Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell ( 1951 )

In 1948, 20th Century Fox released Sitting Pretty, a comedy featuring a character named Lynn Belvedere who was unlike any other that ever appeared in books, radio, or film. Belvedere was an author and lecturer and a very well-educated snob. He didn't just know a little bit about everything, he was an authority in every field. Mr. Belvedere was a bonafide genius and knew it. He was terribly vain and would make sure that everyone else knew he was a genius as well. 

"I have a very ordinary face. It's only my eyes that reveal my amazing intelligence."

Belvedere had a keen wit, a superior air, and a biting tongue that could quickly put others in their proper place: beneath him.

The one quality that Mr. Belvedere had and did not often boast about was his benevolence. Under his crusty exterior, he was a do-gooder at heart and delighted in helping those whom he deemed worthy of his aid. 

In Sitting Pretty, Clifton Webb portrayed Mr. Belvedere, and he was able to convey both of these sides of his nature brilliantly. Very few actors could have tackled this part, yet Webb did so easily and made Belvedere an all-around lovable character. 

Sitting Pretty had Mr. Belvedere take on the job of a nanny and attempt to prove that he could raise three rambunctious children better than their parents. The film was such a hit at the box office, that Fox followed it up with two more Mr. Belvedere pictures. 

Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell, released in 1951, was the third in the series and the best of the three. It was also unique for featuring a plot set in the unlikeliest of places - a nursing home. 

While on a lecture tour, Belvedere overhears some elderly people in a park complaining about life and their various ailments. The idea of getting old before his time intrigues him and he wonders whether there is "any point in living to be 80." 

Being the man of action that he is, he abandons his tour - much to the chagrin of his publicity agent (Zero Mostel) - and decides to enter himself into the Church of John Home for the Aged to see what life in a nursing home is like. Entrance is not as easy as it seems for they do not accept people under 70. But fortune favors the bold and Mr. Belvedere is mistaken to be a Mr. Erwenter, a 77-year-old man who had already enrolled...so he simply assumes his identity. 

The inhabitants of the old age home welcome him with excitement because "Mr. Erwenter" isn't a bit like themselves. He has a zest for living and, strangely enough, doesn't look like he is 77 years old at all!

"We're very happy to have you with us, Mr. Erwenter. It will make a nice change." - Nurse Harriet

"You've no idea how much of a change it will make!" - Mr. Belvedere

Belvedere's original intention in coming to the Church of John may have been to preview his future but once he arrives and sees the downhearted spirits of his fellow lodgers, he makes up his mind to become an instigator of change, an intentional gust of wind to stir their minds and blow new life into their dull and uneventful lives. 

Each of the inhabitants is touched in a profound way by this one man. Mr. Beebe (Billy Lynn) is especially affected by Belvedere's arrival. Mr. Beebe has no interest in life. He is waiting for spring, even while knowing that the spring to come will only resemble the winter that was. 

Mr. Cherry (Harry Hines) is downhearted, too. He eats the food that is set before him but wishes the church had the funds to buy him a new set of teeth. Ms. Hoadley drinks ("Nobody has a right to be that happy, " a fellow lodger comments); Ms. Sampler only talks of "love, love, love" and the three marriages she had; and saddest of all is Mrs. Hammer (Doro Merande) who hides her loneliness behind snarky - although amusing - remarks. 

"Eat and sleep, sleep and eat. The only action we get around here is in our stomachs."

Nurse Harriet (Joanne Dru) always has a cheerful smile and tries her best to tend to their needs and liven their spirits. "Someday we'll have a wonderful garden with green grass and pretty flowers," she says. "Flowers won't grow here. The whole place is old, even the ground. You ought to be ashamed to run an old dump," Mrs. Hammer replies. 

Harriet is in love with Reverand Watson (Hugh Marlowe) but he seems oblivious to her. The reverend wants the best for the elderly left in his charge but he has become so preoccupied with bills and the needs of the church that he has neglected their spiritual needs. 

"Bills, bills, bills! Religion has become so expensive, only the wicked can afford it."

