Mister Scoutmaster

A middle aged man, Robert Jordan, set in his ways, takes on a boy scout troop after his predecessor leaves under duress. Jordan takes on the pack mostly to learn what the boys like so he can revive his flagging radio program which is losing it's appeal to the younger set. He has a rough go at first with the boys, especially so with Mike, an 8 year old who forms an attachment for the older man which is anything but reciprocated. Do things work out for Jordan and the scouts? Check out this entertaining and amusing film from the old days.

If you love Mr. Belvedere, chances are you'll like to see Clifton Webb in similar comedies. He didn't always play the structured stuffed shirt, but frequently his audience liked to see him like that. In Mister Scoutmaster, he plays a television personality who hates children but gets roped into becoming a scoutmaster. His wife, Kay Francis, has her heart set on adopting a child, but Edmund Gwenn, in charge at the orphanage, thinks Clifton isn't sincere. To prove it, Clifton volunteers to be a scoutmaster to a bunch of impressionable scouts.

George Winslow (the child actor with the 'froggy' voice) is a wannabe boy scout who likes to hang around the older boys and Clifton. He's a pathological liar who frequently gets into trouble, but Kay takes a liking to him. While she has it in mind to adopt him, Clifton has his hands full just keeping an eye on him while the other boys are trying to be serious scouts. Do you think the little kid will soften Mr. Belvedere's heart? Check out this family friendly flick to find out. It's not the best in the world, but it won't hurt you.

Cliften Webb exhibits his signature persona, as a starchy aristocratic middle-aged authority figure: Robert Jordan. Not generally fond of children, but his wife Helen(Francis Dee) expresses a desire for a child, and thinks she's too old to produce one herself. Robert reluctantly agrees to look for an adoption. He decides he needs some activity to get him more in touch with the young generation, and grabs the opportunity of scoutmaster. As you can imagine, he soon regards the scouts as a bunch of savages, at least when assembled in a group. They laugh at his newness at the role.........When he goes calling on a prospective scout, he falls over a bicycle in the dark. A tiny girl answers the door, says her mother told her not to let anyone in, and shuts the door in his face. When he rings the bell again, this is repeated. Luckily, the brother happens to arrive home. The girl lets him in , but again shuts the door on the scoutmaster. The boy lets him in........Meanwhile, a small, shy, cub scout(George Winslow, as Mike) has taken a liking to Mr. Scoutmaster., in his frozen face manner. At first, Robert considers him a pest, but gradually warms up to him, with Helen's encouragement. Eventually, Robert visits his home, and meets the woman(pretty , blonde, Vega Ann Borg) who says she is Mike's unofficial guardian, at present. Robert gets the impression that she is rather neglectful of Mike and of the house. On another occasion, Mike unexpectedly shows up for a boy scout meeting. When Robert tells him he doesn't belong there, he leaves. Robert then is afraid he may get lost, and tells the scouts to scatter and look for him. Robert, himself, then goes looking in the place he most fears that Mike may have gone to. The remainder of the film involves a climactic irony or two...........The screenplay depends on a number of unlikely contrivances, but don't most comedies? George Winslow(Mike) was discovered by Art Linkletter , as having an unusual frozen face persona, and unusual voice. Hollywood embraced him as a comedy element. His most remembered role was in the hit "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". He wasn't able to make the transition to teen or adult actor.

Clifton Webb becomes Mister Scoutmaster as a matter of show business survival. He's host of a television program which is in danger of being canceled because it's not reaching the youth audience the sponsors of a breakfast cereal want to reach. What to do, but reach the minds of what the youth of America are thinking.

Edmund Gwenn who is the pastor of the church Webb and wife Frances Dee attend has the perfect solution. The Boy Scout troop that meets in his church has just lost their scoutmaster because they're an unruly group of kids at times. Gwenn gets Webb to be the new scoutmaster.

Remember this is Clifton Webb and this will not be an easy relationship given what his movie characters are like. But in the end he bonds with the scouts and with one particular young Cub Scout, George Winslow. Young Mr. Winslow who had an early deepening voice had a spate of popularity at the time. But despite that he comes across as a real kid.

During the Fifties, 20th Century Fox softened Webb's acid image from the Forties. His first film with them, Laura where he also played an electronic media personality Waldo Lydecker had a great deal more bite than his character of Robert Jordan here. But I sure can't see Lydecker leading kids into the woods except to lose them in the wilds.

Standing out as she always does is Veda Ann Borg playing George Winslow's aunt who has legal custody of him. But she's a loose living girl and that kid certainly cramps her style. Veda Ann never fails to steal a film no matter how brief her brassy part is.

The Boy Scouts have undergone a lot of change since Mister Scoutmaster was in theaters. Still the polished and elegant Webb leading a Boy Scout troop will definitely get a few laughs and tug a couple of heartstrings in regard to young Master Winslow.

Clifton Webb as "Mr. Scoutmaster" is one of the all-time greats for comedy and remembering an innocence, now diminished in the world. I cannot understand why the networks like American Movie Classics and such do not show this movie, although I have requested it time and again.

This movie should be shown to children now for its portrayal of loyalty, respect, dedication and resolve to achieve the best possible on an individual basis. There is so much low self-esteem talked about in present daily lives, but this movie, among many, many others, would be a wonderful learning tool for the present-day younger generation to see what can be accomplished by common sense and decency and pride in yourself and your achievements to better yourself. Sad that this type of movie does not appeal to modern audiences. It certainly appealed to us 'baby boomer' generation of yesterday. OLD LESSONS ARE UNIVERSAL AND TIMELESS.