Abstract

In the words of film critic Roger Ebert, "The last scene of City Lights is justly famous as one of the great emotional moments in the movies."1 What accounts for its success? In the course of what follows I will suggest that a pair of structural elements—reversal and recognition, first described by Aristotle—underlie the scene, and account in large measure for its emotive power.The scene is available for viewing on the internet by searching on "City Lights last scene." For those who have not seen the film, I offer the following recap.The Little Tramp falls in love with a blind flower girl, who mistakenly believes he's rich. He also becomes entangled with an...