Carole Lombard

MY MAN GODFREY

Universal, 1936.  Directed by Gregory La Cava.  Camera:  Ted Tetzlaff.  With William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick, Jean Dixon, Eugene Pallette, Alan Mowbray, Mischa Auer, Grady Sutton, Gracie Fields, Jane Wyman.

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When New York socialites Cornelia and Irene Bullock both go to the city dump to obtain a "forgotten man" for a scavenger hunt being conducted at the Waldorf-Ritz Hotel, they encounter down-and-out Godfrey Parke.  Insulted by Cornelia's presumptuous offer of five dollars, the well-spoken Godfrey pushes her into an ash pile.  He is charmed by her sister Irene, however, and agrees to be turned in as a "find."  Irene wins the contest, but Godfrey is disgusted by the careless attitude of the wealthy crowd and deems it a pleasure to return to the dump.

Smitten by Godfrey, however, Irene hires him as the family butler, despite the fact that Cornelia vows to make his life miserable.  Their scatterbrained mother Angelica supports a resident protégé named Carlos, a fop who does gorilla imitations and eats everything in sight.  Irene takes after her mother, and her father Alexander worries about his family's extravagance.  When Irene falls in love with Godfrey and kisses him, he admonishes her, and she sulks.  During a tea party thrown by Irene, one of the guests, Tommy Gray, recognizes Godfrey as an old college chum.  In order to keep his past a secret, Tommy claims Godfrey was his valet and is married with five children.  Irene is horrified by this revelation and, out of spite, suddenly announces her engagement to Charlie Van Rumple, a young heir whom she had rebuffed only a few moments before.  Tommy and Godfrey meet privately for lunch, and Godfrey's background is revealed to be old Bostonian wealth.  He tells Tommy he became a derelict by his own choosing after a bitter disappointment in love.

Later Cornelia tries to set Godfrey up by planting her pearls under his bed and calling the police, but a search reveals nothing, and Alexander, suspicious of his daughter's motives, encourages the police to drop the matter.  When Irene's engagement is broken, she and Cornelia go on a lengthy trip to Europe.  Godfrey, meanwhile, revisits the dump with Tommy, where he hits on a scheme to turn the forgotten men into working men.

When Irene returns from Europe, she still longs for Godfrey and assumes a melodramatic depression.  After a beleaguered Alexander announces he is broke, Godfrey surprises everyone by resigning and revealing that he had taken the pearls from his bed and used them as collateral for stocks he played on the market in Alexander's name, thereby saving the family fortune.  He returns the pearls to Cornelia, who apologizes for treating him shabbily.  Having learned something from each member of the family, Godfrey bids them farewell and returns to the city dump, which he has transformed into a nightclub that employs his fellow derelicts.  Irene follows him and determinedly sets up housekeeping.  Tommy, who is aware of Irene's intentions, sends the mayor into Godfrey's office in the nightclub and, much to the surprise of a dumbfounded Godfrey, he and Irene are married.

Notes
The film is based on the novel My Man Godfrey by Eric Hatch (Boston, 1935).

A news item in HR notes that this film was banned in Hungary.  According to a news item in HR, My Man Godfrey was "the sensation of the week's business of the first run London theatres.  The heavy throng congregating daily for the picture has been causing traffic jams in Leicester Square."  My Man Godfrey was nominated for the 1936 Academy Awards in the following categories: Best Actor, William Powell; Best Actress, Carole Lombard; Best Supporting Actor, Mischa Auer; Best Supporting Actress, Alice Brady; Best Direction, Gregory La Cava; Best Screenplay, Eric Hatch and Morrie Ryskind.

Modern sources note that La Cava agreed to work with Constance Bennett, the studio's first choice for "Irene," only if William Powell was borrowed from MGM for the male lead.  Powell, however, stipulated in his contract that he would play "Godfrey" only if Carole Lombard played "Irene."  At this time, Powell and Lombard were already divorced.  Modern sources also note that Ronald Colman, among other actors, expressed interest in playing "Godfrey."  In 1985, Allan Carr created a Broadway stage production of My Man Godfrey.

American Film Institute Catalog