My Man Godfrey

My Man Godfrey

Director Gregory La Cava deftly balances satire, romance, and social comment in this 1936 classic, which echoes Frank Capra in its Depression-era subtext. The Bullocks are a well-heeled, harebrained Manhattan family genetically engineered for screwball collisions: father Alexander (Eugene Pallette, of the foghorn voice and thick-knit eyebrows) is the breadwinner at wit's end, thanks to his spoiled daughters, the sultry Cornelia (Gail Patrick) and the sweet but scatterbrained Irene (a luminous Carole Lombard), his dizzy and doting wife, Angelica (Alice Brady), and her "protégé," Italian freeloader Carlo (Mischa Auer). When Irene wins a society scavenger hunt (and atypically trumps her scheming sister) by producing a "lost man," a seeming tramp named Godfrey (William Powell), all their lives are transformed. With the always suave, effortlessly funny Powell in the title role, this mystery man provides the film's conscience and its model of decency; the giddy, passionate Lombard holds out its model for triumphant love. In a movie riddled with memorable comic highlights, the real miracle is the unapologetic romanticism that prevails. --Sam Sutherland

Genre: Comedy, Romance
Director(s): Gregory La Cava
Production: Universal Pictures
  Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 1 win.
 
IMDB:
8.1
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
NR (Not Rated)
Year:
1936
93
2,427 Views

Godfrey:
Who are you?

Irene:
I'm Irene. That was my sister Cornelia you pushed in the ash pile.

Godfrey:
How'd you like to have me push Cornelia's sister into an ashpile?

Irene:
Oh, I don't think I'd like that.

Godfrey:
Then you'd better get out of here.

Irene:
You bet.

Godfrey:
Wait a minute. Sit down.

Irene:
I'm sitting.

Another bum:
What's up Duke? Need some help?

Godfrey:
No thanks boys. I've got everything under control. [To Irene] Are you a member of this hunting party?

Irene:
I was, but I'm not now. Are they all forgotten men too?

Godfrey:
Yes, I guess they are maybe. Why?

Irene:
It's the funniest thing. I couldn't help but laugh. I've wanted to do that ever since I was six years old...Cornelia thought she was going to win, and you pushed her in a pile of ashes. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Godfrey:
Do you think you could follow an intelligent conversation for just a moment?

Irene:
I'll try.

Godfrey:
That's fine. Do you mind telling me just what a scavenger hunt is?

Irene:
Well, a scavenger hunt is exactly like a treasure hunt, except in a treasure hunt you try to find something you want and in a scavenger hunt, you try to find something that nobody wants.

Godfrey:
Hmmm, like a forgotten man?

Irene:
That's right, and the one that wins gets a prize. Only there really isn't a prize. It's just the honor of winning, because all the money goes to charity, that is, if there's any money left over, but then there never is. You know I've decided I don't want to play any more games with human beings as objects. It's kind of sordid when you think of it, I mean, when you think it over.


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