City Lights (1931)

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

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin

Stars:

Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers

Top 250 #39 | 2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Virginia Cherrill	...	A Blind Girl
Florence Lee	...	Her Grandmother
Harry Myers	...	An Eccentric Millionaire
Al Ernest Garcia	...	His Butler (as Allan Garcia)
Hank Mann	...	A Prizefighter
Charles Chaplin	...	A Tramp (as Charlie Chaplin)

Storyline

A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind girl. Her family is in financial trouble. The tramp's on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

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Plot Keywords:

tramp | operation | flower | little tramp | love | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 March 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Silent Mono (musical score)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Production was delayed on several occasions. In 1929, one break lasted 62 days.

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Goofs

In the very same scene, the Tramp tried to place a gun in the desk top table. The millionaire was lying back on the scene. The next shot, he was sitting upright.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Episode #7.81 (2009)
Included in a $300 question

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Soundtracks

"Flower Girl Theme"
(1931) (uncredited)
Music by José Padilla

User Reviews

You can't go wrong with Charlie Chaplin, but City Lights is even better than Chaplin's films usually are.

Chaplin takes himself a little more seriously in City Lights, and the results are spectacular. 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.

City Lights is so well made that it is one of the very few movies in which the obvious flaws can be gladly overlooked. Yes, you can clearly see the string holding Chaplin up in the sidesplittingly funny boxing scene, but who cares? That is such classic slapstick that little things like that really don't matter. Besides, let's keep in mind that this movie was made seventy years ago.

Chaplin does a phenomenal job in his traditional role of the tramp, and develops a perfectly convincing romantic relationship with the blind flower girl on the sidewalk. His friendship with the drunken rich guy is hilarious, but it also makes a significant comment about the problems of alcohol. This is truly a great film, which should not be forgotten.