Limelight (1952 film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Limelight is a 1952 comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. Unlike his earlier films, the score was composed by Chaplin and arranged by Ray Rasch, marking this as the first film that he did not musically arrange.
The film stars Chaplin as a washed-up comedian who saves a suicidal dancer from killing herself, played by Claire Bloom, and both try to get through life; additional roles are provided by Nigel Bruce, Sydney Chaplin as Sydney Earl Chaplin, Wheeler Dryden, and Norman Lloyd with an appearance from Buster Keaton. In dance scenes, Bloom is doubled by Melissa Hayden.
Upon the film's release, critics' reception was divided; it was heavily boycotted in the United States, and commercially failed. However, the film was re-released in the United States in 1972 which included its first screening in Los Angeles. This allowed the decades-old film to be in contention for the 45th Academy Awards where Chaplin won his only competitive Academy Award. Today, the film is sometimes regarded as one of Chaplin's best and most personal works, and has since attained a cult following.
