Chaplin Today: Limelight

Charlie Chaplin was a funny guy 100 years ago. He made a few really good silent films, almost all of them dependent on the Little Tramp character. Viewed today they are still funny, though perhaps a bit cruel. I'm not sure he was any funnier than his contemporaries, and Buster Keaton still gives me just as many laughs without the cruelty.

Chaplin failed miserably to make the transition to the talkies, as did many others Laurel and Hardy are the best comedians to make the change, and I think their best work was later in life.

Why the adoration? I don't get it. And why a focus on his Limelight which was surely one of his weakest films.

When Warner Brothers released DVDs of Charlie Chaplin's full-length films, they did a great job. First, the prints were amazingly crisp and clean. Second, they were chock full of many wonderful extras. One of the extras included in each of the films was a "Chaplin Today" short film. Each was about a specific full-length film and featured a modern director who would give their insights into the movie during the final portion of the short. Apparently, this was made for European TV some time ago.

Of the six or seven films in this series, this is among the best. Part of it is because Bernardo Bertolucci's comments were more relevant than those of some of the other directors. Also, the insights into "Limelight" were very interesting and helped to show how the film was a close parallel to the life of Chaplin off screen. Well worth seeing and well made.