They all need a shot of vitality and this is what Mr. Erwenter aka Mr. Belvedere provides in the form of a secret youth potion. He tells them of the days he spent with the great Lo Chin Po, a 112-year-old Tibetan, and how together they discovered a formula for restoring youth. "I will write to Lo Chin Po and ask him to send me some more pills for you," Mr. Erwenter announces. The excitement of the thought of being young again makes everyone come alive. 

Mr. Erwenter also arranges a bazaar to help the church raise money for Mr. Cherry's new set of teeth and Mrs. Hammer's appendix operation. He gives them all something to look forward to, a new lease on life. But the happiness they feel and their faith in Mr. Erwenter crumble suddenly when they discover that he is not Mr. Erwenter at all, but a 45-year-old author named Mr. Belvedere who has been "feeding us lies."

With a plot such as this you would imagine that Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell is a depressing film to watch. After all, it is set in a rundown nursing home filled with characters who are waiting to die. But it is quite the contrary - it is a gem of a comedy. The script, by Ranald MacDougall, is marvelously witty and benefits from having talented character actors deliver the lines with such humor. 

Doro Merande is especially wonderful in the role of bitter Mrs. Hammer. Most of the actors were much younger than the characters they were playing but they tottered around looking convincingly old. Billy Lynn, as Mr. Beebe, gives a touching performance of a heartbroken old man. Like a child who just discovered that Santa Claus is only a fable, Mr. Beebe is hurt more so than the others by Mr. Belvedere's "betrayal" because he had the most faith in him.  

"Being young is the way you think! Live every moment as if it is going to be the last one you will ever have. Believe you're young and you will be young. That's my secret."

Hugh Marlowe is wonderful as always as the kindly minister whose life and outlook of life is changed by Belvedere's arrival, and Joanne Dru, as Harriet, is a lovely ray of sunshine in their bleak world. Also in the cast are Warren Stevens, Jane Marbury, and Hugh Beaumont as a policeman. 

The story was based on the play "The Silver Whistle" by Robert E. McEnroe, which featured a cheerful hobo named Wilfred Tasbinder who takes on the persona of Mr. Erwenter and helps the lives of those in a nursing home. Ranald MacDougall took the character of Belvedere from Gwen Davenport's 1947 novel and blended him into McEnroe's story, sprinkling the script with wry humor. 

20th Century Fox released a number of fine light-hearted comedies like this in the late 1940s and early 1950s. They all were given a healthy budget and a great production staff. Henry Koster (The Luck of the Irish, Harvey) was put in charge of directing Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell and he had a marvelous flair for making films that were both sentimental and humorous...and shared a message. This picture was ideal for his talents and featured a story about a beneficial intruder not unlike the leading characters found in The Bishop's Wife and Come to the Stable, both of which he directed. 

Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell has a beautiful message about enjoying life and making every moment count. At one point in the film, Belvedere asks Harriet, "It's close to 10 o'clock now. 9 o'clock is gone and we can never bring it back and live it over. What have you done with the thousands of moments in the past two years?" This question is directed at Harriet the nurse and yet it is asked of the audience as well. Mr. Belvedere, in his vast 45 years of age, has lived a full life. In the one brief week he spends at the Church of John Home of the Aged, he stepped into the lives of the people there unexpectedly and touched each one with his presence. With the thousands of moments we all have, it makes you wonder if you cannot do the same and see how rich life can be. 

This post is our contribution to The Intruder Blogathon being hosted by yours truly, Silver Scenes, from June 16-18, 2023. Click here to read more reviews of films featuring characters that "intrude" in the lives of others and touch them for the better. 

The Luck of the Irish ( 1948 )

"You don't always wait for an invitation to follow the brave music of a distant drum"

It's not often when a man is clever enough and quick enough to capture a leprechaun. While travelling in Ireland, Steven Fitzgerald (Tyrone Power) does just that and then, having done so, lets the leprechaun free...without claiming his pot of gold! 

'Tis a rare man indeed who would do such a thing, and the leprechaun knows it. He feels a debt of gratitude to this American and, leaving the comfort of his homeland and his secluded waterfall, he follows him into the "cold, inhospitable city" of New York to serve him and to help him realize his heart's desire. 

