the m0vie blog

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, with week with special guest Síomha McQuinn, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This week, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights.

In a city, a tramp has a series of unlikely encounters with an eccentric millionaire and a blind flower girl that set in motion a series of bizarre and unlikely adventures.

At time of recording, it was ranked 54th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Show Notes:

• Recorded 6th August 2025.
• City Lights at The Internet Movie Database.
• The IMDB 250 as it appeared at time of recording.
• Follow Síomha on Instagram.
• Book tickets to Am I the Asshole? at Smock Alley Theatre, September 2025.
• Molli Mitchell at Newsweek reflects on the celebrities who died on Christmas Day, December 2022.
• Michael van Orsouw writes about the abduction of Charlie Chaplin’s corpse for The Swiss National Museum, June 2023.
• Beryl Bainbridge writes in The Guardian about the legacy of Robert Scott, October 1999.
• Scott Campbell at Far Out Magazine reports on the tension between Marlon Brando and Charlie Chaplin on the set of A Countess from Hong Kong, May 2023.
• Not Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You considers the end of the silent era, February 2009.
• Scott Campbell at Far Out Magazine considers the debate over the last silent movie, July 2024.
• Mordaunt Hall writes at The New York Times about the challenges of producing City Lights, July 1930.
• The New York Times announces that City Lights will screen at the George M. Cohan Theatre, December 1930.
• The Atlantic reports on Charlie Chaplin inviting Albert Einstein to the Los Angeles Premiere of City Lights, February 2015.
• The New York Times reports on the London premiere of City Lights, February 1931.
• Mordaunt Hall reviews City Lights for The New York Times, February 1931.
• Charlie Chaplin writes at The New York Times about his decision to produce City Lights as a silent movie, January 1931.
• Leslie Kandell writes at The New York Times about Charlie Chaplin’s work as a composer on City Lights, February 1996.
• Burt A. Folkart at The Los Angeles Times eulogises Lita Grey, December 1995.
• Lauren Oliver at Vice on the dark legacy of Charlie Chaplin’s personal life, April 2016.
• Martin Chilton at The Telegraph on Charlie Chaplin’s divorce scandal, July 2020.
• Emily Smith at Page Six reports on discovered documents covering Lita Grey’s allegation against Charlie Chaplin, April 2015.
• Emma Alsop at The Artifice on the lives and loves of Charlie Chaplin, January 2013.
• John Eligon writes at The New York Times about the question of the reliability of drunken memory, April 2011.
• David Canfield at Vanity Fair wonders whether Abraham Lincoln was a queer man, August 2024.
• Elaina Patton writes in NBC News about whether Abraham Lincoln in gay, September 2024.
• Margie Cullen writes at USA Today about “the Log-Cabin Republicans”, June 2024.
• Judd Apatow teaches structure for MasterClass.
• Scott Myers at Medium considers Dan Harmon’s “story circle”, May 2018.
• Richard Powers writes at Stanford about the history of “the Apache” dance, 2012.
• Abigail Lauren Salerno writes at Sobre a Deficiência Visual about the history of the blind heroine in cinema, 2007.
• Gary Giddens at Criterion considers the use of the cliché of the blind girl in City Lights, November 2013.
• Jeffrey Vance writes about City Lights at Library of Congress, 2003.
• Bosley Crowther writes at The New York Times about the revival of City Lights, April 1950.
• Vincent Canby writes at The New York Times about the revival of Chaplin’s films, April 1972.
• A.H. Weiler writes at The New York Times about the release of Chaplin’s films on video cassette, May 1971.
• Roger Ebert reviews City Lights for The Chicago Sun Times, December 1997.
• Matthew C. Hoffman writes about City Lights and Park Ridge Classic Films, January 2021.
• Alissa Wilkinson at Vox considers how international box office has changed the way that Hollywood makes movies, September 2017.
• Tom Brook at BBC reports on how Hollywood is tailoring its movies to appeal to the Chinese box office, October 2014.
• Denis Villeneuve talks to The Times of London about his frustration with dialogue in modern films, February 2024.
• Will Tavlin writes at N+1 about why streaming movies look and feel the way that they do, Winter 2025.
• Brooks Barnes reports on the AI-assisted screenings of The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere for The New York Times, August 2025.
• Peter DeBruge reviews The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere for Variety, August 2025.
• Suzanne Bearne writes at The BBC about the use of artificial intelligence in dubbing and subtitling films, August 2025.
• Arwa Mahdawi writes at The Guardian about the rehabilitation of George W. Bush, May 2020.
• Ben Terris writes at The Independent about the rehabilitation of George W. Bush, September 2021.
• George Porcari reflects on City Lights for CineAction, January 2023.
• Anthony Arthur writes at The Los Angeles Times about Upton Sinclair’s End Poverty in California campaign, April 2005.
• Harold Meyerson at The Los Angeles Times reflects on the life and career of Upton Sinclair, January 2016.
• Jeanine Basinger at The New York Times considers Charlie Chaplin’s life outside of movies, July 1996.
• DB Kelly writes at Grunge about Charlie Chaplin’s voice, March 2023.
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• Browse listening options at pod.link.

Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: blind flower girl, charlie chaplin, cinematic history, city, City Lights, early cinema, episodic structure, filmmaking influence, Great Depression, Humor, imdb, new york, podcast, production, síomha mcquinn, silent cinema, silent film, social commentary, Tramp |