Short Take: City Lights

Charles Chaplin is the sweetest of the great filmmakers, and City Lights is his loveliest film. Chaplin plays his trademark Little Tramp character, who falls in love with a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill), and becomes determined to finance an operation to restore her sight. Along the way he saves the life of a millionaire (Harry Myers), who considers the Tramp his best friend while drunk, but has no recollection of their friendship while sober. The farce of this situation is handled with terrific wit and brilliant physical comedy. But the most hilarious slapstick set piece doesn't feature the millionaire. It's the boxing match in which the Tramp repeatedly evades his opponent by maneuvering himself behind the referee. The comic edge of the film is heightened by Chaplin's inventive use of the soundtrack. The movie is silent only in the sense that there is no recorded dialogue. There are sound effects galore, and Chaplin plays them for delightfully humorous effect. The best aspect of the film is that the love story never gets lost. The screenplay, by Chaplin and an uncredited Harry Carr, deftly weaves it and the overtly comic material together. The final scene, in which the Tramp shifts from trepidation to joy in response to a question from the girl, may be the most beautiful moment in the history of movies. Chaplin composed and oversaw the recording of the film's score. The leitmotif that accompanies the flower girl is taken from the song "La Violeteria," by José Padilla. Roland Totheroh and Gordon Pollock provided the cinematography.