Limelight (1952)

A fading comedian and a suicidally despondent ballet dancer must look to each other to find meaning and hope in their lives.

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writers:

Charles Chaplin (original story by), Charles Chaplin (screenplay by)

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Nigel Bruce

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charles Chaplin	...	Calvero
Claire Bloom	...	Thereza
Nigel Bruce	...	Postant
Buster Keaton	...	Calvero's Partner
Sydney Chaplin	...	Neville
Norman Lloyd	...	Bodalink
Andre Eglevsky	...	Dancer
Melissa Hayden	...	Dancer: Columbine
Marjorie Bennett	...	Mrs. Alsop
Wheeler Dryden	...	Thereza's Doctor
Barry Bernard	...	John Redfern
Stapleton Kent	...	Claudius
Molly Glessing	...	Maid (as Mollie Glessing)
Leonard Mudie	...	Calvero's Doctor (as Leonard Mudi)
Loyal Underwood	...	Street Musician

Storyline

Chaplin's final American film tells the story of a fading music hall comedian's effort to help a despondent ballet dancer learn both to walk and feel confident about life again. The highlight of the film is the classic duet with Chaplin's only real artistic film comedy rival, Buster Keaton.

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Plot Keywords:

dancer | ballet dancer | ballet | love | legs | 

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Taglines:

It will move you to love, laughter and tears

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1952 (France)

Also Known As:

Candilejas

Filming Locations:

RKO-Pathé Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,000,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Celebrated Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min 141 min (initial release) 147 min (London premiere)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charles Chaplin, Ray Rasch and Larry Russell won the Oscar for Best Original Score for this film, but it was the Oscar for films released in 1972. The picture had never played in a Los Angeles-area cinema during the intervening 20 years and was not eligible for Oscar consideration until it did.

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Goofs

When Calvero returns after his failure to revive his career at the Middlesex Music Hall, the clock on the mantelpiece behind Thereza jumps back and forth 45 minutes.

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Quotes

Calvero: Life can be wonderful if you're not afraid of it.

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Crazy Credits

"The glamour of limelight, from which age must pass as youth enters."

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Connections

Featured in The 44th Annual Academy Awards (1972)

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Soundtracks

Spring Is Here
(1952) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Charles Chaplin
Performed by Charles Chaplin

User Reviews

Perfect. Brilliant. Tocuhing. Chaplin

All the terrible facts in his life during the 1940s made Chaplin realize he was a lucky artist, having for almost 3 decades both critics recognition as well as worldwide fame. His personal problems originated by his marriage with young Oona, added to the hate generated in the United States from the brilliant, anti-capitalism movie "Monsieur Verdoux" left him in a very dramatic situation, that made him look back at the past, only to realize how the art he made better was changing... characters, themes, directors and actors were now different. His eternal black and white pantomime was at the moment "useless", and colored motion pictures were appearing...

"Limelight" is the bittersweet movie that narrates the impossible love story between Calvero, the fading comedian, and Terry, the suicidal Dancer. Perhaps his final masterpiece, Limelight earns recognition and admiration for its philosophical thoughts about life, love, and the mix of comedy and drama. Considered as his will to artists and his homage to his three loves: London, arts and women, the movie reflects Chaplin's worries about his audience, his marriage, society. Almost every aspect of Chaplin's life is represented in this motion picture. Just the tittle evokes his theatrical debut, in the late XIXth Century, Calvero is just a variation of Chaplin's eternal character, The Little Tramp, the story of Therry is the same as his mother (her sister also prostituted to make a living), and it goes on...

There will be no movie that'll make me laugh and cry as much as Limelight. I consider it as the last Chaplin film. Enjoy the gag between Chaplin and Buster Keaton, long-time rival in the silent-film era, and the marvelous original score composed by Chaplin himself.

Limelight is a perfect, brilliant, touching movie that'll make you know the person that hid 30 years under the Little Tramp character: a great artist and unique man called Charles Spencer Chaplin.