City Lights (1931)

[Moorman]

It took me DECADES to get around to watching Silent Films.  I made a big mistake, lol.   I'm hooked on them now.  The acting, cinematography and musical scores of the great silent films produce a beautiful magic.  I started with Fritz Lang's Metropolis and have now found my way to the genius of Charlie Chaplin who has quickly joined my list of favorite directors along with Lang and some others.

City Lights features his character " The Tramp".  The film opens with the local government about to unveil a statue as part of a ceremony.  After numerous speeches the statue is unveiled and The Tramp is asleep in the lap of the statue.  After being chased off and encountering various citizens picking at him, among those a group of newsboys, The Tramp encounters a blind woman selling roses on the street.  The Tramp buys one from her and is instantly smitten by her.  The plot then goes into how he meets a drunk millionaire and prevents the millionaire from committing suicide.  They become friends and The Tramp is able to parlay that friendship into a sort of romance with the blind woman based on both fact and fiction of The Tramp's situation.  Its a BEAUTIFUL story and very moving.  I can't say enough about how good this film is, from the acting, cinematography and musical score.  Its a perfect 10 out of 10...