Champagne for Caesar

source: Champagne for Caesar

Nearly seventy years ago quiz shows were still a relative novelty, which makes this film interesting both as an early satire of the form and yet still remarkably topical; the emphasis on money being still only too familiar. 'Champagne for Caesar' is also historically noteworthy for being Ronald Colman's final starring vehicle and Vincent Price's first demonstration - after spending most of the forties as a malevolent smoothie - of what a succulent ham he could be in comedy roles (I stand to be corrected, but is this Vincent's hammiest performance ever? That's quite a claim!). Colman's final two films were the all-star 'Around the World in Eighty Days' and 'The Story of Mankind', the latter of which reunited him with Price. Colman's immense charm mitigates considerably what could have been an insufferably smug and arrogant character. The rest of the cast are all good too, even Art Linklater - although I couldn't buy his burgeoning romance with Colman's sister, which was one of several elements which spins the plot out unnecessarily, making the film a bit overlong. The script rather overdoes the hubris of the business world, but again that probably also makes it fairly timely today.

Watch Price adopt a slight rictus as he explains his soap "also cleans teeth". He's very very funny. But he'd still be my dream casting for Prospero in The Tempest.

Ronald Colman and Vincent Price try comedy here along with Celeste Holm and the results are awkward at best. The movie is a take-off on the eventual quiz shows of the 1950s. Colman is perfectly cast as the genius who can't be stumped and Price, of course, is naturally ruthless in his attempt to get Colman off the air. Price brings in Holm in an attempt to get Colman off the track. Problem is that Holm was miscast. She is not ruthless at all and of course she falls for Colman. Art Linkletter appears as the emcee and falls for Barbara Britton, sister of Colman in the film. Note briefly that you hear Britton playing some notes on the piano that were from Colman's greatest triumph-"A Tale of Two Cities," in 1935.

Ronald Colman, self confessed genius and bookworm extraordinary, lives in a small bungalow with sister Barbara Britton who supports both of them with giving kids piano lessons. Colman works every now and then because frankly there isn't much call for geniuses at entry level jobs and he intimidates those in power when he does get hired. But one day a particularly arrogant head of a soap manufacturing company dismissed him without an explanation during the interview. But Colman takes an unusual way of getting even. He goes on the company sponsored quiz program and keeps winning and winning week after week. They're going to owe him big time before he's done. Champagne for Caesar anticipates the big money quiz show era and the celebrities they spawned by about seven years and the movie about that time, Quiz Show, by over 40. Colman is seemingly the detached man of letters that he was in The Late George Apley. But in fact he turns out to have an exceedingly good grasp on reality and the more mundane treacheries associated with every day life. Although this is Ronald Colman's film, whenever he's on Vincent Price steals the show totally with his portrayal of the megalomaniacal soap king. It's the kind of outrageous part that actors can really chew the scenery with and Vincent Price had a full course meal. Celeste Holm plays the femme fatale that Price hires to do Colman in and she's good at her job. But the seemingly unworldly Colman is more than up to her tricks. Art Linkletter who was just getting nationally known as a radio and television host plays, what else, the host of Price's quiz show. Linkletter did some dramatic television work later on Wagon Train, GE Theater, and Zane Grey Theater, but this is his only feature film role as other than Art Linkletter. Champagne for Caesar was an independent production by Harry Popkin for United Artists. Though he got great critical reviews, Colman was shorted on his money for this film by Popkin. According to his daughter Juliet's biography of her father, the lawsuit her father brought against Popkin dragged on so long that it got to be something of a family joke. It was still not settled when Colman died in 1958. Legal problems aside, Champagne for Caesar is one very funny film and should not be missed by fans of Ronald Colman or Vincent Price.

It has always amazed me what a wonderful job of casting was done on this film. Ronald Colman in a departure from his normal films, Celeste Holm as the vamp with a giggle/laugh that would keep anyone awake, Vincent Price, Art Linkletter and Barbara Britton doing what they each do so splendidly. This film was quite underrated originally, but true film buffs will enjoy the comedic plot and the great acting.

