Charlie Chaplin's City Lights is a marvelous film, filled with cutesy charm and sharp wit. The story follows Chaplin's lovable tramp, who meets a blind flower girl (Cherrill) and falls in love with her. He also meets a drunken millionaire (Myers), who proceeds to forget their nights out together the next morning when he sobers up. That is, for the most part, the extent of the plot. Most of the movie feels very episodic in nature, with vaudevillian set pieces interspersed here and there with little connection or relevance to the story. And yet somehow it all flows together fluidly and expertly.
Yes, it is a silent film. But to me that seems an arbitrary distinction that sheds no light on how good the movie is. It's like describing The Godfather as a 2D movie, or Casablanca as a black and white movie. More importantly, it is a ceaselessly entertaining film that delights and surprises at every twist and turn, even today. Chaplin possesses an impossibly precise sense of comic timing. Every joke is just the right length, straining the scenario to the breaking point without every going past it and delivering on all its promises. It does not have the same social imperative as Modern Times or The Great Dictator, but it has a tenderly human element that just makes your heart melt.
And yet, for some reason, I remembered this movie being funnier. Maybe I am just coalescing all the good parts of all his movies into some imaginary perfect film, but I was expecting even more than what this movie provided. Still, this is an impeccably-made film by a true auteur and one I cannot recommend highly enough.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021749/