is a very touching love story between the Tramp and the little blind girl(played touchingly by Virginia Cherrill) he falls in love with.
City Lights (1931) **** (out of 4)Charlie Chaplin returns as The Tramp and this time he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and sets out to help her.
The Tramp eventually meets a suicidal drunk (Harry Myers) and their friendship leads to what might eventually help the girl he loves.Chaplin made great films before and after CITY LIGHTS but for my money this here is his greatest film as well as one of the greatest films ever made.
Then you've got Cherrill who wasn't a professional actor but the director makes her shine throughout.CITY LIGHTS contains one great scene after another and all of the laughs lead up to one of the most powerful endings in film history.
City Lights is about a tramp who falls for a blind girl and works to help her out.
Charlie Chaplin was a great comedian and everybody knows that but in this movie along with some great comedy you get to watch some amazing story of romance with emotions and love.
This put the lid on silent films for good, CL could not have been bettered if they'd tried - and Chaplin did of course but failed with Modern Times.There's so many gags in CL it's pointless to pick any one out - the boxing match hardly counts as a gag, more a work of art - overall it's a relentless 80 minutes, the usual Chaplin roller-coaster of emotion.
I've seen many of Chaplin's best films, and have just finished watching City Lights for the first time.
The story is simple: the Tramp falls in love with a blind flower girl and does anything to help her.
Orson Welles once cited as his favorite movie Charlie Chaplin's tribute to the art of body language and pantomime, "City Lights."
"I was determined to continue making silent films," Chaplin recalls in "My Life in Pictures" of his decision to make a silent four years into the talkie era, "for I believed there was room for all types of entertainment." "City Lights" features Chaplin's musical composition and various sound effects, but no dialogue.
Let's face it: Chaplin's "City Lights" is a great film, but it's not flawless.
The inspired bits: Charlie making the acquaintance of the Flower Girl, the boxing match, the achingly beautiful, ambiguous, close of the film where Chaplin walks an emotional tightrope between sentiment and sincerity, and succeeds brilliantly - these are incredible and unforgettable moments in cinema, and Chaplin deserves the plaudits he's received.
Charlie Chaplin always made great movies, and "City Lights" is no exception.
Charlie Chaplin's City Lights is about the Tramp who has fallen for a blind flower girl and tries to come to aid.
It is a film with so much charisma that you can't help falling in love with the tramp and the blind flower girl.
This movie is basically a love story between a tramp and a blind flower girl.
City Lights, made back in 1930, is a love story featuring our favorite funny character, the Tramp.
Along will all these, there will be many scenes where there will be tears in your eyes just because of laughing.Charlie Chaplin, as most of the times, is the director-writer-producer- composer-editor-actor of the film.
The two best scenes, IMO, are the boxing scene which is genuinely one of the most hilarious sequences ever filmed (if you want to know where Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball and other masters of physical comedy got their chops, a good place to start is right here) and the final scene/fadeout.The ending is beyond genius, almost as if God had AD'd this scene for Chaplin, it is so profoundly moving.
That said, a great ending, even one as great as graces City Lights, does still not resolve the issue of the un-meeting story lines which proceed along parallel tracks for the whole film.It is still worth your time to watch this supremely gifted physical comedian at the top of his game, and even more so, IMO, in repeat viewings.
With gags that will leave you laughing for weeks, but also a heartwarming tale that will leave you satisfied, it is enough to make any movie lover happy, no matter what kind of person you are.The only person I could think that would not enjoy it would be someone who hates slapstick, but really, I was never a fan of it, but when I found Mr.Charlie Chaplin's work I realized how funny it could actually be when done right.
Chaplin, playing the familiar tramp, meets a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) and is touched by her.
The last scene is probably the greatest in movie history, but watch the whole film and just get immersed in the artistry and brilliance that was Chaplin..
This is slapstick film-making at its very best.Charles Chaplin performs his role with great charisma and agility, It's a quite psychical movie for him.
Chaplin, as usual, is the unbelievably altruist Little Tramp who falls in love with a beautiful blind flower-girl.
Nobody is better at combining tragedy and comedy better than Charles Chaplin was.This is a fact I have mentioned in previous Chaplin reviews and this is something all the movie lovers have probably noticed.City Lights (1931) is one great example of those movies where comedy meets tragedy.Take the scene with the Eccentric Millionaire for example.He is there ready to jump into the water when our little tramp wanders to the spot.Soon they're both in the water.Comedy meets tragedy, laughter meets tears.I could mention plenty of other examples but you can see it all by watching this movie.If you already have, watch it again.It's a true classic that will not age.And the acting performances...they're all superb.Besides Chaplin there is Virinia Cherrill as A Blind Girl.She is so beautiful...such a good actress.And then there's Florence Lee as her grandmother.Harry Myers is fantastic as the moody millionaire.And so is Al Ernest Garcia as his Butler.The Keystone Kop Hank Mann plays A Prizefighter.The big man Henry Bergman is known from other Chaplin films also.Here he plays the Mayor/Blind Girls downstairs neighbor.Jean Harlow can be seen as an Extra in restaurant scene.The original music made by Charlie himself is masterly.Chaplin didn't want to give up silent pictures.And why would he have?
