Limelight (1952)
Charlie Chaplin is enjoyable because he is a talented physical comedian but what really has made him my favorite of the silent era comedians is the heart he brings to his stories. Give it to a good socialist to make films appreciating the plight of the down and out (and to a good socialist for appreciating those stories). Limelight would fall in the middle of the pack among Chaplin's features for me, but in many ways it boosts his credibility because it shows a bit more variety. While he still does quite a bit with his body, he generates a lot of comedy here out of the writing as well. His character, Calvero, may be a meta-evolution of The Tramp, but in not having that character's aloof nature, it brings an extra level of soulfulness.
The stage is set as Calvero, a vaudeville clown/comic past his prime, rescues Thereza (Claire Bloom), a sickly dancer who seems to have attempted suicide and ends up stuck with her in his apartment while she recovers. In this time he acts as a mentor and almost spiritual advisor to get her back on track in show business, though she is often just as much as a force in encouraging him. Given Chaplin's own history, I was pondering whether this would turn into a May-December situation and while it doesn't avoid overtures in that direction completely, it is more graceful about it than many films, even throwing in an oblique reference to impotence to reduce the potential for that interpretation.
This isn't something that had a profound emotional effect on me but it was enjoyable and sensitive. It feels a bit padded at over two hours, full with enough scenes of his performances as well as Thereza's dancing, though both are done at a high enough quality to not completely throw off the pacing. At this point Monsieur Verdoux is the main remaining gap in my Chaplin education.
3.5/5