May 9 - May 11, 2025
Presented By: Catamount Arts
Friday, May 9, 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 10, 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 11, 1:30 pm
Location:
Catamount Arts Center
115 Eastern Ave.
St. Johnsbury, VT
Admission: Free!
On Saturday, May 3, 1975, Catamount Arts produced its very first show – a full-house screening at the Twilight Theater at Lyndon State College – of Charlie Chaplin’s final American film, “Limelight.” To celebrate Catamount’s 50th anniversary, we’ll re-screen the film for the entire May 9-11 weekend – at the Catamount Arts Center. Admission will be free to all shows.
Chaplin’s masterful drama about the twilight of a former vaudeville star is among the writer-director’s most touching films. Chaplin plays Calvero, a once beloved musical-comedy performer, now a washed-up alcoholic who lives in a small London flat. A glimmer of hope arrives when he meets a beautiful but melancholy ballerina (Claire Bloom) who lives downstairs. An elegant mix of the comic and the tragic, this poignant movie also features fellow legendary comedian, Buster Keaton, in an extended cameo, marking the only time the two silent comedy icons appeared in a film together.
The film’s score was composed by Chaplin and several of his children (Sydney, Geraldine, Michael, Josephine) appear in the film. The film is set in London but was filmed in Los Angeles at the Chaplin Studios. Chaplin thought it would be his final film – but he made “A King in New York” after he left the United States. The movie was made at a time when Chaplin felt he was losing his audience – so the film was seen as being autobiographical – the story of a formerly famous comedian at the end of the road.
The pairing of Chaplin and Buster Keaton in the final musical number is historic for being the only time the two performed together on film. Chaplin, at first, had not written the part for Keaton, because he believed that the role was too small. It was not until he learned that Keaton was going through hard times that Chaplin insisted Keaton be cast in the film: Before Limelight, Keaton had gone through a disastrous marriage, lost most of his fortune in the divorce process, and had appeared infrequently in films in the preceding years.
A rumor has persisted, fueled by the intense rivalry among fans of the two comics, that Keaton gave such a superior performance that Chaplin jealously cut his scenes so he would not be upstaged by his rival. A close associate of Chaplin claimed that Chaplin not only did not feel threatened by Keaton’s performance, but also heavily edited his own footage of the duet while enhancing Keaton’s. According to Keaton’s biographer Rudi Blesh, Chaplin eased his notoriously rigid directorial style to give Keaton free rein to invent his own comic business during this sequence. Keaton’s widow Eleanor said that he was thrilled with his appearance in the film, and believed that his business partner, Raymond Rohauer, started and fueled the rumors.
Made at a time when Chaplin was under attack, during the McCarthy era, “Limelight” was scarcely distributed in the United States upon its initial release, but it is now considered one of his essential and most personal works.
Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance notes that the film’s reputation has slowly grown over the decades. Vance maintains “Limelight is Chaplin’s last great film, and it plays like a self-conscious summing up of his life and career. As a journey back to his beginnings and an often rapier-sharp self-critique, Limelight is Chaplin’s most deeply personal and introspective film.”
The film won the Academy Award for Best Musical Score.
“Neither comedy nor tragedy altogether, it is a brilliant weaving of comic and tragic strands, eloquent, tearful and beguiling with supreme virtuosity.” – Bosley Crowther, NY Times
“Charles Chaplin’s 1952 film is overlong, visually flat, episodically constructed, and a masterpiece.” – Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader.
“Few cinema artists have delved into their own lives and emotions with such ruthlessness and with such moving results.” – Time Out
Saturday, May 10, 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 11, 1:30 pm
Location:
Catamount Arts Center
115 Eastern Ave.
St. Johnsbury, VT
Admission: Free!
On Saturday, May 3, 1975, Catamount Arts produced its very first show – a full-house screening at the Twilight Theater at Lyndon State College – of Charlie Chaplin’s final American film, “Limelight.” To celebrate Catamount’s 50th anniversary, we’ll re-screen the film for the entire May 9-11 weekend – at the Catamount Arts Center. Admission will be free to all shows.
Chaplin’s masterful drama about the twilight of a former vaudeville star is among the writer-director’s most touching films. Chaplin plays Calvero, a once beloved musical-comedy performer, now a washed-up alcoholic who lives in a small London flat. A glimmer of hope arrives when he meets a beautiful but melancholy ballerina (Claire Bloom) who lives downstairs. An elegant mix of the comic and the tragic, this poignant movie also features fellow legendary comedian, Buster Keaton, in an extended cameo, marking the only time the two silent comedy icons appeared in a film together.
The film’s score was composed by Chaplin and several of his children (Sydney, Geraldine, Michael, Josephine) appear in the film. The film is set in London but was filmed in Los Angeles at the Chaplin Studios. Chaplin thought it would be his final film – but he made “A King in New York” after he left the United States. The movie was made at a time when Chaplin felt he was losing his audience – so the film was seen as being autobiographical – the story of a formerly famous comedian at the end of the road.
The pairing of Chaplin and Buster Keaton in the final musical number is historic for being the only time the two performed together on film. Chaplin, at first, had not written the part for Keaton, because he believed that the role was too small. It was not until he learned that Keaton was going through hard times that Chaplin insisted Keaton be cast in the film: Before Limelight, Keaton had gone through a disastrous marriage, lost most of his fortune in the divorce process, and had appeared infrequently in films in the preceding years.
A rumor has persisted, fueled by the intense rivalry among fans of the two comics, that Keaton gave such a superior performance that Chaplin jealously cut his scenes so he would not be upstaged by his rival. A close associate of Chaplin claimed that Chaplin not only did not feel threatened by Keaton’s performance, but also heavily edited his own footage of the duet while enhancing Keaton’s. According to Keaton’s biographer Rudi Blesh, Chaplin eased his notoriously rigid directorial style to give Keaton free rein to invent his own comic business during this sequence. Keaton’s widow Eleanor said that he was thrilled with his appearance in the film, and believed that his business partner, Raymond Rohauer, started and fueled the rumors.
Made at a time when Chaplin was under attack, during the McCarthy era, “Limelight” was scarcely distributed in the United States upon its initial release, but it is now considered one of his essential and most personal works.
Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance notes that the film’s reputation has slowly grown over the decades. Vance maintains “Limelight is Chaplin’s last great film, and it plays like a self-conscious summing up of his life and career. As a journey back to his beginnings and an often rapier-sharp self-critique, Limelight is Chaplin’s most deeply personal and introspective film.”
The film won the Academy Award for Best Musical Score.
“Neither comedy nor tragedy altogether, it is a brilliant weaving of comic and tragic strands, eloquent, tearful and beguiling with supreme virtuosity.” – Bosley Crowther, NY Times
“Charles Chaplin’s 1952 film is overlong, visually flat, episodically constructed, and a masterpiece.” – Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader.
“Few cinema artists have delved into their own lives and emotions with such ruthlessness and with such moving results.” – Time Out