Celeste Holm Movies
American actress Celeste Holm made her first stage appearance in 1936 with a Pennsylvania stock company. Sophisticated and poised beyond her years, Holm was cast shortly afterward in a touring company of the ultra-chic Clare Boothe Luce comedy The Women, then played New York in such high-profile productions as The Time of Your Life. Rodgers and Hammerstein cast her as soubrette Ado Annie in Oklahoma! in 1943; both the production itself and Annie's show-stopping song "I Cain't Say No" affirmed Holm's future stardom. Following her film debut in Three Little Girls in Blue (1946), she was cast by her studio, 20th Century-Fox, in the role of the love-starved fashion editor in the prestige feature Gentlemen's Agreement (1947), for which she won an Academy Award. The important role of Bette Davis' understanding friend in another Oscar-winner, All About Eve (1950), has immortalized Holm amongst the film cultists. Stage, nightclub and television assignments followed (she starred in the short-lived 1950s sitcom Honestly, Celeste), and from the late 1950s onward, Holm was more at home on stage than in films. Her performance in the touring company of Mame won Holm the Sara Siddons Award -- coincidentally the same award presented to the title character at the beginning of All About Eve. Always choosy about her roles, Holm remained active in the 1980s and 1990s whenever a good part struck her fancy; one of her most frequently rebroadcast assignments was as a custody court judge in an early-1980s episode of Archie Bunker's Place. When giving on-camera interviews on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Oklahoma, Holm appeared much too youthful to have participated in the landmark musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1976
Michael and Patricia meet in an unusual way – while he is on a date and is trying to retrieve his date’s car keys from a fountain. When Michael’s date abandons him, he hangs out with Patricia and these two nice young people soon find themselves falling in love. They decide to wed and hold the ceremony in Canada, where Michael’s family lives. Patricia’s parents, who have been on a lengthy cruise and have never met Michael, cannot attend, but they meet their new daughter-in-law soon afterward. While reviewing pictures from the wedding, Michael’s mother is shocked to discover that she knows Patricia’s father. Even more shocking is the revelation that Patricia’s father is also Michael’s father, the result of a one-night stand many years before, and that the happily married couple are therefore half-siblings. To make matters worse, it turns out that Patricia is pregnant. The rest of Bittersweet Love is taken up with Michael and Patricia deciding what they should do about this situation, as well as with reactions and advice from their family members. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lana Turner, Robert Lansing, (more)
- 1974
In this made-for-TV movie, six persons have won a cruise-ship vacation, but they find that the awards were just a trick to begin a killing game. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1974
A Bay Area college campus is besieged by a mysterious sniper, who shoots the mistress of a prominent professor before killing the professor himself. Can it be that the prof's widow Mrs. Shaninger (Celeste Holm) knows more about the supposedly random killings than she's letting on? Featured in the cast as a disabled Vietnam veteran is star-in-the-making Nick Nolte. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
The Underground Man was the pilot film for a series based on Ross MacDonald's private eye hero Lew Archer (the source of Paul Newman's film appearances as "Lew Harper"). Most of the elements of the factory-approved MacDonald formula are put into effect here: An old flame, a seemingly cut-and-dried case leading to sinister complexities, dark family secrets, ecological rape, and the inadvertent solving of previously unsolved crimes. Archer (Peter Graves) is hired to rescue the kidnapped son of his former love, and the cycle begins. This particular pilot didn't sell, but there would be a separately produced Archer series late in 1974 starring Brian Keith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Mark Twain's classic tale is brought to the screen for the fourth time, this time with a tuneful score by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, who also wrote the screen adaptation. Johnny Whitaker stars as Tom Sawyer, with Jeff East in his first film role as Huck Finn. Jodie Foster is also on hand, playing the role of Becky Thatcher. This enjoyable family fare was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Art Direction, Best Song Score and Best Costume Design. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Whitaker, Celeste Holm, (more)
- 1972
