Charles Chaplin’s production of City Lights (1931) was one of his most ambitious and painstaking projects. He wrote, directed, produced, composed the music for, and starred in this silent romantic comedy-drama (with a synchronized score and sound effects), even as “talkies” were taking over Hollywood.
Filming began in late 1928 and dragged on for over two years due to Chaplin’s legendary perfectionism. The movie tells the story of the Little Tramp who falls in love with a blind flower girl (played by Virginia Cherrill) and tries to raise money for her eye operation.
Chaplin was known for shooting scenes dozens or even hundreds of times to get them exactly right. A famous example is the opening flower-selling scene between the Tramp and the blind girl, it reportedly required 342 takes. He obsessed over tiny details of expression, gesture, and timing, even asking Cherrill to speak her lines aloud during filming (though the film is silent) to capture the right emotional nuance.
Production had its tensions. Chaplin clashed with leading lady Virginia Cherrill (he later called her an “amateur,” and she admitted mutual dislike). He fired his assistant Harry Crocker and actor Henry Clive during the shoot. There were interruptions, including construction work near the studio that forced sets to be moved.
City Lights was immediately successful upon release on March 7, 1931, with positive reviews and worldwide rentals of more than $4 million. Today, many critics consider it not only the highest accomplishment of Chaplin’s career, but one of the greatest films of all time. Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance believes “City Lights is not only Charles Chaplin’s masterpiece; it is an act of defiance” as it premiered four years into the era of sound films which began with the premiere of The Jazz Singer (1927).
In 1991, the Library of Congress selected City Lights for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked it 11th on its list of the best American films ever made.
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