William Powell is the Godfrey of the film's title, at the beginning of the film apparently an unshaven bum living at the city dump. His peace is suddenly disrupted one fateful night by the Bullock sisters, Irene (Carole Lombard) and Cornelia (Gail Patrick), who each need a 'forgotten man' to win their scavenger hunt. Cornelia, haughty and rude, annoys Godfrey, and he volunteers to help the decidely loopy Irene beat her sister for once. Before long, Irene wants Godfrey as her 'protege', following in the footsteps of her zany mother Angelica (Alice Brady) who seems to have adopted the odd little Russian man Carlo (Mischa Auer). It isn't long, either, before Irene falls hard for Godfrey and tries her best, from faking engagements to faking fainting spells, to win him over. But Godfrey has his own secrets and reasons for working at the Bullock household. (As gleefully pointed out by Molly the maid, played by Jean Dixon, no *ordinary* butler lasts beyond their first encounter with the extremely eccentric female Bullocks.) It is through Godfrey's reevaluation of his own true identity, and the Bullocks' subsequent discovery of this identity, that every character in the film learns a little something about themselves and about life.
MY MAN GODFREY has just about as screwball a cast of characters as it can get: after all, the Bullock girls (consisting of a ditzy matriach who sees pixies when she has a hangover and a daughter who rides horses up the front steps and parks them in the library!) certainly do their very best to keep one constantly bemused. The actresses all do very well in their roles--Brady tosses off manic giggles as Madame Bullock so convincingly you wonder if she really *is* like that in real life. She handles the character's blithe irrelevance expertly, even as Mrs Bullock sees hangover-induced pixies, asks her pet Carlo to play gorilla to cheer her daughter up, and spouts non sequiturs like she was born to do so. Gail Patrick is also worthy of mention as the spoilt brat Cornelia, who sets out to make Godfrey's life as difficult as she can because he pushed her into an ash pile when they first met, and even as butler, he still refuses to pander to her every whim. Patrick really does a grand job playing the bitch (see STAGE DOOR for another example), but doesn't completely alienate the audience--quite a feat considering what she does with her pearl necklace in order to get Godfrey fired...!
The leads are on top form as well. In approaching the role of Irene with no reservations whatsoever, Carole Lombard gives an excellent portrayal of this kooky heiress who not only doggedly pursues Godfrey once she discovers he's actually single and *doesn't* have five children, but also drifts around striking tragic poses learnt at drama school to get Godfrey's attention when she *thinks* he's married with kids. Lombard doesn't try to live up to any kind of glamorous image; she just *goes* for it all, crying, fainting, jumping around the room and all over the bed because Godfrey sticking her in the shower somehow proves he 'loves' her... She has no problem with either looking or acting foolish, and this works entirely in her favour, as well as that of her character's. Good as she is, however, she can't quite stop MY MAN GODFREY from being a consummate William Powell film. Powell is absolutely fantastic: even though he doesn't quite carry off the street bum look (his natural elegance struggles through, and even that's probably part of the role since Godfrey isn't really who he appears to be), his Godfrey is wry, charming and witty. No one plays the lucid drunk better than Powell, and this film, along with THE THIN MAN series, acts as the best evidence of that. He handles his character's self-imposed detachment from the Lombard character with aplomb, playing Godfrey as simultaneously bemused and charmed.
Small wonder that the film picked up acting nominations in all four categories (male and female lead and supporting) at the Academy Awards--the cast of MY MAN GODFREY is really excellent, and they're ably supported by the script and assured direction of Gregory La Cava. All in all, it's a great film: certainly one of the best romantic comedies I've seen, though possibly not the best screwball (that honour still belongs to BRINGING UP BABY, which certainly recognises its debt to MY MAN GODFREY, at least insofar as Katharine Hepburn brings a lot of Lombard's inflection and lilt into her own performance). It's the kind of film you won't see emerging from Hollywood anymore, unless it's a remake (heaven forbid), and definitely one whose characters really need to be seen to be believed. The ending of the film is a bit rushed (though bizarrely appropriate!), and it certainly isn't perfect, but other than that, MY MAN GODFREY is first-class film-making with classy performances... and that's as good a reason as any to watch it.
MY MAN GODFREY has just about as screwball a cast of characters as it can get: after all, the Bullock girls (consisting of a ditzy matriach who sees pixies when she has a hangover and a daughter who rides horses up the front steps and parks them in the library!) certainly do their very best to keep one constantly bemused. The actresses all do very well in their roles--Brady tosses off manic giggles as Madame Bullock so convincingly you wonder if she really *is* like that in real life. She handles the character's blithe irrelevance expertly, even as Mrs Bullock sees hangover-induced pixies, asks her pet Carlo to play gorilla to cheer her daughter up, and spouts non sequiturs like she was born to do so. Gail Patrick is also worthy of mention as the spoilt brat Cornelia, who sets out to make Godfrey's life as difficult as she can because he pushed her into an ash pile when they first met, and even as butler, he still refuses to pander to her every whim. Patrick really does a grand job playing the bitch (see STAGE DOOR for another example), but doesn't completely alienate the audience--quite a feat considering what she does with her pearl necklace in order to get Godfrey fired...!
The leads are on top form as well. In approaching the role of Irene with no reservations whatsoever, Carole Lombard gives an excellent portrayal of this kooky heiress who not only doggedly pursues Godfrey once she discovers he's actually single and *doesn't* have five children, but also drifts around striking tragic poses learnt at drama school to get Godfrey's attention when she *thinks* he's married with kids. Lombard doesn't try to live up to any kind of glamorous image; she just *goes* for it all, crying, fainting, jumping around the room and all over the bed because Godfrey sticking her in the shower somehow proves he 'loves' her... She has no problem with either looking or acting foolish, and this works entirely in her favour, as well as that of her character's. Good as she is, however, she can't quite stop MY MAN GODFREY from being a consummate William Powell film. Powell is absolutely fantastic: even though he doesn't quite carry off the street bum look (his natural elegance struggles through, and even that's probably part of the role since Godfrey isn't really who he appears to be), his Godfrey is wry, charming and witty. No one plays the lucid drunk better than Powell, and this film, along with THE THIN MAN series, acts as the best evidence of that. He handles his character's self-imposed detachment from the Lombard character with aplomb, playing Godfrey as simultaneously bemused and charmed.
Small wonder that the film picked up acting nominations in all four categories (male and female lead and supporting) at the Academy Awards--the cast of MY MAN GODFREY is really excellent, and they're ably supported by the script and assured direction of Gregory La Cava. All in all, it's a great film: certainly one of the best romantic comedies I've seen, though possibly not the best screwball (that honour still belongs to BRINGING UP BABY, which certainly recognises its debt to MY MAN GODFREY, at least insofar as Katharine Hepburn brings a lot of Lombard's inflection and lilt into her own performance). It's the kind of film you won't see emerging from Hollywood anymore, unless it's a remake (heaven forbid), and definitely one whose characters really need to be seen to be believed. The ending of the film is a bit rushed (though bizarrely appropriate!), and it certainly isn't perfect, but other than that, MY MAN GODFREY is first-class film-making with classy performances... and that's as good a reason as any to watch it.