Though the late critic was often too negative in her movie reviews, unfortunately she was on target in this case. The movie is overlong, hammy, sentimental without being moving, and self-congratulatory.
The story about a washed-up vaudevillian and a suicidal female dancer could have been good. But Chaplin has done everything wrong, from bad acting and directing to filling the dialog with clichés. Even the act with Buster Keaton is unfunny, and the final moment-Calvero has a heart attack after his act and dies as the ballet dancer performs hers, is absurdly mawkish. Charlie Chaplin really was washed up by then, and would never come back to his former glory.
The story about a washed-up vaudevillian and a suicidal female dancer could have been good. But Chaplin has done everything wrong, from bad acting and directing to filling the dialog with clichés. Even the act with Buster Keaton is unfunny, and the final moment-Calvero has a heart attack after his act and dies as the ballet dancer performs hers, is absurdly mawkish. Charlie Chaplin really was washed up by then, and would never come back to his former glory.