City Lights (1931) Movie Review

In the period between 1921, starting with The Kid, and 1940, ending with The Great Dictator, the legendary Charles Chaplin created a series of motion pictures, all but one silent, that are considered classics today. Among the finest, if not arguably the finest, was City Lights which came to the silver screen in 1931.

City Lights consists of two plot lines which are somewhat connected at the end. The first concerns the Little Tramp (Chaplin) and his "friendship" with a non-tee totaling millionaire (Harry Myers), who when he is drunk lavishes the Tramp with food, booze, and parties, and allows him to take his car. Unfortunately, when he is sober the millionaire does not recognize him at all. The second, which is actually the major plot, involves the Tramp's love for a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) who mistakenly believes that he is a man of wealth. After reading about a miracle cure for blindness, it becomes the Tramp's goal in life to earn enough money to send her to Europe for the needed operation. Along with these two stories, Chaplin also manages to get in a few jibes at politicians and the idle rich.

As is expected with Chaplin, the movie is filled with many creative and memorable comedy scenes. Among them: (1) The opening scene in which the Little Tramp manages to mess up a ceremony unveiling a new civic statue that eventually ends with him skewered on the statue's sword; (2) His introduction to the millionaire when the drunken Myers attempts to commit suicide by tying a rock around his neck and throwing himself into a river. Chaplin intervenes and almost drowns himself; and (3) The boxing scene where the Little Tramp hopes to secure money for the blind girl by entering the ring with a "boxer" who only wants to put up the pretense of a fight in order to split the prize money. At the last moment the "boxer" is replaced with a bruiser (Hank Mann) who wants all the money and at the same time inflict considerable pain on his opponent. When the Tramp realizes this, the fight becomes a matter of survival and the result is five or six minutes of beautifully choreographed mayhem.

Chaplin is helped in City Lights by a fine, hand-picked cast. It was beautiful twenty-year old Virginia Cherrill's first movie and she is excellent as the flower girl, making her blindness and her underlying sorrow very real. She and Chaplin have great chemistry together -- a monumental task considering that off-screen there was no love lost between them. Also, in many of his movies Chaplin chose and played off actors who were themselves blessed with comedic timing and this movie is no exception. Harry Myers often played "comic" drunks through his long career and Hank Mann was an ex-Keystone Cop who reportedly later taught Jerry Lewis how to do pratfalls.

As in many Chaplin films, there is an underlining pathos in City Lights. The viewer feels for the Little Tramp and the blind girl because underneath their pleasant smiles and warmth, both are concealing deep hurt. They both want to be a normal part of society but can't be -- she because of her blindness and he because of who he is. This comes to a head in the concluding scene where the flower girl, now able to see, slowly realizes that the funny little man in front of her new store is her benefactor. She is now normal, but he is still searching. It is one of the most poignant and beautiful endings in film history.

A mk2 edition of City Lights is available on DVD in a two disk set. Features include an introduction by David Robinson; City Lights documentary by Serge Bromberg and featuring animation specialist Peter Lord; and sundry other items. The movie is also frequently seen on TCM.