Charles Chaplin’s 1952 film, Limelight, is his last significant work and a personal film, in text (message) and subtext (meaning).
Chaplin’s follow-up film, King in New York, made in 1957 in England, is much weaker.
The movie is set in London in 1914, on the eve of World War I, and the year Chaplin made his first film.
Overlong, visually flat, and too verbose, Limelight tells a sentimental story between an alcoholic has-been musichall comedian named Calvero (Chaplin) and a lovely young ballerina (the beautiful Claire Bloom), who he rescues from suicide.
He nurses her back to health, and when she finds work as a dancer, and she remembers his goodness and reciprocates by getting him a job with the company.
However, later on, Calvero disappears, realizing that her devotion to him endangers her chances to be happily married to a younger, more suitable man. In the end, he suffers a heart attack and dies, while watching from the wings his beloved ballerina dancing.
The narrative is messy, a result of poor, episodic construction, but it contains many lyrical and funny moments.
On one level, it’s a personal film, sort of an autobiographical fantasy-nightmare, with its focus on an aging vaudeville clown, Calvero, not unlike Chaplin at the time.
Among many merits, it’s the only time that Chaplin teams with his brilliant contemporary and rival, Buster Keaton, who appears as an old crony in a lovely homage
The final, eloquent shot is extremely touching, conveying the transcendence of genuine art, theme that Chaplin was concerned with in this and other films.
Plot
Calvero, once a famous stage clown but now a washed-up drunk, saves a young dancer, Thereza “Terry” Ambrose, (Claire Bloom), from suicide. Nursing her back to health, Calvero helps Terry regain her self-esteem and resume her dancing career. In the process, he regains his own self-confidence, but his attempts to make a comeback meet with failure.
Terry says she wants to marry Calvero despite their age difference. Meanwhile, Terrys has befriended Neville (Sydney Earl Chaplin), a young composer Calvero believes would be more suitable for her. In order to give them a chance, Calvero leaves home and becomes a street entertainer.
Terry, now starring in her own show, eventually finds Calvero and persuades him to return to the stage for a benefit concert. Reunited with an old partner (Buster Keaton), Calvero gives a triumphant comeback performance. He suffers a heart attack during a routine, however, and dies in the wings while watching Terry performing a solo dance on stage.
Cast
Charlie Chaplin as Calvero
Claire Bloom as Terry
Nigel Bruce as Postant
Buster Keaton as Calvero’s partner
Sydney Earl Chaplin as Neville
Norman Lloyd as Bodalink
André Eglevsky as Ballet Dancer
Marjorie Bennett as Mrs. Alsop
Wheeler Dryden as Therezas doctor
Melissa Hayden as Terry’s dance double
Geraldine Chaplin as Little Girl in Opening Scene
Josephine Chaplin as Child in Opening Scene
Charles Chaplin, Jr. as Clown
Snub Pollard as Street Musician
Michael Chaplin as Child in Opening Scene
Oona O’Neill as Extra
Oscar Nomination: 1
Original Dramatic Score: Chaplin, Ratmond Rusch and Larry Russell.
Oscar Awards: 1
Dramatic Score.