Champagne for Caesar (1950) – Nostalgia Central

One of the very earliest satires on modern media, this little-known, rarely shown screwball comedy remains topical.

Eccentric genius Beauregard Bottomley (Ronald Colman) is the unemployed polymath who applies for a basic job at the Milady Soap company only to be snubbed by the company’s CEO, Burnbridge Waters (Vincent Price, revealing a delicious talent for comedy).

Swearing revenge, Beauregard enters a television quiz show – Masquerade for Money – sponsored by Milady Soap.

The show’s prize money doubles every week with every correct answer.

Bottomley correctly answers obscure questions week after week, but instead of walking away with his winnings, he keeps risking the money, intending to let the prize compound until it hits $40 million – a sum large enough to bankrupt the Milady Soap empire, allowing him to take it over.

Burnbridge Waters understandably becomes increasingly frantic and unhinged as Bottomley threatens to ruin his company. He hires glamorous femme fatale Flame O’Neill (Celeste Holm)  to seduce Bottomley, find his intellectual blind spots, and trick him into losing.

The plan backfires as Flame genuinely falls in love with Bottomley’s sophisticated charm and intellect, and refuses to help Waters sabotage him.

The film builds to a frantic finale as Beauregard stands just one correct answer away from winning $40 million and bankrupting Milady Soap. By this point, he has become a massive pop-culture phenomenon, with millions of viewers tuned in to watch the live broadcast from the Hollywood Bowl.

Barbara Britton costars as Beauregard’s supportive piano teacher sister, Gwenn, who is caught up in her brother’s high-stakes crusade, and Art Linkletter plays Happy Hogan, the fast-talking, energetic, and highly dramatic host of the (fictional) quiz show.

The film’s title refers to Bottomley’s champagne-loving, highly opinionated parrot Caesar, voiced by Mel Blanc.

Beauregard Bottomley
Ronald Colman
Flame O’Neil
Celeste Holm
Burnbridge Waters
Vincent Price
Waters’ Secretary
Vici Raaf
Gwenn Bottomley
Barbara Britton
Happy Hogan
Art Linkletter
Announcer
Gabriel Heatter
Announcer
George Fisher
Gerald
Byron Foulger
Frosty
Ellie Marshall
Caesar (voice)
Mel Blanc
Fortune Teller
Peter Brocco
Buck
Brian O’Hara
Scratch
Jack Daly
Lecturer
Gordon Nelson
Chuck Johnson
Herbert Lytton
Mr Brown
George Meader

Director
Richard Whorf

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