Delphi Bureau was the pilot film for a short-lived TV espionage series. Lawrence Luckinbill plays an operative for a secret agency that answers only to the US President. His current mission is to locate an entire fleet of obsolete Air Force planes that have vanished without a trace. Very ordinary cold-war fare, The Delphi Bureau contains one or two neat touches, notably the cryptic poems that appear on-screen just before the commercial breaks. Celeste Holm, playing the Washington social leader who acts as Luckinbill's contact, was replaced by Anne Jeffreys when this TV movie graduated to a weekly series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Boxer Lazaro Perez is suspended when he punches out an obstreperous reporter. Feeling partly responsible, Crime magazine editor Dan Farrell (Robert Stack) tries to help the young fighter. Farrell soon learns that the boy's manager (Van Johnson) may be arranging a fixed bout. Brass Ring served as the TV debut for actor Lazaro Perez, who'd received critical adulation for his performance in the 1969 off-Broadway play Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? This drama originated as the January 9, 1970 episode of the TV series Name of the Game. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
In this comedy, an aspiring singer finds herself single and pregnant. The story begins when she is rushed to the hospital to give birth. She is joined by three men; all of them want to marry her. The story of her pregnancy and her rise to stardom are told in flashback. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Dee, George Hamilton, (more)
- 1967
In the conclusion of a two-part story, the FBI continues to exert pressure on La Cosa Nostra, even while a bitter turf war between two mob families threatens to destroy the organization from within. Things come to head when gangland boss Leo Roland (Walter Pidgeon) orders the murder of potential federal witness Ed Clementi (Telly Savalas)--and picks Ed's own nephew to pull the trigger. Fans of The Godfather will appreciate the presence of Robert Duvall in a supporting role. Originally telecast March 12 and 19, 1967, the two parts of "The Executioners" were later combined and released theatrically overseas as Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
In Coleman, Nebraska, Steve Dexter--actually Richard Kimble (David Janssen)--is hired by construction boss Pat Patton (Jack Warden). A local pariah ever since one of his building collapsed and killed three children, Patton is determined to make up for his past misdeeds by erecting a new downtown structure free of charge. Though Patton knows who Kimble really is, he agrees not to turn the fugitive over to the police...but the conditions for his silence are both strange, and strangely motivated. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
In the first episode of a two-part story, the FBI squares off against La Cosa Nostra (evidently J. Edgar Hoover had finally acknowledged the fact that Organized Crime really did exist!) Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is hoping that dissension within the ranks of the Mob will cause the hierarchy to collapse under its own weight. He may be right: A power struggle involving Mafia chieftan Ed Clementi (Telly Savalas) currently threatens to spark a full-scale turf war. Originally telecast March 12 and 19, 1967, the two parts of "The Executioners" were later combined and released theatrically overseas as Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Released theatrically in Europe, Cosa Nostra, Arch Enemy of the FBI originated as "The Executioner", a two-part episode of the weekly TV series The FBI. The series' usual stars Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Philip Abbott and Stephen Brooks are joined on this occasion by guest artists Walter Pidgeon, Celeste Holm, Telly Savalas and Susan Strasberg-and, way down on the cast list, Robert Duvall. The story concerns double-crosses within the inner circles of La Cosa Nostra. The story concludes as mob boss Pidgeon orders the death of witness Holm-with the victim's nephew Savalas as the hit man! "The Executioner" first aired on two consecutive Sundays: March 12 and 19, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Working as a fruit picker for wealthy citrus grower Leland Hagerman (Byron Morrow), Kimble (David Janssen)--alias "Jim Wallace"--promises his dying boss that he'll look after Hagerman's ne'er-do-well son Blaine (Ben Piazza). This proves difficult when, upon Blaine's return home, he turns out to be an arrogant leech who is universally despised by his late father's employees. Ultimately, Kimble sides with Blaine's stepmother Flo (Celeste Holm) to prevent the wastrel from illegally gaining full control of the family business. