William Powell and Carole Lombard were two of the biggest screen stars of the 1930s. During that period, they starred in dozens of films, My Man Godfrey being one of their most famous. Released in September of 1936, the film became the 11th highest grossing film of the year, and remains of one the best known films of the early talky, or sound film, era.
A young woman on a scavenger hunt, looking for a “forgotten man”, stumbles across Godfrey, a well spoken, well mannered vagrant, whom she takes an instant liking to. After Godfrey offers his services to her during the scavenger hunt, the young woman, wanting to return the favour, offers Godfrey a job as her butler.
"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."
My Man Godfrey is what they called a screwball comedy back in the day. According to Wikipedia, the definition of a screwball comedy is a comedic film that behaves in unexpected ways. The Golden Age of Hollywood produced many of these fantastic films, including Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Lady Eve (1941), and, of course, My Man Godfrey. The term is still used today, but it is usually applied to films that are less (than) watchable. In fact, these days, the term has gained somewhat of a negative connotation, often being associated with modern slapstick. Let’s just say that if someone told me that a certain film was a screwball comedy, I’d probably go to great lengths to avoid it.
The “unexpected way” that My Man Godfrey heads towards is the fact that Godfrey is not what he appears to be. Although he lives in a city dump, and dresses like a homeless man, Godfrey is actually a highly educated, Harvard alumni from a very wealthy family. He became a vagrant by choice after a break-up that left him contemplating suicide. He found that the forgotten men of the city dump gave him the spirit he had been lacking, and he decided to stay with them.
"You mustn't come between Irene and Godfrey. He's the first thing she's shown any affection for since her pomeranian died last summer."
Godfrey is, what I call, an “easy watch”. By this, I mean a film that doesn’t require a lot of thought, but is never the less entertaining. They don’t make films like this anymore, which might be a good thing. If such a film were attempted today, I doubt it would be able to contain the innocence and simplicity of those made in the early stages of cinema.
William Powell is one of my favourite actors of the classic period. For the most part, he worked in comedy (Often teamed with actress Myrna Loy), and he was very skilled at it. He is excellent as the straight-laced Godfrey. Carole Lombard is lovably bubbly as Irene, the young lady that takes a shine to Godfrey. She has a wonderful chemistry with Powell in this film. My Man Godfrey also features an actress called Gail Patrick, who played the so-called “mean girl” in many early films. In Godfrey, she plays Irene’s nasty, competitive sister Cornelia. She is devilishly good in the role as the girl we love to hate.
My Man Godfrey is my type of comedy: pure, simple, and utterly charming. 9/10
Trivia: By the time they made My Man Godfrey, William Powell and Carole Lombard had been married two years and divorced for three. They defied the Hollywood stereotype that divorcees should dislike each other after parting ways, and remained good friends after the split.
**BONUS** My Man Godfrey was the first film to receive Academy Award nominations in all four acting categories, in the first year that the supporting actor categories were introduced. It also remains the only film in Oscar history to be nominated for all for acting awards, yet not be nominated for Best Picture.
