Monsieur Belvédère fait sa cure

This last Belvedere film that Clifton Webb did is the answer to an interesting trivia question which is what role was played by both Jose Ferrer and Clifton Webb. No, that does not mean that Ferrer ever played the part of Belvedere.

Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell is an adaption of a recent Broadway play, The Silver Whistle which Jose Ferrer starred in on Broadway for 219 performances during the 1948-49 season. Ferrer finds a birth certificate of a man who would have been 77 years old and through this gains entrance to a senior citizen home run by a church. He brings quite a bit of change to their lives while there.

Darryl F. Zanuck bought this for 20th Century Fox and adapted it to fit Mr. Belvedere. But instead of looking for some real lodging, Clifton Webb is doing this as a kind of sociological experiment, to test some theories he's written in a new bestseller about staying young. Webb interrupts his book tour much to the chagrin of Zero Mostel who is his agent and has some really good scenes in this film.

Frances Brandt, William Lynn, Kathleen Comegys, and Doro Merande all repeated their roles from Broadway as the senior citizen residents of this home. Hugh Marlowe and Joanne Dru play the reverend and the social worker who run the home and whom Webb helps to make realize they have more in common than the home.

One thing I will have to say that is completely ludicrous though. Clifton Webb was 62 when he made the film and looked it. The film says that he is 46 and trying to pass himself off to the seniors as a man who looks and feels young because of his way of living and looking at life with some ancient Tibetan medicine. That was just completely ridiculous and I think Clifton Webb knew it. Maybe that was why there were no more Belvedere films for him.

Still Webb left us with a priceless character on the screen for which he is most remembered and we can be grateful for the three films we do have.

I was expecting a mediocre little comedy and found myself completely entranced by this charming film. Clifton Webb, Zero Mostel and an enchanting group of elderly actors make this film irresistible.

Webb, repeating his role from "Sitting Pretty" enters an old folks' home to teach them how to be young again. And he succeeds. He also manages to bring a young couple together - also well played by Joanne Dru and Hugh Marlowe.

This one'll charm the socks off you.

Whilst not having the sudden shock of his appearance as a male "maid" and babysitter in "Sitting Pretty", this third Belvedere film lets Clifton Webb loose on both our laughing equipment and our heartstrings quite wonderfully.

The Belvedere movies are not conceived in the same way, which is refreshing. This one has all the hubris and conceit we take merrily on board from Webb, channelled alarmingly into something like a messianic mission to an old folk's home. Reference to the character's history in "Sitting Pretty" is made at one point, just as it is in "Mr Belvedere goes to College" so the effect is of Clifton Webb popping up randomly on screen like a mushroom under a damp tree - indeed he is first seen silhouetted from behind on a park bench in this film. One wonders how Belvedere floated along, spore-like, from one movie to the next - what did he do in the meantime? Zero Mostel lends very endearing support but must bow to Webb's leading role and, of course, the elderly character actors are all entertainingly and effortlessly used to best effect.

Touching and funny in a (thirdly) different way from the other Belvederes.

It is indeed true, as has been posted here, that Clifton Webb's "Lynn Belvedere" character does not blend it in well in this, the 3rd & final film to feature the character. "Mr B Rings the Bell" is based on a play "The Silver Whistle" and the film does indeed suffer for it. The cast tries hard & it has its charming moments but it simply isn't as funny as the 1st two movies that featured the Belvedere character ("Sitting Pretty" & "Mr. Belvedere Goes to College"). This is OK time filler, but nothing more. I'm afraid that Mr. Webb & most of the cast are wasted. The actors who come across the best, I think, are the elderly people who inhabit the rest home that is the setting of the film. And as has been said here at this site, it truly is a shame that there were not more "Mr. Belvedere" movies. That dismal TV sitcom of the 80's with the late Christopher Hewitt had NOTHING whatever to do with the films, except for the main character having the same last name.

The fact that Clifton Webb is posing as another character and they call him by that name throughout the entire picture makes him less Lynn Belvedere and more something (someone) else. I understand that the character is working undercover, but I think this is because they had used a stage play as the basis for this film, and in the play, the character is not Belvedere.

What I do like about this last sequel in the series is that it once again proves Mr. Webb is the best fish-out-of-water in movies. You can put him into any situation with any assortment of odd characters, and he stands out spectacularly. There were hundreds of other situations they could have thrown him into, and when you think about it, the Belvedere franchise could have gone on as long as Blondie.