A dysfunctional but seemingly wealthy family takes in a new butler of dubious background. In return the butler saves the family in more ways than one. (This is a comedy)
I really appreciate this movie on many levels. You may recognize several people types just in the Bullock family. The interaction between Carole Lombard and William Powell is worth watching in its self. I particularly like when Tommy Gray (Alan Mowbray) has to explain his earlier relationship with Godfrey.
As good as this movie is I still like the remake with David Niven and June Allyson just as well. My Man Godfrey (1957) ASIN: 6302968232 but many of his movies are hard to find. Such as "The Statue" and "Prudence and the pill."
No sense in struggling with a thing when it has got you...
"My Man Godfrey" is one of the best Capracorn movies that was not directed by Frank Capra, the 1936 classic film being the project of director Gregory La Cava ("She Married Her Boss," "Stage Door"), who shot the film "off the cuff." Set in the Depression "My Man Godfrey" begins in the Hooverville in the dump down by the river in New York City, where spoiled rich girl Cornelia Bullock (Gail Patrick) arrives on a scavenger hunting offering $5 to Godfrey (William Powell) to accompany her back to the party where she can present him as a "forgotten man" and claim the prize.
The well-spoken but scruffy-looking Godfrey takes umbrage at her request and sends Cornelia and her date packing, but the idea of putting her in her place persuades Godfrey to allow Cornelia's sister, Irene (Carole Lombard), to claim the prize. The next thing we know the mysterious Godfrey, who has more class than the entire Bullock family put together, if persuaded by the scatter-brained Irene to become the family's butler.
In addition to Godfrey saving the Bullocks from themselves, there is the romance between Godfrey and Irene, which in terms of the screwball comedy genre may well be the greatest example of the opposites attract school of romance since Powell's character never loses his dignity throughout the entire proceedings (compare with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in "Bringing Up Baby") while Lombard practically glows throughout the film while babbling and dancing around the room. The chemistry between the two is evident, but still interesting, seeing as how Powell and Lombard had been married briefly a few years earlier.
In addition to the screwball comedy elements, there is also some serious social commentary involved as well, reminding not only the high society of the film but the viewing audience that millions were out of work in 1936. Screwball comedies are supposed to deal with the eccentric and the whimsical, relying on sophisticated dialogue delivered at high speed and showing irreverence for situations that are usually serious, but "My Man Godfrey" keeps reminding us that there are homeless people are there starving to death, and somebody should be doing something about it. Still, the film delivers on the requisite romantic comedy, which is clearly what matters the most to audiences today.
Almost as welcome as a shaker full of martinis, The Complete Thin Man Collection represents an eagerly awaited DVD milestone for fans of the fizzy MGM movie series. The best film in the series came first: The Thin Man (1934), W.S. Van Dyke's marvelous adaptation of a Dashiell Hammet novel. The movie gods were in a generous mood when they paired William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, the upper-class sophisticates whose sleuthing escapades somehow joined the classic form of the whodunit with the giddyup of screwball comedy. Among the series' many attributes, one of its most radical notions was the idea that a married couple might find each other delightful and view life as a goofy adventure together.
It is common wisdom that the Thin Man sequels... More Info about this DVD Director(s): W.S. Van Dyke DVD Release Date: Released the 02 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Newspaper comedy doesn't seem like an MGM genre--ink-stained wretches don't go with Adrian gowns and white deco furniture--but Jack Conway, the designated bull in the Metro china shop (Boom Town, Too Hot to Handle) does what he can to bring some dash and flair to a wildly complicated script. Spencer Tracy is the tough city editor who goes to some spectacular extremes when socialite Myrna Loy files a $5 million libel suit against his paper for calling her a notorious home-wrecker; he hires celebrated ladies' man William Powell to seduce Loy and asks his long-suffering fiancée, Jean Harlow, to marry Powell temporarily so she can play the wronged wife when Loy and Powell are discovered together. The couples crisscross, with frenetic and not entirely unpredictable... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jean Harlow - William Powell - Myrna Loy - Spencer Tracy Director(s): Jack Conway DVD Release Date: Released the 01 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Among the earliest writers to set his sights on the director's chair, Preston Sturges brought a frank, unsentimental view of the war between the sexes to his mid-'40s features that exemplify his style, as demonstrated in this prescient 1942 gem. Architect Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) and his wife, Gerry (Claudette Colbert), further refine the archetypal Sturges couple--the male embodying strength, idealism, and a certain naivete, the female ultimately stronger, smarter, and (as revealed early on in an astonishing speech by Colbert) clearer-eyed and more pragmatic about the subtext of sex. This giddy shaggy-dog story follows the couple's split, and Gerry's subsequent flight to Palm Beach. This head-snapping frolic is paced by double-entendres and lampooning looks at the very rich, with... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Claudette Colbert - Joel McCrea Director(s): Preston Sturges DVD Release Date: Released the 01 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The Front Page, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's classic 1928 newspaper play, has had three official film versions and contributed structural DNA to half the movies ever made about professional camaraderie and fierce love-hate friendships. Lewis Milestone's 1931 movie is well respected (Billy Wilder's 1974 version isn't), but this is one case where the remake towers brilliantined head and blocked shoulders above the original.
Howard Hawks had the inspired notion of making Hildy Johnson--the ace newsman whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--a she instead of a he. What's more, she's not only Walter's star reporter but also his ex-wife. When Hildy (Rosalind Russell) comes to tell Walter (Cary Grant) she's leaving the newspaper... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Cary Grant - Rosalind Russell Director(s): Howard Hawks DVD Release Date: Released the 01 October 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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MGM originally promoted Dinner at Eight by touting the "all-star cast," but this is no run-of-the-mill omnibus picture. On the contrary, rather than cramming as many big names as possible into a lumbering vehicle, the movie's impeccably crafted script (by Edna Ferber and Herman J. Mankiewicz) and direction (by George Cukor) gave some immortal screen luminaries a chance to shine. For sheer bravery, John Barrymore's achingly poignant performance as Larry Renault, a washed-up matinee idol who has "outlived everything but his vanity," is unmatched. Barrymore's brother, Lionel, is equally touching as shipping magnate Oliver Jordan. Oliver vainly tries to save his family's century-old firm, at the same time hiding his financial and health troubles from his wife, Millicent, played to... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Marie Dressler - John Barrymore - Wallace Beery Director(s): George Cukor DVD Release Date: Released the 01 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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