City Lights (1931)

Charlie Chaplin was a comic genius esp. for the Silent Era though for all ages also. He wrote, directed, starred in, and even composed the music for City Lights, his final film. His physical comedy is spot-on perfect; his mugging is sublime (as much as mugging can be); and while half his pratfalls are predictable -- hm, a cat sitting on an open windowsill next to a potted plant directly above the stairwell, I wonder what's going to happen fairly soon? -- half are a hoot and will surprise you. Don't be so postmodern and stuck up that you can't step into the Wayback Machine and appreciate the sentimentality of early cinema for what it is. City Lights and all such Chaplinalia are meant to portray and simpler and more innocent time, yes, but Chaplin the Tramp is also Everyman -- his plight could be anyone's. So if we remember that "there but for the grace of God" (and an iPhone) "go I" the Silent Era can still speak to us -- and City Lights perhaps best of all. 4 stars.