City Lights (United Artists) (1931)

The whole world is interested in any¬ thing Chaplin does CHARLIE CHAPLIN in “CITY LIGHTS” PUBLICITY SECTION These stories make your picture the fa¬ vorite town topic CHARLIE CHAPLIN in “CITY LIGHTS” Written, Directed and Produced by Charles Chaplin CAST OF CHARACTERS A Blind Girl _ __ Her Grandmother An Eccentric Millionaire His Butler_ A Prizefighter A Tramp_ _ VIRGINIA CHERRILL — Florence Lee Harry Myers - Allan Garcia Hank Mann CHARLIE CHAPLIN Copyright 1930 by Charles Chaplin fHarry Crocker Assistant Directors _■{ Henry Bergman I Albert Austin fRolIie Totheroh -(Gordon Pollock I Mark Marklatt' Photographers STUDIO STAFF Settings by Charles D. Hall Music Composed by Charles Chaplin Musical Arr. by_Arthur Johnston Dir. of Publicity __ Carlyle Robinson - General Manager_Alfred Reeves UNITED ARTISTS PICTURE GJiariie Ghapliti Atarof'Gity lights 9 —Two Col. Star Scene Head (Mat 10c; Cut 50c) Chaplin’s "City Lights” Gives Low-Down on What Fighters Do Behind Scenes Before Scrap U1I 1^ cAJrlbvjl JtJLl TO CHANGE TREND OF FILM WORLD; COMEDY DEFIES PRESENT POLICIES Chaplin’s New Comedy Attains Effects Through Sound and Music to Exclusion of Dialogue; Movie Prophets Predict an Avalanche of Talkless Pictures as a Result CHAPLIN GOES LIMIT TO FILM HIS LATEST Comedian Defies Movie Trend in Making "City Lights”; Thinks it His Best Having declared that h,e consid¬ ers the talking picture an inferior medium of screen entertainment to the silent motion picture produc¬ tion, Charlie Chaplin backs his opin¬ ion with the presentation of “City Lights,” a romantic comedy photo¬ play soon to be s'hown at the. theatre, which is synchronized with music and sound effects. At no time is the human voice heard in “City Lights.” It is the comedian-producer’s contention that dialogue limits the field of expres¬ sion and being primarily a panto¬ mime artist, he regards silence as the best medium for him and the character he portrays. Chaplin adds that he is not being prejudiced in the stand he has taken but that lie is merely carrying on in what -the believes a superior art form. “City Lights” is heralded as Chaplin’s supreme effort. Of con¬ siderable significance are the facts that reveal that Chaplin expended $1,500,000 of his own money and close to three years of his time in the making of this photoplay. From sources close to Chaplin it is learned that the comedian’s en¬ thusiasm over “City Lights” is greater than he has ever before evi denced. It is believed that this production will pave the way for more non-dialogue pictures and start renewed activity in studios as well as in theatres. Chaplin’s film is the first of any importance to come out of Hollywood in close to three years, in silent form. All through the making of “City Lights” Chaplin has been sub¬ merged by correspondence from every portion of the world lauding him for his stand against talking pictures. From individuals and or¬ ganizations representing the deaf, the comedian has had several hun- ti red thousand letters alone, prais¬ ing him for his loyalty to panto¬ mime. There is no attempt at spectacle in “City Lights.” Only three vital characters are introduced but around them has been woven a powerful story of 'human sacrifice: delightful romance and rollicking comedy. There is not the eternal triangle and the love theme is spir¬ itual and not bordering on sex. As in all previous Chaplin pro¬ ductions the comedian is also re¬ sponsible for the direction and the star portrayal. He was likewise the author of “City Lights” which is an original idea with its locale in any large city, anywhere. Chaplin presents himself in his world famous tramp character and f||f he is the central figure in the tur¬ moil of the. city. A blind flower girl is the second of importance and brings to the screen for the first time Virginia Cherrill, who, until assigned the leading feminine part in the picture was a Chicago society girl. The other of the trio is an eccentric millionaire, portrayed by Harry Myers. Important to the telling of the story is the flower vender’s grand¬ mother, enacted bv Florence Lee: the eccentric millionaire’s butler, Allan Garcia and a prize-fighter. -»^Hank Mann. With the city as a background thousands of Holly¬ wood players rub elbows such as is the case with the multitudes of any community. Although there is nui a spoken word from the beginning to the end of “City Lights” the production is completely synchronized with music and sound effects. In this respect, Chaplin adds another ac¬ complishment to his versatility in¬ troducing for the greater part en¬ tirely original music of his own creation, the arrangement of which is credited to Arthur Johnston. Many are of the opinion that Chaplin will write history with his production “City Lights.” It is be¬ lieved that the genius of pantomime will achieve a success, which will at a single gesture overthrow the tra¬ dition that pictures simply must talk. Horatio Alger Chaplinized In his picture “City Lights’ • which comes to the. theatre on . Charlie • Chaplin applies the rules of the young man who made good to his hobo hero. This time the forlorn, dog-eared little tramp tries to lift himself up bv the boot-straps first -A as a white wing, then a prize fighter and finally a man about town. It is acclaimed as his best yet. Right behind the scenes of a fight club Charlie Chaplin takes his