Things could very well be told without words.He did use some simple sound effects in this film and then Modern Times (1936).City Lights is filled with memorable scenes like when Charlie goes boxing.And when he goes dancing drunk is hilarious.And let's not forget the ending.The ending is beautiful..
Shot in a time when silent films were already vanishing from the big screens "City Lights" is a masterfully executed comedy by the one and only Charlie Chaplin.
The fact that makes "City Lights" better than his other famous movies "Gold Rush" and "Modern Times" is that, Chaplin weaves slapstick, pathos and melodrama into the Tramp with effortless genius.The ending scene of ''City Lights'' is justly famous as one of the great moving moments in the history of movies; the girl's sight has been restored by an operation paid for by the Tramp, now sees him as a bum --but smiles at him and gives him a rose and some money, and then, touching his hands, recognizes them.
This is a film to put in a time capsule.STORY:  A poor, seemingly homeless tramp bounces from one mishap to another, eventually meeting and falling in love with a poor blind girl selling flowers.
Although, in my opinion, not be the best film by Charles Chaplin, it's really good, it's a movie that will make you laugh and cry.
The Tramp, Chaplin's character, falls in love with a blind girl.
I was a little boy when I first watch this movie.Charlie Chaplin is a good actor who can describe her though through his movementHe has a nice Cuteness in his own.Although there no voice in city light but you can understood all they want to tell youAt last An Emotion there was only him everybody left him alone...........
Although made very much in the old-fashioned silent film tradition, much of it is timeless, too.After a few minutes of slapstick at the beginning, Charlie's "little tramp" character makes two acquaintances.
Although made very much in the old-fashioned silent film tradition, much of it is timeless, too.After a few minutes of slapstick at the beginning, Charlie's "little tramp" character makes two acquaintances.
His scenes with the girl and her grandmother are moving, while his determination to help lead him into some comic escapades - his attempt to win money in a boxing match being particularly funny, and one of Chaplin's best comic pieces.
His scenes with the girl and her grandmother are moving, while his determination to help lead him into some comic escapades - his attempt to win money in a boxing match being particularly funny, and one of Chaplin's best comic pieces.
Meanwhile, when his millionaire friend is drunk, he dotes on the tramp, but when sober he forgets who the tramp is, leading to more amusing scenes and occasional trouble for Charlie.All of the comedy leads up to a finale that is one of the best-remembered scenes in any film.
Meanwhile, when his millionaire friend is drunk, he dotes on the tramp, but when sober he forgets who the tramp is, leading to more amusing scenes and occasional trouble for Charlie.All of the comedy leads up to a finale that is one of the best-remembered scenes in any film.
And rightfully so.They say City Lights is the one film you should see if you haven't seen any Charlie Chaplin in your life.Yeah, I can't argue with that..
What can be more perfectly idyllic and altruistically beautiful than a movie about a big-hearted Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) who falls for a blind flower girl and tries in vain to raise money for an eye operation.
The Tramp does so by depending on the largess of a carousing millionaire whose drunken debauchery at one point convinces the girl (Virginia Cherrill) that the Tramp is in-fact a wealthy benefactor and not just a homeless Tramp eager to find love.Effortlessly funny in the way that only Charlie Chaplin can achieve, City Lights has the audacity to once again give voice to the voiceless while being a treasure trove of timeless comedic scenes.
City Lights is the brilliant result you get when you have a master of his art form at work.The simple, though thoroughly captivating story, follows The Tramp as he falls in love with a beautiful, blind flower girl.
The love story between The Tramp and the blind girl warms your heart and makes City Lights a true feel-good movie, one worthy of its status as one of the most beloved films ever made..
If CITY LIGHTS (as well as Chaplin's 1936 MODERN TIMES) serve as an epilogue or elegy for the silent era, it can also be said that Chaplin's film provides a passionate and effective argument for the aesthetic and emotional value of cinema without spoken dialogue.Once again, Chaplin uses his Little Tramp character in a tale that blends humor with pathos.
I surrender myself to the genius as Charlie Chaplin and to a great movie as City Lights.
The comic highlight is the boxing match, which is great all in and of itself.Though Chaplin had a hard time with Virginia Cherrill on set, she is perfect as the flower girl the Tramp seeks to help.
And very few films of Chaplin's have proved this more effectively than his 1931 silent masterpiece, "City Lights".
This silent romantic comedy follows Chaplin's famous Tramp character as he meets a pretty but blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) who mistakes him for a millionaire.
Funny how some people can mix tones in the same movie and make it work so well while others can't even get one tone right.The story: the Tramp makes friends with a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) and works various jobs to help support her.
Chaplin shot sporadically, seemingly around one central, and very simple, idea, and managed to create his greatest work, and undoubtedly one of the greatest films of all time.After a chance encounter with a poor, blind and humble flower girl (Virginia Cherrill), The Tramp falls in love.