{"id":349,"date":"2016-05-12T18:32:32","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T18:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mgs.performerstuff.com\/?p=349"},"modified":"2020-03-21T03:07:40","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T03:07:40","slug":"theatre-in-film-limelight-1952","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-limelight-1952\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre in Film Series: Limelight (1952)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><div align=\"center\"><div class=\"imageframe-align-center\"><span class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-1 hover-type-none\"> <img src=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/banner_limelight.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-responsive\"\/><\/span><\/div><\/div><h3>Theatre in Film\u00a0Series:\u00a0<i>Limelight<\/i>\u00a0(1952)<\/h3>\n<hr><font size=\"2\" color=\"grey\"><span style=\"border:1px solid ;-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;-moz-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);-webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\" class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-glow imageframe-2 hover-type-none\"><a class=\"fusion-no-lightbox\" href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\" target=\"_self\"> <img src=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/12710766_10205760398984857_7629319873256247331_o-e1459537652369.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-responsive\" style=\"-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;\"\/><\/a><\/span><p>Written by Ashleigh Gardner<\/p>\n<p>May 10, 2016<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/font>\r\n<br>\r\n<div style=\"margin-left:36pt;text-align:left\"><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019ve been in love with theatre for my entire life, but it wasn\u2019t 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.\u00a0So if you\u2019re itching to watch a film that knows\u00a0<\/span><i>your\u00a0<\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">life in theatre, check out\u00a0<em>Limelight<\/em><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i>,\u00a0<\/i>our fifth\u00a0film, featured below.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><br><h4><i>Limelight<\/i>\u00a0(1952)<\/h4>\n<div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K_cNIx5CrhA?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><br><p><b>Director:\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Charlie Chaplin<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Starring:\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Charlie Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Sydney Earl Chaplin, and Buster Keaton<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<br><h4>What\u00a0happens:<\/h4>\n<p>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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<br><h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why it matters:<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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\u2019s more drama than comedy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/McCarthyism\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><u>McCarthyism<\/u><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0and its relationship to\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Crucible\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arthur Miller\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Crucible<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0for 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&#8217;s benefit performance\u00a0is one of the best scenes in the film.) Under Calvero\u2019s gilded, happy\u00a0veneer lay a miserable and melancholy tinge of regret, which is amplified next to Thereza\u2019s growing positivity and sincere motivational monologues. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, Chaplin includes his famous physical comedy in humorous sketches (largely featured in Calvero\u2019s 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. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In terms of this film\u2019s relationship to the theatre, it does a wonderful job of illustrating how much artists, especially performers, care about their fellow theatre-kin. Calvero\u2019s dedication to Thereza during the days when she is suicidal is touching and inspirational. And her endless encouragement\u00a0when he cannot find work parallels the push we give our own friends after they\u2019ve 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.<\/span><\/p>\n<br><p style=\"text-align: left;\">This film is featured in Part I of &#8220;Theatre in Film&#8221;.\u00a0See below for the others in Part I.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=133\"><em><u>42nd Street <\/u><\/em>(1933)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=342\"><strong><em>Stage Door<\/em>\u00a0(1937)<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=343\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em>Les Enfants du Paradis<\/em>\u00a0(<em>Children of Paradise<\/em>) (1945)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=346\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em>All About Eve<\/em>\u00a0(1950)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Want to start Part II of &#8220;Theatre in Film&#8221;? Check out\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-the-band-wagon-1953\/\">The Band Wagon\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>(1953)<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>*Banner image from\u00a0<em>Limelight<\/em>.<em>\u00a0<\/em>Copyright\u00a0\u00a9 1952 United Artists.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><hr \/>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><strong>Ashleigh Gardner<\/strong>\u00a0received her AA in Theatre\/Drama\/Dramatic Arts\u00a0from Valencia College and\u00a0her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and\u00a0Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from\u00a0the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright and an actor.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [...]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[259,265],"tags":[83,318,8,308,319,82,80,10,337,88,336,14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}