My Man Godfrey

This article is about the 1936 film. For the 1957 remake, see My Man Godfrey (1957 film).

My Man Godfrey
film poster
Directed by	Gregory La Cava
Produced by	Gregory La Cava
Written by	Eric Hatch Morrie Ryskind Gregory LaCava (uncredited)
Starring	William Powell Carole Lombard
Music by	Charles Previn Rudy Schrager (both uncredited)
Cinematography	Ted Tetzlaff
Editing by	Ted J. Kent Russell F. Schoengarth
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	September 6, 1936
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$656,000 (est.)

My Man Godfrey is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava. The screenplay was written by Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by La Cava, based on "1101 Park Avenue", a short story by Eric Hatch. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her family's butler, only to fall in love with him, much to his dismay. The film stars William Powell and Carole Lombard.

The film was remade in 1957 with June Allyson and David Niven in the starring roles. In 1999, the original version of My Man Godfrey was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Plot

During the Great Depression, Godfrey "Smith" (William Powell) is living alongside other men down on their luck at the city dump. One night, spoiled socialite Cornelia Bullock (Gail Patrick) offers him five dollars to be her "forgotten man" for a scavenger hunt. Annoyed, he advances on her, causing her to retreat and fall on a pile of ashes. She leaves in a fury, much to the glee of her younger sister, Irene (Carole Lombard). After talking with her, Godfrey finds her to be kind, if a bit scatter-brained. He offers to go with Irene to help her beat Cornelia.

In the ballroom of the Waldorf-Ritz Hotel, Irene's long-suffering businessman father, Alexander Bullock (Eugene Pallette), waits resignedly as his ditsy wife, Angelica (Alice Brady), and her mooching "protégé" Carlo (Mischa Auer) play the frivolous game. Godfrey arrives and is "authenticated" by the scavenger hunt judge as a "forgotten man". He then addresses the idle rich, expressing his contempt for their antics. Irene is apologetic and offers him a job as the family butler, which he gratefully accepts.

The next morning, Godfrey is shown what to do by the sardonic, wise-cracking maid, Molly (Jean Dixon), the only servant who has been able to put up with the antics of the family. She warns him that he is just the latest in a long line of butlers. Only slightly daunted, he proves to be surprisingly competent, although Cornelia still holds a sizeable grudge. On the other hand, Irene considers Godfrey to be her protégé, and is thrilled by his success.

A complication arises when a guest, Tommy Gray (Alan Mowbray), greets Godfrey familiarly as an old friend. Godfrey quickly ad-libs that he was Tommy's valet at school. Tommy plays along, mentioning Godfrey's non-existent wife and five children. Dismayed, Irene impulsively announces her engagement to the surprised Charlie Van Rumple (Grady Sutton), but she soon breaks down in tears and flees after being politely congratulated by Godfrey.

Over lunch the next day, Tommy is curious to know what one of the elite "Parkes of Boston" is doing as a servant. Godfrey explains that a broken love affair had left him considering suicide, but the optimistic, undaunted attitude of the men living at the dump rekindled his spirit.

Meanwhile, when everything she does to make Godfrey's life miserable fails, Cornelia sneaks into his room and plants her pearl necklace under his mattress. She then calls the police to report her "missing" jewelry. To Cornelia's surprise, the pearls do not turn up, even when she suggests they check Godfrey's bed. Mr. Bullock realizes his daughter has orchestrated the whole thing and sees the policemen out.

Irene Bullock is about to receive a surprise, courtesy of Godfrey, in a screenshot from the colorized DVD release.

The Bullocks then send their daughters off to Europe to get Irene away from Godfrey. When they return, Cornelia implies that she intends to seduce Godfrey. Worried, Irene stages a fainting spell and falls into Godfrey's arms. He carries her to her bed, but while searching for smelling salts, he realizes she's faking when he sees her (in a mirror) sit up briefly. In revenge, he puts her in the shower and turns on the cold water full blast. Far from quenching her attraction, this merely confirms her hopes: "Oh Godfrey, now I know you love me...You do or you wouldn't have lost your temper."

When confronted by the rest of the family, Godfrey quits. But Mr. Bullock has more pressing concerns. He first has a private "little chat" with Carlo, throwing the freeloader out. He then announces that his business is in dire financial straits and that he might even be facing criminal charges. Godfrey interrupts with unexpected good news—realizing Mr. Bullock's problems, Godfrey had sold short, using money raised by pawning Cornelia's necklace, then buying up the stock that Bullock had sold. He endorses over the stock certificates to the stunned Mr. Bullock, saving the family from financial ruin. He also returns the necklace to a humbled Cornelia, who apologizes for her attempt to frame him. Afterwards, Godfrey takes his leave.

With the rest of his stock profits and reluctant business partner Tommy Gray's backing, Godfrey has built a fashionable nightclub at the dump, "...giving food and shelter to fifty people in the winter, and giving them employment in the summer." Godfrey tells Tommy he quit being the Bullocks' butler because "he felt that foolish feeling coming along again." Later on, though, Irene tracks him down and bulldozes him into marriage, saying, "Stand still, Godfrey, it'll all be over in a minute."

