City Lights

Name: City Lights
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: March 7, 1931
Duration: 87 min
Rating: 99
Cast: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill

1931

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Universal acclaim based on 15 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 151 Ratings

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8.6

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8.6	User Score Universal acclaim based on 151 Ratings

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City Lights

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Movie Details & Credits

United Artists | Release Date: March 7, 1931 | Passed

Starring: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill

Summary: The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) struggles to help a blind flower girl he has fallen in love with.

Director: Charles Chaplin

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Romance

Rating: Passed

Runtime: 87 min

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Critic Reviews

100

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

One of the cinema's greatest and most durable masterpieces. Read full review

100

Michael Phillips

The closing shot of Charlie Chaplin's face in City Lights, his heart breaking: the highest form of screen acting, the most effective tear extraction exercise the medium has yet to offer.

100

Scott Tobias

There’s dignity and folly to The Tramp in City Lights, and everything in between. Read full review

100

Dave Kehr

A beautiful example of Chaplin's ability to turn narrative fragments into emotional wholes. The two halves of the film are sentiment and slapstick. They are not blended but woven into a pattern as eccentric as it is sublime. Read full review

100

Empire David Parkinson

Both funny and touching, this showcases Chaplin at his best. Read full review

100

Roger Ebert

If only one of Charles Chaplin's films could be preserved, “City Lights” (1931) would come the closest to representing all the different notes of his genius. It contains the slapstick, the pathos, the pantomime, the effortless physical coordination, the melodrama, the bawdiness, the grace, and, of course, the Little Tramp--the character said, at one time, to be the most famous image on earth. Read full review

Sid Silverman

It’s not Chaplin’s best picture, because the comedian has sacrificed speed to pathos, and plenty of it. This is principally the reason for the picture running some 1,500 or more feet beyond any previous film released by him. But the British comic is still the consummate pantomimist, unquestionably one of the greatest the stage or screen has ever known. Certain sequences in “City Lights” are hilarious. Read full review

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User Reviews

TMProofreader3

Aug 23, 2019

The best, GREATEST inspiring romcom movie ever made! With the best movie character ever portrayed: Charlie Chaplin as The Tramp! And the best movie score ever composed!