History Trivia / CityLights

* RomanceOnTheSet: Averted. According to Virginia Cherrill, Creator/CharlieChaplin was never interested in her sexually. "I was 20. Charlie liked them younger."

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** Chaplin considered setting the film in Paris. This is probably why he called it ''City Lights'', Paris being the City ''of'' Lights.

* UsefulNotes/AFIS100YearsSeries:
** AFIS100Years100Movies: #76.
** AFIS100Years100Laughs: #38.
** AFIS100Years100Passions: #10.
** AFIS100Years100Cheers: #33.
** AFIS100Years100HeroesAndVillains:
*** The Tramp, #58 Hero.
** 'AFIS100Years100Movies10THAnniversaryEdition: #11.
** AFIS10Top10:
*** #1 Romantic Comedy.

* AFIS100YearsSeries:

** Chaplin considered setting the film in Paris.

** A scene where The Tramp attempts to retrieve a stick that was stuck in a grate was filmed, but it was removed at Creator/CharlieChaplin's insistence.

** AFIS100Years100Passions: #33.

* TroubledProduction: Chaplin was stressed about making a silent film when Hollywood had quit silent movies, but at the same time, he didn't feel that the Tramp would work in a talking film. Chaplin and Virginia Cherrill couldn't stand each other; as noted elsewhere on this page, he at one point fired her and tried to replace her with Georgia Hale. He also had a lot of WritersBlock and struggled a great deal with certain aspects of the story, like how to make the blind girl believe that the Tramp is a millionaire. In the end, photography took ''two years'', from December 1928 to 1930, which would be a long time to make a movie in the 21st century and was an insanely long time for that era.

** A scene where The Tramp attempts to retrieve a stick that was stuck in a wall was filmed, but it was removed at Creator/CharlieChaplin's insistence.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Creator/CharlieChaplin began shooting the film in 1928. Convinced that sound was just a passing fad, he decided to stick with his trademark pantomimic style. However, halfway through production he realized that the talkies weren't going away, so he shut down the film and tried to figure out how to incorporate sound.

* PrimaDonnaDirector: Creator/CharlieChaplin re-shot the scene in which the Little Tramp buys a flower from the blind flower-girl 342 times, as he could not find a satisfactory way of showing that the blind flower-girl thought that the mute tramp was wealthy.

** Chaplin considered setting the film in Paris.

* ProtectionFromEditors: Since Creator/CharlieChaplin owned his own studio, he was able to control every aspect of the production. He could take his time and go at his own pace, spending as much time and money as he saw fit to get things done to his satisfaction. He demanded excellence from everyone working with him, but most of all he demanded it of himself.

* DeletedScene: A scene where The Tramp attempts to retrieve a stick that was stuck in a wall was filmed, but it was removed at Creator/CharlieChaplin's insistence.

* InvisibleAdvertising: According to his autobiography, Creator/CharlieChaplin was angered over United Artists' lack of pre-release publicity and decided to exhibit the picture himself. He spent his own money to rent the George M. Cohan Theater and took out half-page advertisments to publicize the fact.

* TheOtherMarty: Henry Clive was originally cast as the millionaire, but when he refused to fall into the water in a necessary scene, Creator/CharlieChaplin fired him and hired Harry Myers. Some sources say that Clive had a cold at the time and asked Chaplin if they could wait until the sun had warmed the water before getting in. Chaplin responded by promptly replacing him with a new actor.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: For a subplot, Creator/CharlieChaplin first considered a character even lower on the social scale, a black newsboy.

** AFIS100Years100Movies(10thAnniversaryEdition): #11.

** At one point, Virginia Cherrill came back to the set late from an appointment, keeping Creator/CharlieChaplin waiting. Chaplin, whose relationship with Cherrill was not friendly, fired her on the spot. He intended to reshoot the film with Georgia Hale, his heroine from The Gold Rush (1925), playing the flower girl; he even reshot the final scene between the tramp and the flower girl with Hale in the role. However, Chaplin had already spent far too much time and money on the project to start over. Knowing this, Cherrill offered to come back to work - at double her original salary. Chaplin reluctantly agreed and the film was completed.

** AFIS100Years100 Movies(10thAnniversaryEdition): #11.
** AFISTop10Top10: