Limelight (Charles Chaplin, 1952) Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Nigel Bruce, Buster Keaton, Sydney Chaplin; A fading comedian and a suicidally despondent ballet dancer must look to each other to find meaning and hope in their lives.
I’d never seen Limelight (Charles Chaplin, 1952): all I knew was that CC wrote the theme song. For a film with one of the greatest stars of the silents, there’s a helluva lot of talking.
I didn’t know Buster Keaton was in it: that literally made me sit up. Believe it or not, I think I recognised him by his voice!
I dunno what I expected (D.W. Griffith, perhaps) but this was nothing remotely like it. I don’t think I like it. It’s an conviction-less melodrama with a creepy old-man-young-woman subtext – what we now may think of as the Woody Allen Syndrome.
Garry Gillard | reviews | New: 18 March, 2017 | Now: 21 June, 2022