The Clifton Webb Site

[RedRiver]

I confess. I don't have much to say about this tremendous performer. I just wanted to say "Clifton Webb Site!" It ocurred to me last night as I enjoyed THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS for the first time. Our library has recently acquired a copy. The movie is OK. I've seen better. But I've never been disappointed in the sophisticated and sensitive work of the actor.

We know him as Waldo Lydecker in Preminger's haunting LAURA. He's adorably crisp as Mr. Belvedere. In the clever and theatrical CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, he goes toe to toe with Myrna Loy and doesn't give an inch. My favorite Webb performance? TITANIC! Fans disappointed in the 1997 epic might prefer Jean Negulesco's old fashioned melodrama; the interweaving of several fated stories and well drawn characters. One story features the unhappy marriage of Barbara Stanwyck and Mr. Webb, and the brave choices they're forced to make. Webb's timid, defeated business man is a quiet, fragile soul, and the actor delivers him admirably.

THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS is not as exciting as it could be. A WW2 intelligence story, too much time is spent discussing what to do, what not do, how to do and not do it. Ultimately, little happens. But in a way, that's the point. Contain and control. The material is presented with respect and patriotism. If it's not exactly DR. NO, I can't complain.

[JackFavell]

I find Clifton Webb a tantalizing subject. I first knew of him I don't know when, he always seemed to be there, sniffing and looking down his nose at everyone. But then one day, I found a book my sister had, a compilation of Vanity Fair articles and portraits, and I was mesmerized by one of the pictures in the book:



It showed Webb onstage with Libby Holman in 1929, performing Moanin' Low in a revue on Broadway. There was Libby Holman, prostrate before Webb, and I just couldn't get the idea out of my mind that there was far more to Webb than smirking indignantly or getting his feathers in a ruffle.

I found out Webb had started out as a dancer. It has always bothered me that there doesn't seem to be one movie of his that shows him dancing, or what his style was like. For me, one of the greatest mysteries in Hollywood is Clifton Webb's career as a curmudgeon rather than as a dancer.



With Mary Hay

[RedRiver]

Wow! I didn't know any of this. There was a consistent grace to the man. But look at those pictures! So young and commanding.

[Rita Hayworth]

I will get my thinking caps on ... and share my thoughts on this amazing actor ... I'm a big fan of him. Give me a day or two and give you guys my 2 cents in.

[JackFavell]

Red isn't it so odd to think he had this whole other career, long before we knew him? I must say, I have liked him in every movie I've ever seen him in. I just wish I knew if it was his idea to go to Hollywood as an actor, rather than a dancer, or if he somehow got thrust into these roles without really meaning to go that route.

[moira finnie]

Please forgive me if you are all aware of this already, but if you are interested in Clifton Webb, perhaps you would enjoy reading Sitting Pretty: The Life and Times of Clifton Webb (Univ. of MS Press) by Clifton Webb and David L. Smith, which was published last year. It is a blend of Webb's unfinished autobiography supplemented by historian Smith's research and notes about the actor's life. It's a fun and enlightening read and the tone is just a touch waspish, making it a bit like overhearing Mr. Webb muttering under his breath at a party.

[JackFavell]

Thanks Moira! I didn't know that it had been finished.

[mrsl]

.
Dopn't mean to get off subject or hi jack this thread, but after all the sad deaths we've had recently in the entertainment business, maybe this month is going to be one for weird stories. I just finished a post in the Candids thread about Patric Knowles and how he was overlooked by the studios who chose Errol Flynn instead. I found Knowles much more interesting in looks and talent. So back to Clifton. Oddly when I think of him, I think of Mr. Belvedere (Sitting Pretty), the perfect babysitter, more than Lydecker, but that could be that there were three or four Belvedere movies. Agreed that it is funny that he had that totally different career before we got to meet him so to speak...

[JackFavell]

I think it's because he's just wonderful as Mr. Belvedere, you see some tiny amount of tenderness in him in those films. He's sweet.

[RedRiver]

There's substantial tenderness beneath that precision perfect shell. He's a man who loves his family, his career, his country. And he's Waldo Lydecker. So, they're not all nice!

I have liked him in every movie I've ever seen him in

That's what's so impressive about him. He was always right on target.

[pvitari]

I don't really have any trenchant observations about Clifton Webb. I just want to say I have loved him ever since I first laid eyes on him -- can't remember which movie he was -- and I could easily sit through Stars and Stripes Forever a zillion times simply because he plays John Philip Sousa. It's not a very good movie, but the combination of Clifton Webb, Technicolor, the splashy band uniforms and those glorious Sousa marches make for a thoroughly enjoyable time.

He had such a way with dialogue -- so arch but in the most precise and rhythmic way. His articulation was divine.

I always wondered why he didn't do a musical -- I mean, one where he did a big dance number.

Another film I love him in is The Razor's Edge. He and Gene Tierney (they steal it from Tyrone Power, who is stuck with a paper saint character) make for a dynamite combination of narcissism, and his final scenes are truly touching.

[knitwit45]

Remember the dance scene in Cheaper by the Dozen? He did a mean Charleston!

[JackFavell]

It's the highlight of the movie! Which I also love, btw.

[pvitari]

I want to see him do some ballroom dancing or an Apache number like in that photo above! :)

[RedRiver]

It pains me to say it, but I've never seen STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER. As you suggest, pvitari, how could it NOT be fun? I like CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN too. The very similar LIFE WITH FATHER is good. But I think "Cheaper" is even cuter, wittier, and ultimately more sensitive. This is in large part due to the exceptional players.