Mr. Belvedere estudiante

Not a bad follow up to the great 'Sitting Pretty' made the year before. Who can't love Clifton Webb? The all grown up Shirley Temple adds to the fun. All in all, it's a pretty good film but lacks much of the sophisticated dialogue of 'SP'!

Director/actor Elliot Nugent seems attracted to college tales, judging from this film and THE MALE ANIMAL (which he starred in on Broadway and directed on film). And it must have seemed a good idea to put CLIFTON WEBB, as Belvedere, the self-proclaimed genius, into a college setting so he could show everyone how smart he was even before getting a degree, but somehow MR. BELVEDERE GOES TO COLLEGE just misses the mark.

Not that everyone doesn't try. SHIRLEY TEMPLE, then still at a difficult stage in her adult career and returning to Fox for this co-starring role for the first time since her child career ended, is pert and pleasant as a young woman having an affair with TOM DRAKE, but their chemistry isn't there. And JESSE ROYCE LANDIS has her usual role as a meddling mother with ALAN YOUNG supplying some good comic support. But the end result is a mediocre comedy that fails to come up to the standards of what one expects from a Mr. Belvedere story.

Webb is witty and Temple is charming, but still the film flounders when it should sparkle and just possibly Elliot Nugent is partly to blame, although the script is certainly below par.

Summing up: It's trivial stuff, but if you keep your eyes open you might spot JEFF CHANDLER in a brief role as a policeman.

In the aftermath of WWII, America's fighting men are returning home, and many of them are using the G.I. Bill to attend college. Also enrolling is Lynn Belvedere, successful author, autodidact, and self-acknowledged genius. We first met him in Twentieth Century Fox's "Sitting Pretty". Though nothing about Mr. Belvedere would surprise us, it is odd to see a man of his age living the life of a frosh. And so this fish-out-of-water story begins.

Another student attending Clemens is Ellen Baker, played by Shirley Temple with grace and the sureness of an acting veteran. Her path intersects Mr. Belvedere's and sets up the main part of the story.

Mr. Belvedere is one of the great comic characters and Clifton Webb portrays the master of all trades with precision. The writing allows the character to be almost churlish, as someone who must endure the imperfections of others, while remaining a man of principle.

This film is fairly simple in its premise (like Rodney Dangerfield's "Back to School), and it likewise spends little time moralizing, content to entertain in the broadest of ways. In that regard, it is very successful. Mr. Belvedere is no fuddy-duddy; he's a ducky shincracker, too!

Clifton Webb has done some of the wittiest characters in the Golden Age of Hollywood, whether the his dark sardonic role in Laura or the efficiency expert and father of 12 children in Cheaper by the Dozen, but I always loved Mr. Belvedere the best. He is unfailingly funny while never cracking a smile himself, he makes us smile always, with his genius, know it all brain, his past in knowing everyone who is anyone, and his expertise at everything under the sun. Clifton Webb could even play a romantic interest in Three Coins in a Fountain, still without cracking a smile and with the dry sardonic wit. And he was believable in all his roles. There has never been any actor quite like him before or since. Although dated in its attitudes towards women, this movie shows all of those qualities.

This is a great movie starring Shirley at her best! As a teen she was just coming into her own, and I especially loved her acting at that age. Clifton Webb was sensational, and really steals the show! One person that has been left out of the credits though, is Jeff Chandler. He has a very small part at the very end of the film. He is one of the cops that breaks into Shirley's home. Although there is no close up of him, his voice is unmistakable, and his looks are so distinct you know it's him! It's worth seeing just to see him for those brief moments! All in all, a movie for anyone who like a good laugh and a good time!