City Light's Shine Brightly

It's another Chaplin film this week possums! A film that can be summed up in one word...MASTERPIECE! Trust me when I tell you this is about as close to movie perfection as you're gonna get! The perfect blend of pantomime and pathos. (It is after all a Chaplin film)

A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind girl (Virginia Cherrill). Her family is in financial trouble. The tramp's on-and-off friendship with a wealthy, booze-loving gentleman allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

City Lights was Chaplin's first film made during the sound era: released 1931. He faced extreme pressure to make the film as a talkie, but such was his popularity and power in Hollywood that he was able to complete and release the film as a silent (albeit with recorded music) at a time when the rest of the American motion picture industry had converted to sound.

I find it incredibly funny when I watch this film. As a passionate Chaplin fan i know anything and everything there is to know about his career and life. As i watch the tear-jerking chemistry between the tramp and the blind flower girl i cannot help but inwardly chuckle because I know wat lurking behind the silent faces...Chaplin's relationship with Cherrill was not a friendly one. At one point, Cherrill came back to the set late from an appointment, keeping Chaplin waiting. He fired her on the spot. He intended to reshoot the film. However, Chaplin had already spent far too much time and money on the project to start over. Knowing this, Cherrill offered to come back to work - at double her original salary. Chaplin reluctantly agreed and the film was completed. 

The Boxing Scene is the icing on the cake in this film for me. Like a delicate, masterful ballet it simmers with wit and perfectly timed and executed slapstick. It really is remarkable and side-splittingly funny! And then you look behind the laughs and realise why the tramp is doing this...he's putting his life on the line for the girl he loves. The Tramp...a true romantic! In 2008, this film was voted #1 on AFI's list over the ten best romantic comedies of all time.
And for those who may read this and find my opinion as insignificant...I leave you with this thought...Emma Stone's said City Lights was her favorite film alongside Woody Allen's Manhattan. SHE'S HOT...YOU KNOW WE GONNA LISTEN TO HER!