Theatre in Film Series: Limelight (1952)

Written by Ashleigh Gardner

May 10, 2016


I’ve been in love with theatre for my entire life, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I began to truly appreciate film as its own art form. This series features films that display theatre and the lives of actors, directors, writers, and dancers who inhabit the stage. So if you’re itching to watch a film that knows your life in theatre, check out Limelight, our fifth film, featured below.


Limelight (1952)


Director: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Sydney Earl Chaplin, and Buster Keaton


What happens:

Fillmed in 1952 but set in 1914, a drunken former clown, Calvero (Charlie Chaplin), finds a young ballerina, Thereza (Claire Bloom), after she has attempted suicide. As she regains her health, they room together. Over a few years, Calvero and Thereza find encouragement, support, and love in their friendship. They book a gig together and work closely until Calvero leaves after a misunderstanding between him and the show’s producer. Years later, during a benefit performance for him, Calvero suffers a heart attack during his final routine, and as Thereza takes the stage to perform her signature piece, Calvero dies while watching her from the wings.


Why it matters:

Going into this film, I thought it would be a much lighter affair. Charlie Chaplin is, of course, the most famous clown of the twentieth century next to his rival, Buster Keaton (also featured in this film). However, this film is autobiographical rather than purely fiction, and it’s more drama than comedy.

At the time of its release, Chaplin was being denied entry into the US on grounds that he was suspected of being a communist sympathizer (see McCarthyism and its relationship to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible for further reading on this subject). Interestingly, this is the only film in which Chaplin works alongside his American rival, Buster Keaton. (Their two-man bit at Calvero’s benefit performance is one of the best scenes in the film.) Under Calvero’s gilded, happy veneer lay a miserable and melancholy tinge of regret, which is amplified next to Thereza’s growing positivity and sincere motivational monologues. Of course, Chaplin includes his famous physical comedy in humorous sketches (largely featured in Calvero’s dream sequences), but there are also moments of intense sadness, particularly after Thereza and other members of the theatre leave, shutting off the lights and forgetting that Calvero sits there, alone, in the darkness.

In terms of this film’s relationship to the theatre, it does a wonderful job of illustrating how much artists, especially performers, care about their fellow theatre-kin. Calvero’s dedication to Thereza during the days when she is suicidal is touching and inspirational. And her endless encouragement when he cannot find work parallels the push we give our own friends after they’ve bombed an audition. The give and take between Calvero and Thereza stands as a testament to the love freely shared between friends in the theatre.


This film is featured in Part I of “Theatre in Film”. See below for the others in Part I.

Want to start Part II of “Theatre in Film”? Check out The Band Wagon (1953).

*Banner image from Limelight. Copyright © 1952 United Artists.

Ashleigh Gardner received her AA in Theatre/Drama/Dramatic Arts from Valencia College and her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright and an actor.