audience in one of the feature se¬ quences of his greatest of all screen efforts, “City Lights,” his latest United Artists release, which is to be seen at the. theatre, starting . All of the secrets as to just what does go on in the dressing rooms adjoining an arena are revealed by the comedian,, with nothing left to the imagination. The beauty of it all is that the “actors” are genuine pugilists known the world oyer, among them a number of ex-cham¬ pions and near-champions and would-bes. Chaplin pulls back the partition between the training quarters and the auditorium to bring to the screen some of the possibilities and prob¬ abilities in the realm of fistiana, ac¬ cording to his conception. In so doing he enacts the character of a fighter and the one with whom he becomes embroiled is portrayed bv Hank Mann. These two actually go into the ring and engage each other for several rounds in what is declared the most side-splitting ex¬ hibition of the art of self-defense ever to have taken place on or off the screen. Alt hough t his bout was staged solelv for “Citv Lights” and before a gathering of eight hundred or more men, who were paid to watch it and did not pay for the privilege, it is believed it would rock the biggest stadium in the world if it became an actual event. Some of the fighters to assist Chaplin in the realism of this parti¬ cular highlight of the production in¬ clude the three well known giant heavyweights, Tony Stabenau, “Sug¬ ar” Willie Keeler and the colored Victor Alexander; Kid Wagner, Joe Herrick, Joe Ritchie, Sailor Vincent, Eddie McAuliffe, Cy Slocum and the heavyweight wrestler. Ad Her¬ man. The difficult task of referee¬ ing was handled by Eddie Baker. Acclaimed his greatest contribu¬ tion to the screen, Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights” will open an engage¬ ment at the.theatre, bringing to this city a non-dialogue motion picture' production, which, it is believed, will be the forerunner of many more screen offerings in¬ troducing action, synchronized with music and sound effects. More than two years in time have been devoted by Chaplin to the making of “City Lights” and it represents an investment of $1,- 500,000 of the comedian’s own money. All of this is Chaplin’s an¬ swer to the talking picture and his firm stand for pantomimic motion Dictures. Those who have been privileged to view “City Lights” have unhesi¬ tatingly agreed that Chaplin was not in error to stick to the silent course in his screen work. It is said that never before has the great comedian extended himself to pro¬ duce such a comedy masterpiece. “City Lights” will occupy the screen for about one hour and twenty minutes. The story may be termed a romantic comedy, al¬ though many of its highlights are brilliantly dramatic, in fact tragic It is an original idea and was writ¬ ten by Chaplin. He is likewise re¬ sponsible for the direction. The action takes place in any large city. There is nothing elabo¬ rate about the story and it is its simplicity that will undoubtedly gain for it a permanent place in the theatre. The characters are natu¬ ral, such as rub elbows with each other throughout the daily walks of life. There are only three players vital to the story. There is not the eter¬ nal triangle and that which happens has to do with a tramp, a flower girl who is blind and a millionaire, who has his eccentricities. Incidental to these there are three others. The girl’s grandmother, the millionaire’s butler and a prizefighter. While the others make up the city, just like any city with its milling throngs. A new face comes to the screen in “City Lights.” Virginia Cher¬ rill, as the girl. This is Miss Cher- rill’s initial bow in motion pictures and advance reports indicate that she is due to win favor. She en¬ tered the film world from a social life and despite the difficult por¬ trayal entrusted to her, it is be¬ lieved she has acquitted herself with much credit. The young woman is a natural blonde with blue eyes. Harry Myers, who by no means is new to the screen, plays the part of the eccentric millionaire. For many years Myers has been a lead¬ ing player and star in his own right and as the chief foil to Chaplin he is declared to be at his best. Pic¬ ture followers will remember My¬ ers for his excellent work in “The Connecticut Yankee.” Florence Lee, as the grand¬ mother; Allan. Garcia in the role of the butler and Hank Mann portray¬ ing the prize fighter make up the balance of the cast. Garcia is well known to Chaplin followers for it was he who was the “cruel” ring¬ master in “The Circus.” Chaplin plays the tramp. He has slightly altered his characterization in “City Lights,” although he is at¬ tired in his world famous baggy trousers, abbreviated tail coat and battered derby and a foundation of the gunboat shoes. Ten thousand or more women, men. and children make up the back¬ ground of the city. The city in which the story unfolds was entirely built within the enclosures of the massive Chaplin plant in Holly¬ wood. Every available foot of ground was utilized and hundreds of technicians of all the crafts em¬ ployed for the purpose of realism. One of the most important items of the production was the building of a river, with its embankment and the city in the distance. The body of water covered an area of five acres and was completed at a cost of $15,000. This is small in com¬ parison, however, when