• Rating:
• Genre: Comedy
• Movie Type: Screwball Comedy, Comedy of Manners
• Themes: Mistaken Identities, Servants and Employers, Class Differences
• Director: Gregory La Cava
• Main Cast: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick, Jean Dixon, Eugene Pallette
• Release Year: 1936
• Country: US
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• MPAA Rating: NR

Plot

One of the landmark "screwball" comedies of the 1930s, My Man Godfrey offers the radiant Carole Lombard in her definitive performance as flighty young heiress Irene Bullock, who on a society scavenger hunt stumbles on Godfrey (William Powell), an erudite hobo residing in the city dump. Godfrey becomes the family's butler, much to the dismay of Irene's father Alexander (Eugene Pallette), who thinks his household is crazy enough without another apparent lunatic under his roof. Halfway through the film, we discover that Godfrey isn't a penniless bum at all, but the scion of a wealthy Boston family. Having been burned by an unhappy romance, Godfrey dropped out of life, taking up residence in the dump. Here his faith in humanity was restored by his fellow indigents, who managed to survive and remain optimistic despite the worst deprivations. Meanwhile, however, he wants to straighten out the Bullock family, who he feels are a basically decent bunch beneath all their pretensions and eccentricities -- and along the way, of course, Irene determines that Godfrey will be her husband. While Godfrey's ultimate "solution" to the exigencies of the Depression seems more of a placebo, My Man Godfrey is all in all a totally satisfying jolt of 1930s-style wish fulfillment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

• William Powell - Godfrey Parke
• Carole Lombard - Irene Bullock
• Alice Brady - Angelica Bullock
• Gail Patrick - Cornelia Bullock
• Jean Dixon - Molly
• Eugene Pallette - Alexander Bullock

Alan Mowbray - Tommy Gray; Mischa Auer - Carlo; Robert Light - Faithful George; Pat Flaherty - Mike; Franklin Pangborn - Master of Ceremonies; Grady Sutton - Van Rumple; James Flavin - Second Detective; Robert Perry - Doorman; Ernie S. Adams - Forgotten Man; Jack Chefe - Headwaiter; Chick Collins - Double for William Powell; Phyllis Crane - Party guest; Eddie Fetherstone - Process Server; Grace Field; Bess Flowers - Party Guest; Edward Gargan - Detective; Selmar Jackson - Blake, a Guest; Reginald Mason - Mayor; Bob Perry - Bob, the Hobo; Katherine Perry; Jean Rogers - Girl; Harley Wood - Socialite; Jane Wyman - Party Guest; David S. Horsley; Arthur Wanzer - Man; Arthur Singley - Chauffeur; David Ward - Van Rumple

Credit

Travis Banton - Costume Designer; Gregory La Cava - Director; Gregory La Cava - Producer; Gregory La Cava - Screenwriter; John P. Fulton - Special Effects; Charles Hall - Art Director; Ted Kent - Editor; Charles Previn - Composer (Music Score); Charles Previn - Musical Direction/Supervision; Charles R. Rogers - Executive Producer; Morris Ryskind - Screenwriter; Russell Schoengarth - Editor; Ted Tetzlaff - Cinematographer; Eric Hatch - Screenwriter; Eric Hatch - Play Author

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