{"id":15771,"date":"2011-02-07T13:10:46","date_gmt":"2011-02-07T20:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15771"},"modified":"2024-05-18T23:22:35","modified_gmt":"2024-05-19T06:22:35","slug":"sitting-pretty-1948","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15771","title":{"rendered":"Sitting Pretty (1948)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I dislike children intensely &#8212; and yours, if I may say so, have peculiarly repulsive habits and manners.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Sitting-Pretty-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Sitting-Pretty-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-47519\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Sitting-Pretty-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Sitting-Pretty-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Sitting-Pretty-Poster.jpg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA self-described genius (Clifton Webb) comes to work as a live-in babysitter for a couple (Maureen O&#8217;Hara and Robert Young) with three unruly boys, provoking much discussion among the townsfolk.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clifton Webb Films<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Ed Begley Sr. Films<\/li>\n<li>Governesses and Nannies<\/li>\n<li>Maureen O&#8217;Hara Films<\/li>\n<li>Richard Haydn Films<\/li>\n<li>Robert Young Films<\/li>\n<li>Small Town America<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nA few years after his infamous turn as Waldo Lydecker in Otto Preminger&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6718\"><em>Laura<\/em> (1944)<\/a>, Clifton Webb gave a similarly acerbic &#8212; and equally memorable &#8212; performance in this adaptation of Gwen Davenport&#8217;s 1947 novel <em>Belvedere<\/em>. Although clearly dated in many ways, <em>Sitting Pretty<\/em> still packs a surprising amount of comedic punch &#8212; thanks almost entirely to Webb, who never falters in his depiction of Mr. Belvedere as an outrageously self-congratulatory man, a philosopher and &#8220;genius&#8221; who never harbors the slightest doubt in his abilities to handle any situation that arises. Indeed, as the story progresses, Belvedere&#8217;s list of professed accomplishments and prior occupations grows so outlandishly long (&#8220;Mr. Belvedere, is there anything you haven&#8217;t been?&#8221; &#8220;Yes, Mrs. King &#8212; I&#8217;ve never been an idler or a parasite.&#8221;) that we eventually realize he&#8217;s a <em>superhuman<\/em> entity; while he never actually opens up an umbrella to go soaring through the air like <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6006\">Mary Poppins<\/a>, his ability to achieve such a feat is somehow never in doubt. <\/p>\n<p>Given that Mr. Belvedere is decidedly <em>asexual<\/em> (or, depending on how you look at it, secretly &#8220;coded&#8221; as homosexual), the fact that the film&#8217;s storyline eventually hinges on Robert Young&#8217;s jealous suspicions that his wife is engaging in a romantic dalliance with her nanny is simply ludicrous. Yet such narrative quibbles are somehow easily forgiven, given the overall outlandish flavor of the screenplay &#8212; which eventually takes an unexpected twist that places the entire story in a new context. And Webb is given so many delicious lines to spout that it&#8217;s pure fun simply waiting to hear how he&#8217;ll handle the next one. Watch for an enjoyable supporting turn by British comedic actor Richard Haydn (who played  a <em>dramatically<\/em> different character in Preminger&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15559\"><em>Forever Amber<\/em><\/a> the previous year). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> This film (or rather, Webb&#8217;s impersonation as Mr. Belvedere) was so popular that two sequels &#8212; <em>Mr. Belvedere Goes to College<\/em> (1949) and <em>Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell<\/em> (1951) &#8212; quickly followed; while they get half-hearted ratings, I&#8217;ll admit I&#8217;m smitten enough by Webb-as-Belvedere to want to check them out. <\/p>\n<p><u><strong>UPDATE, 12\/9\/11:<\/strong><\/u> I recently watched <em>Mr. Belvedere Goes to College<\/em> (1949) on YouTube (some kind soul uploaded it there), and thought I would write a quick capsule review here (especially given that no reviews at all are linked to this obscure little title on IMDb). As expected, it&#8217;s not nearly as &#8220;complete&#8221; a comedy as <em>Sitting Pretty<\/em>, and certainly isn&#8217;t must-see viewing for film fanatics &#8212; but fans of Webb won&#8217;t regret checking it out. His &#8220;Lynn Belvedere&#8221; remains in peak form in the sequel, responding to the rhetorical question, &#8220;You&#8217;re not serious&#8230;?!&#8221; with a resolute, &#8220;I&#8217;m grim.&#8221; (Only HE could make that retort sound convincing!) The film&#8217;s title explains itself: given that his formal education apparently consisted of no more than &#8220;two revolting weeks of Kindergarten&#8221;, Belvedere decides &#8212; for reasons I can&#8217;t name without spoiling the first picture a bit &#8212; to finally get a college degree. This allows the filmmakers ample opportunity to expose the hazards of freshman hazing &#8212; to which, interestingly enough, Mr. Belvedere allows himself to be subjected (to a certain extent, anyway). <\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, far too little time is actually spent on Belvedere&#8217;s travails in the classroom; NONE, actually (we simply see him reading books wherever he goes). Instead, a rather insipid subplot is allowed to dominate the proceedings, involving a would-be romance between a grown-up Shirley Temple (whose annoying character possesses a significant secret identity) and Tom Drake (of boy-next-door <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=19879\"><em>Meet Me in St. Louis<\/em><\/a> fame); as might be expected, whenever this narrative takes center stage, things grind to a deadening halt. Enter Mr. Belvedere again, however, and one&#8217;s energies are immediately restored: he&#8217;s just THAT delightful. As Bosley Crowther laudingly describes him in his review for the <em>New York Times<\/em>, he&#8217;s &#8220;brilliantly, classically clever and often delightfully droll, but he is also profoundly earnest&#8221;; in sum, he&#8217;s &#8220;a fellow who knows himself thoroughly and who has the good sense to realize that modesty would be false&#8221;. Indeed. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clifton Webb as Mr. Belvedere (nominated by Peary as one of the Best Actors of the Year in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Webb.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Webb.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15774\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Webb.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Webb-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Webb-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Richard Haydn as Mr. Appleton<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Haydn.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Haydn.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-15775\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Haydn.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Haydn-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Sitting-Pretty-Haydn-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Plenty of delightfully droll dialogue: &#8220;Intoxication is a form of escape often sought by the mentally immature.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, simply for Webb&#8217;s iconic performance. Listed as a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#noteworthy\">Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040795\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1948\/03\/11\/archives\/the-screen-clifton-webb-plays-baby-expert-in-sitting-pretty-fox.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.altfg.com\/blog\/classics\/clifton-webb-sitting-pretty-maureen-ohara\/\">Alt Film Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/sitting-pretty\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I dislike children intensely &#8212; and yours, if I may say so, have peculiarly repulsive habits and manners.&#8221; Synopsis: A self-described genius (Clifton Webb) comes to work as a live-in babysitter for a couple (Maureen O&#8217;Hara and Robert Young) with three unruly boys, provoking much discussion among the townsfolk. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Clifton Webb Films Comedy Ed Begley Sr. Films Governesses and Nannies Maureen O&#8217;Hara Films Richard Haydn Films Robert Young Films Small Town America Review: A few&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=15771\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15771"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96827,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15771\/revisions\/96827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}