Limelight (1952)

Celebrated Films Corp./United Artists
Director: Charles Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Claire Bloom

Honors:
Academy Award for Best Score (1972)

A film Charlie Chaplin produced as a nostalgic look at the industry he grew up in, Limelight would be known for being the feature that won the filmmaker his only competitive Academy Award. As tribute it also captures the only time Chaplin performed alongside fellow silent era funnyman and perceived rival Buster Keaton. Sadly, the picture would also be infamous for Chaplin’s banishment from the United States, capturing how wrongfully shunned by an industry he once dearly loved. The somber tale portrayed on screen belays a far sadder tale off screen, for this movie, produced out of passion, was banned stateside for years while its creator was exiled from his adopted home. It would take a later generation of Hollywood to publicly embrace the film and its famed auteur once again.

 

Limelight is a comedic drama about a broken-down comedian who sacrifices for the carrier of a young, rising dancer. In 1914 London, a drunk, out of work, aging clown, Calvero (Chaplin) saves “Terry” (Claire Bloom), a down-on-her-luck ballerina, from a suicide attempt. He takes her in to his home, nurses her back to health, and instills in her with confidence, a trait he has been losing, to achieve her performing dreams on the famed London stage. Through the trials Terry falls in love with her caring savior Calvero, but in effort to do what is beloved best by not holding back her career, the aging comedian leaves the young rising starlet. Sometime later, Calvero reconnects with Terry who invites the clown to perform in a benefit revue where he is able to relive the accolades of an adoring audience, only to suffer a heart attack off stage, passing away while watching his beloved Terry dance from the wings.

 

A mixed bag of a motion picture, Limelight contains the heart and passion of production and performance admired from Chaplin’s body of work. However, the oversentimentality longwindedness of the picture tends to bog down the production, making it clear that the once legendary filmmaker was not quite in step with cinema as he once was, and perhaps the film could use a little tightening. An obvious love letter to entertainment of the early 20^th century for which he grew up in, the picture comes away with a touch of autobiographical sentimentality, inspired by moments he may have observed or experienced in his early years of life and casting himself as character encapsulating those he once admired. However, the films slow pace and inability to unnecessary moments creates a picture that drags as it served more the creator rather than the audience. In the end, it is the backstory of film and filmmaker following its release that made Limelight the interesting subject it is in history, a swan song of sorts for its creator, while also being the subject of one of Hollywood infamous unspoken apologies years later.

 

In the five years since Chaplin released Monsieur Verdoux (1947) and it was clear he was no longer the man once fulfilled by filmmaking back in the silent era. Having evolved into a stubborn maverick that creative twisted his ways through early talking features, he was a silent star that found his voice in sound era through making content with progressive messages that proved to not always be popular in what was a relatively conservative industry at the time. Limelight‘s concept which focused about a washed-up comedian/clown sacrificing his modest being for the sake of someone younger and more elegant than he was perceived sparked his every creative being. Spending over two and a half years working out the script, he obsessed over the story and its characters, even penning comprehensive backstory for the two main players envisioning their tales could be published as companion novels to the film he was composing. Taking elements of his own life, as well as memories of his parents and other entertainers he knew from days on the stage, the story became an outlet that allowed him to reminisce and restructure the joys and struggles of early 20^th century entertainers. The nostalgia rejuvenated a Chaplin who had been long separated from his success under the tramp persona, exhilarated with the idea to reenact and share it with others. The film was truly a work of his heart.

 

Claire Bloom recalled how Chaplin from the moments meeting him, through auditioning, and into production, he would constantly reference moments of his life to be evoked what the ideas and feeling he hoped to achieve within the picture. Recommended to Chaplin from her London stage work, the 20 year-old Bloom was the latest young beauty as the object of his character’s affection. Fortunately, unlike he had done decades before, Chaplin was a different man than he once was, happily married and three times her age, making this a time where he would not use a film to woo and marry his leading actress. Bloom’s performance would only provide for the dramatic aspect of the picture as was no ballerina and was doubled for in the dancing sequences. This limitation unfortunately leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth when compared to other movie musicals that share stars that can both act and dance while here Chaplin chooses to utilize the old movie trick of the actress in close up and doubles for full body dancing shots.

 

Limelight was somewhat a family project for the old Tramp as he included many of own children is roles, including his three youngest (including Geraldine Chaplin) in the picture’s opening scene, while Sydney Chaplin portrays a love interest for Terry, young music composer she admired before meeting Calvero. Perhaps he was hoping to get his children into the industry, get them some work, or just wanted to include his family in his movies, but the appearance of his children in the picture a bit shoehorned, albeit gesture of kindness for his family.

 

References to Chaplin’s famed Tramp character are clearly present in the feature with Calvero’s stage performances, which mimic or recreate acts akin to what he had performed or experienced in his old vaudeville days, giving us a glimpse of the star in his most comfortable environment and in full sound. As a special treat we get to experience a segment with Chaplin performing alongside Buster Keaton, the only time this would ever occur. Once perceived as silent comedy rivals, the two were never shared any animosity towards each other in their heydays, but rather they were two creatives producing their own material. Keaton experience a far more challenging time with his career and personal choices, leaving him down on his luck. Having heard of Keaton’s financial troubles Chaplin invited “Old Stoneface” to play a role to him out. The result is a gift for those who were fans of the two men from the peak of silent comedies championed by these once titans of the silver screen. It may be brief and the two do little actual interacting, but it is a wonderful touch for the picture.

 

Like many of his recent films, Charlie Chaplin did everything for his production. From writing, directing, editing, to even composing the music, he was in control of every aspect of his feature. An eccentric creative mind that plotted over and over his work, Chaplin rethought and revised every word, movement, and note until he was pleased with the product. His family recalled how he was like a lunatic when it came to creating, but everything he did for Limelight made him happy and enthusiastic as it was not just a movie, but a story close to his soul.

 

Limelight premiered in New York City in late October 1952, but when Charlie Chaplin flew to Britain to promote the picture the US government and FBI having long considered him dangerous as a possible socialist sympathizer, formally rejected his return visa, essentially banning him from the US. Heartbroken to be shunned by his adopted home and an industry he helped deliver to prominence Chaplin would choose to reside in Switzerland, never to return to his Hollywood studio or residence. Because of the filmmaker’s sanction Limelight was pulled by theater owners and unofficially banning it in America for the foreseeable future.

 

It was not until 1972 when Limelight received as nationwide release in America and which therefore qualified it for Academy Award consideration. Recognized the disservice Hollywood and the United States government did to Charlie Chaplin this new Hollywood generation recognized the brilliance of the man by honoring him with a Oscar for his score. This win would represent far more than the man writing music, but the appreciation of a creative genius of his age. Chaplin would finally make visit to United States to accept his award, establishing one of the ceremony’s most heart touching moments as he received a lengthy standing ovation by a warm audience upon his acceptance.

 

In the end Limelight made over $8 million from its 1952 original run and 1972 American release. Critical acclaim was primarily positive following the 1972 run which was most likely the result from the resurgence of Chaplin praise. However, observing deeper critical notes are more mixed with critiques towards the film’s lengthy run time and Chaplin heavy wordy script which feels composed more in the manner of a novel than listening to movie dialogue.

 

Standing alone Limelight is not the most entertaining or touching picture. Appreciation comes to Limelight more form understanding the background and backstory for Charlie Chaplin and the events surrounding the picture. When one seeks out a Chaplin picture this one may be one of the least likely to grasp for, but it does contain the same heart, only it is more sentimental, nostalgic, and dramatic than the humor that established him as a star.