City Lights (1931), written, directed, and starring Charlie Chaplin as the Tramp, is a silent romantic comedy about a vagabond who falls in love with a blind flower girl and schemes to raise money for her sight-restoring operation — befriending a drunk millionaire who only recognizes him when inebriated.

Why It Matters

• Released three years into the sound era, Chaplin insisted on making a silent film — and was vindicated by its enormous commercial success
• The final scene — in which the newly sighted girl recognizes her benefactor by touch — is considered the greatest ending in cinema history by many critics
• Chaplin composed the entire score himself

Chaplin spent three years on the film, shooting the final scene over 300 times to achieve the perfect combination of recognition, joy, and pathos in Virginia Cherrill's reaction. The result is two minutes of pure cinema that still makes audiences cry 90 years later.

Reference:

Wikipedia: City Lights

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Lights