Celluloid : the film to-day (1931)

CITY LIGHTS 99 as one by one they have come before the public, and I have pointed out that he has gradually eliminated the caricaturish element from them. Moreover, with this transition of his characters from the grotesque to the natural, the plots of the films have become more logical, until in The Circus and City Lights they are almost commonplace. The background and supporting cast in the latter picture possess all the outward appearances of everyday places and persons, and only on occasion are used as symbols of satirical comment, as in the opening. Miss Virginia Cherrill as the blind flowergirl behaves perfectly normally and does things that a flowergirl would do; but Miss Edna Purviance, you will remember, quite often comported herself according to slapstick conventions. The crowds that shoulder Chaplin aside as he wanders along the street are similar to those employed in any American picture, very different from the extras engaged for A Dog's Life and Shoulder Arms. Even Mr. Harry Myers, whose playing as the double-minded millionaire adds much to the humour, is only eccentric in his behaviour and not unnatural in character. Such naturalness may be deplored by the fervent admirers of the old Keystone slapstick, but I feel that it does much to help widen the appeal of City Lights. Chaplin is always the same likeable character. Wandering on to the screen to join a bunch of idlers, he passes through a whirlwind of adventures in which he suddenly and quite against his will becomes involved, until he leaves again a wanderer. It is three years since he was seen sitting on an upturned box in the middle of a field, gazing disconsolately at the star g*