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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. |
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