idlesuperstar: Not-lead characters that I adore beyond reason: An Advent Calendar Day 23: Flame
idlesuperstar:Not-lead characters that I adore beyond reason: An Advent CalendarDay 23: Flame O’Neill (Celeste Holm) in Champagne for Caesar [1950]Celeste Holm is kickass, and a comic genius, so it was mainly a matter of which of her characters to choose. I was going to go with Anne Dettrey from Gentleman’s Agreement, because she’s so cool (also bonus swoony young!Greg), but then I rewatched Champagne for Caesar and she’s just so bloody fabulous as Flame O’Neill that it was a no-brainer. (Also bonus swoony older!Ronnie). CFC is a joy from start to finish, but it really kicks in first when Vincent Price appears, and then it extra kicks in when Celeste sweeps into Ronnie’s sick room, all beatific smiles and ‘I’m a gift from the Billings, Montana Beauregard Bottomley Fan Club’.Flame/Celeste is just brilliant, and also pulls off the always difficult thing of showing the audience she’s acting while fooling the fella; what’s also impressive is that although it’s a performance of pitch-perfect comedy, it’s not one note - she has to effect the tricky manoeuvre of convincingly going from Mata Hari to falling for her target, and she does it with ease and a lightness of touch that’s totally in keeping with the film. You’ve got to be something special to stand up against Ronnie at his comic/swoony best, and also Vincent Price giving possibly his best comic performance ever, and let’s not forget the parrot, and not get lost in the wisecracking and farce, and Celeste does that with aplomb. -- source link
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