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Limelight Review: If not his final film, this is certainly Chaplin's swan song as well as a tribute to the British musical-hall tradition from which he had sprung. At the time of its release, the director had not had a success in over a decade and had been vilified as a Communist by McCarthyite zealots whose pressure tactics would soon result in the revocation of his U.S. passport. All of this is reflected in the melancholy countenance of the aged performer Calvero, who has nightmares about playing to empty theaters and is only sporadically in command of his former comic genius. In a story reminiscent of the high-minded sentimentality of the silent era, the comedian forgets his woes by ministering to a young ballet dancer suffering from hysterical paralysis. An artist of physical rather than verbal gifts, Chaplin displays his vaunted graceful mimicry, but the script is wooden, ponderous, and studded with cringe-worthy dialogue, despite occasional flashes of wit and insight. A departure from the director's previous work in its somberness, it often evokes the sentimentality of DeSica without his accompanying realism. Yet the performance of the radiant young Claire Bloom is a wonder; that she could revive the comedian's spirits is beyond question. And in the pantomime of the music hall numbers, and especially the final musical-duo routine with former rival Buster Keaton, Chaplin shows why so many have regarded him as the medium's greatest performer. If the film as a whole may rank below the level of his best work, its moments of honest pathos and comic epiphany make it a moving farewell. Michael Costello, All Movie Guide

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