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Lesley Ann Warren plays the title role in this television production of the classic Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein III musical. Cinderella (Warren) is a sweet and pretty young woman who has been given a poor hand by fate; her stepmother (Jo Van Fleet) treats her cruelly, and while her graceless sisters are invited to a royal ball, Cinderella is not allowed to attend. But her Fairy Godmother (Celeste Holm) has other plans, and Cinderella attends the ball, where she makes a tremendous impression upon the Prince (Stuart Damon). But her Godmother's magic only works until midnight, and Cinderella is forced to leave the festivities at their height; will she ever see the Prince again? And how will he ever find her? This was the second television production of this musical version of the classic fairy tale; the original 1957 version featured a young Julie Andrews in the lead. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lesley Ann Warren
- 1962
Another in a series of American comedies of manners, this film was written and directed by Frank Tashlin with his usual grace and elegance. Terry-Thomas plays a meek archeology professor named Bruce Patterson who is attracted to bones. His salivating female college students are attracted to him. And his neighbor's Dachshund is attracted to Patterson's big and ancient dinosaur bone. With his fiancee, Helen (Celeste Holm), away in Paris, Bruce stays at her empty apartment, where love-sick women attempt to make their way through every orifice in the flat to get to the sky professor. Helen, fearful of revealing her true age to Bruce, never told him that she had married before and that she has a college-age daughter to boot. So, when her daughter, Libby (Tuesday Weld), arrives at her mother's home, Bruce thinks she is just another sex-crazed college girl and sends her away. But Libby appeals to the professor's sociological side by pretending to be a juvenile delinquent, and Bruce permits her to stay at the flat with him. Once there, Libby becomes attracted to Bruce's handsome law-student neighbor Mike (Richard Beymer). When Bruce complains to Mike about all the gals who want to lock lips with him, Mike offers a solution to his dilemma -- instead of allowing himself to be chased by the college girls, he should be the one to do the chasing. Bruce agrees and becomes a satyr with a Ph.D. At that point, Helen returns home from Paris. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tuesday Weld, Richard Beymer, (more)
High Society is a glossy Technicolor-and-VistaVision musical remake of Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story (1940), decked out with million-watt star power and a Cole Porter score. Set amongst the rich and famous in Newport, RI, the story revolves around the wedding plans of socialite Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly). Tracy is all set to marry stuffy George Kittridge (John Lund), while magazine writer Mike Connor (Frank Sinatra) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Celeste Holm) intend to cover the ceremony. Meanwhile, Tracy's ex-husband C.K. Dexter-Haven (Bing Crosby) also comes calling, ostensibly to the attend the annual Newport Jazz Festival, but actually for the purpose of winning Tracy back. In the course of events, Mike falls in love with Tracy, and she with him. The Jazz Festival subplot allows scriptwriter John Patrick to bring Louis Armstrong into the proceedings, much to the delight of anyone who cares anything about music. The Cole Porter tunes include the Crosby-Sinatra duet "Well, Did You Evah?," the Crosby-Armstrong teaming "Now You Has Jazz," the Kelly-Crosby romantic ballad "True Love," and the Sinatra solo "You're Sensational." Though it lacks the satiric edge of the Philip Barry original (Barry, incidentally, is not given any screen credit), High Society succeeds on its own lighthearted terms. The film represents Grace Kelly's final acting assignment before her real-life wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, (more)
- 1956
This live, full-color musical version of Jack and the Beanstalk was one of NBC's most ambitious productions, costing $300,000 and utilizing 17 sets, all specially constructed at the network's vast Brooklyn studios. Though set in olden times, this version has a decidedly contemporary slant, with Jack depicted as a teenaged layabout who must redeem himself in the eyes of the community by doing "something big"--namely, climbing a beanstalk and conquering a giant. But from that point forward, the story doesn't quite adhere to formula: The so-called giant isn't nearly as fierce (or as big) as he's supposed to be, and there's a climactic surprise delivered by Jack's dyspeptic employer Mr. Poopledoop. Joel Grey, still ten years away from becoming an "overnight star" by virtue of the Broadway musical Cabaret, is cast as Jack, with Billy Gilbert as Poopledoop, Peggy King (then the vocalist on The George Gobel Show) as the Love Interest, Celeste Holm as a local looney, Cyril Ritchard ("Captain Hook" in the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan) as the bean peddler, and scrawny Arnold Stang as one "Mr. Fum." The lively but forgettable score by Jerry Livingston (Hello Dolly, Mame etc.) and Helen Deutsch includes"This is the One", "He Never Looks My Way", "Where Are the White Birds Flying?", "People Should Listen to Me", "Sweet World", "Twelve Feet Tall", "Looka Me", and "I'll Go Along With You". