City Lights (Original title)A Comedy Romance in Pantomime (Help search title)City Lights (Help search title)
Date: 1931 (Copyright)Country: USADirector: Charles Chaplin
Production company billing: ©1931. Charles Chaplin
Synopsis: Comedy. Story of a tramp, who meets a drunken millionaire; and falls in love with a blind flower girl.
Genre: Comedy
Subject: Blind people
Releases
Date: 1931Country: USARelease type: unknownFormat: 35mm Film - Black and White - SilentRuntime: 87 mins Length: 7784 Feet
Title: The top 10: Romantic gesturesAuthor: RICHARDS, Olly Article type: ArticleLanguage: English
Description: Listing and brief critique of the top ten romantic gestures in film.
In: Screen v46 n2 Summer 2005 Pages: 175-193
Title: Figural vision: Freud, Lyotard and early cinematic comedyAuthor: TRAHAIR, Lisa Article type: ArticleLanguage: English
Description: Establishes philosopher Jean-François Lyotard's theory of discourse & figurality and his reading of Freud's work on the unconscious (dream and joke), and how both concepts were to be visually transposed in the silent comedy of the 1920s
In: CinémAction n114 2005 Pages: 44-47
Title: Cinquante couples insolitesAuthor: CAMY, Gérard Article type: ArticleLanguage: French
Description: Analysis of unconventional relationships in films produced between the 1920s and 1980s around the world, including Chaplin's CITY LIGHTS.
In: Empire n172 October 2003 Page: 152
Title: RwdAuthor: [CW] Article type: DVD ReviewLanguage: English
In: Soundtrack! The Collector's Quarterly v15 n58 June 1996 Pages: 32-34
Title: Carl Davis' City LightsAuthor: HIRSCH, David Article type: InterviewLanguage: English
Description: Interview with scorewriter Carl Davis about working with silent films, with a review of a screening of CITY LIGHTS featuring a live soundtrack by Davis.
In: The Silent Film Newsletter v2 n10 December 1994 Pages: 170-171
Title: City LightsAuthor: PARKER, Mike Article type: SynopsisLanguage: English
In: Sight and Sound v2 n7 November 1992 Page: 61
Title: [Sight and Sound - v2 n7 November 1992: no known title]Article type: NoteLanguage: English
Description: Video note
In: Variety 2 Aug 1989 Page: 68
Title: [Variety - 2 Aug 1989: no known title]Article type: ReviewLanguage: English
In: Films and Filming n345 June 1983 Pages: 24-25
Title: [Films and Filming - n345 June 1983: no known title]Language: English
Description: Note that the unknown extra who appears in seven minutes of film which Chaplin rejected from the film, and which were included in the recent TV series by Kevin Brownlow, UNKNOWN APLIN, wasCharles Lederer.
In: Mise-en-Scène n2 Spring 1980 Pages: Spring 11-13
Title: [Mise-en-Scène - n2 Spring 1980: no known title]Language: English
In: Quarterly Review of Film Studies v1 n2 May 1976 Pages: 141-151
Title: [Quarterly Review of Film Studies - v1 n2 May 1976: no known title]Language: English
Description: Analysis of ending.
In: Cahiers du Cinéma v1 n5 September 1951 Page: 58
Title: [Cahiers du Cinéma - v1 n5 September 1951: no known title]Language: French
In: Today's Cinema v75 n6110 25 Oct 1950
Title: [Today's Cinema - v75 n6110 25 Oct 1950: no known title]Language: English
In: Monthly Film Bulletin v17 n203 December 1950 Page: 183
Title: [Monthly Film Bulletin - v17 n203 December 1950: no known title]Language: English
In: Cinema Quarterly v3 n2 Winter 1935 Page: winter 88
Title: [Cinema Quarterly - v3 n2 Winter 1935: no known title]Language: English
In: The Picturegoer v21 n124 April 1931 Page: 20
Title: [The Picturegoer - v21 n124 April 1931: no known title]Language: English
In: Picture-Play Magazine v34 n3 May 1931 Page: 69
Title: [Picture-Play Magazine - v34 n3 May 1931: no known title]Language: English
In: Photoplay v39 n4 March 1931 Page: 54
Title: [Photoplay - v39 n4 March 1931: no known title]Language: English
In: The Picturegoer v1 n23 31 Oct 1931 Page: 22
Title: [The Picturegoer - v1 n23 31 Oct 1931: no known title]Language: English
In:
Title: [ - : no known title]
In:
Title: [ - : no known title]
In: Page: 359
Title: [ - : no known title]
In: Page: 93
Title: [ - : no known title]
Description: in library.
