I am watching this now and the opening scene on board a bus shows one of the characters sitting next to a young Celeste Holm.
"I told you a million times not to talk to me when I'm doing my lashes"!
Just watched it, freeze framed it, and I don't think it was Celeste Holm.
shareI don't recall seeing her in this movie but I guess anything is possible. When this movie was made she only had a few prior movie credits but she had a pretty substantial role in Gentleman's Agreement. It's doubtful she would be cast as an extra on a bus after that. Even under the studio system I don't think they did things like that. If they were featuring one of their contract players they'd make sure they were identified.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]
Zero chance it was Celeste Holm. The Dark Past was released in December of 1948, Gentlemen's Agreement was released 13 months earlier in November of 1947, in which she instantly got rave reviews ultimately winning an Oscar for supporting actress in March of 1948, 9 months before The Dark Past was released. Also, she had another important supporting role for The Snake Pit that was released in November of 1948.
But the real nail in the coffin of this subject is that Celeste Holm had signed a contract with Twentieth Century Fox and The Dark Past was released by Columbia Pictures. Why would a studio rent an Oscar winning actress from another studio simply to place her as an extra? Answer: because its not her.
The girl on the bus was played by a little known actress called Gay Nelson. She only managed 7 screen appearances and four of them were uncredited.
share