Saturday, Aug. 16 — LUDLOW — Friends of Ludlow Auditorium’s annual Silent Movie Festival will be held on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Ludlow Town Hall Auditorium. The festival will feature the classic work of Charlie Chaplin in “City Lights” with an introductory short by comedian Buster Keaton. Glenn Brown will be featured at the auditorium’s piano for the Buster Keaton short to open the silent movie festival.
“City Lights” is a 1931 American romantic comedy film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin’s Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and develops a turbulent friendship with an alcoholic millionaire (Harry Myers). “City Lights” was immediately successful upon release on Jan. 30, 1931, with positive reviews and box office receipts of $5 million. Today, critics consider it not only one of the highest accomplishments of Chaplin’s career, but one of the greatest films ever made. In 1992, the Library of Congress selected “City Lights” for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” In 2007, the American Film Institute’s 100 Years… 100 Movies ranked City Lights as the 11th greatest American film of all time. In 1949, the critic James Agee referred to the final scene in the film as the “greatest single piece of acting ever committed to celluloid.”
Although sound films were on the rise when Chaplin started developing the script in 1928, he decided to continue working with silent productions. Filming started in December 1928, and ended in September 1930. “City Lights” marked the first time Chaplin composed the film score to one of his productions. The movie is open to the public and is free. For information visit www.fola.us.
