Sitting Pretty
(1948) - 7.0
As old fashioned as my mother's sewing machine, this is all about home, hearth and apple pie. And quite amusing. It was a big hit at the box-office and led to two more Mr. Belvedere films. It hits all the right notes with a fine script from F. Hugh Herbert (Home, Sweet Homicide, Dark Command, That Certain Age and many more) and a great cast of actors who just have perfect timing with each other. It is under the direction of Walter Lang, best known for his many musicals such as Can-Can, The King and I, There's No Business Like Show Business. He keeps it moving and light on its toes.
The war is over and everyone is moving to the suburbs. This takes place squarely in one. Those were the days when one-working husband could provide for a nice house, three children and a wife comfortably. And of course when it was as white as newly fallen snow. Everyone with their garden and flowers to take up the week-end. I grew up in a suburb like that and got out as soon as I was old enough to. The focus of this film is on the King family, Harry and Tacey, their three young boisterous boys and a dog as large as a Sherman tank. Harry and Tacey are played by Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara and honestly it is one of the nicest portrayals of a married couple since the Thin Man. In fact, after Myrna Loy I would pick O'Hara as the second most perfect wife.
They have maid trouble. They all quit because of the over-active children and the dog. Pre-Ritalin days. In desperation she advertises for someone to live there, take care of the children and do some errands. A Lynn Belvedere answers and accepts. Imagine their surprise when a man shows up. Clifton Webb. Webb is a wonderful actor to watch - his precise delivery, disdainful pose and an intelligence that permeates from him. He was on a roll after Laura and The Razor's Edge and those two films cemented his film persona going forward. Waspy, prickly, superior and never one to mince words and insults. He could be saying the same thing in a noir or a comedy and in the noir it would be menacing and in the comedy it would be funny.
He and Monty Wooley had a lot in common. They both didn't really get into film till they were in their fifties after successful theatrical careers, they both played overbearing men who act like insulting people was the national past time and they both were very successful in playing this type of character that they created. Woolley beneath his jibes seems much warmer while it is hard to imagine Webb ever giving anyone a hug. And while Woolley was born into the elite, Webb was born in Indianapolis and brought up by a poor single mother who he lived with all his life and was in fact buried next to her. When she died at 91, Noel Coward said "It must be terrible to be orphaned at 71." Both he and Wooley were part of the group who hung out with Coward and Cole Porter. Listening in on their conversations must have been wonderful.
Mr. Belvedere introduces himself by telling them that he despises children and later amends that to include theirs in particular. He also tells them he is a genius. And so it seems. At one point Tacey asks him if he can dance and he says of course (and in fact Webb began his career as a song and dance man in musicals on the stage). I suppose she says sarcastically that Arthur Murray taught you. No, I taught Arthur Murray. The film is sweet with mild low-key humor with the droll wit of Webb spinning off delicious insults by the handful and often past the confused people he has directed them at. There is excellent support - Richard Hayden as the nosy gossiping neighbor who is almost a replica of Webb and lives with his mother, Ed Begley is Harry's boss who pinches the female help and John Russell and Louise Allbritton are their best friends. I wonder if Robert Young's warm performance helped get him the role of the father in Father Knows Best a few years later.
Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949) - 6.0
After the surprising box office success of Sitting Pretty in 1948 that introduced the very formal, proper and egotistical Mr. Belvedere, 20th Century Fox quickly brought out another film starring Clifton Webb as the titled character. In the previous film he wrote a best selling book about the suburbs that poked fun at the environment and certain members of the community. This brought on a number of libel suits and he finds himself broke but with a $10,000 prize available to him. The only qualification is that the recipient has a college degree. Mr. Belvedere doesn't - he was self-taught since the age of six. So that is the rather silly set-up to get Mr. Belvedere to go to college. I expect 20th Century never thought they had a comedy star in the droll slightly sneering Webb but for the remainder of his film career he was mainly put into comedies or feel-good films - his days in noir had come to an end. Which is a shame because he plays noir well.
He convinces the college administration to enroll him after he easily passes the entrance exams and tells them that he will graduate in a year. But at the beginning he is a freshman and has to go through hazing which mainly consists of wearing a beanie. Clifton Webb enduring a beanie is kind of funny. He needs a job and so takes one as a servant in an unruly sorority full of spoiled girls. This part has the potential for comedy gold as he trains them in the same manner as he did the three boys in Sitting Pretty. But for the most part this is pushed to the back burner as a melodrama that has nothing to do with Mr. Belvedere emerges that just turns the film into a hybrid that doesn't work.
