Academy to screen Charlie Chaplin's 'Limelight'

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is all set to screen Charlie Chaplin's final masterpiece "Limelight" to celebrate the film's 60th anniversary.

The film will be screened on Wednesday, October 3, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, a statement from the Academy said.

Presented as an instalment of the Jack Oakie Celebration of Comedy in Film, the evening will welcome co-stars Claire Bloom, 81, and Norman Lloyd, 97, who will discuss their work with Chaplin and the influence he had on their distinguished careers.

"Limelight" offers a poignant portrait of the music halls where Chaplin, one of the screen's first comedic geniuses, developed his craft.

Produced just before Chaplin's re-entry permit to the United States was revoked during his travels abroad, the film is a bittersweet time capsule, reflecting the mindset of an artist whose world was changing around him.

Featuring Bloom in what was only her second film, "Limelight" is a tender and often humorous love story that revels in the details of life on the stage.

A brief, but tantalising, scene between Chaplin and his closest comedic rival, Buster Keaton, is yet another facet of the film's charm.

The Jack Oakie Celebration of Comedy in Film provides an opportunity for established filmmakers and historians to share their experiences and to discuss the specific challenges and delights of the comedy film genre.

The lecture series is named in memory of character actor Jack Oakie, whose career included vaudeville, Broadway musicals and 87 pictures, most of them comedies or musical comedies.

His career included such notable films as "Once in a Lifetime", "Million Dollar Legs" and "It Happened Tomorrow", and was crowned by his portrayal of a Mussolini-like head of state in "The Great Dictator," for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

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