{"id":43135,"date":"2019-03-20T08:29:51","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T15:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43135"},"modified":"2020-11-28T10:58:28","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T17:58:28","slug":"limelight-1952","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43135","title":{"rendered":"Limelight (1952)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Life is a desire, not a meaning.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-43136\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Poster.jpg 666w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn 1914 London, a washed-up, alcoholic clown (Charlie Chaplin) saves a despondent young ballerina (Claire Bloom) from killing herself, and she soon falls in love with him. As Bloom&#8217;s career begins to take off, Chaplin&#8217;s fails to resuscitate; meanwhile, Bloom insists she wants to marry Chaplin rather than accept the advances of a handsome young composer (Sydney Chaplin).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alcoholism and Drug Addiction<\/li>\n<li>Ballet<\/li>\n<li>Charlie Chaplin Films<\/li>\n<li>Claire Bloom Films<\/li>\n<li>Clowns<\/li>\n<li>Do-Gooders<\/li>\n<li>Has-Beens<\/li>\n<li>May-December Romance<\/li>\n<li>Suicide<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this late-career Chaplin film about a once-famous clown named Calvero who &#8220;inspires [a suicidal ballerina] to take a more optimistic view of life&#8221; is hurt by the fact that Chaplin clearly &#8220;craves sympathy&#8221;: his &#8220;Calvero (Chaplin&#8217;s surrogate) is a martyr whose vast talents are ignored by producers and the public, and who doesn&#8217;t realize (as Bloom and we do) what an altruistic, selfless human being he is.&#8221; Peary adds that &#8220;Bloom is an appealing lead, gorgeous (what a smile), tender, talented&#8221;, and that &#8220;Chaplin does some impressive comedy stage routines&#8221;. However, this well-meaning film is flawed in numerous ways: by dated Freudian psychology (Bloom is convinced she can&#8217;t even walk, let alone dance, until Calvero becomes her savior merely through encouragement); an overly leisurely screenplay that runs about an hour too long; and a melodramatic ending hyper-focused on Calvero&#8217;s martyrdom. Buster Keaton arrives near the end to co-star with Calvero but isn&#8217;t given sufficient focus or due. It&#8217;s also not clear why audience members are suddenly so uproariously engaged by Calvero&#8217;s routines during a final revival (unlike during previous performences)&#8211; is this meant to indicate Calvero&#8217;s fantasy during his final moments? <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Claire Bloom as Terry<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Bloom.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Bloom.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43137\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Bloom.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Bloom-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Bloom-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Charlie Chaplin as Calvero<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Chaplin.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Chaplin.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Chaplin.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Chaplin-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Chaplin-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-43140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Cinematography2.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Cinematography2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Limelight-Cinematography2-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though of course Chaplin fans will want to check it out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0044837\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1952\/10\/24\/archives\/the-screen-chaplins-limelight-opens-charlie-chaplin-in-limelight.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.combustiblecelluloid.com\/classic\/limelight.shtml\">Combustible Celluloid Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/81444\/limelight#articles-reviews?articleId=29953\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/review\/3307\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Life is a desire, not a meaning.&#8221; Synopsis: In 1914 London, a washed-up, alcoholic clown (Charlie Chaplin) saves a despondent young ballerina (Claire Bloom) from killing herself, and she soon falls in love with him. As Bloom&#8217;s career begins to take off, Chaplin&#8217;s fails to resuscitate; meanwhile, Bloom insists she wants to marry Chaplin rather than accept the advances of a handsome young composer (Sydney Chaplin). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Ballet Charlie Chaplin Films Claire&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43135\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43135"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55490,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43135\/revisions\/55490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}