Page "Charlie Chaplin" Paragraph 44

When filming began at the end of 1928, Chaplin had been working on the story for almost a year.

City Lights followed the Tramp's love for a blind flower girl and his efforts to raise money for her sight-saving operation.

It was a challenging production that lasted 21 months, with Chaplin later confessing that he " had worked himself into a neurotic state of wanting perfection ".

Halfway through filming Chaplin fired his leading lady, Virginia Cherrill, only to ask her back a week later.

One advantage Chaplin found in sound technology was the ability to record a musical score for the film ; he also took the opportunity to mock the talkies, opening City Lights with a squeaky, unintelligible speech that " burlesqued the metallic tones of early talky voices ".