#737) My Man Godfrey (1936)

The Plot: During the Great Depression, Godfrey Smith (William Powell) is a “forgotten man” living in a Hooverville shanty town in a dump near Manhattan’s East River. One night, socialite Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) offers Godfrey five dollars to be the forgotten man she needs to win a scavenger hunt held at a fancy hotel. Initially reluctant, Godfrey agrees to help Irene, and Irene thanks him by hiring him as the family butler. Godfrey adapts to the Bullock family quickly, successfully navigating the eccentric behaviors of Irene’s ditzy mother Angelia (Alice Brady), her long-suffering father Alexander (Eugene Pallette), her scheming sister Cornelia (Gail Patrick), and her mother’s – ahem – “protégé” Carlo (Mischa Auer). Despite their opposing social standings, Irene falls for Godfrey, who tries to gently rebuff her. But this is a 1930s screwball comedy, so you can figure out how this all ends for everybody.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls this “one of the most exemplary screwball comedies of the 1930s”. Lombard and Powell are praised, as is cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff. The write-up also takes a swipe at the “pitiful” 1957 remake. I love it when the NFR throws mud at other movies.

But Does It Really?: Oh sure. While not as celebrated as it once was, “My Man Godfrey” is a funny, harmless movie that holds up reasonably well nearly 90 years on. There’s a decent amount of Depression era terminology in “My Man Godfrey”, and of course the film’s handling of our unhoused population would be very different today, but if you’re willing to meet this movie where it’s at, you’ll have a lot of fun. While the screwball comedy in general is starting to become overlooked, “My Man Godfrey” is a prime example of the genre and a no-brainer for NFR inclusion.

Shout Outs: In a subtle bit of synergy, this movie makes references to “Frankenstein’s Monster” and “Ol’ Man River”, both from previous Universal pictures.

Everybody Gets One: Gregory La Cava started out as an animator working for several studios throughout the 1910s (including William Randolph Hearst’s brief foray into animation). La Cava’s move to Hollywood found him pivoting to directing live action shorts, and eventually features, notably fellow NFR entry “So’s Your Old Man” with W.C. Fields. By the 1930s, La Cava was a freelance director, and in 1936 was hired to direct “My Man Godfrey” by Universal producer Charles Rogers, who deemed La Cava “the best comedy director in Hollywood”.

Wow, That’s Dated: Most prominent among this movie’s Depression era phraseology is its term for the unhoused: the “forgotten man”, taken from a Franklin Roosevelt speech (which in turn lifted it from a William Graham Sumner lecture made 60 years earlier). FDR used the phrase to spotlight our impoverished citizens who were most affected by the Depression (and who would benefit the most from his New Deal), and the phrase quickly entered the vernacular. There’s a whole musical number about it in “Gold Diggers of 1933”!

Seriously, Oscars?: The 9^th Academy Awards were the first Oscars to include the supporting acting awards, and “My Man Godfrey” was the first film to be nominated in all four acting categories. The film also received nominations for its direction and screenplay and is still the only movie to receive these six nominations without a corresponding Best Picture nod. Unfortunately, “Godfrey” went home empty-handed, making this the only film to lose in all six of these major categories until “American Hustle” in 2013.

• Both of our leads are so great in this you would think these parts were tailored made for them: Powell as the classiest and quippiest guy in the room, Lombard as the glamourous ingenue turned clown. But of course, the most interesting fact about this movie is that William Powell and Carole Lombard were married and divorced prior to production!  Despite this, the two remained friends, and Powell insisted on Lombard for the role because he felt the Irene/Godfrey dynamic was not dissimilar to their real-life marriage.

• Because I love inflation adjustments: the five dollars Godfrey is initially offered is about $113 today, and his butler salary of $150 a month is about $3400 a month.
• Shoutout to the supporting cast. Alice Brady is delightful as the family matriarch; her husband…not so much. Yes, I know I rag on Eugene Pallette every time he comes up on this blog, but seriously, fuck that guy. Fortunately for me, this is the last film I’m covering of his that is on the NFR…for now. I will also compliment Gail Patrick as the closest thing this movie gets to an antagonist. There’s something about her that is quintessential 1930s glamour: her demeanor, her outfits, her sharp features. I also enjoyed Jean Dixon as Molly, the Bullock’s maid who always has a wry comment about the proceedings, as the maid often does in these kinds of movies.

• Carlo is clearly Angelica’s side piece, but the censors refused to let him be referred to as a gigolo, so the much vaguer term “protégé” is used. While we’re talking about Carlo; with all due respect to Mischa Auer, how did he get an Oscar nomination out of this? Carlo adds very little to the proceedings, mainly just sitting around and eating. Maybe his gorilla impression went over well with voters.
• Be on the lookout for a very young Jane Wyman as one of the socialites at the scavenger hunt. Also somewhere in the background is Bess Flowers, the “Queen of the Hollywood Extras” who appeared in hundreds of movies, at least 30 of which are in the NFR! Take that, Ward Bond!
• Line that made me laugh out loud: “It’s hard to make beds when they’re full of people.”
• At one point Godfrey admonishes Cornelia and calls her a “Park Avenue brat.” Even movies from the ‘30s know about Brat Summer (a fad that will be long forgotten by the time this post is published).
• I suspect the scene in which Godfrey shows up to work drunk is a shoutout to William Powell’s work as sophisticated alcoholic Nick Charles in the “Thin Man” film series. 
• Irene is quite aggressive in her pursuing of Godfrey (and very – as the kids used to say – extra), but it is satisfying watching her make a fool of herself, and Carole Lombard is of course a delight to watch. Every female comedian who can look elegant while doing a pratfall owes a debt of gratitude to Carole Lombard.
• That’s all I really have to say about this movie: it’s pleasant enough and sticks the landing with a cute ending. If you get a chance, watch Universal’s outtake reel for 1936, which includes bloopers from “My Man Godfrey”. It’s included as a bonus feature on the DVD and is a wonderful chance to see the likes of Carole Lombard and William Powell swearing after a blown take.

• Universal produced a remake of “My Man Godfrey” in 1957 as a vehicle for Austrian actor O. W. Fischer in his Hollywood debut. When Fischer bowed out due to “irreconcilable differences”, David Niven filled in (though Godfrey’s Austrian re-write remained intact). Co-starring June Allyson, the 1957 “Godfrey” isn’t as well remembered today, and as we’ve seen is still a punching bag for those who love the 1936 version.

• The good news: We were spared a musical stage adaptation of “My Man Godfrey” in the 1980s. The bad news: We were spared because one of the show’s composers, the legendary Alan Jay Lerner, died while he was writing the score, and the project was abandoned.
• Ah geez, I can’t end this post on such a downer. Hey here’s those outtakes I was talking about! Look at the potty mouth on Lombard!