Limelight (1952): Why Was Chaplin's Most Personal Film Also His Last In Hollywood?

Ben & Rob close the curtain on their Charlie Chaplin with ‘Limelight’, his 1952 movie about love and regret that proved to be his last American film before his exile for suspected Communist sympathies. Billed as ‘Charles’ rather than ‘Charlie’, Chaplin paints a poignantly tragic tale of a fading star mentoring an up and coming dancer and reflects on his life in what is no doubt the most personal film he ever made. Also starring Clare Bloom and featuring so-called rival Buster Keaton, ‘Limelight’ was a financial success despite being mostly banned in the US due to Chaplin’s exile, marking a complex end to his career in the industry he had such a hand in shaping.

But beneath the complex romance of the two leads is there a deeper, and far sadder, reflection of Chaplin’s past? Why did the United States choose to ban a man who was arguably one of the jewels in their cultural crown? How comfortably can we watch the works of a man who had not one, but four far-too-young wives in his life? And as we end our coverage of Chaplin, has Ben finally found the film that steals his heart?!

CONSUUUME to find out all this and much, much more!

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