Belvedere räumt auf

This movie is hilarious! I don't think I stopped laughing the entire time. Everything about it is cute and funny, with the perfect counterbalance of wit and sophistication. Robert Young is in handsome lighthearted form, and the children are of course adorable and winsome - especially Roddy, who wails at the slightest provocation. It has everything! The more I watch it, the more humorous subplots emerge. My favorite scenes are when the nosy neighbors spread rumors of Lynn and Tacey's sordid affair, and she says at the lounge as they pass by, "Let's give them something to gossip about!", and proceeds to jitterbug with him. And when Mr Belvedere exposes the hypocrisy of the townspeople: Priceless. I'm so pleased with Ms O'Hara's versatility when you think about the vastly contrasting films in their genres, themes and moods that she made around the same time within the space of a few years, how they display her dynamism and acting genius with her outstandingly unique ubiquitous great theatrical stage presence that translates well to the screen which is so rare and difficult a feat to accomplish. She appears equally at home with deep brooding roles as she does the urbane comedic together-woman. This is definitely one of her best!

Mr.Belvedere was the vehicle, by which, I "discovered" Clifton Webb. Played to perfection (Mr.Belvedere is the definition of perfection) by Webb, he has ruined the chance for anyone to improve, or even approach, his performance. (As, for example, the weak effort to duplicate Mr. Belvedere, on the TV sitcom of the same name. The TV show may even be reason someone might stay away from this movie. Don't make that mistake.) Clifton Webb IS the "show". I can't think of anyone who has the "confidence" to carry off being the know-it-all who can/did teach the experts. A great comedic performance, like this, is an extra special surprise when coming from such an unexpected source. The usually "starched", serious actor is hilarious. The 2 sequels, Mr.Belvedere Goes to College, and Mr.Belvedere Rings the Bell, are also very good. In fact, excellent as sequels go....

Suggested movies for Clifton Webb fans..."Laura"..."Stars and Stripes Forever..."Three Coins in the Fountain"...They span his long career, show you his range, and will most definitely entertain you..........

For a 1948 film dealing with the dawning era of suburbia, a concept that hadn't even existed 10 years earlier, this little charmer holds up remarkably well. The reason is Clifton Webb, who steals every scene he is in. And he's in just about every scene. This was Webb's first appearance as the fastidious Mr. Belvedere, an odd duck with a genius IQ -- and a hidden agenda. Here. he becomes a live-in babysitter for a suburban couple (Young and O'Hara) and their three boys. The one weak spot in the plot is that the three boys seem perfectly normal, but O'Hara apparently can't handle them. Much hilarity ensues once Mr. Belvedere arrives on the premises. In his off time, Mr. Belvedere is up to something in his attic room, but Young and O'Hara are hard-pressed to figure out what. A nosy neighbor (Haydn) causes no end of mischief, convinced that there must be hanky panky going on. The ending feels a bit rushed and the movie at times resembles a stage play more than a movie, but everything comes out just fine. And we finally find out Mr. Belvedere's secret. But you will have to watch the movie to find out what that secret is. A delight.

Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara as Harry & Tacey King were the headliners in this film but a man named Lynn Belvedere (Clifton Webb) stole the show. It was perfectly logical that Mr. Belvedere would take control of the film, he is a genius. What one thing has Belvedere not done, write a book of course! But what type of book and where will the information be collected from? How about a little town of gossips that will make a satire of a town a masterpiece of writing? But how can a genius be among them and not be discovered? The King family have terrible children that no human can control. They need a maid and live-in babysitter, whom better than a person that understands children's psychology yet hates children. Mr. Belvedere soon is hired and has the whole family under his control. A man that has the children chew their food 28 times, not 20 or 24 but 28 times. A dog trainer that has the huge mountain of a dog controlled. A man that can tell the adults in the household just how childish they can behave. When the family almost breaks up can Mr. Belvedere save the family? This is a classic which will live on in movie history.

A very pleasant, agreeable little effort, dominated by the magnificent Clifton Webb - as sanguine and savourably sour a figure as rarely seen in Hollywood...

His character, Lynn Belvedere, is absolutely wonderful; wry, serene, roundly honest and arrogant; he is the focal point of the majority of the humour. The other actors are fine, with Maureen O'Hara, Richard Haydn and Robert Young more than capable supports. Yet... Belvedere's superiority is never in question: when asked at *what* he works, he simply and unequivocally states, "I am a genius".

Says it all really! There are so many witty one-liners, and amusing touches in comparison to many modern films on the same themes of babysitting and American suburbia. This is one of the most enjoyable films of its era; propelled to lofty heights by Clifton Webb's indomitable prescence. A touch of waspish, queer old England thrust into the picket-fence garden of American suburbia.