So You Want to Be a Baby Sitter (1949)
*** (out of 4)
Hilarious entry in the Joe McDoakes series has him being forced by his wife to babysit a kid he hates just so they can go to a fashion show. Once there the kid turns into a monster by constantly picking on Joe and this is just the start of a long night. This here is certainly one of the better entries in the series as we get one great sequence after another with the entire cast being at the top of their game. As expected, George O'Hanlon does a wonderful job as Joe as he brings a certain loser quality to the role that he also mixes with someone you can't help but love. The amount of abuse Joe takes makes us feel sorry for him since he's a nice guy but at the same time it's extremely funny because of how weak he is. There are plenty of good scenes here but one of the highlights has to be at the end when Joe finally flips out, takes a ballbat and goes after the kid only to have his father (Clifton Young) come home. THe kid is wonderfully played by Billy Gray who would appear in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL a couple years after this. If you're new to the series then this here would be a good place to start.