But it is a chance to see Shirley Temple as grown up at 20. She was still trying to make the transition from child super star to being an adult actress. She is fine. Still quite recognizable as the little girl dancing with Bill Bojangles Robinson. She falls in love with a classmate (Tom Drake) but unknown to him she has a son and is a widow. When his mother (Jessie Royce Landis) learns about this, she freaks out. Mr. Belvedere has to come to the rescue of young love. We find out in the film that Mr. Belvedere speaks eleven languages, taught judo in Japan and can perform the pole vault. Whenever the film focuses on Webb and his snitty comments it is fine but goes astray with the sub-plot which turns into the main plot. Temple was only to be in three more films after this. Also appearing is Mr. Ed aka Alan Young as Mr. Belvedere's roommate.
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951) - 4.5
This third Mr. Belvedere film didn't do that well at the box office and so Fox put the dagger through its heart and ended the series. In truth three of them was enough as the direction they were taking the character in wasn't much fun. From being a rather odious persnickety but funny character in the first film to a bemused egotist in the second film they practically make him a saint in this one. Sometimes writers just don't seem to understand what they have on their hands. We liked Mr. Belvedere just as he was. I imagine they figured they had to soften him up for the family audience. Ugh. This is a sweet movie. But not a funny one. Who wants that? They must have been setting Clifton Webb up for his next film Cheaper By the Dozen in which he and Myrna Loy are the parents to twelve children. You would have to be a saint to deal with that many children though having Myrna Loy as your wife would make it worthwhile. Clifton Webb having 12 children is so absurd on many levels.
In this one Mr. Belvedere is back on his feet after nearly being bankrupt in the previous film. He is on a book-lecture tour and eating it up. His PR man is played by the wonderful Zero Mostel. While sitting in the park he overhears a group of old people moaning and complaining about their ills as old people are wont to do. I should know. Whenever I get together with a few similarly aged friends the first 15 minutes is allocated to our aches and pains, the second fifteen minutes to how much we hate Trump and then back to how much our backs hurt. They all live at an old folks home run by the church. Mr. Belvedere decides to join them and revitalize them. He tells them he is 77 and all are shocked - later Mostel says you aren't even fifty yet - how can you get away with it. In fact, Webb was 62 and looked it. So Mr. Belvedere went from taking care of three children to a sorority to an old folks home. If there had been another film it would have taken place in a mortuary.
It goes as expected - but not desired - he is this super nice fellow cheering up these crotchety old folks and getting the reverend (Hugh Marlowe) to realize that he loves the nurse in the place (Joanne Dru). Mr. Belvedere should win the Nobel Peace Prize. The old folks are amusing at times but Belvedere isn't and that is the reason we are watching.
As old fashioned as my mother's sewing machine, this is all about home, hearth and apple pie. And quite amusing. It was a big hit at the box-office and led to two more Mr. Belvedere films. It hits all the right notes with a fine script from F. Hugh Herbert (Home, Sweet Homicide, Dark Command, That Certain Age and many more) and a great cast of actors who just have perfect timing with each other. It is under the direction of Walter Lang, best known for his many musicals such as Can-Can, The King and I, There's No Business Like Show Business. He keeps it moving and light on its toes.
The war is over and everyone is moving to the suburbs. This takes place squarely in one. Those were the days when one-working husband could provide for a nice house, three children and a wife comfortably. And of course when it was as white as newly fallen snow. Everyone with their garden and flowers to take up the week-end. I grew up in a suburb like that and got out as soon as I was old enough to. The focus of this film is on the King family, Harry and Tacey, their three young boisterous boys and a dog as large as a Sherman tank. Harry and Tacey are played by Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara and honestly it is one of the nicest portrayals of a married couple since the Thin Man. In fact, after Myrna Loy I would pick O'Hara as the second most perfect wife.
They have maid trouble. They all quit because of the over-active children and the dog. Pre-Ritalin days. In desperation she advertises for someone to live there, take care of the children and do some errands. A Lynn Belvedere answers and accepts. Imagine their surprise when a man shows up. Clifton Webb. Webb is a wonderful actor to watch - his precise delivery, disdainful pose and an intelligence that permeates from him. He was on a roll after Laura and The Razor's Edge and those two films cemented his film persona going forward. Waspy, prickly, superior and never one to mince words and insults. He could be saying the same thing in a noir or a comedy and in the noir it would be menacing and in the comedy it would be funny.
He and Monty Wooley had a lot in common. They both didn't really get into film till they were in their fifties after successful theatrical careers, they both played overbearing men who act like insulting people was the national past time and they both were very successful in playing this type of character that they created. Woolley beneath his jibes seems much warmer while it is hard to imagine Webb ever giving anyone a hug. And while Woolley was born into the elite, Webb was born in Indianapolis and brought up by a poor single mother who he lived with all his life and was in fact buried next to her. When she died at 91, Noel Coward said "It must be terrible to be orphaned at 71." Both he and Wooley were part of the group who hung out with Coward and Cole Porter. Listening in on their conversations must have been wonderful.
