Limelight
United Artists | Release Date: October 23, 1952 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
84
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Charles Chaplin’s 1952 film is overlong, visually flat, episodically constructed, and a masterpiece—it isn’t “cinema” on any terms but Chaplin’s own, but those are high terms indeed. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Although it was not quite his last film, there can be little doubt that Limelight was Charlie Chaplin’s farewell. It is also probably his most personal, revealing film. Read full review
100
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
Neither comedy nor tragedy altogether, it is a brilliant weaving of comic and tragic strands, eloquent, tearful and beguiling with supreme virtuosity. Read full review
100
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Few cinema artists have delved into their own lives and emotions with such ruthlessness and with such moving results. Read full review
80
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Departing from most forms of Hollywood stereotype, the film has a flavor all its own in the sincere quality of the story anent the onetime great vaudemime and his rescue of a femme ballet student from a suicide attempt and subsequently from great mental depression. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubMike D'Angelo
In short, everything that sounds potentially magnificent about Limelight disappoints, while the aspect that sounds potentially dreary—Chaplin playing earnest life coach to a sickly ballerina—works like a charm. The man was full of surprises. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid Parkinson
Elements of self parody from the master of slapstick leave you yearning for the early work that made his name. But it's worth a watch to see Chaplin and Keaton in one of few on-screen appearances together. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyTim Purtell
Overburdened by Chaplin’s creaky script and fussy acting. Nevertheless, his musical duet with Buster Keaton is an absolute gas, proof that even when Chaplin was bad, he could still be good. Read full review
60
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Chaplin's sentimental and high-minded view of theatre and himself.
80
The Observer (UK)Philip French
It's a verbose, technically creaky work, both sentimental and self-indulgent, and never very funny except for a brilliant scene with Chaplin and Buster Keaton as a disaster-prone musical duo. However, there are sublime, deeply affecting moments and for those who think Chaplin one of the key figures of 20th-century popular culture, it is a crucial movie. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineJordan Cronk
A beautiful, melancholy meditation on aging and inspiration, and a personal film that, on account of Chaplin’s own diminishing popularity and prospects stemming from accusations of supposed communist sympathies, exudes a very real weight in each of its rich, elegant images. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Chaplin, as usual, is the whole show, superb in this swansong statement about his own career and the old-style entertainment he best represented. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAndrew Sarris
There is no test of behavioral range in Limelight that Chaplin does not pass superbly. [01 Oct 1964, p.15]
80
CineVueJohn Bleasdale
In one truly magic moment, Buster Keaton – who had fallen on hard times and was largely forgotten – joins Calvero for his final gala performance. It is a cinematic meeting to be cherished and makes up for the maudlin and wordy melodrama that precedes it. Read full review
83
ColliderThomas Butt
Limelight resonates today because of its awareness of the gravity surrounding Chaplin's legacy without favoring too far into self-indulgence. The film's endearing conclusion, that the humbling appreciation of humanity stands as the driving force behind art, is the thematic idea that Chaplin embodies. Read full review
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