My Man Godfrey (1936)

Powerful

Fantastic!

best movie i've ever seen.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

There are many figures from history whose lives I wished I could lead. Among them, Nat King Cole, Jackie Robinson, Booker T. Washington, Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela and others. There is Robinson Crusoe on the fictional side. The English short-story writer James Herriot with his ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL series, and for wit, humor and lightness of touch, I have always admired the goings-on of Godfrey Parke in MY MAN GODFREY.The idea that a man could start from nothing and end up not only lifting himself up, but everyone else with him has tremendous appeal to me. This must have been one of those ideal dreams of those undergoing and enduring the Great Depression. The gentle and tasteful way in which this is presented to the viewer, peppered with great lines of dialogue and packed with laughs owing to situations and characters both high and low is a delight.I saw this first on the Bill Kennedy Show as a kid and never forgot it. Pretty obvious from the outset that Godfrey was down in the City Dump nursing a broken heart over something in his past. You get an idea of what that might have been when the two sisters show up on a Scavenger Hunt for a Forgotten Man. This is all so subtle that you can paint your own picture with a rather broad brush. I always found it fascinating how a homeless man could present himself before high society with the dignity and decorum of a college professor and then depart to return to a better class of people.I picked up from the first time I saw it that Godfrey was in retreat at the City Dump and when we meet him he is coming to the end of some pretty heavy philosophic reflection. There is a line he delivers to one of his fellow hobo friends that suggests he has resolved something. However, and this is the beauty of this piece of Cinema, this is more shown in the character's behavior and interaction with people than reported to us in lines of dialogue. The exposition of this little comedy of manners is established in irony and whistles a snappy zany tune from there on out.I have read other reviewer's comments about this film and found them insightful. One reviewer commented about how the ending displayed a Godfrey who was very formal and who barely returned Irene's sentiments of love as anything more than a straight man. However, I understood this very well even as a kid. I could easily imagine that in a previous romantic affair it had been the exact opposite. Therefore, Godfrey while meditating with a broken heart resolved that he would discipline himself the next time to let the woman do all the legwork while he simply worked to regain his self respect and return afterwards to a prosperous standing.The successful, and this includes the idle rich among them, will exhort to you that Life is a Game. Those who have known plenty of heartache and trouble will insist that it is not and that the business of living is an issue to be taken seriously. There is obviously some truth in both assertions. The marvelous thing about this movie is that it doesn't necessarily take sides about this. More or less, it suggests in a lighthearted way that there can be a happy medium between inner and outer riches, and family matters can go on no matter how many screwballs Life throws your way.

Its SMASHING opening credits - which pans into the pitiful and literal dump that is Godfrey's home, and in doing so, promptly makes clear the prosperity & glamour that neighbors the impoverished - promises a lot; a bit more than what director Gregory La Cava could deliver on.It *was* quite the chuckle-fest, with few, if any at all, misses, but unfortunately zero laugh-out-loud moments. And the story strung me along efficiently, - a bit of a mystery around our titular man helps - but its completion is just plain unsatisfactory; rushed. Perhaps it would've been more tolerable had Godfrey's old pals been better developed.The romantic aspect doesn't do the picture any favors either. A more temperate and deserving love interest - which was available - might've instilled within me an ounce of happiness. Instead I've got none for the mismatched lovers. I am glad it wasn't *entirely* out of character for one party - their reluctance made it *slightly* charming - but still, it was a bit disappointing.All in all, despite what this mostly pessimistic review might indicate, the film is still rather entertaining, and given the conclusion to the mystery, a second watch is made easier with the viewer now being able to see much of the film through a different perspective. Here's hoping I enjoy it more next time!

It seems superfluous to add yet another five-star review to those already published, but "My Man Godfrey" is a movie that grows on you. I didn't like it all that much when I first viewed it. In fact, I felt that the movie was showing its age and did not shine as brightly as on its first release. "In fact," I wrote, "the pacing is often rather slow, especially in Lombard and Powell's later scenes, most of them shot by producer/director La Cava in sustained, boring takes. In fact, Gail Patrick survives better than Lombard. True, the movie opens very promisingly and the acting throughout is very capable, although it's worth noting that comedians Palette and Mowbray are used as straight men to feed witty comebacks to Powell. The sets and costumes are delightful, the photography superb!" As the copyright has expired, the movie is now available on many DVDs. For some odd reason, the cheapest ones are often superior in quality to the more expensive!

As a comedy from the era of the Great Depression, a bum found at the New York city dump, who had at one time been a man of means, becomes the butler of the filthy rich. The premise was made for comedy but William Powell (as Godfrey) and Carole Lombard (as Irene Bullock) gives the characters a human touch. When you look at Jimmy Steward in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", you never got past Steward as something like a cartoon character. With Powell, you see the human face of existence, the complexity of existence, at the whim of existence. Powell (as Godfrey) had been of means and gave up his fortune over the loss of a love, only to find himself by whimsical fate back in the lap of luxury all over again. And such is his disdain for this lap of luxury, he could end up in the dumps again.But there is more to the story than that. Each one of these actors knows by the standards of depression era society, they are the filthy rich, making phenomenal amounts of money they could never envision in their youth. Carole Lombard's salary was some $450,000 a year. That is filthy rich by any standard and certainly by the standard of the Great Depression. So these actors had a real sense of the whimsy of fate and how unequal and oftentimes unjust it can be.That Powell/Godfrey opens at the dump a fancy nightclub and names it "The Dump" suggests keen awareness of what this story is all about.Powell had the persona and acting skill to pull that sentience off on the screen as he recites lines written by Morrie Ryskind, lines based on a novel, "1101 Park Ave" by Eric Hatch. And these people/actors receive tons of money for essentially playing themselves. Such is fate.The film is great because of the ensemble cast, the talent of Powell and Lombard, and a topic about the whimsy of fate and how it can turn, and an expectation for a turn for the better by the end. While the ending may be hokum, it is delightful hokum. Powell gets the girl, and gets his wealth back.