"You are a proud, free man, and it is for that reason that I am proud to serve you"

Fitzgerald is a news reporter who believes in writing the truth to the public, but the lure of acquiring wealth by working for power-hungry publisher-turned-politician Augur (Lee J. Cobb) proves to be irresistible, even if it costs him his integrity as a free-thinking man. Egging him on in his decision to accept this position is Augur's daughter (Jayne Meadows), a woman who wants to be by Fitzgerald's side as he climbs the ladder of success, no matter what it takes. 

The Luck of the Irish is a dramatic fantasy filled with many whimsical moments. It does not have the sugary sweetness of a children's fable, making it all the more satisfying. Instead it has a lasting charm which makes it ideal for annual viewing on St. Patrick's Day, or any time of the year for that matter. 

The first half of the film parallels Michael Powell's I Know Where I'm Going (1945) in that we see a city dweller stranded in a small village, anxious to escape on the next boat available and frustrated with the local people's slow and inefficient ways. It is not until the opportunity to escape becomes available that these characters begin to have doubts on whether they truly want to leave. In both films, it is the romance they find in these villages which make the characters wish to remain, not the lure of the tranquil community. 

In The Luck of the Irish, Fitzgerald meets and falls in love with Nora (Anne Baxter), a quiet innkeeper's daughter, and upon his return to New York he sees her once again, by chance, on a subway. He has a notion that the leprechaun may have had a hand in bringing her to New York but he struggles to relinquish his dream of wealth in place of returning to Ireland with Nora.  

"You brought Nora here, didn't you?" 
"No, you brought her yourself...in your mind, long ago."

Steven Fitzgerald is an ageless character - working men are forever torn between following the dreams of their heart or selling out their ideals (and sometimes their morals) to other men for the sake of financial stability. He is a cynical man and does not easily get himself beguiled into believing in leprechauns or other folklore but, in this situation, his belief becomes his blessing. 

The Luck of the Irish is not your traditional fairy-tale story and the irascible leprechaun with his proverbial pot of gold is not portrayed as a cultural image but instead becomes the incarnation of Fitzgerald's conscious and a vehicle of divine influence in changing his circumstances. The moral of film is summed up in its tagline "Choosing good is the real pot of gold". 

"I offered you gold. 'Tis not my fault that you prefer a pebble"

The Luck of the Irish premiered on September 14, 1948, and for its original showing featured a wee bit o' something green - all of the Ireland sequences were tinted the color of the Irish landscape itself. Indeed, the opening sequences of Ireland are so pleasant that it is a shame when, midway through the film, its focus shifts to New York City. 

A roster of 20th Century Fox's regular talents gathered together to make this a stand-out picture: director Henry Koster, who was an old hand at filming humorous dramas; Lyle Wheeler, Fox's resident art director extraordinaire; Philip Dunne, who hammered out on his magical typewriter this whale of a grand adaptation (from the novel by Guy and Constance Jones); and producer Fred Kohler, who had footed the bill one year prior for that other excellent romantic-fantasy The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. The strains of traditional Irish and English melodies can be heard in the background thanks to the musical wizardry of Cyril Mockridge.

Cecil Kellaway steals the film with his performance of "Horace", the leprechaun turned manservant, and he nails the Irish accent and mannerisms of one of the little people. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal. James Todd also co-starred as Fitzgerald's wise-cracking pal Bill Clark, and J.M. Kerrigan and Phil Brown round out the stellar cast. 

Anne Baxter is particularly fetching and these years were certainly the peak of her career. The brightness of Tyrone Power's star had been waning a few years prior to The Luck of the Irish and he must have sensed that his days of being the studio's No. 1 glamour boy were nearly over, even though he was as handsome as ever. Jayne Meadows related a story about this in the special "Jayne Meadows Remembers" included on the DVD: 

"[in-between takes during the banquet scene] he said, 'You see that tall man over there, the one with the grey hair? He was a star once. A very big star. Sad...now he is an extra'. And I said 'Isn't it wonderful that he's still working' because, you know, the man looked like he needed something to hold him up. When I later found out that Ty started as an extra, I thought 'isn't it interesting that his first reaction was to the old man who was a star and is now an extra.' " 

Perhaps Tyrone Power felt that eventually this would be his fate as well.

This post is our contribution to The Luck of the Irish Blog o'thon, being hosted by yours truly. To check out all of the grand posts about Irish actors and films, click here.