Seen not long ago on TCM: “Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell,” from 1951, with Clifton Webb and Joanne Dru and Zero Mostel and Hugh Marlowe and a host of others.
Clifton Webb's an author / lecturer who wants to pep up an old folks' home; Hugh Marlowe is the good-but-stodgy minister running the place; Joanne Dru is the minister's assistant, who sort of falls in love with Clifton Webb, but who's really in love with Hugh Marlowe. There are also a passel of of wonderful older character actors and actresses playing the denizens of the old folks' home.
And then there’s Zero Mostel, folks. I probably would have switched away, if not for him. 1951? He was testifying in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee that year. Zero didn’t name names, however. It was terrible for his career in the 1950s, but (eventually) he came back, and he triumphed.
In this movie, Zero is (as usual) balding and sweaty and amoral, but finally very sweet. And brilliant, as always. I can only wonder what was going through his head while he was acting in this movie. Was he testifying to Congress while acting in this? Jesus.
And Clifton Webb (who, for me, will always be Waldo Lydecker in “Laura,” typing in the bathtub), is wonderful.
As a movie, “Mr. Belvedere Rings The Bell” is a pleasant nothing. As a period piece, it's interesting. As a time capsule, and an artifact of human culture, it's priceless.
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