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City Lights
(1931)

The crown jewel of Charles Chaplin’s silent film career, and one of the top five movies of the entire silent era, the film features Virginia Cherill as the blind girl, with Florence Lee, Allan Garcia, Stanhope Wheatcroft, and veteran comedians Harry Myers, Hank Mann, Henry Bergman, Albert Austin and John Rand.

The Criterion Collection
2013 Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition

City Lights (1931), black & white, 86 minutes, not rated.

The Criterion Collection, CC2316BDDVD, collection number 680, UPC 7-15515-11111-9, ISBN 978-1-60465-785-2.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc, 1.19:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24fps progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 36.4 Mbps average video bit rate, 2.3 Mbps audio bit rate, LPCM 48 kHz 24bit 1.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 17 chapter stops; and one single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc, 1.19:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) progressive scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 6.1 Mbps average video bit rate, 384 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 1.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 17 chapter stops; standard two-disc BD keepcase; $39.95.
Release date: 12 November 2013.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 9 / audio: 7 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.

This dual-format Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition features a new, restored 4K digital scan. The picture in this Blu-ray Disc is excellent and best captures the source material’s greyscale range and image detail. Truly, a pleasure to watch.

The DVD disc features the film in a slightly pillarboxed frame. The source material is well-reproduced from the 4K digital scan in a broad range of greyscale tones and reasonably sharp image detail.

Both disc format versions include Chaplin’s original synchronized mono soundtrack for the film: the Blu-ray Disc edition is presented in uncompressed audio.

The supplemental material includes Chaplin Today: City Lights (2003), a documentary on the film’s production; new audio commentary by Charlie Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance; Chaplin Studios: Creative Freedom by Design, a new interview program; archival footage from the production of City Lights; an excerpt from Chaplin’s short film The Champion (1915); film trailers; a booklet featuring an essay by critic Gary Giddins; and more.

This dual format Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition is our enthusiastically recommended home video release of City Lights.

USA: Click the logomark to buy this Region A Blu-ray Disc / Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Support Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to buy this Region A Blu-ray Disc / Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Support Silent Era.

Park Circus
2010 Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition

City Lights (1931), black & white, 83 minutes, BBFC Classification U.

Park Circus, PCB0017, UPC 5-060203-34017-9.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region B Blu-ray Disc, 1.20:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24FPS progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, DTS-HD 48 kHz 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; and one single-sided, dual-layered, Region 2 PAL DVD disc, 1.20:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 pixels) progressive? scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, DTS-HD 48 kHz 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard two-disc BD keepcase in cardboard slipcover; £19.99.
Release date: 15 November 2010.
Country of origin: Scotland

This UK dual-format Blu-ray Disc / PAL DVD edition of City Lights, from a Scottish distribution company and produced for home video by MK2, features a new high-definition video transfer from 35mm print materials controlled by the Estate of Charles Chaplin.

The film is presented with the established music score composed by Charles Chapli n.

The disc’s supplemental material includes an introduction by David Robinson.

Other than its HD transfer, and this edition being nearly identical in content to the 2004 Warner Home Video edition noted below, owners of that edition may not feel the need to acquire this Park Circus edition. This edition, currently the only high-quality edition in print, is recommended for those who want to add the film to their collection now.

North American collectors will need a Region B or region-free Blu-ray Disc player and/or a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

United Kingdom: Click to buy this Region B Blu-ray Disc / Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

Warner Home Video
2004 DVD edition

City Lights (1931), black & white, 83 minutes, Rated G.

Warner Home Video, 37648,
UPC 0-85393-76482-1, ISBN 0-7907-7165-9.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai and Korean language subtitles; 20 chapter stops; two plastic disc trays on cardboard wrap in cardboard slipcase, $29.95.
Release date: 2 March 2004.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition was digitally restored from excellent 35mm materials held by the Estate of Charles Chaplin. At first glance, the full-frame video transfer well reproduces the broad greytones range and image details of the source materials. However, we have had problems with the disc displaying properly to a 16:9 high-definition television when played from one of our DVD players. The picture fills the 16:9 monitor in width (already wrong for a 4:3 format picture) and crops the top and bottom of the picture to do so. No amount of manipulation of the picture settings ideally resolves the issue. Other DVD players will not have this problem.

The supplementary material includes Georgia Hale’s screen test as the blind girl, a short documentary, and more.

The disc is now out-of-print to make way for the newer editions noted above.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

CBS/Fox Home Video
2000 DVD edition

City Lights (1931), black & white, 87 minutes, Rated G.

CBS/Fox Home Video, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID9181CUDVD, UPC 0-14381-91812-0.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo and mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; snapper DVD case, $29.99.
Release date: 8 February 2000.
Country of origin: USA

It appears that the masters from the 1993 Chaplin: A Legacy of Laughter laserdisc series were utilized for this DVD edition and other year 2000 Chaplin DVD releases. The City Lights DVD features the mono tracks of the original 1931 film soundtrack and PCM stereo tracks of the reconstructed music score arranged by Carl Davis and recorded in 1989.

The disc is now contractually out-of-print to make way for the newer editions noted above.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.