Excellent comedy starring comic Ronald Colman as Beauregard Bottomely, who is described as being the last scholar in America. He takes his "cornflakes with Schopenhauer", basically spends the whole day reading. Anyway he doesn't seem to do very well in the world of work, he's such a know-it-all that he doesn't last long anywhere. Believe me, and I know, correcting a boss who is talking nonsense on a matter of fact will earn you no brownie points. One evening Beauregard goes to the TV store with his sister and the nightly crowd to watch the evening shows, specifically in his case, a science show where they send a radar beam to the moon. Afterwards there is a quiz show on that his sister forces him to watch. It's a "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" type show where you are asked 7 successive questions, each time you answer a question correctly the prize doubles. The prize is not much, it's more of a masquerade program where you dress up as a historical personage or an inanimate object, or an animal, and the questions they ask you are based on your costume, a bit of fun really. Beauregard is (rightly) disgusted by what he presciently sees as the the herald of intellectual Armageddon: "If it is noteworthy and rewarding to know that 2 and 2 make 4 to the accompaniment of deafening applause and prizes, then 2 and 2 making 4 will become the top level of learning." Anyway quite by chance he ends up applying for a job at the company that sponsors the show, only he doesn't get it because he's too superior in the interview (not arrogant mind you, he actually is superior, but that just doesn't do in a hierarchy). When he is given the cold shoulder he decides to get his own back by appearing on the quiz show. Hilariously, he turns up dressed as the Encylopaedia Britannica, which basically means the quizmaster can ask him any question he feels like. Of course Beauregard gets all seven question right and wins something paltry like $120. But he says he wants to continue and the showbiz guys think it will be a ratings spinner so they ask him some more questions on a next show. The problem is when the amounts of prize winning get too high and the soap company wants to take the show off the air. They make the questions more and more harder in order to get him off, but with mounting hilarity they're unable to. One question for example: "How many dental plates are there on the molar of an Asiatic elephant", Beauregard comes straight back with "24". It's well plotted with lots of twists and a great ending, there's also a lot of unashamed raunch in the movie. You can't help but enjoy yourself, and Vince Price is simply hilarious in what is perhaps a career best performance as the anti-intellectual soap company boss Burnbridge Waters with solipsistic tendencies.

There is no way that you can present a synopsis of this film that can make it appealing. Here is a film that stars Ronald Colman, Vincent Price, Celeste Holm and Art Linkletter???? The plot includes a soap company, a quiz show and a talking parrot. Not only does this film work, it is one of the most riotous comedies ever filmed. It is the incongruity (and thus the brilliance) of the casting that makes this successful. Colman who is so well known for his romantic voice and looks and just coming off as Oscar winning performance in the dark but brilliant "A Double Life" plays Bouregard Bottomley, a man who knows "everything about everything", except how to get a job. He goes to the Milady Soap Company and is almost hired except he had the audacity to make a joke in front of company President Birnbridge Waters, played by Vincent Price. It seems that Milady sponsors a quiz program and Bottomley decides to go on as a contestant and take Price for all he is worth and thereby hangs this uproarious tale. For all of the dramatic accomplishments by the principals, Colman, Price and Holm are tremendously funny with Price as a particular standout. He goes way over the top (similar to James Cagney in the equally as funny "One, Two, Three") but he is perfect. The real surprise is Art Linkletter. Having made his reputation as a rather bland variety show host in radio and the early days of television, he comes off very effectively as both the quiz show and the romantic lead. This was his only acting appearance and it is too bad. He was very good. This film demands several viewings. Often you are laughing so hard you miss some great lines. The Champaign in the title does not go solely to Caesar (a talking parrot). It goes to all involved with this classic. Here's to you.

I haven't seen this for years so my mind is a little sketchy on the exact plot but it goes something like this: Beauregard Bottomley (Ronald Colman) a VERY intelligent man goes on a radio quiz show. He keeps answering all the questions correctly and gets more and more money. The show's creator (Vincent Price) wants to stop him. Celeste Holm plays the obligatory love interest. Just great. Who thought Price could do comedy? He's absolutely hilarious on screen. He's clearly having the time of his life and it rubs off on the audience. It basically reaches the point when he appears on screen you start grinning. His reaction when Albert Einstein calls the show to correct an answer to a question is uproarious. Also it has a great, intelligent script with one-liners flying fast and furious. Colman and Holm are good also but it's Prices movie all the way through. Unfortunately this remains virtually unknown. It is on DVD but it's in terrible shape with bad sound and a very worn print. Hopefully it will get a proper restoration someday.

I honestly don't know who could have played these parts better. This film is a masterpiece of casting. Colman manages to make a character who would be despised by most everyone in real life warm and sympathetic. Even his most cutting put-downs are delivered affably and without malice. He wishes to educate, not destroy, and Colman plays it dead-on. Dated and yet timeless. Fluff with depth. A delightful paradox, well worth the price I paid for the DVD. P.S: I bought the DVD based on the strength of the Quotes section of this IMDb listing!