Author: MERCK, Mandy Pages: ix, 268 pages
Title: City Lights
Author: MALAND, Charles Pages: 128 p.
Title: "I" of the camera: essays in film criticism, history, and aesthetics
Author: ROTHMAN, William Pages: xxxii, 389 p.
Title: face on the screen: death, recognition and spectatorship
Author: DAVIS, Therese Pages: v, 122 p.
Title: Hollywood comedians: the film reader
Author: KRUTNIK, Frank Pages: viii, 210 p.
Title: Chaplin in the sound era: an analysis of the seven talkies
Author: FLOM, Eric L. Pages: xiv, 322p
Title: Les Lumieres de la ville
Author: CHION, Michel Pages: 111p.
Description: Text in French.
Title: Charles Chaplin's "City Lights": its production and dialectical structure
Author: MOLYNEAUX, Gerard Pages: 383p.
Title: Charlie Chaplin
Author: HUFF, Theodore Pages: (x), 354p.
Description: The CIRCUS pp. 208-217 CITY LIGHTS pp. 218-234 The GOLD RUSH pp. 187-198 The GREAT DICTATOR pp. 262-279 The KID pp. 124-134 MODERN TIMES pp. 252-261 MONSIEUR VERDOUX pp. 293-307 A WOMAN OF PARIS pp. 168-186
Title: Celluloid; the film to-day
Author: ROTHA, Paul Pages: 259p.
Description: Also in The History of the Cinema 1895-1940 microfiche. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT pp. 120-134 CIMARRON pp. 154-168 DREIGROSCHENOPER pp. 105-119 Le MILLION pp. 181-195 TRADER HORN pp. 196-211 ZEMLYA pp. 135-153 Fritz LANG pp. 227-238 Emile ZOLA pp. 215-226
Film, Video or Digital materials held in BFI National Archive(3)
Video materials(1)
Description: VHS cassetteColour standard: PALBFI identifier: C-590801
Status: Status pending - Material requires inspection to determine preservation or access status
Film materials(2)
Description: 16mm Dupe NegativeBFI identifier: C-18566
Status: Status pending - Material requires inspection to determine preservation or access status
Description: 35mm BW PositiveBase: SafetySound: CombinedBFI identifier: C-942706
Status: Status pending - Material requires inspection to determine preservation or access status
Date: 1931 (Copyright)Country: USADirector: Charles Chaplin
Production company billing: ©1931. Charles Chaplin
Synopsis: Comedy. Story of a tramp, who meets a drunken millionaire; and falls in love with a blind flower girl.
