City Lights (1931)

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Tell Me What You Feel

City Lights (1931)

8/10

Starring

Charlie Chaplin

Virginia Cherrill

Florence Lee

Harry Myers

Directed by Charlie Chaplin

After being opportune to see many of the old Charlie Chaplin classics, this movie City Lights stands out as the best I have seen him in. Charlie’s films will always stand out in the history of film making as he brought something new to the silver screen. City Lights is an exceptional silent film that showed the simplicity of romance and the length of ideology any one will go to keep it, from living a lie, to going to jail all in the name of love.

The final scene in the movie has been sighted by many to be one of the greatest scenes in cinema history. I to accept that claim, the tramp’s melancholy look as all the walls of lies fall apart will touch you in ways that will make you smile; the acting that followed it was masterfully done.

Next to that scene my second favorite scene is the boxing fight, if you have not seen this movie before get ready for the laugh of your life, the screenplay is masterful, the acting is wonderful and the sound effects just enough. Such scenes make you wonder what Charlie movies would have been if he had all the gadgets and money that studios are pumping into movies this days.

Like other Chaplin movies, this is a slapstick comedy done in 1931. He wrote produced and directed the movie. By the time of its release talkies were already in vogue (sound) but Chaplin took a shot in the dark making this movie a silent movie, he did fear though that the reception will not be good, but this movie did well in the box office and also was well received.

The story plot as others is about the tramp (Charlie Chaplin) this time tramp meets and falls in love with a beautiful girl who happens to be blind.

While the tramp was taking his leisure stroll he runs into a wealthy man, whom he befriended but the relationship was on and off, as the man will at times recognize Charlie and later forget that they know each other. The tramp on the other hand used his connection with the wealthy man to help his love as she was going through financial trouble.

Holding the eleventh place in the AFI greatest film of all time, City Lights is one classic romantic comedy that will leave Charlie’s name in the lips of many film goers for a long time. No matter what your take is concerning silent movies, make sure this one does not pass you by.