Why you should make ‘City Lights’ your entry into silent films

Comedian, writer, and director Charlie Chaplin became of one cinema’s earliest stars thanks to movies like 1931’s “City Lights” with co-star Virginia Cherrill. (MovieStillsDB.com)

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“City Lights”
Released Jan. 30, 1931
Directed by Charlie Chaplin
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When we talk about classic movies, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds because everybody’s always trying to find a new angle. Sometimes a recommendation is the simplest: It’s the best way we can look back into the past and see ourselves. Which brings us to Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights.”  

Chaplin was arguably the most famous and powerful Hollywood star in the silent film era. He starred in a number of films as the Tramp, a kind-hearted poor man constantly hassled by the antagonists he encounters. The Tramp character was a massive hit with audiences during the birth of the entire industry, and it gave Chaplin leverage to secure more industry power for creative freedom, including writing and directing his own films.

Chaplin’s Tramp character remains visually iconic, seen and known by younger generations who may be hard pressed to actually name the actor. But without seeing his films, we miss the context of what made the Tramp so beloved by audiences. The character strived to his dignity in the face of great adversity. Audiences would watch as the people on screen would turn against the Tramp, but Chaplin’s character maintained his poise, stood up straight, and tipped his bowler hat to the closest person in his face. Although silent with verbiage, we imagine the empathetic closing he was leaving these people with, such as “good day” or “pardon.” Since these are comedies, the joke would become exactly how much the Tramp would have to endure before he could escape the situation, or lose his cool.

Chaplin brought his Tramp character to “City Lights” as he navigates between the perceptions and class behavior of society. Early on, Chaplin encounters two people - a young blind woman (Virginia Cherrill) selling flowers on the street, and a gregarious rich drunk (Harry Myers) who doesn’t acknowledge the Tramp when he’s sober. The Tramp is immediately fond of the woman, and grows to fall in love with her, but she unintentionally believes he is a man of means. When he’s not trying to find ways to care for the woman, the Tramp is drawn into the world of the millionaire (in the silent era, character names were an indulgence), who drunkenly invites him everywhere, including into his home. By the next morning, the millionaire claims not to remember the Tramp, nor any of the promises and conversations they had together. 

The Tramp continues to endure these humiliations, and even steps in to save the millionaire’s life on multiple occasions, but his decency is not enough to earn the trust of the affluent class. One more good-hearted deed by the Tramp boxes him into a situation where the millionaire accuses him of robbery, just as Chaplin’s character earns the money to pay for a surgery to restore the woman’s sight. The lowest of society rarely receive the benefit of the doubt.

Developed, filmed, and released as the United States entered the Great Depression, “City Lights” spoke to the dreams and fears of many people as their world collapsed. Chaplin’s Tramp character was ahead of the game with more than a decade’s worth of appearances by the time “City Lights” premiered, but in that moment of history, the Tramp was never more relatable and enduring. He was a kind-hearted vagrant unable to find a steady life or paycheck. Only the afflicted and the outcasts of the world acknowledge his humanity. Even still, no amount of abuse can overcome his spirit.

Nearly a century later, the world is enduring another moment of crisis, plagued by inequality, a destabilizing pandemic, and a rise in authoritative and hateful actions. The technology has improved, but the world of today doesn’t feel very different from the one depicted in “City Lights.” And yet, I find comfort in this notion. The culture of the past reminds us that the challenges we face are not as new as we thought. And that they can be overcome.

The production of “City Lights” was the longest of Chaplin’s career. The characters and story were influenced by Chaplin’s hard upbringing, which included poverty, a sick mother, and an absent father. With several story re-writes and Chaplin’s perfectionist behavior, the shoot lasted more than two years. The scene in which the Tramp meets the blind woman took weeks to film, increasing the tension between Chaplin and Cherill. Decades later, she would famously remark, “Charlie never liked me and I never liked Charlie.”

And yet, all that effort did achieve a work that is as close to perfect as a film can get. The trials and challenges faced by the Tramp and the woman build to the climax. In the movie’s famous final scene, the Tramp encounters the woman on the street months later, but thanks to the financial support he gave her, she can now see and has opened a flower store. She sees the Tramp out on the street being picked on for his ragged appearance, and laughs. He turns and sees her through the window, instantly taken again but now realizing she now has sight. Though the film is silent, the two people are able to communicate a range of emotions just by staring at one another. She slowly comes to realize this poor man is her savior, as he looks back on her with giddy joy. 

“Yes, now I can see,” she says in the final title card.

“I’ve had that (moment) once or twice,” Chaplin said “City Lights.” “Just the last scene I’m not acting. It’s a beautiful scene, because it isn’t over-acted.”

At the time of the film’s release, “talkies” were taking over Hollywood, but Chaplin remained one of the last holdouts of the silent era. While the dialogue remained muted, Chaplin used the advancing technologies for further artistic innovations and technique, such as the whistle noise the Tramp makes after he accidentally swallows the instrument, or later on in 1936’s “Modern Times.” Chaplin’s appeal was not in dialogue and quips, but rather his ability to generate empathy through expression and movement. 

Film critic Roger Ebert declared “City Lights” one of the Great Movies in 1997, noting that Chaplin’s famous Tramp character uses body language as speech, and serves as the litmus test of society by his existence.

“‘City Lights’ would come the closest to representing all the different notes of his genius,” Ebert wrote. “It contains the slapstick, the pathos, the pantomime, the effortless physical coordination, the melodrama, the bawdiness, the grace, and of course, the little Tramp.”

Chaplin’s gift was being able to deliver entertainment to the masses, but also encouraged them to see the humanity within all of us. Whatever the underprivileged of “City Lights” lack in money make up with dignity and grace, giving us hope through the ages that a brighter day will shine on us too.

Next Week: “Taxi Driver”