Genre: Comedy
Subject: Blind people
Releases
Date: 1931Country: USARelease type: unknownFormat: 35mm Film - Black and White - SilentRuntime: 87 mins Length: 7784 Feet
Credits
(18)
Production Company: Charles Chaplin Corporation, Production Company: United Artists, Producer: Charles Chaplin, [General Manager]: Alfred Reeves, Assistant Director: Harry Crocker, Assistant Director: Henry Bergman, Assistant Director: Albert Austin, Screenplay: Charles Chaplin, Director of Photography: Roland Totheroh, Director of Photography: Gordon Pollock, [Additional Photography]: Mark Marklatt, [Editor]: Charles Chaplin, Settings: Charles D. Hall, Music: Charles Chaplin, Music Director: Alfred Newman, Music Arranger: Arthur Johnston, [General Press Representative]: Carlyle Robinson
Cast
(24)
Virginia Cherrill (blind girl), Florence Lee (blind girl's grandmother), Harry Myers (eccentric millionaire), Allan Garcia (eccentric millionaire's butler), Hank Mann (prizefighter), Charles Chaplin (tramp), Henry Bergman ([janitor/official]), Albert Austin ([streetcleaner/burglar]), Joe Van Meter ([burglar]), Stanhope Wheatcroft ([distinguished man in café]), John Rand ([old tramp]), James Donnelly ([foreman]), Eddie Baker ([referee]), Robert Parrish ([newsboy]), Jean Harlow ([extra in nightclub scene]), Austen Jewell ([newsboy]), Tiny Ward ([man on lift]), Leila Mcintyre ([flower shop assistant]), Harry Ayers ([cop]), Florence Wicks ([woman who sits on cigar]), Tom Dempsey, Victor Alexander, Eddie Mcauliffe, Willie Keeler ([boxer])
Articles held in BFI Reuben Library
(23)
In: Empire n245 November 2009 Pages: 184-185Title: The top 10: Romantic gesturesAuthor: RICHARDS, Olly Article type: ArticleLanguage: English
Description: Listing and brief critique of the top ten romantic gestures in film.
In: Screen v46 n2 Summer 2005 Pages: 175-193
Title: Figural vision: Freud, Lyotard and early cinematic comedyAuthor: TRAHAIR, Lisa Article type: ArticleLanguage: English
Description: Establishes philosopher Jean-François Lyotard's theory of discourse & figurality and his reading of Freud's work on the unconscious (dream and joke), and how both concepts were to be visually transposed in the silent comedy of the 1920s
In: CinémAction n114 2005 Pages: 44-47
Title: Cinquante couples insolitesAuthor: CAMY, Gérard Article type: ArticleLanguage: French
Description: Analysis of unconventional relationships in films produced between the 1920s and 1980s around the world, including Chaplin's CITY LIGHTS.
In: Empire n172 October 2003 Page: 152
Title: RwdAuthor: [CW] Article type: DVD ReviewLanguage: English
In: Soundtrack! The Collector's Quarterly v15 n58 June 1996 Pages: 32-34
Title: Carl Davis' City LightsAuthor: HIRSCH, David Article type: InterviewLanguage: English
Description: Interview with scorewriter Carl Davis about working with silent films, with a review of a screening of CITY LIGHTS featuring a live soundtrack by Davis.
In: The Silent Film Newsletter v2 n10 December 1994 Pages: 170-171
Title: City LightsAuthor: PARKER, Mike Article type: SynopsisLanguage: English
In: Sight and Sound v2 n7 November 1992 Page: 61
Title: [Sight and Sound - v2 n7 November 1992: no known title]Article type: NoteLanguage: English
Description: Video note
In: Variety 2 Aug 1989 Page: 68
Title: [Variety - 2 Aug 1989: no known title]Article type: ReviewLanguage: English
In: Films and Filming n345 June 1983 Pages: 24-25
Title: [Films and Filming - n345 June 1983: no known title]Language: English
Description: Note that the unknown extra who appears in seven minutes of film which Chaplin rejected from the film, and which were included in the recent TV series by Kevin Brownlow, UNKNOWN APLIN, wasCharles Lederer.
In: Mise-en-Scène n2 Spring 1980 Pages: Spring 11-13
Title: [Mise-en-Scène - n2 Spring 1980: no known title]Language: English
In: Quarterly Review of Film Studies v1 n2 May 1976 Pages: 141-151
Title: [Quarterly Review of Film Studies - v1 n2 May 1976: no known title]Language: English
Description: Analysis of ending.
