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City Lights (1931)

8.6
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Ratings: 8.6/10 from 87,038 users  
Reviews: 200 user | 132 critic

With the aid of a wealthy erratic tippler, a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl accumulates money to be able to help her medically.

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Title: City Lights (1931)

City Lights (1931) on IMDb 8.6/10

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
Virginia Cherrill ...
Florence Lee ...
Harry Myers ...
An Eccentric Millionaire
Al Ernest Garcia ...
The Millionaire's Butler (as Allan Garcia)
Hank Mann ...
A Prizefighter
...
A Tramp (as Charlie Chaplin)
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Storyline

A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind girl. Her family is in financial trouble. The tramp's on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor. Written by John J. Magee <magee@helix.mgh.harvard.edu>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

7 March 1931 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Luces de la ciudad  »

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| (musical score)

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky cited this as his favorite film. Woody Allen also calls it "Chaplin's best picture". See more »

Goofs

When the tramp buys all of the flower girl's flowers, she wears black stockings, but when he brings her home immediately afterward, she wears tan stockings. See more »

Quotes

The Tramp: Tomorrow the birds will sing.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Le fantôme d'Henri Langlois (2004) See more »

Soundtracks

Orientale
(1931) (uncredited)
Music by Charles Chaplin
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

Amusing comedy sets up SPECTACULAR ending
6 December 2004 | by (Whitehorse, Yukon) – See all my reviews

This is my favorite Chaplin film, but I don't want that to diminish his other work, either. MODERN TIMES was an outstanding work of social satire, THE GOLD RUSH was great slapstick, and even the largely-neglected MONSIEUR VERDOUX strikes a certain unforgettable tone. Chaplin didn't make a bad movie, and I'm not even sure that CL is his best, exactly. But it IS my favorite, if only for the ending.

That ending has been the subject of much comment here. I think it's a masterpiece in a single scene. Chaplin's little tramp has never seemed less like a character and more like a living, breathing human being. It's a monument to understated sentimentality.

To me, the rest of the film exists largely to set the context for that one magnificent piece of celluloid. Yes, the boxing scene is great, and the scene where he rescues the millionaire is also wonderful, but it's that ending that makes us all love this movie.


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