Screening for Tuesday 9 June: City Lights

City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime

Director: Charles Chaplin
Country of origin: USA
Year of release: 1931
Run time: 87 minutes

He is one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived, and with his Little Tramp—he of the black bowler, toothbrush mustache and waddling gait—he created arguably the most iconic figure in the history of world cinema.

Charlie Chaplin’s films are timeless works of art that exemplify all that is beautiful and good about the medium of film. And City Lights is considered by many to be the greatest of all Chaplin's films. Released in 1931, City Lights is the story of Chaplin’s Little Tramp’s love for a poor, blind flower-seller. Heroically determined to get the money for the operation that will restore the girl’s sight, he takes on a series of odd jobs, before he is wrongfully accused of theft and sent to prison. The film’s conclusion, where the Little Tramp is reunited with the flower-seller, is one of the most celebrated endings in all of cinema.

A wonderfully seamless blend of comedy, drama, pathos and pantomime, City Lights is a testament to the unique genius of Charlie Chaplin, who, in addition to being its director and star, also wrote, edited, produced and scored the film.