Movie #43: City Lights

Movie #: 43
Movie Title: City Lights
Year Released: 1931

Director: Charlie Chaplin
Notable Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Florence Lee, Harry Myers

Short Description: 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. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #11
IMDB.com: #41
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: #37
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #34



Date Watched: 9/27/2016

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)

Rationale: City Lights is the fourth Charlie Chaplain movie I've watched for this movie project and, much like Modern Times, I felt it was only average. There never seemed to be a strong laugh out loud moment or scene like in The Gold Rush. Instead, you get a decent love story with an occasional mild chuckle that's ultimately a missed opportunity given that The Tramp is such an iconic and beloved character from the silent movie era. It's possible that I may be looking down a little on City Lights because The Gold Rush set the bar high for expectations, but it's only fair that I should expect more from a film that's generally considered to be Chaplain's greatest.