Plot Summary for
City Lights (1931) More at IMDbPro »

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. Written by John J. Magee <magee@helix.mgh.harvard.edu>

Charmingly simple story of The Little Tramp who meets a lovely blind girl selling flowers on the sidewalk who mistakes him for a wealthy duke. When he learns that an operation may restore her sight, he sets off to earn the money she needs to have the surgery. In a series of comedy adventures that only Chaplin could pull off, he eventually succeeds, even though his efforts land him in jail. While he is there, the girl has the operation and afterwards yearns to meet her benefactor. The tear-inducing closing scene, in which she discovers that he is not a wealthy duke but only The Little Tramp, is one of the highest moments in movies. Written by alfiehitchie

A little tramp living in the big city has a profound effect on two people he meets. The first is a wealthy man, who the tramp saves from killing himself during the wealthy man's drunken stupor. However, the relationship between the wealthy man and the tramp continually changes depending on the drunken or sober state of the wealthy man. The second is a poor blind flower girl, who lives with her destitute grandmother. The kindness of the tramp toward her makes her fall in love with him, as he is with her. By circumstance, she believes that he is a wealthy man. When he learns that an expensive operation can restore her eyesight, the tramp does whatever he can to earn the money to pay for the operation, even if the result is that she will find out that he is not the wealthy man she believes and which by association may make her change her blind opinion of him. Written by Huggo

Related Links