Limelight

When the great Calvaro arrives home to find his downstairs neighbour unable to move after taking pills and leaving the gas on, he has to act. She wants to end it all but he wants to give her back the things she has missed. Her name is Terry Ambrose and she was a dancer until an accident left her out of work and facing homlessness. She turned to prostitution to fund her life but now cant bear it. Calvaro takes her under his wing and makes her life a positive. When however Terry excels and wants to marry Calvaro, he must change her decision before it is to late.

Chaplin knew his audience was changing. They had taken on much of the horrid press at the time about his life and works. Many had fleed his films because in truth they were not shown to them. He had to leave America and try to keep out of the harmful blacklisting of many good people with personal views. This film is filled with his views on his youth, on his native land and his own perception of life. It is also a step away from the great laughs of his previous films, as at its core is a very personal tale of lost and resolution. The amazing thing about the film is that it works. It works as a piece on its own but also as a piece about people at play within the medium they love. The dual performance of Keaton and Chaplin is the masterwork of the film in truth though and worth the 2 hours to reach.

The disc has some great features and might have been dull if not for the superb documentary on Chaplin at this time. Also check out the introduction and the deleted scenes that add layers of expression to his very engaged work. A must have frome Curzon but did we really expect anything else?