City Lights (1931)

Regisseur:

Charles Chaplin

Drehbuchautor:

Charles Chaplin (writer)

Premierendatum:

6. Februar 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Komödie | Drama | Romanze

Plot:

The Tramp struggles to help a blind flower girl he has fallen in love with.

Plot Keywords:

Happy Ending | Fight | Rolls Royce | Male Female Relationship | Person On Fire

Filmpreise:

1 win

Nutzerkommentare:

One Of Chaplin''s Best & Most Endearing Films

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Aug. 2

4:15 PM

TCM

Besetzung

Virginia Cherrill	...	A Blind Girl
Florence Lee	...	The Blind Girl's Grandmother
Harry Myers	...	An Eccentric Millionaire
Al Ernest Garcia	...	The Eccentric Millionaire's Butler (as Allan Garcia)
Hank Mann	...	A Prizefighter
Charles Chaplin	...	A Tramp (as Charlie Chaplin)

Alternativ:

City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime (USA) (copyright title)
Lichter der Großstadt (Österreich) (Deutschland) [de]
Lichter der Großstadt - Eine Komödien-Romance als Pantomime (Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

87 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss

Seitenverhältnis:

1.20 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Silent | Mono (musical score)

Altersfreigabe:

South Korea:All | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | France:U | Spain:T | West Germany:12 (1951) | Germany:6 (re-rating: 1997) | USA:G (1972) | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Denmark:A (2003) | Norway:7 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Drehorte:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Firma:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Dies und das:

In terms of years, this film was Charles Chaplin's longest undertaking. It was in production from 31 December 1927 - 22 January 1931, over three years. It shot for only 180 days, though.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: When the Tramp takes the girl home, the birdcage outside the window is gone, but later reappears.

Dialogzitate:

The Tramp: Can you see now?
A Blind Girl: Yes, I can see now.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in Fantôme d'Henri Langlois, Le (2004)

One Of Chaplin''s Best & Most Endearing Films

I always thought this was one of Charlie Chaplin's nicest, most under-appreciated silent movie gems. Then I discovered it really wasn't underrated; it's rated very high on most critics' lists. It may be that I usually hear about some of his other movies than I do this one.

Part of the reason I think so highly of this is simply that I'm a sentimentalist and story in this film is a very touching one. It's a romance between Charlie's tramp character (no name) and a blind girl, who also had no name in this film. Virginia Cherill, who played the blind woman and had a wholesome, pretty face which I found very attractive.

I'm not always a huge fan of pantomime except for some great comedians of the era like Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, but Chaplin was so good at it and this is one of the last of dying breed as "talkies" were out in full force by 1931. Chaplin was at his best in silent movies, anyway, and his comedy routines are legendary. He gave me a lot of laughs in this film, as always, and I particularly laughed (I love slapstick) at the boxing scene. Kudos, too, to Harry Myers as the "eccentric millionaire."

There's a lot of drama as well as humor in this 86-minute gem as the Tramp tries to aid a blind girl, raising money so she can get an operation to restore her sight.

Comedy, romance, drama (with suffering) all combine to make this an extraordinary piece of entertainment. It's hard to believe this movie was not up for one, single Academy Award.