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City Lights
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City Lights (1931)

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User Rating: 8.5/10 (17,565 votes)
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IMDb Coverage of Comic-Con 2008

Overview

Director:
Charles Chaplin
Writer:
Charles Chaplin (writer)
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Release Date:
6 February 1931 (USA) more view trailer
Genre:
Comedy | Drama | Romance more
Plot:
The Tramp struggles to help a blind flower girl he has fallen in love with. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win more
NewsDesk:
AFI Picks Top Films By Genre (From Studio Briefing. 18 June 2008, 10:35 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Lady and the Tramp, before animation and at the start of talkies- one of the most wonderful films ever conceived and executed more
US TV Schedule:
Sat. Aug. 24:15 PMTCM   

Cast

 (Complete credited 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)
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime (USA) (copyright title)
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Runtime:
87 min
Country:
USA
Aspect Ratio:
1.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Silent | Mono (musical score)
Certification:
France:U | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | USA:G (1972) | Germany:6 (re-rating: 1997) | South Korea:All | West Germany:12 (1951) | Spain:T | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Denmark:A (2003) | Norway:7 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U
MOVIEmeter: ?
V 17% since last week why?

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #11 Greatest Movie of All Time. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When the man swallows part of the Tramp's soap and starts spraying bubbles, the tube used to spray the bubbles is clearly visible behind him. more
Quotes:
The Tramp: Can you see now?
A Blind Girl: Yes, I can see now.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in Frankie and Johnny Are Married (2003) more

FAQ

A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERS
List: Wacky boxing
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22 out of 25 people found the following comment useful:-
Lady and the Tramp, before animation and at the start of talkies- one of the most wonderful films ever conceived and executed, 12 September 2004
10/10
Author: Filmjack3 from United States

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. It's tough for filmmakers in recent days to bring the audience so close emotionally with the characters, but it's pulled off.

The film centers on three characters- the Tramp, the quintessential, funny homeless man who blends into the crowd, but gets caught in predicaments. He helps a drunken businessman (Myers, a fine performance in his own right) from suicide, and becomes his on and off again friend (that is, when it suits him and doesn't notice his 'friend's' state). 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. The emotional centerpiece comes in obtaining rent and eye surgery money, which leads to a (how else can I put it) magical boxing match where it's basically a 180 from the brutality and viscerality of a match in say Raging Bull.

Though there is no dialog, the film achieves a timelessness- it's essentially a tale of two loners who find each other, lose each other, and find each other again (the last scene, widely discussed by critics for decades, is moving if not tear-inducing). And it's never, ever boring- once you get along with the Tramp, you find the little things about him, the reaction shots, the little things he does after the usual big gag (look to the ballroom scene for examples of this, or when he gets a bottle of wine poured down his pants without the other guy noticing). Truth be told, if this film makes you indifferent, never watch Chaplin again. But if you give yourself to the film, you may find it's one of the most charming from the era, or perhaps any era.

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Message Boards

Discuss this title with other users on IMDb message board for City Lights (1931)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
What is the best joke in the movie? nirvanasaneurysm
Is the ending the best in film history? laffalott1
release dates or rerelease plucas23
I'm getting to see this for the first time at a local theater soon...... Vans338
AFI's #1 Romance Comedy braves_snl
Do girls like the ending? spoiler slverbulet7
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