Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

City Lights Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 31, 2015

Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" (1931) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Park Circus. The supplemental features on the disc include an introduction by Chaplin biographer David Robinson; deleted scene; documentary featuring filmmaker Peter Lord; raw footage from Winston Churchill's visit to the set of "City Lights"; and more. Region-B "locked".

The girl

Charlie Chaplin completed City Lights in 1931, four years after the first "talkie" had premiered. He gambled with it, but the film became an instant success, and to this day many consider it one of his greatest creations.

As it is the case with practically all of Chaplin’s films, in City Lights comedy and drama are closely intertwined. In it the Tramp makes two friends - one is an eccentric millionaire (Harry Myers) with a serious drinking problem who has decided to end his life, the other a poor blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) selling flowers to make ends meet. The Tramp profoundly changes their lives but they react to his goodness in two radically different ways.

The Tramp’s relationship with the flower girl is pure and beautiful, never overly sentimental. Every single scene where the two are seen together is incredibly moving, filled with grace. At any given moment one knows exactly how they feel about each other.

The Tramp’s relationship with the millionaire, though, is drastically different - it is grotesque and unfair, often times quite misleading. After the Tramp saves the millionaire’s life the two become friends, but their friendship ends each time the millionaire gets sober - and then resumes as soon as he hits the booze again.

The point Chaplin makes with these contrasting relationships is that because of their blindness the girl and the millionaire can see the Tramp as the person he is - a good man always willing to help others, not a social outsider doomed to failure. Naturally, these relationships are quite illuminating about the nature of the society the Tramp belongs to.

It took Chaplin more than two years to complete City Lights. He spent weeks working on a single scene, demanding perfection from himself and all around him. Somewhat surprisingly, before the film’s premiere Chaplin was extremely nervous, but the response from critics and audiences was overwhelmingly positive.

Chaplin selected Cherrill, a young and inexperienced Chicagoan, to play the flower girl after they reportedly met during a boxing match in Los Angeles. However, when shooting of City Lights began he was not impressed by Cherrill’s ability to portray a blind person, and at one point fired her, hoping to reshoot all of her scenes with Georgia Hale (The Gold Rush). Eventually, Chaplin rehired Cherrill, and shooting of City Lights resumed, but he never quite warmed up to her.

Despite the well documented tension between Chaplin and Cherrill, however, it is hard to imagine that the final scene in City Lights, where the Tramp meets the flower girl again and she realizes that he is indeed her benefactor, could have turned out any better. It is a beautiful, magical scene, one of the greatest ever filmed.

Notes:

Chaplin wrote, directed and produced City Lights. He also composed the music score for the film.

City Lights is subtitled as “A Comedy Romance in Pantomime”.

City Lights has been named the best romantic comedy of all time by the American Film Institute (AFI).

City Lights Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Charlie Chaplin's City Lights arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Curzon Artificial Eye.

The release has been sourced from the same MK2 master that was available in 2010, which Park Circus accessed. This release presents the film in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 while Criterion's release presents the film in the more accurate 1.19:1 ratio (the Park Circus release also had the film framed in 1.33:1). Clarity is mostly pleasing, but depth can fluctuate quite a lot. The bulk of the fluctuations are inherited, but there are also obvious traces of mild noise corrections. As a result, different parts of the film could look somewhat soft. On the other hand, even on the Criterion release, which is sourced from a recent 4K restoration, the softness remains rather prominent. Still, light grain is noticeable throughout the entire film, but it isn't as well distributed as it should be. Given the nature of the surviving elements, image stability is good, but some tiny flecks and scratches remain. All in all, while far from perfect, this is likely the best presentation Charlie Chaplin's City Lights will see in the United Kingdom. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

City Lights Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. The film contains English intertitles.

The music is stable and rather well rounded. Obviously, the range of nuanced dynamic is quite limited, but this should not be surprising. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions. Also, there is no distracting background hiss, but there is room for some touch-up work.

City Lights Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Chaplin Today: City Lights - an informative documentary focusing on Charlie Chaplin's career and legacy featuring filmmaker Peter Lord (Chicken Run). The documentary was produced by produced by MK2TV,. In English, not subtitles. (27 min).

• The Shoot - an extended scene in which the Tramp takes the blind girl for a ride. Music only. (3 min).

• Deleted Scene - a fantastic scene in which the Tramp struggles with a small wooden stick. No audio. (8 min.)

• Introduction by David Robinson - a short introduction to City Lights by the Chaplin biographer in which he quickly notes a few interesting facts from the film's fascinating history. In English, not subtitled. (6 min).

• The Dream Prince - presented here is a costume test in which Charlie Chaplin appears as a prince/duke, as imagined by the blind girl in City Lights. Without sound. (2 min).

• Winston Churchill Visits - without sound. (2 min).

• Trailers - original trailers for City Lights. Music. (9 min).

• Extracts from the Films in The Charlie Chaplin Collection - (11 min).

City Lights Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Charlie Chaplin's City Lights is the greatest of all silent comedies and one of my favorite films. I watch it at least once a year. This new Blu-ray release of City Lights is sourced from the same MK2 master which Park Circus accessed in 2010. In the United States Criterion also released the film on Blu-ray, but their release is sourced from a recent 4K restoration and has the film framed more accurately. In addition to the standard release, City Lights will be available as part of Curzon Artificial Eye's upcoming The Charlie Chaplin Collection box set.