Sitting Pretty

"Never was a baby-sitter like this!"

1948 1h 23m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 49

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Never was a baby-sitter like this!”

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Cast

Robert Young
Harry King
Maureen O'Hara
Tacey King
Clifton Webb
Lynn Belvedere
Richard Haydn
Clarence Appleton
Louise Allbritton
Edna Philby
Randy Stuart
Peggy
Ed Begley
Horatio J. Hammond
Larry Olsen
Larry King

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Walter Lang
Writers: F. Hugh Herbert
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

83 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

78 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Mr. Belvedere Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Walter Lang, shot by Norbert Brodine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara and Clifton Webb carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Never was a baby-sitter like this!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Walter Lang directs. Norbert Brodine behind the camera. Alfred Newman scores. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

183 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
278 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
4Part of the "Mr. Belvedere Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Walter Lang, shot by Norbert Brodine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alfred Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara and Clifton Webb carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Never was a baby-sitter like this!".
9IMDB entry: tt0040795 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 49 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Norbert Brodine
Original score: Alfred Newman
Costume design: Kay Nelson
Makeup / hair: Ben Nye
Runtime: 83 min · 1h 23m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Sitting Pretty (1948)

Part of

Mr. Belvedere Collection

Series of 3 movies from 1948-51 featuring the character Lynn Belvedere.

Also by

Walter Lang

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-04-24
★ 7/10
"Harry" (Robert Young) and "Tacey" (Maureen O'Hara) are in need of a new maid after their other, a bit of a beer-swiller, departs. They take out an advertisement and get a response from a promising "Lynn Belvedere", but he - well that says it all! Initially sceptical of this somewhat supercilious man, they soon find his services indispensable, even if his presence in their lives brings a certain attention from the local gossips - led, admirably, by Richard Haydn's, scene-stealing and frankly quite throttle-able "Appleton". It turns out, though, that the rather secretive "Mr. Belvedere", has an ulterior motive that brings all the local hens home to roost! It's good fun, this. There's good chemistry between Young and O'Hara, their elder child "Larry" (Larry Olsen) is quite engaging too, but it's Webb who delivers the goods. Walter Lang keeps the story moving along nicely, the script is frequently quite pithy with plenty of scornful bon-mots from the babysitter who can turn his hand to everything from fixing the fridge to obstetrics. The humour is gently engaging, as are the performances making for an enjoyable 80 minutes of observation and reap as ye sow mischief.

Production companies