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Though he would actually direct other features, including the ill received 1967 A Countess From Hong Kong, wherein Marlon Brando decided to be a mean girl to co-star Sophia Loren, and the neglected A King in New York (1957), many read the 1952 Limelight as Charles Chaplin’s ‘enduring’ final film. An appropriate approximation of his immortal Tramp character after fame has fallen away, the bittersweet tragicomedy wasn’t well-received at the time (though Bosley Crowther raved in The New York Times, hailing the film as “eloquent, tearful, and beguiling with supreme virtuosity”). McCarthyism succeeded in thwarting the film’s distribution, limiting the release to New York City and those labeling Chaplin a Communist picketed screenings where it did play. In the UK, the film’s release was less harried, with newcomer Claire Bloom securing a BAFTA win for Most Promising Newcomer. The film would receive a theatrical release for the first in Los Angeles twenty years later,...

Limelight

Written and directed by Charles Chaplin

USA, 1952

Rightly dubbed a “supreme auteur” by David Robinson, who provides a video essay on the newly released Criterion Collection Blu-ray of Limelight, Charlie Chaplin wore many hats in making this 1952 film. Aside from writing, directing, and starring in the picture, he was the producer, he arranged the score, and he choreographed the dance sequences, in addition to other supervisory duties behind the scenes. Part of the preparation for the film even included Chaplin penning a novel on which the movie was based, called Footlights, which was then adapted with great ease by the author. Set in 1914 London (about the time Chaplin had left England for America), Limelight is a basically familiar showbiz story, with one performer’s career on the wane as another’s is ripe for revival, but there is far more to this late Chaplin classic. For the great comedian,...

About midway through watching Charlie Chaplin's Limelight for the first time I got to thinking about what makes a great filmmaker. It seems easy enough to spot a great film, while you're watching it as you get that "You'll know it when you see it" vibe, but I started to focus on what exactly it was about the films of great filmmakers that make them stand out from the rest. Films from great filmmakers stand alone, they can't be duplicated and in this age of remakes and reboots no one would dare attempt try and remake their work. In terms of Chaplin, could you imagine a remake of Modern Times, The Great Dictator, City Lights or The Gold Rushc Forget the fact they are silent films and the business of it all. Just focus on the artistry and what makes those films great. What makes those films classicsc I'll answer for you.

A 20th anniversary screening of “The Shawshank Redemption”; restorations of Mary Pickford’s “Little Annie Rooney” and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Bank”; a screening series and panel discussion complementing the landmark Hollywood Costume exhibition; and six diverse films from director Edgar G. Ulmer are all part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ November programs. Ticket holders for Hollywood Costume will receive free same-day admission to Hollywood Costume-related public programs.

“The Shawshank Redemption”

With special guests Frank Darabont, Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins

The Academy will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Best Picture nominee “The Shawshank Redemption” onNovember 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The evening will feature an onstage discussion with writer-director Frank Darabont, who received an Oscar nomination for his adapted screenplay, Best Actor nominee Morgan Freeman, and star Tim Robbins.

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