By the end of the 1920s Charlie Chaplin was the most famous person in the world. His films were successful in every continent that had cinemas. He had complete control over the devising, directing and editing of his movies and was free to highlight his talent for mime. The essential ingredient of mime – the one that made his comedy so universally understandable – was, of course, silence. In 1928, however, the year Chaplin started work on his new film “City Lights”, there was a cloud on the horizon. The big success of the year before had been “The Jazz Singer” which demonstrated the popularity of a new technology – film sound. By 1929 8,000 cinemas had been wired for sound. Chaplin realised that this was a threat to his pre-eminence. What would the little tramp’s voice sound like? Chaplin himself had a strong cockney accent. Furthermore, sound would change the nature of film, particularly its pace. Chaplin’s films were masterpieces of rhythm and pace. Dialogue slows action down. How would Chaplin react?

Chaplin stuck to his guns and made “City Lights” into one of his greatest silent movies. It’s success seemed to vindicate Chaplin’s belief that film was essentially a silent medium. You would think  that “City Lights” would reinforce  Chaplin’s absolute self-belief. However, I think it is possible to interpret the film’s final scene as a demonstration of Chaplin’s growing doubts and fears.

In the film Chaplin’s tramp falls for a blind flower-girl and, colluding with a drunk millionaire, pretends that it is he who is her benefactor. In the final scene the tramp encounters her again and places a coin in her hand. She recognises him from this gesture. “You can see now” he asks. “Yes I can see now” she replies. The film ends with a look of terror on the tramp’s face. Will she still love me, now she sees me for the simple tramp that I am. What will she make of the way I look. It does not take a huge leap of imagination to see the girl as the cinema public and the tramp as Chaplin’s silent art form. “You can hear now?” Chaplin seems to be saying. “Yes, we can hear now” comes the reply. Will they still love me, Chaplin is thinking. Now that I do not have the rich trappings of the new technology. And if I did make a “talkie” what would they make of the way I sound. The film was a big success but in 1930 the jury was out. In the film we are left with the look of fear on Chaplin’s face.