The First Chaplin Movie I've Ever Seen... - City Lights (1931) Discussion

[–] wmorrow59 21 years ago

I envy you! Your "discovery" of Charlie Chaplin means that you have many more happy hours of discovery ahead. Allow me to recommend The Gold Rush (which Chaplin said was the film he hoped to be remembered for), The Circus (something of an underrated gem), and the short films made for Mutual between 1916-1917.

When I was about 10 years old I acquired an 8mm movie projector, and found that my local library had a number of films starring Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel & Hardy, etc. etc., so I know exactly what you mean: "Hey-- this stuff is great!

Enjoy!

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[–] Lentrick_LaMarr 21 years ago

Today in Cinema History, we watched City Lights. It was my first Chaplin Movie too. Let me say this

I have not laughed this much in a long long time.
I absolutely loved every minute of it.
Some other students were getting tired of it, but I was completely absorbed in it.

Charles Chaplin...you are a genious. There, I said it.

Biggs of Sector 7 Slums, Midgar.
Drink Mako, 40%.

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[–] ish831 21 years ago

I love this movie too. I am definitely obsessed with him myself. I recommend that you also watch Modern Times. It is a masterpiece.

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[–] Lizards_Are_Scary 21 years ago

This film started my love affair with the "little tramp" as well!

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[–] fathamsterg 21 years ago

my first was a couple weeks ago which was modern times. since then i have watched city lights and the great dictator.

I definitely like the great dictator the best out of the 3, but city lights is my favorite silent film.

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[–] cheeseygoodness 21 years ago

I just finished watching it 10 minutes ago. I'm 15 and thought it was excellent! Very good story!

+-+I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know+-+
*+*Alex*+*

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[–] Burt_Lancaster 21 years ago

Fifteen years old and you liked City Lights? Congratulations, not every teenager would even bother to give a try to a silent movie that's over 70 years old. Heck, it's not even in color! But now you're in luck. I've got another gem for you to watch. Harold Lloyd's The Kid Brother. It's right there alongside City Lights as a classic silent film with both comedy and romance. You might have a little trouble finding it, after all, it's over 70 years old, silent, and it isn't even in color.

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[–] cheeseygoodness 21 years ago

Thanks for recommending it. I'll try to find it. I didn't think of City Lights as silent. The performances didn't need words. The movie would have been just as good if it was a talkie.
-------------------------------------

I just tried looking for it, the library doesn't have it. Do you have any other recommendations?

::*:Oh look, we have created enchantment:*::
**Alex**

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[–] Burt_Lancaster 21 years ago

I'll give you a short list of great old movies that are now half forgotten. They may or may not be silent.

The Circus (Chaplin)
A Tale of Two Cities (1935 version only)
The Freshman (Lloyd)
Sons of the Desert (Laurel and Hardy)
Girl Shy (Lloyd)
Bohemian Girl (Laurel and Hardy)
Speedy (Lloyd)
Harvey (1950)
Dodsworth (1936)

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[–] fathamsterg 21 years ago

i'm 15 too! and i watched gold rush since my last post

my goal was to see every movie on the top 250, and i think i've seen all of chaplins that was on there

so far i'm at 216 of the top 250; and 92 of AFI's top 100

gettin' close... :D

I was expecting more out of the jazz singer though... i didnt think it would be "silent" at all (since its considered the first sound motion picture), but it wasnt terrible.

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[–] hugo23 20 years ago

Hey, I am Hugo and I am 24 years old. Since my 12th year I started to love Laurel and Hardy. I watched almost all there movies and then came Mr Chaplin and Buster Keaton! And we cant forget the Marx brothers...wow those people where and are still great artists. The way they did it...you don't see the same quality anymore these days. Yesterday I saw City lights for the first time. The story is so beautiful, a jewel in the history of film and can still touch us after 73 years!

Hugi

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[–] Niffiwan 20 years ago

Harold Lloyd was actually the most popular silent comedian at the time in the USA (not Charlie Chaplin) but he's forgotten nowadays because his films have seen only very limited releases on VHS. If you get the Turner Classic Movies channel you may see one of his films on (completely restored with excellent musical scores by Robert Israel); I strongly reccommend that you take time off and watch them! Many people say that he never made a bad movie, and I generally agree with that although of course some are better than others. My personal reccommendations would be "Safety Last", "Why Worry?", "Girl Shy", "The Kid Brother" and "Speedy". "The Freshman" is also very good, and is a favourite of many.

If you go on HaroldLloyd.com, actually, you can find out a little more; there's a big revival going on this year, what with his films getting picked up by Sony for a national theatre release and New Line Cinema for a long-overdue DVD release!

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[–] Madmdmmim 20 years ago

One day when I was fifteen , I stayed home sick and AMC was having a Chaplin marathon. Since then I have been obsessed! "Chaplin Unknown." Or was it "Unknown Chaplin"? It was a three part documentary on his work and life.
Anyway I would love to get a hold it, if any one knows about a DVD version. By the way, if any one hasn't seen and memorized "The Great dictator" I suggest they do!

