Mr. Belvedere Goes to College

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.

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!

Lynn Belvedere (Clifton Webb) is forced to go to college. He has been awarded a $10k literary prize but he must be a college graduate. He needs the money despite the success of his book due to the numerous libel suits. Despite being without even a high school diploma, he intends to finish the 4 year course in one year. Journalism student Ellen Baker (Shirley Temple) is desperate for an interview. Belvedere takes a job at a sorority.

After the success of the first movie, it's obvious to return Clifton Webb to reprise his Belvedere character. I don't mind dumping the family but Belvedere is best when he has to deal with little kids. There is a magic to the chemistry when a child with no preconceived notions try to connect with the oddity that is Belvedere. That magic is missing in this movie. It tries to replace it with a more grown Shirley Temple. I kept wondering if a little precocious young Shirley would be a great comedy partner to Mr. Belvedere. Now that would have been a fun time.

I'm a fan of Clifton Webb and love his portrayal of Mr. Belvedere. He did three films as Belvedere, and this may be the least of the three. But it's still fun.

There are a lot of possibilities offered by the premise - the self-styled, eccentric, sarcastic but somehow lovable genius, Lynn Belvedere, entering college as a middle-aged freshman. But a lot of the movie focuses on Shirley Temple as a struggling young single mother/student, and some of this side of the picture is tedious. Shirley as a young adult is still as cute and charming as ever. She just doesn't get to have much fun with her role.

Alan Young is on hand as a snide, nerdy roommate of Belvedere (he calls Webb "Belvy"), a sort of overage Holden Caulfield. His interactions with Webb provide some laughs. Jesse Royce Landis plays a sorority house mother who employs the Young character and Belvedere as waiters. Her son, at college on the GI Bill, loves Shirley but has no idea she's a war widow with a small child. It's that kind of plot, but at least there's some humor in the sorority situation, as Belvedere straightens out some of the loud, sloppy girls in his unique manner, and shares recipes with the Scandinavian cook (speaking to her in her native language, of course).

20th Century-Fox had a way with college movies. Father Was A Fullback, Take Care Of My Little Girl, Mother Was A Freshman, and Apartment For Peggy, to name a few. So they knew what they were doing in sending Mr. Belvedere to college. Maybe hilarity doesn't ensue as often as it did in the first Belvedere picture, Sitting Pretty (1948). But this isn't a bad sequel and you do get to see Clifton Webb do his Belvedere characterization, in his unique and charming, very funny manner.

Mr Belvedere's character is a lot of fun to watch, he is the 1940s version of "the most interesting person in the world" - name it, he's not only done it, he invented it. No one should take this character seriously, so I don't follow the comments about being a perfect fit for "today's cellphone generation" (ah yes .. the youth of today are even worse then the last crop).

The main aspect of the film I found "dated" is the idea that being a single mother (Ellen Baker - Shirley Temple) was such a huge scandal -- something that should be covered up, or a source of disgrace. Even given the morals of the time, what would be scandalous about a married women who lost her husband in the war? There must have been many women in this situation. Thank goodness we live in more liberal times.

I also got a little exasperated with the old movie cliché of someone starting to explain their situation only to be cut off -- and then letting this misunderstanding carry the plot for the next half hour. My goodness, half the movies you see use this same tired plot device. Oh well, too late to complain. As I understand it, the writers and most of the characters are long since dead, so they don't care what I think. Except of course Mr. Belvedere who is surely sitting on a mountain somewhere in Tibet surfing the internet (which he invented).