User Reviews

Although Mr. Belvedere Goes To College does not quite reach the standards set by Sitting Pretty which introduced America's favorite genius to the screen, it's still a pretty funny film. If of course you can conceive the idea that Mr. Belvedere was self taught.

People who advocate for home schooling should be the biggest advocates for this film. We find out here that all that Belvedere has learned in the many fields he's a genius at, was self taught. He never went to college, but now someone on some project he's engaged in wants that degree as part of his resume. So Clifton Webb as Belvedere agrees to go to college and get the degree. Furthermore he says to Paul Harvey the president and Taylor Holmes the dean that he will complete the school in one year. Can you imagine the amount of credits the man was carrying in a semester?

Just like in Sitting Pretty when Maureen O'Hara thinks she's hiring a female housekeeper with Lynn Belvedere, Alan Young thinks it's a big old joke to send Webb over to a sorority house in the same function. But he proves to be quite indispensable to house mother Jessie Royce-Landis and cook Lotte Stein.

Webb also gets to be cupid for widowed mother Shirley Temple and Tom Drake who is Royce-Landis's son. I have to say though the ending was silly and contrived. No matter what the circumstances, I can't see Mr. Belvedere being in such a rush that he would forget to put on his pants. One of the cops who arrests him is Jeff Chandler.

Best scene for me in the film was Webb defeating Alan Young at the pole vault during a track meet, winning the meet for the freshman class and giving some comeuppance to Young. He also broke his own world record doing so.

My only question is what field did Mr. Belvedere get his degree in when he graduated?

1949 was a year of middle-aged film stars suddenly deciding to go to college. Loretta Young did it in "Mother is a Freshman", Fred MacMurray did it in "Father was a Fullback", and Clifton Webb does it here, as middle-aged Mr. Belvedere, who is in such a hurry to graduate that he announces to unbelieving ears that he will complete the 4 year curriculum in one year. Then, he will be eligible for a literary prize that he covets. He does just that, although we never see him attend a class, raising the suspicion that his is an honorary degree..........As usual, Webb plays a pomptious character. Here, he is mostly entertaining in arrogantly demonstrating ,time and again, that he is a supergenius, although he is made to wear a freshman beanie. He is also a superathlete, who ties the school record for high jump, with himself 27 years ago!? ...........Meanwhile, cute, charming, Shirley Temple is a journalism senior and editor of the school newspaper. Initially, she is shocked that such a well-known author is just starting college. After a while, they have a falling out, and Shirley refuses to let him into her apartment, hence he is arrested as an apparent peeping Tom when he attempts to enter by other means than the door. Her on again-off again romance with Tom Drake("Meet me in St. Louis") takes up much of the time not devoted to Mr. Belvedere's doings. Unexpectedly, we eventually learn that she is a widow, with a 5 year old boy, which she has been hiding from the college and from Drake. Just why she feels ashamed of this status isn't clear to me. Initially floored by this revelation, Drake pleads that this doesn't compromise his love for her. However, Shirley refuses to believe this, which serves as a point of contention for some time. Eventually, she relinquishes, and they graduate with Mr. Belvedere..........Shirley's post-little girl film career was very hit or miss, involving various studios. This was the only Fox film she did after starring with them as a little girl and this was her final year of appearing in Hollywood films. It was also the year she divorced her abusing first husband, who costarred with her in her next film. Despite frequent criticisms of her acting and roles during this period, I always look forward to seeing her in these films, as well as her classic little girl films. I've seen nearly all, now...........The film is available to rent at YouTube, or to buy at Amazom.com.