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Limelight Overview:

Limelight (1952) was a Comedy - Drama Film directed by Charlie Chaplin and produced by Charlie Chaplin.

SYNOPSIS

A winsome fable of music-hall performer Chaplin regaining his love of life after turning a young ballerina (a radiant, 19 year-old Bloom) from suicide. Chaplin and Keaton's only screen appearance together comes in a nostalgic vaudeville skit. Chaplin also wrote the lovely score, for which he earned an Oscar (in 1971!). Chaplin's daughter Geraldine makes her screen debut.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1972 --- Ceremony Number 45 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Music - ScoringCharles Chaplin, Raymond Rasch, Larry Russell Won
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Limelight BlogHub Articles:

Limelight (1952)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Oct 23, 2017 From 4 Star Films

The glamour of limelight, from which age must pass as youth centers  A story of a ballerina and a clown…  In Limelight it quickly becomes evident that Charles Chaplin was well aware of his own legend and how couldn’t he be? For years he had been held in the highest regards, loved by th... Read full article

Limelight (1952)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Oct 23, 2017 From 4 Star Films

The glamour of limelight, from which age must pass as youth centers  A story of a ballerina and a clown…  In Limelight it quickly becomes evident that Charles Chaplin was well aware of his own legend and how couldn’t he be? For years he had been held in the highest regards, loved by th... Read full article

Limelight (1952)

By Beatrice on Sep 11, 2015 From Flickers in Time

Limelight Directed by Charles Chaplin Written by Charles Chaplin 1952/USA Celebrated Productions First viewing/Hulu Plus I want to like the talkie Charles Chaplin more than I do but I just can’t.  This one gets some points for the physical comedy, his little songs, and Buster Keaton. Cal... Read full article

Limelight

By RBuccicone on May 10, 2012 From MacGuffin Movies

Limelight (1953)      Charlie Chaplin‘s was nearing the end of his career when in 1953 he made a drama that could almost be considered semi-autobiographical in nature had the actor’s box office prowess not remained so strong. Limelight is about an aging stage comedian who in 1914 Lon... Read full article

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Limelight Quotes:

Calvero: I'm dying, I should know, I've done it plenty of times before.
Calvero: Time is the best author. It always writes the perfect ending.
Terry: Worms can't smile!
Calvero: Oh, how would you know, have you ever appealed to their sense of humour?
Calvero: There's greatness in everyone.
Calvero: What a day! The sun's shining, the kettle's singing, *and* we've paid the rent. There's going to be an earthquake, I know it, I know it, I know it.
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Limelight Facts
Sydney Chaplin's film debut.
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.
Edna Purviance, Charles Chaplin's favorite co-star from the silent era, makes her final film appearance in a small role. Purviance, who remained close to Chaplin throughout her life, rarely worked in films after the 1920s. Chaplin kept her on his payroll until she died.
Chaplin's theme from "Limelight" was a hit in the 1950s under the title "Eternally."
Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton had an interesting relationship. Long considered rivals but always having avoided commenting about each other in the press, Chaplin hired Keaton for a part in Limelight. Keaton, who was flat broke at the time, went into a career decline after having been signed by MGM in 1928, as the studio would not let him improvise in any of his films nor allow him any writing or directorial input, and he was eventually reduced to writing gags - often uncredited - for other comedians' films. Chaplin, at this point, felt sorry for Keaton due to his hard luck, but Keaton recognized that, despite Charlie's better fortune and far greater wealth, Chaplin was (strangely) the more depressed of the two. In one scene in Limelight, Chaplin's character was dying. While the camera was fading away, Keaton was muttering to Chaplin without moving his lips, "That's it, good, wait, don't move, wait, good, we're through." In his autobiography Keaton called Chaplin "the greatest silent comedian of all time."
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