Sitting Pretty (1948)

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
Tacey and Harry King are a suburban couple with three sons and a serious need of a babysitter. Tacey puts aAn 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. Mr. Belvedere works miracles with the children and the house but the Kings have no idea just what he's doing wit his evenings off. And when Harry has to go out of town on a business trip, a nosey parker starts a few ugly rumors. But everything comes out all right in the end thanks to Mr. Belvedere.
Written by Kathy Li.

Full Cast
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
Larry Olsen .... Larry King
John Russell .... Bill Philby
Betty Lynn .... Ginger (as Betty Ann Lynn)
Willard Robertson .... Mr. Ashcroft
Dorothy Adams .... Mrs. Goul (scenes deleted)
Charles Arnt .... Mr. Taylor (uncredited)
Gertrude Astor .... Woman (uncredited)
Barbara Blaine .... Jitterbug (uncredited)
Ken Christy .... Mr. McPherson (uncredited)
Mary Field .... Book Shoppe Proprietress (uncredited)
Raymond C. Hair Jr. .... Baby that gets the bowl of oat meal on his head (uncredited)
Grayce Hampton .... Mrs. Appleton (uncredited)
Iris James .... Jitterbug (uncredited)
Ellen Lowe .... Effie, the Appleton Maid (uncredited)
J. Farrell MacDonald .... Cop (uncredited)
Marion Marshall .... Secretary (uncredited)
Roddy McCaskill .... Roddy King (uncredited)
Mira McKinney .... Mrs. Phillips (uncredited)
Dave Morris .... John, the Mailman (uncredited)
Jane Nigh .... Mable Phillips (uncredited)
Anne O'Neal .... Mrs. Gibbs (uncredited)
Charles Owens .... Jitterbug (uncredited)
Isabel Randolph .... Mrs. R. B. Frisbee (uncredited)
Albin Robeling .... Maitre D' (uncredited)
Syd Saylor .... Cab Driver (uncredited)
Ann Shoemaker .... Mrs. Ashcroft (uncredited)
Anthony Sydes .... Tony King (uncredited)
Charles Tannen .... Newsreel Director (uncredited)
Robert Tidwell .... Jitterbug (uncredited)
Minerva Urecal .... Mrs. Maypole (uncredited)
Ruth Warren .... Matron (uncredited)
Billy Wayne .... Newsreel Man (uncredited)
Josephine Whittell .... Mrs. Martha Hammond (uncredited)
Cara Williams .... Secretary (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Gwen Davenport novel Belvedere
F. Hugh Herbert

Cinematography
Norbert Brodine

Memorable Quotes
Lynn Belvedere: Mrs. King, I happen to dislike all children intensely. But I can assure you that I can readily attend to their necessary though unpleasant wants.
Lynn Belvedere: I am, in my way, a philosopher.
Harry King: Oh, I see, you just sit and think.
Lynn Belvedere: Mr. King, if more people just sat and thought, the world might not be in the stinking mess that it is.
Lynn Belvedere: Mrs. King, as I told you last night, I dislike children intensely and yours, if I may say so, have peculiarly repulsive habits and manners.
Harry King: You know, Mrs. King, it's really all your fault.
Tacey King: Hnh?
Harry King: If you weren't so darned pretty, we wouldn't have so many kids for people to sit with

Sitting Pretty is a 1948 American comedy film
which tells the story of a family who hires a man
with a mysterious past to babysit their children.
It stars Robert Young, Maureen O'Hara and Clifton Webb.
The movie was adapted by F. Hugh Herbert from the comic novel Belvedere (1947)
by Gwen Davenport.
It was directed by Walter Lang.
Webb was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
for the role of Lynn Belvedere.
The character proved so popular, Webb reprised his role in two more movies:
Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949) and Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951).

Maureen acted and looked well, in this comedy,
which was nominated for an Oscar.
Another with Director Walter Lang

User Review

The Happy Side of the Post-War Coin,
Author: David (Handlinghandel) from NY, NY

Quote

Clifton Webb is very droll as the self-described genius who tames a suburban household of kids. And Aone dog. He is the central figure, but the rest of the cast is very good as well: Richard Hayden is a nosy neighbor is amusing -- though is there a bit of snickering toward his character in the screenplay? Not his gossiping but his -- well, less than masculine behavior and interests? Toward Webb's character, there is none.

It's a pleasure to see Maureen O'Hara in movies other than the John Wayne stuff for which she is best known. She was a lovely woman and a highly appealing actress. Robert Young is OK as his husband, a rather dimwitted sort for a lawyer.

I can't imagine anyone disliking this. It is funny and well crafted. In some ways, the dreadful children and horticulturally inclined neighbor are a comic flip-flop on film noir of its day: Come home from the WAR; do your best - And this is what you have to put up with. (Though O'Hara is certainly an engaging Penelope-figure.)