One of the most intriguing and unsettling things about the NARNIA books is the way lifelong bachelor C.S. Lewis tends to portray evil witches not as hideous crones but as stunning and sophisticated young women. Not surprisingly, the most memorable character in this film is the Emerald Witch, portrayed with subtle sensuality and aristocratic charm by regal and dark-eyed Barbara Kellerman.
Kellerman's Emerald Witch is a forceful, intelligent, and thoroughly attractive villainess. As the daughter of the White Witch brutally slain by the insufferably pompous do-gooder talking lion Aslan in the first book, the Emerald Witch is not so much a villain as passionate woman bent on revenge. Note her entrance on Ettinsmoor, riding by the side of the dazed and clearly besotted Prince Rilian. While the child actors mumble and screech about their quest, Kellerman underplays her evil intentions, popping off snappy one liners like "What do you hear, what do you say?" Only when alone with Aslan's image staring out at her from a crystal ball does she reveal her true agenda, pulling a Cagney face and sneering, "you . . . dirty cat . . . you killed my mother!" The allusion to Cagney is reinforced later, when she is cornered by Prince Rilian. Instead of dodging his sword point, she grabs the blade and drives it into her own bosom, shrieking "Top of the world, Ma!" exactly like Cagney in WHITE HEAT.
Kellerman's Emerald Witch is a forceful, intelligent, and thoroughly attractive villainess. As the daughter of the White Witch brutally slain by the insufferably pompous do-gooder talking lion Aslan in the first book, the Emerald Witch is not so much a villain as passionate woman bent on revenge. Note her entrance on Ettinsmoor, riding by the side of the dazed and clearly besotted Prince Rilian. While the child actors mumble and screech about their quest, Kellerman underplays her evil intentions, popping off snappy one liners like "What do you hear, what do you say?" Only when alone with Aslan's image staring out at her from a crystal ball does she reveal her true agenda, pulling a Cagney face and sneering, "you . . . dirty cat . . . you killed my mother!" The allusion to Cagney is reinforced later, when she is cornered by Prince Rilian. Instead of dodging his sword point, she grabs the blade and drives it into her own bosom, shrieking "Top of the world, Ma!" exactly like Cagney in WHITE HEAT.