Emma Stone’s favourite movie of all time and the scene that changed her life
Having starred in movies such as Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Friends with Benefits, Crazy Stupid Love, Magic in the Moonlight, Aloha, and La La Land, to name but a small few, Emma Stone is exceedingly familiar with the romantic comedy and its many forms.
However, while the Academy Award winner’s favourite movie of all time understandably resides within the genre, it doesn’t fall into the same category as any of the films listed above. Instead, Stone holds Charlie Chaplin’s 1931 classic Silent Nights in the highest regard, with the ending in particular leaving her as an emotional wreck every time.
When cornered by Letterboxd and asked to name her four contenders on the spot, Stone panicked, but not before wasting almost no time at all in making it clear that “City Lights is my favourite movie,” prior to being overcome with pressure: “No. I won’t do this. I won’t.”
Not that she needed to remind anyone of her undying love for what’s regarded by many as Chaplin’s masterpiece, with Stone previously naming it to Entertainment Weekly as the movie she’s always telling people to see: “You’ve got to see City Lights. It’s my favourite movie of all time. The last five minutes of that movie will change your life. It changed mine,” she said. “I realised where every romantic comedy comes from – what everyone is trying to achieve. It’s the most romantic, touching… If I think about it too long, I’ll cry. It’s just so simple.”
Written, directed, produced by, and starring Chaplin, City Lights chronicles the bizarre adventures of The Tramp as he falls in love with a blind flower girl and takes it upon himself to gather enough resources in order to ensure that no harm comes to her. Discovering that the girl and her grandmother are about to be evicted, he sets out to try and earn them the money they need to survive, experiencing nothing but failure along the way, at least until he saves the life of a wealthy drunkard.
While doing so, he ends up befriending an alcoholic millionaire who only recognises him when he is drunk. However, he is eventually arrested by the police for a crime he never committed. The final scene of the film is definitely one of the greatest ending scenes in cinematic history.
Expanding on the power of its ending, Stone explained the impact City Lights has on her every time she sees it to Interview: “I just watch the ending of that movie alone on YouTube and cry. I think any even mediocre movie can be saved by a great ending. And vice versa. A great movie with the wrong ending can just tank the whole thing… It’s the most beautiful thing.”
Even if Stone found herself unable to name four features off the top of her head that made her all-time cut, the fact it took roughly a millisecond for City Lights to be anointed as the indisputable head of the pack makes it perfectly clear just how devoted she is to Chaplin’s emotionally-powerful classic.