In: Cahiers du Cinéma v1 n5 September 1951 Page: 58
Title: [Cahiers du Cinéma - v1 n5 September 1951: no known title]Language: French
In: Today's Cinema v75 n6110 25 Oct 1950
Title: [Today's Cinema - v75 n6110 25 Oct 1950: no known title]Language: English
In: Monthly Film Bulletin v17 n203 December 1950 Page: 183
Title: [Monthly Film Bulletin - v17 n203 December 1950: no known title]Language: English
In: Cinema Quarterly v3 n2 Winter 1935 Page: winter 88
Title: [Cinema Quarterly - v3 n2 Winter 1935: no known title]Language: English
In: The Picturegoer v21 n124 April 1931 Page: 20
Title: [The Picturegoer - v21 n124 April 1931: no known title]Language: English
In: Picture-Play Magazine v34 n3 May 1931 Page: 69
Title: [Picture-Play Magazine - v34 n3 May 1931: no known title]Language: English
In: Photoplay v39 n4 March 1931 Page: 54
Title: [Photoplay - v39 n4 March 1931: no known title]Language: English
In: The Picturegoer v1 n23 31 Oct 1931 Page: 22
Title: [The Picturegoer - v1 n23 31 Oct 1931: no known title]Language: English
In:
Title: [ - : no known title]
In:
Title: [ - : no known title]
In: Page: 359
Title: [ - : no known title]
In: Page: 93
Title: [ - : no known title]
Description: in library.
Books held in BFI Reuben Library
(10)
Title: Cinema's melodramatic celebrity: film, fame, and personal worthAuthor: MERCK, Mandy Pages: ix, 268 pages
Title: City Lights
Author: MALAND, Charles Pages: 128 p.
Title: "I" of the camera: essays in film criticism, history, and aesthetics
Author: ROTHMAN, William Pages: xxxii, 389 p.
Title: face on the screen: death, recognition and spectatorship
Author: DAVIS, Therese Pages: v, 122 p.
Title: Hollywood comedians: the film reader
Author: KRUTNIK, Frank Pages: viii, 210 p.
Title: Chaplin in the sound era: an analysis of the seven talkies
Author: FLOM, Eric L. Pages: xiv, 322p
Title: Les Lumieres de la ville
Author: CHION, Michel Pages: 111p.
Description: Text in French.
Title: Charles Chaplin's "City Lights": its production and dialectical structure
Author: MOLYNEAUX, Gerard Pages: 383p.
Title: Charlie Chaplin
Author: HUFF, Theodore Pages: (x), 354p.
Description: The CIRCUS pp. 208-217 CITY LIGHTS pp. 218-234 The GOLD RUSH pp. 187-198 The GREAT DICTATOR pp. 262-279 The KID pp. 124-134 MODERN TIMES pp. 252-261 MONSIEUR VERDOUX pp. 293-307 A WOMAN OF PARIS pp. 168-186
Title: Celluloid; the film to-day
Author: ROTHA, Paul Pages: 259p.
Description: Also in The History of the Cinema 1895-1940 microfiche. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT pp. 120-134 CIMARRON pp. 154-168 DREIGROSCHENOPER pp. 105-119 Le MILLION pp. 181-195 TRADER HORN pp. 196-211 ZEMLYA pp. 135-153 Fritz LANG pp. 227-238 Emile ZOLA pp. 215-226
Film, Video or Digital materials held in BFI National Archive(3)
Video materials(1)
Description: VHS cassetteColour standard: PALBFI identifier: C-590801
Status: Status pending - Material requires inspection to determine preservation or access status
Film materials(2)
Description: 16mm Dupe NegativeBFI identifier: C-18566
Status: Status pending - Material requires inspection to determine preservation or access status
Description: 35mm BW PositiveBase: SafetySound: CombinedBFI identifier: C-942706
Status: Status pending - Material requires inspection to determine preservation or access status