Fight Clip Club: City Lights

Boxer? I hardly know her…

Continuing with our foray into the realms of comedic fights, I have come to this pinnacle of physical comedy, and one of the finest movies ever made. Big time directors of modern cinema often cite this movie as their favorite, and/or the best film ever made, and it’s hard to argue. It’s a Charlie Chaplin silent offering called City Lights.

Each time I’d be assigned Stage Movement class at MSU Denver, I’d have a clowning unit in the middle of the semester. The big assignment for that unit was something I called ‘Clownlympics,’ which basically consisted of small student groups composing a clown bit that was a sporting event. To help them in their composition and choreography, I’d of course show them many examples from great clowns before them. This boxing match was always one of those examples. Hey, give them the highest level work to aspire to and they’ll reach for those heights, know what I mean?

This scene is brilliantly and intricately choreographed, so much so that I often equate it to a complex piece of classical music, like a symphony. But let’s go ahead and watch it first, before I get all analytical on it, shall we? Strap on your huge 1930s boxing gloves, and let’s go.