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CITY LIGHTS 95
the screen is a waste of time. Immediately he makes contact with an accessory there springs up an intimacy between that thing and himself. Its place in that particular scene instantly becomes apparent to us. Yet again I would stress that this simple understanding of all Chaplin's actions is not restricted to any one class or nationality; his thoughts and ideas are universal, which makes him the world power that he is. S In my estimation, though here I am at variance with many critics, City Lights is Chaplin's greatest accomplishment. For me it contains more creative work, more subtlety of direction and more evidence of singleness of purpose than any of his earlier pictures. It is more direct in its appeal and more comprehensive in its meaning than many of its predecessors. It is so obviously the untouched work of a brilliantly creative mind, although perhaps this is more noticeable to-day when so much mechanical product is around than when we saw that earlier masterpiece The Gold Rushes It seems so happily unsullied by any commercial artifices and is, of course, the better entertainment because of this. Chaplin does not think in terms of box-office values : he bases his work on a knowledge of the impulsive and natural behaviour of the ordinary human mind, which is, in effect, entertainment value. He foresees how his audience — whether in London, Lapland or Liberia — should react to any given scene and takes infinite trouble so that the construction of this scene is such that the audience cannot fail to react as he desires.
To a sensitive mind the tragedy of City Lights is devastating. The humour lies there on the surface,