City Lights (1931)

 City Lights (1931)


This is how you do a comedy that is timeless and heartfelt. Then again, Charlie Chaplin was a legend when it came to making these types of films. The Little Tramp is such an iconic character, even to this day, nearly a century after the Tramp was born in the mind of Chaplin. Chaplin knew how to work with the silent film format to deliver a moving, yet hilarious film. I never knew a silent film would be capable of having me bowled over in laughter. Yet, here we are. There is a reason why critics lauded City Lights as Chaplin’s best film. I still think Modern Times is slightly better, but this 1931 feature is right up there. Some of the scenes are just so funny. My favorite sequence, which I am sure others can agree, is the boxing sequence. The Tramp uses a weird choreography to befuddle his opponent and the referee…while having the audience laugh their minds out. I also adored that spaghetti sequence. Finally, when compared to earlier films, Chaplin uses romance more effectively. Throughout the picture, it was easy to fall for a possible romance between the Tramp and the Blind Woman. The ending is heartfelt, moving, and one that is bound to put a smile on your face…even for the most cynical. 


This is Chaplin’s first film since the advent of sound in motion pictures. Chaplin is the only person who could have pulled this off because the Tramp is an iconic character which would only be ruined by sound. Unlike other films from the early sound era, Chaplin did not have to worry about complicated sets. The director never truly believed in the talkies, but he had earned enough goodwill in Hollywood to continue to make what he wanted to. He took that goodwill to make an impressive romantic comedy. Production was tough for him. He admitted that he became neurotic because of all the stress. He did not have good working relationships with his cast as he even fired his leading lady, Virginia Cherrill. He produced many rolls of film which indicated a lengthy production. In the end, it was all worth it. Chaplin considers this film to be his favorite out of all the ones he made. At one of the premieres, Albert Einstein was in attendance and was reportedly in tears by the end. That is a feat in itself. 


The Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) lives in the big city. The film begins with a sequence with the homeless Tramp being bothersome during a statue unveiling. But he ends up having a large effect on some people’s lives. First, he saves this drunk, wealthy man from killing himself. The man’s attitude towards the Tramp changes depending on whether he is sober or not. He also has a profound effect on this blind woman who sells flowers and lives with her poor grandmother. He tries to find the money to recover her eyesight, but will she still love the Tramp after she realizes he is not a wealthy man like she believes? 


Chaplin made a career playing the Little Tramp. It is easily his best role. The character stands out more here because Chaplin gave him depth. He is a sweet little man who remains hilarious as always…yet is given a romantic side that we truly never seen from him before. I felt for him going after this blind girl…and felt the pain when he realizes there could be a chance they will not end up together. The blind girl is played beautifully by Virginia Cherrill. She was plucked out of obscurity when Chaplin discovered her on a California beach set. She had some issues with Chaplin, but that did not seemingly affect her performance. Her nearsightedness was able to help her play a blind woman convincingly. 


City Lights is a beautiful movie about love. In addition to a romantic side, Chaplin uses comedy just as well as ever. Not everything works, but the scenes that do work are to be forever remembered. The boxing sequence and the ending scene are immortal in terms of influence. Chaplin preferred to use live music in earlier films, so this was the first time he provided a score in any of his films…and it’s a great one too. He minimized the use of subtitle cards because he felt the actor's expressions and movements said enough. With talkies now the main source of films, one would think it would be impossible to replicate the success of earlier films. Well, he ended up having the most financially successful and critically lauded film of his career. While not my personal favorite from him, it ranks near the top. It is a funny and heartfelt comedy…a proper comedy that will never be forgotten. 


My Grade: A-


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Image
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” Ah, wise words from our new young friend, Ferris Bueller. In John Hughes’s 1986 film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , all Ferris wants to do is take a day and have fun. That is the most simplistic theme the movie has. You can go deeper, but the main takeaway is that it is okay to have fun. That is a motto I have taken to heart. I really loved the film. People consider The Breakfast Club to be Hughes’s best and most important movie. That’s a fine statement to make, but I would personally rank the film number two behind this particular one. The teen characters are instantly relatable, it has a memorable antagonist for the children, and this is basically a thirty-year-old travel guide for Chicago. Just how Woody Allen creates his movies as love letters for New York, this is applicable for John Hughes. A Chicago love letter!   Like all of his films, Hughes wrote...
Read more

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Image
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) The James Bond franchise is one of those franchises that will never die. It has been going strong since the first movie rolled out in the early 1960’s, and new James Bond movies are still produced today. What makes this series unique is they use multiple actors to play the titular character over the years. They all bring their own gravitas to the role, and each Bond is a different man when compared to each other (although the martini, shaken not stirred and the beautiful women among other things remain a constant.) So my first James Bond review for this blog is 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. This wasn’t my first look at the series, but it was my first look at the older movies. I really liked what I saw. This is an old-fashioned story that combines a spy drama and an action-packed war movie into one package. Like many of the older Bond movies, the story can get borderline preposterous. The cheesiness of the plot did come to grow on me after awhile, even...
Read more

Table for Five (1983)

Image
Table for Five (1983) I can guarantee that ninety percent of my readers here have not seen this tear-jerking melodrama 1983’s Table for Five , yet alone heard of it. Hopefully after reading my kind words, you will be somewhat intrigued by this movie. When doing my research for the film, I was shocked to see how vastly underrated the movie is. There are only a few reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, hardly any information on Wikipedia or Google-hardly anything out there in this vast Internet landscape. Then, why on earth is this movie so good? Sure, maybe some folks will say the movie is just a predictable Lifetime TV movie, but honestly it is much more than that. There are some elements that makes this film seem destined for the television at times, but to me it is much more than that. I consider the movie to be an honest, emotional portrayal about fatherhood and family. Directed by Robert Lieberman, this film is about a man named J.P Tannen (Jon Voight) who fails at being fathe...
Read more