it is stated that the construction of two streets in a downtown business section called for an expenditure of close to $100,000. With the presentation of “City Lights” Chaplin makes his debut as a musician. The entire musical synchronization of the production, with only few exceptions, is from music composed by the comedian. Many months were devoted to this phase by the producer, who is, although not generally known, an accomplished pianist, organist, violinist, cellist and harpist. Due to the care with which the music was arranged for “City Lights” despite the fact that there is not once the use of a human voice, instrumental effects are used with considerable deception. In the arrangement of the musical accom¬ paniment Arthur Johnston, of the Irving Berlin Company, was asso¬ ciated with Chaplin. During the making of “City Lights” 800,000 feet of film passed through three cameras. The fin¬ ished production is a little more than one percent, as it is distributed by the United Artists Corporation. Chaplin Popularizes Spaghetti and Eggs Spaghetti, with a side order of scrambled eggs and sausages, will undoubtedly become a very popular dish after the initial showing of Charlie Chaplin’s long awaited non¬ dialogue motion picture production, “City Lights,” which opens at the .theatre. Not that spaghetti and scrambled eggs and sausages have not already won popular favor, but it is the Chaplin treatment of these univers¬ ally consumed edibles that is bound to stimulate new appetites. It is recalled that when Charlie Chaplin visited his native London, England, back in 1921, that the stewed eel occupied a warm spot in the tablefare of most Britishers. Yet when the comedian indulged in the same stewed eels but with an added personal touch, the event becoming public knowledge, more eels found their way to the skillet in the brief period of a week than in the history of that city’s cafedom. In City Lights” Chaplin takes his spaghetti oozing in olive oil. Not because of any particular flavor that is produced but for the purpose of adding enjoyment and ease in the consumption. It is difficult to de¬ scribe properly just what happens, because words are inadequate to fit the pantomime of the subject. STORY OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST COMEDY In any large city, throughout the world, the three characters Vl lf,. to jk* 8 story dwell. A tramp, a blind girl and an eccentric millionaire. . .’I’he tramp is an idealist; yet an object of laughter and ridicule. Aimlessly he wanders the streets pf the city until he comes in contact with the blind girl. She is a flower vender at one of the public squares. Because of her affliction the girl’s feeling toward the little vagabond is purely spiritual and her kindliness toward him seems to supply something that was void in his life. It is while enraptured with the girl that the tramp seeks soli¬ tude at the river’s edge, away from the turmoil of the city, where he may "dream.” But his trend of thought is interrupted as a man is about to commit suicide. This is the millionaire, who, being in one of his peculiar moods, plans self-destruction. His life is saved by the tramp and the two become friends. As the weeks progress a strong devotion develops between the blind girl and the tramp. Likewise the friendship between the millionaire and his new-found friend progresses and also digresses, according to the mood of the man of wealth. Illness overtakes the girl and the tramp learns of her condi¬ tion when she does not appear at her daily stand. Her aged grandmother attempts to shoulder the burden of their livelihood but with little success. The tramp seeks the millionaire for assist- ance only to discover that he has sailed for Europe. Money is imperative so the tramp gets a job. He manages to hold the girl’s little home together, though at considerable personal sacri¬ fice. Then he loses his position. Faced with added problems, the tramp is desperate He takes to earn money as a prizefighter but he is soundly beat, broken marv, he wanders the streets. Then there is a n« of light. The millionaire has returned to the city and F again in an eccentric mood. He greets the tramp with deep tion and takes him to his home. p • T h Vtramp tells the millionaire of the girl and quicklv is forthcoming to meet accumulated bills and even suffici assure the girl of an operation so that she may regain her But thugs enter the millionaire’s home and there is an attac a robbery. During the struggle and excitement the tramp escapes R 6 , h ° use ’ . c *F r y»B with him the money the millionaire gav, But the millionaire is sobered by the blows of the crook he fails to recognize the tramp. When the tramp is released from prison he is a figure ol dejection. Once more he is ridiculed and laughed ar an mented as he trudges the streets. Fate brings him face to face with the beautiful flowei But now she is prosperous, for im place of the humble stand she is surrounded by an elaborate floral establishmenl She watches the pathetic figure of the little tramp in s ment and does not understand why he fixes a steady gaze o She is plainly embarrassed but jovially offers the man a and a coin. Still fixing his stare on her eyes, he accep flower. And as she grips his hand to place the coin the strangeness overtakes her. Gradually there comes a real that this is the man who was her benefactor. At last she