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:

Tramp | Love | Little Tramp | Benefactor | Operation

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)

Also Known As:

City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime (USA) (copyright title)
Lichter der Großstadt (Austria) (Germany) [de]
Luces de la ciudad (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Byens lys (Denmark) [da]
Kaupungin valot (Finland) [fi]
Les lumières de la ville (France) [fr]
Lichter der Großstadt - Eine Komödien-Romance als Pantomime (Germany) [de]
Luci della città (Italy) [it]
Luzes da Cidade (Brazil) [pt]
Luzes na Cidade (Portugal) [pt]
Orot Ha-Krah (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Stadens ljus (Sweden) [sv]
Swiatla wielkiego miasta (Poland) [pl]
Ta fota tis poleos (Greece) [el]
Ta fota tis polis (Greece) (reissue title) [el]

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent | Mono (musical score)

Certification:

France:U | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | Spain:T | West Germany:12 (1951) | Germany:6 (re-rating: 1997) | USA:G (1972) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | South Korea:All | 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:

At the beginning of the film, a town official and a woman dedicating the statue can be heard uttering nondescript words by way of a kazoo. These sounds are the very first "words" Chaplin ever spoke on film, as it is his voice you are hearing through the reed instrument.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

The Tramp: Be careful how you're driving.
Eccentric Millionaire: Am I driving?

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: 10th Anniversary Edition (2007) (TV)

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.