Cast

Eugene Pallette, Mischa Auer and Alice Brady in My Man Godfrey.

• William Powell as Godfrey Park. Powell would only take the role if Carole Lombard played "Irene". Powell and Lombard had divorced three years earlier.^[1]
• Carole Lombard as Irene Bullock. Constance Bennett was originally chosen to play "Irene", and Miriam Hopkins was also considered. Director Gregory LaCava would only agree to Bennett if Universal borrowed William Powell from MGM.
• Alice Brady as Angelica Bullock
• Gail Patrick as Cornelia Bullock
• Eugene Pallette as Alexander Bullock
• Jean Dixon as Molly
• Alan Mowbray as Tommy Gray
• Mischa Auer as Carlo
• Pat Flaherty as Mike Flaherty
• Robert Light as Faithful George
• Grady Sutton as Charlie Van Rumple (uncredited)

Cast notes:

• Jane Wyman appears, uncredited, as a party guest, and Franklin Pangborn has a small role as the judge for the scavenger hunt, also uncredited.

Production

My Man Godfrey was in production from 15 April to 27 May, 1936, and then had retakes in early June of the year. Its estimated budget was $656,000^[2]

The studio's original choice to play "Irene," the part eventually played by Carole Lombard, was Constance Bennett, and Miriam Hopkins was also considered, but the director, Gregory LaCava, would only agree to Bennett if Universal borrowed William Powell from MGM. Powell, for his part, would only take the role if Carole Lombard played "Irene". Powell and Lombard had divorced three years earlier.^[1]

LaCava, a former animator and freelancer for most of his film career, held studio executives in contempt, and was known to be a bit eccentric. When he and Powell hit a snag over a disagreement about how Godfrey should be portrayed, they settled things over a bottle of Scotch. The next morning, LaCava showed up for shooting with a headache, but Powell didn't appear. Instead, he sent a telegram stating: "WE MAY HAVE FOUND GODFREY LAST NIGHT BUT WE LOST POWELL. SEE YOU TOMORROW."^[3]

Morrie Ryskind, who wrote the screenplay, also had some unorthodox working habits. On Godfrey, he improvised dialogue on the set with the leading actors and the director, and would rewrite and reshape scenes on the set.^[3]

Powell was 45 when the film was made. A stand-in (Chick Collins) was used when Godfrey carried Irene over his shoulder up the stairs to her bedroom.^[4]

When tensions hit a high point on the set, Lombard had a habit of inserting four letter words into her dialogue, often to the great amusement of the cast. This made shooting somewhat difficult, but clips of her cursing in her dialogue and messing up her lines can still be seen in blooper reels.^[3]

Release

My Man Godfrey premiered on 6 September 1936, and was released in the United States on 17 September.^[5] It was a runaway hit and earned huge profits for the studio.^[3]

Awards and recognition

My Man Godfrey was nominated for six Academy Awards:

• Best Director – Gregory La Cava
• Best Actor – William Powell
• Best Actress – Carole Lombard
• Best Writing, Screenplay – Eric Hatch and Morrie Ryskind
• Best Supporting Actor – Mischa Auer
• Best Supporting Actress – Alice Brady

My Man Godfrey was the first movie to be nominated in all four acting categories, in the first year that supporting categories were introduced. It's also the only film in Oscar history to receive a nomination in all four acting categories and not be nominated for Best Picture, and the only film to be nominated in these six categories and not receive an award.^[4]

In 1999, the film was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 2000, the film was ranked #44 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 funniest comedies, and Premiere magazine voted it one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006. It is one of the few movies that hold 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

American Film Institute recognition

• 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs #44

Sequels and adaptations

My Man Godfrey was adapted for radio and broadcast on Lux Radio Theater on 9 May 1938, with David Niven playing the part of Tommy Gray.^[4] It was adapted again on the October 2, 1946 episode of Academy Award Theater, again starring William Powell. When the film was remade in 1957, David Niven played Godfrey opposite June Allyson, directed by Henry Koster.^[6][7]

Video availability

In 2002, a restored print was made available on DVD by The Criterion Collection. In 2005, 20th Century Fox Home Video released a colorized version.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} TCM Notes
2. ^ TCM Overview, IMDB Business Data
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Genevieve McGillicuddy "My Man Godfrey" (TCM article)
4. ^ ^{a b c} IMDB Trivia
5. ^ IMDB Release Dates
6. ^ My Man Godfrey at the Internet Movie Database
7. ^ TCM's Notes for the 1936 film reports that in 1985 Allan Carr created a Broadway stage production based on the movie, but this is not borne out by a search of the Internet Broadway Database.

External links

• My Man Godfrey at the Internet Movie Database
• My Man Godfrey at the TCM Movie Database
• My Man Godfrey at AllRovi
• My Man Godfrey at Rotten Tomatoes
• My Man Godfrey at Google Videos (Adobe Flash video)
• My Man Godfrey is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• Criterion Collection essay by Diane Jacobs