After the dedication of a local monument chases him from his new resting place, the Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) stumbles upon a beautiful, blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) and makes it his life's work to raise the necessary funds to procure an corrective ocular operation, a mission that will lead him to gigs as a street sweeper and pugilist, and also into an inconsistent friendship with a drunken millionaire (Harry Myers). Still swimming against the tide of talking pictures, and with a few pointed barbs towards the still new format thrown in for good measure, Charlie Chaplin's mostly silent masterpiece may be the taciturn legend's finest expression as writer, director, and star. Poignant and often uproariously funny, City Lights is a joy from top to bottom and contains one of the most touching endings of all time.
