My Man Godfrey

I am not one of those people who say that they don’t make movies like they used to, or who watches a lot of classic black and white films. But there are a few dozen classics I would watch any time they come on, and this is one of them. My Man Godfrey is in the sub genre of screwball comedy, and it may actually be true that they don’t make them like this any longer, because it seems like most of the wacky comedies nowadays center around bodily functions or shocking language (though I guess you can argue it isn’t shocking anymore.) Anyway, this movie had plenty of laughs, a nice story, and a romance thrown in. The two leads dominate, of course, but the whole Bullock family is well cast. The only aspect that detracted from my enjoyment at all was the Carlo character. The silly matriarch of the family is sponsoring him - A musician maybe? And I thought in a few places he was overdone, but it is a minor thing. There is a bit of a social message here, of course, concerning the have and have-not, but it doesn’t weigh down the plot. Great movie.

Whilst much of the country is in the throes of poverty, the ditzy socialite “Irene” (Carole Lombard) finds herself down by the city dump whilst playing an up-market scavenger hunt and that’s where she encounters the down-and-out looking “Godfrey” (William Powell) who might just help her win her challenge. If he agrees to return with her to the sumptuous Waldorf hotel then he might end up with five whole dollars. Of course his arrival amidst such vacuous “nitwits” causes a mixture of shock and offence, but it does make her realise that she didn’t wish to be cruel, so she offers him employment as their family butler. He’s a natural as he discovers a family of spoiled and indulged individuals led by “Alexander” (the scene stealing Eugene Palette) who is married to the dipso “Angelica” (Alice Brady) and father of both his benefactor and her sister “Cornelia” (Gail Patrick). At a swanky party, the arrival of “Tommy” (Alan Mowbray) starts to suggest to all (and us) that this dapper factotum has some sort of secret past - but what might that be? We are deliberately being manoeuvred into certain expectations here and both Powell and Lombard play us like fiddles for much of this engaging romp through the hypocrisies of the nouveau riche but intellectually and socially bankrupt. There are a few compare and contrast scenarios for us to see the haves and the have nots, but I can safely say the denouement was not what I was expecting on one level and exactly that on another. The dialogue, and the Tabasco, are lively and poignant and it’s message of humanity and integrity is really quite entertainingly wrapped in comedy and irony for an hour and an half.