Sitting Pretty (1948)

'Sitting Pretty' is a 1948 comedy staring Robert Young, Maureen O'Hara, and Clifton Webb that is based on the 1947 F. Hugh Herbert novel  Belvedere. That's right Belvedere as in 'Mr. Belvedere', the 1985 to 90 ABC TV series, this is source material for that. Now I never watched 'Mr. Belvedere' regularly, and I probably haven't seen an episode since some time in the 1990's, so I was a bit surprised how much I had forgotten or how little I knew about the Belvedere character. A self described genius he is a polymath who inserts himself into the life of a suburban couple as a live in boarder and part time nanny. It's a perfect part for Webb, an amusing small scale comedy which given its suburban setting and the presence of Robert Young immediately suggests potential sitcom property, at least in hindsight. A slightly wry, pleasant diversion, more smile then laugh inducing. It was a success and spawned two film sequels, which I would be interested to see eventually. ***