Year of Release: 1936Country of Origin: USA
Director: Gregory La Cava
Cast: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick, Eugene Pallette
Plot outline: A scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler ... but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye (IMDb).
Adapted from Eric Hatch's novel 1101 Park Avenue, My Man Godfrey is a screwball comedy set during the Great Depression. In those days - the mid 1930s to the mid 1940s - Hollywood's idea for escapism was the screwball comedy, with an emphasis in presenting how the privileged classes lived. Godfrey (William Powell) lives alongside other men down on their luck in the city dump. One night, snooty socialite Cornelia (Gail Patrick) offers him five dollars to be her "forgotten man" for a scavenger hunt. Annoyed, he backs her up until she falls on a pile of ashes. She leaves in a fury, much to the delight of her sister Irene (Carole Lombard). After talking with her, Godfrey finds her to be kind, if a bit scatter-brained. He offers to go with her to help her beat Cornelia. William Powell plays the title role very well. The other cast members are just as nutty and marvelous as the story: Carole Lombard gives her greatest performance as Irene, the histrionic and comedic daughter of Alexander and Angelica Bullock, played by Eugene Pallette and Alice Brady, both of whom play their parts very well too. Gail Patrick steals the show as Cornelia, the scheming and devilish sister of Irene. Jean Dixon and Mischa Auer adds comedic moments as the Bullocks' sardonic, wise-cracking maid, Molly, the only servant who has been able to put up with the antics of the family and Mrs. Bullock's protégé, Carlo, who does nothing but eat the family's food and pound the same couple of notes on their piano. They make us care about the characters they are playing. My Man Godfrey was nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (William Powell), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Mischa Auer), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Carole Lombard), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Alice Brady), Best Director and Best Screenplay. It was the first movie to be nominated in all four acting categories. It was also the only movie to receive nominations in all four acting categories and not be nominated for Best Picture, and the only movie to be nominated in these six categories and not receive an award. Between comedy and romance, a great moral and wise words are nestled. It's fun, witty and silly, with plot holes that can be seen from space, but ultimately a comedic fantasy.
My judgment: ***1/2 out of 4 stars
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