{"id":9828,"date":"2010-11-15T19:53:01","date_gmt":"2010-11-15T19:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=9828"},"modified":"2010-11-15T19:53:01","modified_gmt":"2010-11-15T19:53:01","slug":"blu-ray-charlie-chaplin-classics-the-circus-city-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2010\/11\/15\/blu-ray-charlie-chaplin-classics-the-circus-city-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray: Charlie Chaplin Classics"},"content":{"rendered":"
Two of Charlie Chaplin’s classic films, The Circus<\/a><\/strong> (1928) and City Lights<\/a><\/strong> (1931), are out on Blu-ray this week in dual format editions with a DVD included on each.<\/p>\n Whilst not amongst finest work, there is still a lot to appreciate with Chaplin playing his traditional “Little Tramp” role, who ends up joining a failing circus after being on the run from the law.<\/p>\n Through a series of coincidences he unwittingly becomes the star of the show and falls in love with a pretty tightrope walker (Merna Kennedy).<\/p>\n Although it doesn’t have quite the spark or polish of his best work, The Circus contains some memorable sequences including a Hall of Mirrors, Chaplin trapped in a lion’s cage and him running along a tightrope with his trousers falling down.<\/p>\n The extras on this Blu-ray include:<\/p>\n Chaplin was already into production when the talkie revolution was taking over Hollywood and he faced a tricky decision to complete the film as a silent, except for a musical score and occasional sound effects.<\/p>\n Returning as his Little Tramp figure, Chaplin falls for a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) and through a series of coincidences befriends a genuine millionaire (Harry Myers).<\/p>\n Arguably his best film, it works as a love stroy and an extended social satire, lampooning the hypocrisy and arrogance of “polite society” and their cruelty to those less fortunate than them.<\/p>\n Striking a deep chord with audiences during the Great Depression<\/a>, it was Orson Welles<\/a>‘ favourite film and its fans included such filmmaking luminaries as\u00a0Stanley Kubrick<\/a> and\u00a0Andrei Tarkovsky<\/a>.<\/p>\n The extras include:<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/a>The Circus<\/strong> has long been overshadowed by being sandwiched in between two of his most famous films, The Gold Rush (1925) and City Lights (1931).<\/p>\n
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<\/a>City Lights<\/strong> is a superior film and arguably one of the key works in the history of early cinema.<\/p>\n
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