Clifton Webb’s Mr. Belvedere Nonetheless ‘Sitting Fairly’ 1948

March 31, 2025

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Clifton Webb as Mr. Belvedere teaches his new employers’ youngster an essential lesson
on desk manners in 1948’s comedy “Sitting Fairly.”

Sitting
Fairly was the kind of good-hearted comedy that twentieth Century Fox
did so effectively within the Nineteen Forties and ’50s. Sitting
Fairly was a satire of post-war American suburbia, with the acidic genius
Mr. Belvedere offering the comedian sting.

Hummingbird Hill is the
suburban setting of Sitting Fairly,
which seems to be innocuous on the skin. A younger couple can’t maintain a housekeeper
to deal with their hectic offspring, a lot much less get a babysitter for date nights.
Exasperated, the spouse takes out an advert, and will get a response from a Lynn
Belvedere. She appears to have all the {qualifications}, however the couple is
shocked when she seems to be Mr.
Belvedere, and a self-proclaimed genius at that! What follows is a still-funny
spoof of post-WW II social mores, all of which is duly famous by the mysterious
Belvedere. The prickly “manny”/housekeeper marches to his personal drummer, however
whips the frazzled household into form, whereas working his personal thriller undertaking.

Mr. Belvedere will not be intimidated within the least by the busybodies of Hummingbird Hill,
in 1948’s suburbia satire, “Sitting Fairly.”

Mr. Belvedere is
performed by Clifton Webb, at his most acerbic. The younger couple, Harry and
Tacey King, is performed by Robert Younger and Maureen O’Hara. Although Younger appears a
bit mature because the junior lawyer, Father
Is aware of Greatest was simply across the nook, and his wry humor works effectively right here as
the movie’s straight man. O’Hara is gorgeous and spirited because the younger homemaker,
who might use a hand on the house entrance. Their younger boys are mainly cute,
however rascals.

Maureen O’Hara & Robert Younger are the comfortable however harried couple of 1948’s comedy,
“Sitting Fairly.”

The nosy neighbors are
an outdated biddy and her sissy son, a film and TV staple. The latter is Clarence
Appleton, performed by Richard Haydn, who made a profession of such fusspots, together with his
garments pin on the nostril voice. Haydn appeared in every part from Ball of Hearth to The Sound of Music to Younger
Frankenstein, an knowledgeable comedy actor. Ed Begley, Sr. is the alpha male boss
of Younger’s lawyer, full with cigars and barked orders. The bobbysoxer
babysitter, Ginger, who jogged my memory of an amped up Shirley Temple, is performed by
Betty Lynn. She later discovered TV fame as Barney Fife’s girlfriend Thelma Lou, on The Andy Griffith Present. John Russell and
Louise Allbritton are nice because the King’s greatest buddies, Invoice and Edna Philby.
Russell, who appeared like a caricature of Clark Gable, later grew to become a western
star.

Clifton Webb as Mr. Belvedere, with John Russell & Robert Younger as younger attorneys,
in 1948’s social satire, “Sitting Fairly.”

I used to be pleasantly
shocked to see that Clifton Webb received an Oscar nomination for his efficiency
as Mr. Belvedere. Comedy performances aren’t all the time acknowledged by the Academy,
however Webb’s razor sharp efficiency is the core of this movie. Webb lobs zingers
on the reactionary husband and nosy neighbors with comedic precision, but additionally
rations out the correct amount of heat as he grows nearer to the household. Webb’s
Belvedere is gleeful to observe as a result of he says and does precisely what he thinks.
And the final act, when Mr. Belvedere’s undertaking is revealed, wraps every part up
in a neat comedic bundle.

What’s fascinating
about Clifton Webb is that he grew to become a movie star immediately with Laura in 1944. There was nice concern
at Fox that Webb’s flamboyant character wouldn’t go over with mainstream film
audiences. Nicely, Laura was an prompt
basic and Webb ought to have received his first Oscar as Waldo Lydecker. However
sentimental fave Barry Fitzgerald received Greatest Supporting Oscar for Going My Approach for that yr. Webb scored
one other nod for The Razor’s Edge as
socialite Elliot Templeton, one other nice efficiency. And his third and closing nom
was for Sitting Fairly. He scored a
large hit in 1950 because the patriarch in Cheaper
by the Dozen and may need scored one other nom if the Greatest Actor class
didn’t have already got basic comedy performances by James Stewart for Harvey and Spencer Tracy as Father of the Bride. The star character
actor additionally appeared in some large hits by many of the ’50s, like Three Cash in a Fountain and Titanic. Just like the later Paul Lynde, Webb
was hiding in plain sight as a homosexual performer, however he was so humorous and likable,
audiences did not both catch on or appear to thoughts. And particularly uncommon for the homophobic
period, Webb’s characters had been good and had the higher hand, and never the butt of
jokes.

Clifton Webb, as Mr. Belvedere, who provides writer to his laurels on the finale of 1948’s
“Sitting Fairly.” Observe the statue on the precise, courtesy of O’Hara’s character.

Sitting Fairly remains to be fairly darn humorous, with the celebs at
their most charming. The story is so intelligent that I am shocked that no person’s
carried out a remake. I might see Jim Parsons, who performed Sheldon on the beloved
sitcom The Massive Bang Concept, as Mr.
Belevedere, however I believe the unique is simply nice.