Limelight – A Timeless Classic

Arts | June 23, 2011 | Share

“There’s something about working the streets I like. It’s the tramp in me I suppose”.
- Calvero

Charlie Chaplin’s character of a tramp takes on a whole new look as the washed out comedian Calvero in his movie ‘Limelight’. Calvero, once a publicly loved and famous stage performer now lives a drudged life as a drunkard in a small room apartment. Unable to perform unless drunk, he lives on a very menial income, enough to keep his body and soul together.

Set in 1914, London, prior to the break of the Great War, the movie begins with Calvero (Charlie Chaplin), coming back to his apartment building apparently high on alcohol. After entering, he gets a strong smell of gas, and looking for the trail, finds it leading into the room of the new tenant. On breaking down the door, he finds a young girl, trying to commit suicide. He immediately calls in the doctor who advises him to take the girl into his room, and asks Calvero to look after until she has recovered with timely medications, and proper patient food consisting of chicken stew and oranges.

Having barely enough to cater to his needs, Calvero has to resort to selling certain items to get money in order to buy food. So like a loved one, he nurses her to health. On regaining her strength Terry (Claire Bloom) recalls her sad childhood, her struggles in the ballet theatre ending her story with a confession of a crush on a musician. He used to come to the store where she worked as a salesperson to buy sheets of music paper, and she would often give him extra sheets. Calvero discovers further that Terry has hysterical paralysis which has resulted in her present conditions of not being able to dance.
“A girl like you wants to throw your life away? When you reach my age you want to cling unto it.”

Calvero with his beautiful perspective of the world and its wonders helped to build up Terry’s confidence once again. But behind the smile, he never showed the hurt that was deep inside of him. But we as an audience see that through his dreams. Calvero would often have nightmares while in slumber, of people walking out on him, and his slow downfall from glory. On the one hand was Terry’s slow rise towards the top and the other was Calvero’s decline in terms of confidence and as a comedian. Through the process there evolves a platonic relationship and Terry grows a deep attachmrnt towards the fatherly figure and her saviour. Devoted to Calvero, she even declines her feeling for the musician whom she comes across once again in her ballet auditions.

Not only did he act, direct and write the story, but he also gave birth to one of the most beautiful movie themes, Terry’s theme which later on became the song ‘Eternally’. Charlie Chaplin received an Oscar for best original score proving to us that he is a genius once again. The end part of the movie has some brilliant moments which include a comedy duo between Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, and Terry’s ballet performance and finishes off in a very poignant manner. It leaves us to ponder on of his things he had said previously to Terry:” Time is the best author. It always writes the perfect ending”. And so it did.

The movie although slated to release in 1952 did not release until 1972 because of certain difficulties which Charlie Chaplin himself was facing. This movie has often been regarded as Chaplin’s swan song and remains in our hearts as one of his finest works if not the best.

Madhurima Ganguly