CITY LIGHTS kicks off Symphony Space series of Chaplin classics shown for the first time ever in high-definition
Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia
2537 Broadway at 95th St.
Sunday, July 10, 3:00; Sunday, August 7, 5:45; Sunday, August 21, 6:00
Series continues through August 28
212-864-5400
www.symphonyspace.org
A genuine American treasure, City Lights is one of Charlie Chaplin’s most thoroughly entertaining masterpieces. Serving as writer, director, editor, producer, and composer, Chaplin also stars as the Little Tramp, a destitute man who instantly falls in love upon seeing a blind Flower Girl (Virginia Cherrill). When she mistakes him for a millionaire with a fancy car, he decides to pretend to be rich so she might like him, but when he actually becomes pals with the business tycoon (Harry Myers), he thinks he might eventually be able to get the money for her to get a new operation that could restore her eyesight. The only problem is that the millionaire, who parties wildly with the Little Tramp every evening, taking him to ritzy nightclubs and even giving him his car at one point, remembers nothing the next morning, and doesn’t want anything to do with him. It all leads to an unforgettable conclusion that pulls at the heartstrings. Despite the availability of sound, Chaplin chose to make City Lights a silent picture, although he did incorporate sound effects and, in one section, distorted speech. Although the film features several hysterical slapstick bits, including the opening, when the Little Tramp is sleeping on a statue entitled “Peace and Prosperity” as it is unveiled, and a scene in which he saves the millionaire from a suicide attempt, virtually every minute comments on the social reality of depression-era America and the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Metaphors abound as the Little Tramp tries his best to maintain a smile and search out love during the bleakest of times. City Lights is screening July 10 and August 7 & 21 at Symphony Space, kicking off its Chaplin series, consisting of eight programs showing Chaplin films in high-definition for the first time ever on the big screen; the weekend series also includes multiple screenings of Monsieur Verdoux, Limelight, Modern Times, The Great Dictator, and other classics.