Limelight's Jubilee
On October 16, 1952, Charles Chaplin's film "Limelight" premiered in London. In this movie, Chaplin acted in several guises: scriptwriter, producer, director, composer, leading actor, and even partly choreographer.
The prototype of the main character of the picture was, firstly, Charlie Chaplin himself, and secondly, his father, Charles Chaplin Sr. Many of the film's events are drawn from the personal lives of the Chaplin father and son. The script of the film was created over two and a half years and was actually a whole semi-autobiographical novel.
The film was originally conceived by Chaplin as very personal, one might say confessional. That is why Chaplin attracted many members of his family to shoot this film: five children and a half-brother. Before filming began, he announced to them that this would be his last film. In fact, it turned out that this was not the case. After "Limelight" Chaplin made two more full-length feature films. But if we talk about films that are among the masterpieces, "Limelight" really turned out to be the last.
And in another respect, "Limelight" was Chaplin's last film - the last made in the USA. While Charles Chaplin was presenting his film in London, Edgar Hoover canceled his entry visa. As you know, Chaplin repeatedly refused to apply for American citizenship. This was taken advantage of by his detractors. The official wording of the reasons for the annulment of the visa sounded like this: "making statements that would indicate a leering, sneering attitude toward a country whose hospitality has enriched him." Although it was clear to everyone that the real reason was Chaplin's anti-Nazi activities and his struggle to open a second front during World War II.
A week after the London premiere, Charles Chaplin's "Limelight" was shown in two theaters in New York, and two weeks later - in one theater in San Francisco. And that's it. No, Chaplin's film was not banned in the USA. Democracy, after all. Just the so-called American Legion - an organization of American combat veterans created after the end of World War I by members of the American Expeditionary Force - announced that they would picket the film anywhere. And the US authorities did not react to this in any way. Again - the highest manifestation of democracy. As a result, Charles Chaplin's film "Limelight" was released to wide release in the USA only 20 years later - in 1972. However, in the cinemas of the USSR, this film by Charlie Chaplin also appeared only in the late 70s.
We must pay tribute to The New York Times film reviewer Bosley Crowther, who, despite the obstruction arranged by the American authorities for Charlie Chaplin and his creation, devoted a rather laudatory review to the film, published on October 24, 1952, without failing, however, to fire several stinging arrows at the film .
"Neither comedy nor tragedy altogether, it is a brilliant weaving of comic and tragic strands, eloquent, tearful and beguiling with supreme virtuosity. ... all the poignancy of the intimate scenes, the hilarity of the comic outbursts and the vitality and grace of the ballets—the essential expression of all the pathos of loneliness and age is in those eyes. ... in the final analysis, is the main thing that comes through in the film—an appreciation of the courage and the gallantry of an aging man. There is no social issue in "Limelight," no basic conflict to compare with those in some of Chaplin's earlier pictures, such as the "little man" against a mechanical world. The fate that confronts the aging comic is a natural inevitability. ..."Limelight" is not a great film. It is a genial and tender entertainment and a display of audacity and pride. There are those who will easily read into it a veiled biography of Mr. Chaplin himself, not to mention a pretty full expression of his personal philosophies. There may be some justification for this. One tangible weakness of the film is the garrulous discussion of human foibles and paradoxes that Mr. Chaplin permits himself.But, within the two hours and fifteen minutes that the picture eventually runs, he also gives a full measure of inspired Chaplin comedy."
If the American audience was actually deprived of the opportunity to see this Chaplin film for a long time, then in the cinemas of European countries the film "Limelight" was shown quite widely and enjoyed great popularity. For example, in France in the first year it was watched by more than 6 million moviegoers, or almost 15% of the country's population. As a result, the box office of Chaplin's film outside the United States amounted to more than $ 7 million, which is almost 8 times higher than the cost of its production.
In 1953, Charles Chaplin's "Limelight" was nominated for the British BAFTA Award in the category of Best Film from any Source. But this British award by the decision of the British Film Academy went to the British film "The Sound Barrier" by David Lean. Although, the film "The Sound Barrier" was declared the winner in the Best British Film category. Well, a kind of "consolation" for Chaplin's picture was a more than worthy company of relative "losers": "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Elia Kazan, "Rashômon 羅生門" by Akira Kurosawa, "Los olvidados" by Luis Buñuel, "Miracolo a Milano (Miracle in Milan)" by Vittorio De Sica, "Singing in the Rain" by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, etc.
In 1973, after Charles Chaplin's film "Limelight" was finally released in the US, he got into the Oscar program. But the American film academies gave the film only one nomination - Best Music, Original Dramatic Score. And Charlie Chaplin, along with Ray Rasch, who helped Chaplin, who had no musical education, to record music composed by the great director, and Larry Russell, the arranger of this music, won this nomination.
In 1972, Roger Ebert dedicated his review of Charles Chaplin's Limelight. He rated the film 3.5 stars out of a maximum of four and wrote in his review:
"Although it was not quite his last film, there can be little doubt that “Limelight” was Charlie Chaplin’s farewell. It is also probably his most personal, revealing film... His personal life bad been plagued by lawsuits and witch hunts, and it is sad to say that when “Limelight” opened in American theaters is was actually picketed by those who thought Chaplin was a Communist, or at least some sneaky kind of pinko. He never had anything to do with any political party, of course, and in its own way “Limelight” considers what must have really been on Chaplin’s mind in 1952. He had been, at one time not so many years before, the world’s most popular entertainer. It was said that the Little Tramp was the most familiar character ever invented. But now all that was behind him....If “Limelight” as a whole is Chaplin’s farewell, then that final vaudeville act is surely his farewell to slapstick. It is a perfect, hilarious gem."
Despite the fact that several decades have passed since the release of Charles Chaplin's film "Limelight", modern moviegoers continue to rate it very highly. 71% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users rated the film from 8 to 10. And 21% of users rated the film with a maximum of 10 points. Taking into account this indicator and the above, the rating of Charles Chaplin's film "Limelight" according to FilmGourmand was 8,285, which allowed it to take 421st Rank in the Golden Thousand.