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith's Broadway hit The Tender Trap is transformed into a beguiling Frank Sinatra film vehicle. Sinatra plays a Manhattan showbiz agent, Charlie Y. Reader, who enjoys the attentions of several willing young ladies. At an audition, Charlie meets aspiring actress Julie Gillis (Debbie Reynolds), who is so determined to land a husband that she's already set the date. She goes out with Charlie for a short while, then announces that she won't marry him until he gives up all his other girls. Charlie, who hasn't said word one about marriage and who'd been preparing to give Julie the brush-off, is startled by her ultimatum -- so much so that he genuinely falls in love with her, which (we can safely assume) was her intention all along. A complication involving Charlie's former amour Sylvia Crewes (Celeste Holm) and his best friend Joe McCall (David Wayne) paves the way for the film's slightly offbeat denouement. In addition to scoring at the box office, The Tender Trap yielded a hit song (written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen), which would remain a part of Frank Sinatra's repertoire for the rest of his life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, (more)
This comedy stars Ronald Colman as Beauregard Bottomley, a self-styled genius in need of a job. He applies for a position with a large soap company, but Burnbridge Walters (Vincent Price), the firm's willfully eccentric president, falls into a "trance" while interviewing Beauregard and decides not to give him the job. When Beauregard overhears his sister Gwenn (Barbara Britton) listening to a game show sponsored by Walters' soap company, he discovers the perfect means to get revenge -- each time a contestant answers a question correctly, they double their prize money. Beauregard gets a spot on the show and starts winning -- and doesn't stop. Before long, the company owes him $40 million and Beauregard hasn't even broken a sweat. Beauregard is poised to bankrupt Walters and destroy his company, so the soap tycoon persuades Flame O'Neal (Celeste Holm) to pose as a nurse who will (a) find out if there's anything Beauregard doesn't know, and (b) distract him romantically. While a critical success and something of a cult item, Champagne for Caesar was a box office disappointment on its initial release; Ronald Colman appeared in only two more films before his death eight years later. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Colman, Celeste Holm, (more)
Based on the story The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr, All About Eve is an elegantly bitchy backstage story revolving around aspiring actress Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter). Tattered and forlorn, Eve shows up in the dressing room of Broadway mega-star Margo Channing (Bette Davis), weaving a melancholy life story to Margo and her friends. Taking pity on the girl, Margo takes Eve as her personal assistant. Before long, it becomes apparent that naïve Eve is a Machiavellian conniver who cold-bloodedly uses Margo, her director Bill Sampson (Gary Merill), Lloyd's wife Karen (Celeste Holm), and waspish critic Addison De Witt (George Sanders) to rise to the top of the theatrical heap. Also appearing in All About Eve is Marilyn Monroe, introduced by Addison De Witt as "a graduate of the Copacabana school of dramatic art." This is but one of the hundreds of unforgettable lines penned by writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the most famous of which is Margo Channing's lip-sneering admonition, "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night." All About Eve received 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, (more)
- 1949
A remake of Wife, Husband and Friend (1938), Everybody Does It is a frantic satire of the opera world. Businessman Paul Douglas is forced to suffer in silence when his wife (Celeste Holm) decides to become an opera star. Compelled to bankroll a concert for his missus, Douglas meets genuine opera diva Linda Darnell at the concert. While passing the time, Darnell discovers that Douglas in fact has a magnificent singing voice. Partly because he is flattered by Darnell's attentions, and partly to show up his wife, Douglas embarks on his own operatic career. But on the night of his debut, Douglas suffers a severe attack of stage fright, gets "doped up" on medicine in order to survive the performance, and hilariously humiliates himself in front of everyone. Darnell l angrily stalks out of the scene, and the sadder-but-wiser Douglas and Celeste Holm return to each other's arms. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Douglas, Linda Darnell, (more)
