YMMV / City Lights

• Award Snub: It didn't receive a single Academy Award nomination, yet it's regarded as one of Charlie Chaplin's greatest works.
• Awesome Music: "La Violetera" is the main theme used as a leitmotif for the blind flower girl, one of the film's central characters. The music was composed by José Padilla in 1914. Lyrics were later written by Eduardo Montesinos and interpreted and popularized by the Spanish singer Raquel Meller. Charlie Chaplin couldn't give Raquel Meller (the original song performer) the lead role in the film, but he used her song anyway as a major theme.
• Ho Yay:
  • From a modern point of view, the Tramp with almost every male character in the movie...
  • Particularly with his second boxing opponent. The Tramp smiles and waves, primping a bit with his hat as the boxer starts to change...the boxer decides to step behind a curtain before taking his pants off.
  • Also very much with the millionaire. When the latter is drunk, he is very physically affectionate with the Tramp, repeatedly hugging and kissing him, and the two even end up waking up in bed next to one another after a night of debauchery. When he's sober, he doesn't recognize (or pretends not to recognize) the Tramp. This behavior is reminiscent of a closeted gay person who is only able to reveal their sexual identity while intoxicated and returns to denying it when they sober up.
• Protection from Editors: Since Charlie Chaplin 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.
• Signature Scene: The final scene where the once blind girl now recognizes her anonymous helper.
• Tear Jerker: That ending. Oh, God, that ending.
• The Woobie: The Tramp and especially The Blind Girl.

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