City Lights
A lonely tramp falls for a blind flower girl and navigates a world of mistaken identities and class divides to win her affection, all while evading public outrage and finding unexpected friendship with a wealthy man.
“True Blind Love”
Synopsis
A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 86+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Charles ChaplinShot by Gordon PollockDesigned by Henry CliveSound by Theodore Reed
Box Office
1931 · Box office
✅ Made its money back — grossed 2.8× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$4.3M
Re-release box office
- 20071 theaters
- $28K($44K today)
Domestic gross earned in theatrical re-release, by year · adjusted for inflation
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Lichter der Großstadtde
- Lichter der Großstadt - Eine Komödien-Romance als Pantomimede
- Luces de la ciudades
- Les Lumières de la villefr
- Luci della cittàit
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Cast & Crew
86 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Charles Chaplin
as A Tramp
Charlie Chaplin
as A Tramp
Virginia Cherrill
as A Blind Girl
Florence Lee
as The Blind Girl's Grandmother
Harry Myers
as An Eccentric Millionaire
Al Ernest Garcia
as The Millionaire's Butler
Hank Mann
as A Prizefighter
Johnny Aber
as Newsboy
Albert Austin
as Street Sweeper / Burglar (uncredited)
Jack Alexander
as Boxing Match Spectator
Eddie Baker
as Boxing Fight Referee (uncredited)
T S Alexander
as Doctor
Supporting cast
43Henry Bergman
as Mayor / Blind Girl's Downstairs Neighbor (uncredited)
Victor Alexander
as Superstitious Boxer
Buster Brodie
as Bald Party Guest (uncredited)
Jeanne Carpenter
as Diner in Restaurant (uncredited)
Tom Dempsey
as Boxer (uncredited)
James Donnelly
as Street Sweepers' Foreman (uncredited)
Ray Erlenborn
as Newsboy (uncredited)
Robert Graves
as Police Officer (uncredited)
Charles Hammond
as Street Passerby (uncredited)
Joseph Herrick
as Boxing Match Spectator (uncredited)
Austen Jewell
as Newsboy (uncredited)
Willie Keeler
as Boxer (uncredited)
Robert Parrish
as Newsboy (uncredited)
John Rand
as Tramp Who Dives for Cigar (uncredited)
W C Robinson
as Man Who Throws Away Cigar (uncredited)
Cy Slocum
as Boxing Match Spectator (uncredited)
Tony Stabenau
as Victorious Boxer - Later Knocked Out (uncredited)
Mark Strong
as Man in Restaurant (uncredited)
Tiny Ward
as Man in Elevator in Front of the Art Shop (uncredited)
Stanhope Wheatcroft
as Distinguished Gentleman in Cafe (uncredited)
Florence Wix
as Woman Who Sits on Cigar (uncredited)
Jean Harlow
as Diner in Restaurant
Granville Redmond
as Sculptor (uncredited)
Wyn Ritchie Evans
as (uncredited)
Joe Van Meter
as Burglar (uncredited)
Harry Ayers
as Cop (uncredited)
Edward Biby
as Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Edgar Neville
as Guard
Betty Blair
as Woman at Center of Table in Restaurant (uncredited)
Marie Cooper
as Dancer (uncredited)
Peter Diego
as Man in Mix-Up with Coat and Hat (uncredited)
Ruth Garcia
as Woman at Left of Table in Restaurant (uncredited)
Milton Gowman
as Street Passerby (uncredited)
Ad Herman
as Boxing Match Spectator (uncredited)
A B Lane
as Boxing Match Spectator (uncredited)
Eddie Mcauliffe
as Eddie Mason - Boxer (uncredited)
Leila Mcintyre
as Flower Shop Assistant (uncredited)
George Nardelli
as Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Margaret Oliver
as Street Passerby (uncredited)
Mrs Pope
as Diner in Restaurant (uncredited)
James Sheldon
as Young Man (uncredited)
Jack Sutherland
as Tall Man at Party (uncredited)
Emmett Wagner
as Second (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
3Producers
1Other crew
34Albert Austin
assistant director
Harry Crocker
assistant director, unit publicist
Henry Bergman
assistant director
Peter Culverwell
assistant editor: 1988 recording of Chaplin's score
Tim Grover
assistant editor: 1988 recording of Chaplin's score
Mark Marlatt
camera operator (uncredited)
Al Ernest Garcia
Casting Director (uncredited)
Gordon Pollock
Cinematographer, photographer
Roland Totheroh
Cinematographer, photographer (as Rollie Totheroh)
Charles Chaplin
Composer, written by, music composed by, Editors
Jose Padilla
composer: additional music
Carlyle Robinson
director of publicity (uncredited)
Parents Guide
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Where to watch
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