50 Greatest Movie Scenes Ever

3. The Ending - City Lights

City Lights
United Artists

City Lights is built around a classic romantic comedy conceit. Charlie Chaplin's Tramp meets a blind flower girl on the street, and the two instantly become smitten with one another. The only problem is, The Tramp has been mistaken for a wealthy millionaire, a persona he plays into by stealing a fancy car to drive her home, while also providing the money to have her blindness cured, which gets him arrested.

The final scene takes place months later when the Tramp is released, and he discovers the woman he helped now runs a successful flower shop, and her sight has returned. The two meet, with the Tramp embarrassed that she can finally see him for what he is, worried she'll no longer love him. After a a few, tender close-ups, the woman realises who she's talking to, asking "you?"

There's something so infectiously romantic about the whole interaction, personified by Chaplin's timid, nervous expressions that melt away to pure joy. It's one of the most iconic bits of screen acting, and proved that, while the medium as a whole was moving away from the silent era to talkies, Chaplin could deliver more humanity and emotion without ever having to say a word.

[JB]

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