1932 romantic comedyRating: 20/20 (Jen: 16/20; Emma: 2/20; Abbey: 1/20)
Plot: After interrupting the unveiling of the city's new statue, a little tramp has a pretty good day. He meets a beautiful but blind girl selling flowers. It's love at first sight. He also befriends a drunken millionaire after saving his life and gets to spend the night on the town with him. He has a series of misadventures while trying to use his new friendship to help out the flower girl.
Any discussion of this movie really should start with the ending, a perfect one that gets me every time. There are lots of humorous moments (unless you're a girl in the third or sixth grade apparently) but there's nothing outrageous here. No scaling the side of a building or running from police or being attacked by monkeys while on a tightrope here. The humor is quiet and graceful. The opening scene is also great (and you get to hear Chaplin's voice for the first time; sort of), and it's followed by a lot of funny episodes, highlighted by the boxing scene and a trip to a restaurant with the millionaire. There's magic in every scene with the tramp and the blind girl. It's the little things that develop their relationship and set up one of the best endings in movie history. Chaplin stubbornly refused to make this his first talkie, and I'm so glad he did. Words would have ruined this one. City Lights is Chaplin's masterpiece and one of my favorite movies.
2 comments:
It is a beautifully touching and funny film with a perfect ending. This and "The Gold Rush" are my two favorite Chaplin movies. I am very amused by Emma and Abbey's grades. Did they watch it all, and what were their complaints?
They were both bored. Abbey kept calling Chaplin "Buster Keatman" and Emma wasn't paying much attention. She was watching Sophie more than Charlie Chaplin, and when she did watch, she just kept saying, "I like Buster Keaton better."
I love 'The Gold Rush' but 'Modern Times' is also great.
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