AudioFileZ
A young upwardly mobile couple with three small children seek a live-in baby sitter. That couple, the Kings, are played by the fantastic Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara (I'm sold already). When they hire Lynn Belvedere as a nanny they get quite a surprise. Lynn Belvedere is a not the typical live-in sitter doing light house work, he's a man! And, Belvedere is a self- professed "GENIUS". Harry and Tracy King's first impression is to simply relieve Belvedere by a feigning it's a misunderstanding as they fully expected a female. This comes to exactly nothing as Belvedere is in the house and he's staying.So, we have a screw-ball comedy complete with eccentric overly nosy (confirmed spinster bachelor) neighbor Mr. Clifton Appleton who, between his cross-pollinated iris breeding and subservient bowing to his mother, adds extra color. Appleton is played by the consummate nasally voiced actor Richard Haydn. This amalgam of characters, along with the mischievous King brood of 3 young sons and a wayward Great Dane Henry, provide great angst from which countless situations spring.Belvedere is eccentrically wonderful as brought to the screen by the British actor Clifton Webb. Straight-laced and extremely proper the presence of Belvedere seems wholly out of place, but is just what the doctor ordered to bring order to the unruly King household. As a self-described genius everything is within his wheelhouse he boastfully might say. That would include authoring a tome' that exposes all the dirty laundry of the supposedly straight-laced locals. The book by Belvedere rockets to top of the best-seller list and what results is a hilarity filled up-commence of the supposed bulwarks of the stodgy "Hummingbird Lane" enclave. Wonderfully entertaining with a blue-chip cast delightfully up-staged by Clifton Webb as Belvedere. A 40's comedy classic that lives on yet today and is highly recommended.
Cheese Hoven
This mildly amusing and inoffensive comedy was so popular in its time that it spawned two sequels with the now rather dated character of Mr Belvedere in them. Those new to it now will probably wonder why. I actually found the opening scenes before Belvedere arrives the best part. A delightful introduction of the nosey neighbours, a gossipy mother and effete flower breeding son, made me expectant that this would be a classic. Alas, the appearance of Belvedere, like the appearance of the title character in Beetlejuice, changes that. The Belvedere character is one familiar to American comedy, basically the snotty and detached butler that has become a staple of comedies from the fresh prince of Bel Air to Arthur. Belvedere adds one ingredient, however, in that he's a genius. I must confess to finding his shtick somewhat wearisome and the storyline in no way accounts for why the children take to him so much. They take to him simply because the plot demands they should take to him. Perhaps we should not expect too much from what was meant to be a light hearted comedy. The plot, such as it is, soon founders, but it is basically a series of contrivances anyway. This is not to say that there is not a certain amount of charming comedy to be had; I found the scene where Belvedere is discovered in his dressing gown apparently drinking gin with Maureen O'Hara, very skillfully done. But a lot depends on how one warms to Belvedere which I failed to do.However the plot turns messy when Belvedere is revealed to have written a successful novel. Why would such a genius engage in writing such a trashy piece of gossip? And why wouldn't the towns folk be rather put out to have their peccadilloes so publicly aired? The final scene where Belvedere passes the blame to the nosey flower breeder fails to convince for a number of reasons and leaves a bitter aftertaste in the mouth.
vincentlynch-moonoi
For his performance in this film, Clifton Webb was nominated for an Academy Award. And, deservedly so. I found his performance to be...well...deliciously tart. In today's world his character in this film would be thought of as acting gay, and reportedly, Webb was (he never married and lived with his mother until her death at 91, resulting in Noël Coward's comment that, "It must be terrible to be orphaned at 71"). But in 1948, the kind of character Webb plays here was mostly considered eccentric. I remember seeing this film on "Saturday Night At The Movies" in the early 1960s, and it's just as hilarious today as it was back then.Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara actually get billing above Webb in this film, and Young (is particularly is good here in a role that will remind you of his "Father Knows Best" persona of a few years later). They play a young couple with 3 boys who are a handful, resulting in them being unable to keep a housekeeper or reliable babysitter. O'Hara advertises for a live-in nanny. They hire Lyn Belvedere, thinking he's a she. Despite their misgivings, they agree to give the self-proclaimed genius a chance, and he quickly wins over the children. Nosey neighbors begin to suspect hanky-panky between Belvedere and O'Hara, and the gossip flies. All the while, Belvedere is writing a tell-all book about the community! The supporting cast does nicely, though is not prominent. Richard Haydn does deserve some praise as the prim and all-too-proper neighbor that's is the root of all the gossip. Haydn often played such roles, although he had some strong roles (including a pivotal one in "The Sound Of Music".This is a gem and would go well on any film buff's DVD shelf.
Neil Doyle
As the self-proclaimed genius, Mr. Belvedere, CLIFTON WEBB delivers every line of dialog with such crisp authority that you believe he IS the eccentric character who volunteers his services as a live-in babysitter for ROBERT YOUNG and MAUREEN O'HARA and their unruly brood.Webb simply steals every scene with skillful ease, except when RICHARD HAYDN enters the film as a snobbish, adenoidal neighbor who is another kind of genius at snooping. Before you know it, Belvedere has all of these citizens under his thumb, exposing the hypocrisy of small-town gossip in his novel, much the way Grace Metalious did when she pried open the lid of PEYTON PLACE.It's all for laughs and never fails to delight. This is the film that really established Webb's long career at Fox in roles that seemed tailor-made for his kind of pompous charm.
AD