Mr. Belvedere introduces himself by telling them that he despises children and later amends that to include theirs in particular. He also tells them he is a genius. And so it seems. At one point Tacey asks him if he can dance and he says of course (and in fact Webb began his career as a song and dance man in musicals on the stage). I suppose she says sarcastically that Arthur Murray taught you. No, I taught Arthur Murray. The film is sweet with mild low-key humor with the droll wit of Webb spinning off delicious insults by the handful and often past the confused people he has directed them at. There is excellent support - Richard Hayden as the nosy gossiping neighbor who is almost a replica of Webb and lives with his mother, Ed Begley is Harry's boss who pinches the female help and John Russell and Louise Allbritton are their best friends. I wonder if Robert Young's warm performance helped get him the role of the father in Father Knows Best a few years later.
Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949) - 6.0
After the surprising box office success of Sitting Pretty in 1948 that introduced the very formal, proper and egotistical Mr. Belvedere, 20th Century Fox quickly brought out another film starring Clifton Webb as the titled character. In the previous film he wrote a best selling book about the suburbs that poked fun at the environment and certain members of the community. This brought on a number of libel suits and he finds himself broke but with a $10,000 prize available to him. The only qualification is that the recipient has a college degree. Mr. Belvedere doesn't - he was self-taught since the age of six. So that is the rather silly set-up to get Mr. Belvedere to go to college. I expect 20th Century never thought they had a comedy star in the droll slightly sneering Webb but for the remainder of his film career he was mainly put into comedies or feel-good films - his days in noir had come to an end. Which is a shame because he plays noir well.
He convinces the college administration to enroll him after he easily passes the entrance exams and tells them that he will graduate in a year. But at the beginning he is a freshman and has to go through hazing which mainly consists of wearing a beanie. Clifton Webb enduring a beanie is kind of funny. He needs a job and so takes one as a servant in an unruly sorority full of spoiled girls. This part has the potential for comedy gold as he trains them in the same manner as he did the three boys in Sitting Pretty. But for the most part this is pushed to the back burner as a melodrama that has nothing to do with Mr. Belvedere emerges that just turns the film into a hybrid that doesn't work.
But it is a chance to see Shirley Temple as grown up at 20. She was still trying to make the transition from child super star to being an adult actress. She is fine. Still quite recognizable as the little girl dancing with Bill Bojangles Robinson. She falls in love with a classmate (Tom Drake) but unknown to him she has a son and is a widow. When his mother (Jessie Royce Landis) learns about this, she freaks out. Mr. Belvedere has to come to the rescue of young love. We find out in the film that Mr. Belvedere speaks eleven languages, taught judo in Japan and can perform the pole vault. Whenever the film focuses on Webb and his snitty comments it is fine but goes astray with the sub-plot which turns into the main plot. Temple was only to be in three more films after this. Also appearing is Mr. Ed aka Alan Young as Mr. Belvedere's roommate.
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951) - 4.5
This third Mr. Belvedere film didn't do that well at the box office and so Fox put the dagger through its heart and ended the series. In truth three of them was enough as the direction they were taking the character in wasn't much fun. From being a rather odious persnickety but funny character in the first film to a bemused egotist in the second film they practically make him a saint in this one. Sometimes writers just don't seem to understand what they have on their hands. We liked Mr. Belvedere just as he was. I imagine they figured they had to soften him up for the family audience. Ugh. This is a sweet movie. But not a funny one. Who wants that? They must have been setting Clifton Webb up for his next film Cheaper By the Dozen in which he and Myrna Loy are the parents to twelve children. You would have to be a saint to deal with that many children though having Myrna Loy as your wife would make it worthwhile. Clifton Webb having 12 children is so absurd on many levels.
In this one Mr. Belvedere is back on his feet after nearly being bankrupt in the previous film. He is on a book-lecture tour and eating it up. His PR man is played by the wonderful Zero Mostel. While sitting in the park he overhears a group of old people moaning and complaining about their ills as old people are wont to do. I should know. Whenever I get together with a few similarly aged friends the first 15 minutes is allocated to our aches and pains, the second fifteen minutes to how much we hate Trump and then back to how much our backs hurt. They all live at an old folks home run by the church. Mr. Belvedere decides to join them and revitalize them. He tells them he is 77 and all are shocked - later Mostel says you aren't even fifty yet - how can you get away with it. In fact, Webb was 62 and looked it. So Mr. Belvedere went from taking care of three children to a sorority to an old folks home. If there had been another film it would have taken place in a mortuary.
It goes as expected - but not desired - he is this super nice fellow cheering up these crotchety old folks and getting the reverend (Hugh Marlowe) to realize that he loves the nurse in the place (Joanne Dru). Mr. Belvedere should win the Nobel Peace Prize. The old folks are amusing at times but Belvedere isn't and that is the reason we are watching.