City Lights
Published May 31, 2026
Film info
- Title City Lights
- Director Charlie Chaplin
- Year 1931
- Run time 1hr 27m
- Genres Comedy, Romance, Drama
- Tagline True blind love
A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl’s benefactor and suitor.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:08 | None of them have actual names. |
| 2:38 | Probably not a great choice for a first silent movie… it sounds a bit more like if Sooty had made a film. |
| 3:49 | The core strength on this guy. |
| 12:37 | “Tomorrow the birds will sing.” |
| 14:45 | Has there ever been a scene on film where someone tried to pull someone else out of a body of water and didn’t fall in themselves? |
| 20:28 | The millionaire guy may be bipolar. |
| 22:41 | I think I’ve seen this cigar scene before, but I don’t know why. |
| 36:15 | So many cigars in the old days! |
| 37:37 | I’m surprised how few text cards there are, and half of them are just telling me what time of day it is. |
| 40:30 | Haha, hiccups. |
| 47:08 | $22 rent! Wow. |
| 56:37 | Still wearing his bowler hat in his boxing gear. |
| 1:06:44 | The choreography is so good. |
| 1:26:04 | Really cute ending. |
Thoughts
I’m determined to improve my knowledge of cinema history - older films, black and white, silent movies, the whole nine yards. It’s hard to know where to start but sometimes you just have to dive right in. This was available on YouTube, and so I gave it a go… and loved it! I’ve never watched an entire Chaplin feature before, and I loved the physicality of it - the first scene on the statue, and of course the boxing sequence, both absolutely brilliant. There’s a love story at the heart of it which is cute. I must admit I didn’t quite get the drunk guy, totally understandable he might forget everything when sober, but then why suddenly remember again when drunk next time? Weird, but barely a problem, I loved this!
Rating: 5 / 5