Charlie Chaplin struggled with this movie for years but the end result was one of his finest and most touching films. It's explored in depth on this two disc set.
This disc set is available to buy on its own or as part of "The Chaplin Collection: Volume 2" and "The Complete Chaplin Boxset".
TECHNICAL FEATURES
Picture While there is a little flickering, the image transfer on this DVD is near pristine compared to the print versions that used to run on TV.
Sound The 5.1 sound track subtly mixes the music score around the speakers.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Introduction David Robinson introduces a film that took Chaplin three years and eight months to make. He examines the reasons why, including the arrival of sound, plot problems, and a casting disagreement.
Chaplin Today: City Lights The contributor for this documentary is Peter Lord of Aardman Animations. Back in 1980 he parodied the film on British TV through the popular Morph character. It turns out that Chaplin dabbled in animation, too, as you'll see from 1916 cartoon footage dug up of the little tramp.
Documents In this section you'll find a wide array of visual treats, including behind-the-scenes material, a screen test for Georgia Hale, short film "The Dream Prince", Chaplin rehearsing the boxing scene, Winston Churchill visiting the set, and incredible crowds greeting Chaplin as he visits Vienna.
Additional Extra Features Also on disc two are trailers, six image galleries, a poster gallery, and a selection of clips from all the films in "The Chaplin Collection".
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Chapters: 20
Ratio: 1.33:1 (original fullscreen ratio)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 (mono)
Audio Tracks: English
Subtitles: Multiple languages
Captions: None (silent film)
Menus: Static, with music
Special Features Subtitles: The only special features with subtitles are David Robinson's Introduction and the Chaplin Collection excerpts.
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-N5 DVD player.
City Lights DVD (1931)