Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

moonspinner55 Clifton Webb in his Oscar-nominated turn as the snobbish, persnickety, insufferably humorless Mr. Belvedere, a philosopher (and self-described genius) who answers an advertisement for domestic help and winds up turning an entire suburban community on its tail. Director Walter Lang seems to know exactly how to showcase Webb in this scene-stealing role, but a few of the other performances and situations escape him. Robert Young does well as the husband and father whose wife apprehensively welcomes Belvedere into the household, but Maureen O'Hara is stuck doing the same old thing (letting her temper get the best of her and--at one embarrassing point--taking her youngest child and running home to mother!). Similarly, Richard Haydn overplays as a fey flower-breeder and neighborhood gossip, while Ed Begley chews up cigars and stomps about bellowing (his scenes are easily the worst). The movie is not without its modest charms, though it probably looked a lot more fresh in 1948 than it does today. The formula opening is busy and frenetic, while the winking, nudging finale (with nowhere else to turn) becomes far too silly. Followed by two sequels. **1/2 from ****

ctomvelu1 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.

ehvanzandt This is a wonderful movie. It get's the point across beautifully. It is witty, it has style, it has charm. And it has a flaw! A major flaw as do most of the movies made. Believability is marred by one big giant mistake.In my copy of this movie---which I purchased---when Tacey comes home because Tony has an upset stomach and the snoopy neighbor Mr. Appleton comes over--when he leaves, the closing of the front door tells us this is a sound-stage and believability is gone! Just about every movie made, the door gives believability a heave-ho, a great big kick out the door.Front doors of houses and even some apartments make a whoosh sound when opened or closed. They don't bang. And there is another sound of the latch clicking.Furthermore a front door is heavy. The sound production staff---if they want to garner your attention on the story and keep it alive, have got to do something about this. Because my attention to the storyline is lost.If this seems like nitpicking to readers, wait until they watch a movie and hear the front door bang and they will know exactly what I am talking about.

Neil Doyle As the self-proclaimed genius, Mr. Belvedere, CLIFTON WEBB delivers every line of dialog with such crisp authority that you believe he IS the eccentric character who volunteers his services as a live-in babysitter for ROBERT YOUNG and MAUREEN O'HARA and their unruly brood.Webb simply steals every scene with skillful ease, except when RICHARD HAYDN enters the film as a snobbish, adenoidal neighbor who is another kind of genius at snooping. Before you know it, Belvedere has all of these citizens under his thumb, exposing the hypocrisy of small-town gossip in his novel, much the way Grace Metalious did when she pried open the lid of PEYTON PLACE.It's all for laughs and never fails to delight. This is the film that really established Webb's long career at Fox in roles that seemed tailor-made for his kind of pompous charm.