Three wives, played by Jeanne Crain, Ann Sothern and Linda Darnell, are about to embark on a boat trip when each receives a letter, written by a mutual friend named Addie, informing her that Addie is about to run off with one of their husbands. In flashback, each wife wonders if it is her marriage that is in jeopardy. Deborah (Crain) recounts her fish-out-of-water relationship with her up-and-coming hubby (Jeffrey Lynn); businesswoman Rita (Sothern) asks herself if she's been too rough on her professorial spouse (Kirk Douglas); and Lora May (Darnell), a girl from (literally) the wrong side of the tracks, questions the security of her marriage to a brash business executive (Paul Douglas). The voice of Addie, who is never seen, is provided by Celeste Holm. Thelma Ritter shows up in a hilarious unbilled bit as a slatternly domestic, while an equally uncredited Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer makes a quick entrance and exit as a bellhop. Written with perception and not a little witty condescension by director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, A Letter to Three Wives won two Oscars ,both for Mankiewicz. Based on a novel by John Klempner, the property was remade for television in 1985, with Ann Sothern back again in a supporting part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, (more)
- 1949
A Christmastime TV perennial, Come to the Stable is the gentle saga of two French nuns (Celeste Holm with accent, Loretta Young without) who come to America in hopes of raising funds for a children's hospital. Travelling to a small New England town presciently named Bethlehem, the nuns befriend eccentric painter Elsa Lanchester, who allows them to use her studio (actually a stable) for their base of operations. Utterly ingenuous when it comes to American mores and customs (they tear up a parking ticket, assuming it to be an advertisement), the sisters raise money in a variety of amusing fashions. One of their "agents" is outwardly tough gambler Mike Mazurki, who gets his equally raffish pals to invest in the hospital. And towards the end, the nuns even play a little professional tennis to raise money. Careful not to overwhelm the viewer with sentiment and religiosity, Come to the Stable (based on a story by Clare Booth Luce) is ideal holiday film fare. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, Celeste Holm, (more)
"A woman loses her mind and is confined to a mental institution." That's the usual TV-listing encapsulation of The Snake Pit -- and like most such encapsulations, it only scratches the film's surface. Olivia de Havilland stars as an outwardly normal young woman, married to loyal, kindly Mark Stevens. As de Havilland's behavior becomes more and more erratic, however, Stevens comes to the sad conclusion that she needs professional help. She is sent to an overcrowded state hospital for treatment -- a curious set-up, in that, while de Havilland is treated with compassion by soft-spoken psychiatrist Leo Genn, she is sorely abused by resentful matrons and profoundly disturbed patients. Throughout the film, she is threatened with being clapped into "the snake pit" -- an open room where the most severe cases are permitted to roam about and jabber incoherently -- if she doesn't realign her thinking. In retrospect, it seems that de Havilland's biggest "crime" is that she wants to do her own thinking, and that she isn't satisfied with merely being a loving wife. While this subtext may not have been intentional, it's worth noting that de Havilland escapes permanent confinement only when she agrees to march to everyone else's beat. Amazingly, Olivia de Havilland didn't win an Academy Award for her harrowing performance in The Snake Pit (the only Oscar won by the film was for sound recording). While some of the psychological verbiage in this adaptation of Mary Jane Ward's autobiographical novel seems antiquated and overly simplistic today, The Snake Pit was rightly hosannahed as a breakthrough film in 1948. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, (more)
- 1948
George Seaton's 1948 comedy Chicken Every Sunday was based on the play by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein as well as the original memoirs of Rosemary Taylor. Set during the turn of the century on the American frontier, Emily Heffernan (eleste Holm) is the practical wife of foolish would-be businessman Jim Heffernan (Dan Dailey). While Emily struggles to keep the household together by renting out rooms to boarders, Jim wastes the family's earnings on get-rich-quick schemes. Told in flashback, Emily recalls her 20-year marriage before filing for divorce. Emily has had enough and wants to leave, but their friends try to get them back together. Also starring Colleen Townsend, Alan Young, and a ten-year-old Natalie Wood. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Dailey, Celeste Holm, (more)