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[–] proty7 20 years ago

It appears to only exist on VHS right now.. :(

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[–] Niffiwan 20 years ago

Well, I have a very good DVD version of Unknown Chaplin, with good quality image, menus, scene selection and everything. It's not really legal, though; I simply got it as a freebie with another purchase that I made, but I have to say I'm very impressed.

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[–] Madmdmmim 20 years ago

I love James Mason's narriation too.

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[–] pacheco_25553 20 years ago

I recommend you to see "Modern Times". It is probably his best film. Also, "The Great Dictator", his first talkie film, is very good although it is not a masterpiece. "The Gold Rush" and "The Circus" are also gems.

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[–] OliversTwist 20 years ago

City Lights was probably the first Chaplin film I saw in its entirety and it was awesome. The ending is so bittersweet!

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[–] opsbooks 20 years ago

The last scene in 'City Lights' has to be the most poignant in any movie. No wonder Charlie considered it his finest. A wonderful movie; I watched 'Modern Times' recently and it was fine. Just waiting now to get my hands on 'The Great Dictator'.

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[–] ChampionOfEuropa 20 years ago

I just saw City Lights a few days ago in Film as Lit, and I fell in love with it. I was watching it and I was wondering, "Should I be this absorbed by a silent film?" I was a little frightened. Considering my birthday is 11 days away, I'm getting the Charlie Chaplin Collection Vol. 1.

"Matarlo?" "Oh yeah, very matarlo."

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] toast960 20 years ago

The first film of his I saw was "Modern Times" It's a film similar to "Clerks" in that if you've ever worked, you'll appreciate the small things within the film, like the Tramp on the assembly line and suufering from a nervous breakdown, something almost as tedious as working as a grocery store bagger. Anyway I loved "Modern Times". After that I checked out "Monsieur Verdoux", "Gold Rush", "The Great Dictator", "The Pilgrim", "The Circus" and "City Lights". Charlie Chaplin is a genious who inspired me and I hope future generations will discover his genious and not just pan him off as much of today's youth does because either his films are silent and/or in black and white.

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] wildwoodyproductions 20 years ago

City Lights was my first Chaplin film also...but I was 6 years old at the time. I loved it then and I love it now! City Lights is absolutely brilliant, and I'm so glad that Chaplin took so much time to finish it perfectly.

I reccomend seeing:
The Kid
Modern Times
The Circus
The Gold Rush
The Immigrant
A Dog's Life
Vagabond

and any other shorts you can get your hands on!

"Chaplin" is definitely the best Chaplin movie, Cats Meow sucked...at lease Eddie Izzard's portrayal of Chaplin did.

"Unknown Chaplin" is phenominal! I had Betamax copies of it my dad taped when it first aired and then we transfered them to VHS 5 years ago for me. It's such a perfect documentary..I couldn't have done it better myself!

Chaplin is the film equivalent of Shakespear. The stories trascend time and location.

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[–] sweetkness 20 years ago

City Lights is Chaplin's best movie, but in my opinion, if you've seen one of his movies you've seen them all, there just isn't much variance going on from film to film. I don't mean to say that their not good films, every one just feels like the same experience, maybe thats because of the sound limitations.

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] kag-4 20 years ago

Have you seen "The Great Dictator" yet? Great, great movie. "Modern Times" is funny and powerful as well. A movie that not many have seen (but is still pretty good) is a rare drama by Charlie Chaplin. "Monsieur Verdoux." It's pretty good.

Kat

When was the last time you heard these exact words: You are the sunshine of my life?

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] kag-4 20 years ago

You've got to see City Lights. The entire movie is amazing, and the ending is...WOW!!!!

Kat

When was the last time you heard these exact words: You are the sunshine of my life?

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] charlie_dunver 20 years ago

Limelight is a forgotten treasure. It s worth the price of admission just to hear Chaplin and Buster Keaton talk!

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[–] IBAHAMMONS 19 years ago

I 1st got into him back in Highschool, about 5 years ago in a film class. With comedys and it being highschool people always made cracks about the movies saying how stupid they were. When chaplain movies were up tho everyone was into em, and I was in a continuation school full of basically all the people that got kicked outta highschool or were on parol etc. heh, Chaplians good for all, even people who try to act like hardasses bashing on everything. My favorites are city lights and Modern times, im not sure what movie I saw 1st snice I saw so many over several times, but I did see the movie about him before any of his movies. Unforunatley I didnt like the great dictator nearly as much as others =-/.Charlie Chaplain- The man who gave his life to comedy, and soon over 100 years of enjoyment to people all over the world, today we have movies made with nothing but computers that dont even have humans in them, and we still watch his black and white silent films, quality isnt in the technology, thanks for the laughs chaplain.

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