Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell (1951)

An author (Clifton Webb) is on a lecture tour, his subject being "How To Be Young Through 80". As an experiment to test his theories out, he enters a home for the aged under a pseudonym. Based on the play THE SILVER WHISTLE by Robert E. McEnroe and directed by Henry Koster (FLOWER DRUM SONG). This was the third film following SITTING PRETTY (1948) and MR. BELVEDERE GOES TO COLLEGE (1949) utilizing the character of Mr. Belvedere played by Webb. It's a fifties version of COCOON (1985) with the acerbic Webb whipping the depressed oldsters waiting to die into revitalizing their existence and giving joy in their twilight years. It's a sweet if predictable movie (the usual old folks cliches in full force) enhanced by Webb's acidic line readings which makes the dialogue seem wittier than it really is. The original play the movie is based did not have Belvedere as a character, he was a hobo played by Jose Ferrer. The screenplay merely transformed the hobo into Belvedere. With Joanne Dru, Zero Mostel, Hugh Marlowe, Warren Stevens, Hugh Beaumont and Doro Merande.