Tacey and Harry King are a suburban couple with three sons and a serious need of a babysitter. Tacey puts an ad in the paper for a live-in babysitter, and the ad is answered by Lynn Belvedere. But when she arrives, she turns out to be a man. And not just any man, but a most eccentric, outrageously forthright genius with seemingly a million careers and experiences behind him.
Acting
Clifton Webb's withering superiority is a masterclass in comic timing.
Writing
Belvedere's memoir fabrications get progressively unhinged.
Director
Walter Lang
Robert Young
Harry King
Maureen O'Hara
Tacey King
Clifton Webb
Lynn Belvedere
Richard Haydn
Mr. Clarence Appleton
Louise Allbritton
Edna Philby
Randy Stuart
Peggy
Ed Begley
Horatio J. Hammond
John Russell
Bill Philby
Betty Lynn
Ginger
Willard Robertson
Mr. Ashcroft
Charles Arnt
Mr. Taylor (uncredited)
Gertrude Astor
Townswoman (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Clifton Webb was so iconic as Belvedere that two sequels followed, making him one of Hollywood's unlikeliest franchise leads at age 58.
The film slyly mocks postwar suburban conformity; Belvedere's contempt for the King's 'perfect' neighborhood was subversive for 1948 audiences expecting wholesome family fare.
US
