IMDb > My Man Godfrey (1936)
My Man Godfrey
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My Man Godfrey (1936) More at IMDbPro »

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My Man Godfrey (1936) -- A scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler...but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye.
My Man Godfrey (1936) -- Trailer for this comedy of a dizzy debutante and her butler

Overview

User Rating:
8.2/10   7,445 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 11% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Gregory La Cava
Writers:
Eric Hatch (novel)
Morrie Ryskind (writer) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for My Man Godfrey on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
17 September 1936 (USA) more
Genre:
Romance | Comedy more
Plot:
A scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler...but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 1 win more
NewsDesk:
(7 articles)
The Best Non-Dysfunctional Movie Families ... in Honor of Thanksgiving
 (From Cinematical. 26 November 2009, 6:03 PM, PST)
Birthday Suits: Giant Sized Edition
 (From FilmExperience. 17 November 2009, 11:05 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Set Firmly In The Depression more (77 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

William Powell ... Godfrey

Carole Lombard ... Irene Bullock
Alice Brady ... Angelica Bullock
Gail Patrick ... Cornelia Bullock
Eugene Pallette ... Alexander Bullock
Jean Dixon ... Molly
Alan Mowbray ... Tommy Gray
Mischa Auer ... Carlo

Pat Flaherty ... Mike Flaherty
Robert Light ... Faithful George
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernie Adams ... Forgotten man (uncredited)
Jack Chefe ... Headwaiter (uncredited)
Elaine Cochrane ... Socialite (uncredited)
Phyllis Crane ... Party guest (uncredited)
Eddie Fetherston ... Process server (uncredited)
Grace Field ... Socialite (uncredited)
James Flavin ... Detective #2 (uncredited)
Bess Flowers ... Mrs. Merriweather (uncredited)
Edward Gargan ... Detective (uncredited)
David Horsley ... Socialite (uncredited)
Selmer Jackson ... Blake (socialite) (uncredited)
Reginald Mason ... Mayor Courtney (uncredited)
Philip Merrick ... Socialite (uncredited)
Franklin Pangborn ... Guthrie (uncredited)
Bob Perry ... Bob (doorman) (uncredited)
Katherine Perry ... Socialite (uncredited)
Jean Rogers ... Girl (uncredited)
Arthur Singley ... Clarence (uncredited)
Grady Sutton ... Charlie Van Rumple (uncredited)
Arthur Wanzer ... Arthur (uncredited)
Harley Wood ... Socialite (uncredited)

Jane Wyman ... Party guest (uncredited)
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Directed by
Gregory La Cava 
 
Writing credits
Eric Hatch (novel)

Morrie Ryskind (writer) &
Eric Hatch (writer)

Gregory La Cava  uncredited

Robert Presnell Sr.  uncredited

Produced by
Gregory La Cava .... producer
Charles R. Rogers .... executive producer
 
Original Music by
Charles Previn (uncredited)
Rudy Schrager (uncredited)
 
Cinematography by
Ted Tetzlaff (photography)
 
Film Editing by
Ted J. Kent  (as Ted Kent)
Russell F. Schoengarth  (as Russell Schoengarth)
 
Art Direction by
Charles D. Hall 
 
Costume Design by
Brymer (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Homer G. Tasker .... sound supervisor
 
Special Effects by
John P. Fulton .... special effects
 
Stunts
Chick Collins .... stunts (uncredited)
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Travis Banton .... gowns: Miss Lombard
 
Music Department
Charles Previn .... musical director
 
Other crew
Kay Thackery .... script supervisor
 
Crew verified as complete


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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
94 min | USA:90 min (2005 DVD release)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)
Certification:
UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (re-rating) (1996) | Australia:G | South Korea:15 (2003) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated
Company:
Universal Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006. more
Goofs:
Continuity: At the Tea Party While Irene is talking to Charlie Van Rumple, in the background you see Godfrey serving Cornelia with a tray and she takes an item in each hand. A few seconds later the scene shifts to Cornelia, and Godfrey again serves her and she takes the two items again. more
Quotes:
[Molly - the maid - brings drinks in to the living room where the police are questioning the family about the pearls]
Detective: Who are you?
Molly: Guess.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Misadventures of Margaret (1998) more

FAQ

How did Godfrey know Cornelia hid the necklace under the mattress?
Is this available on DVD?
What is the answer to Molly's crossword puzzle?
more

User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
17 out of 20 people found the following comment useful.
Set Firmly In The Depression, 5 February 2007
9/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

For his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor William Powell was loaned to Universal for My Man Godfrey. At the time this film was made there was a lot of buzz about Powell working with Carole Lombard who only a few years earlier he had been married to. They needn't have worried. The split was an amicable one and Powell and Lombard got along great on the set and created along with Director Gregory LaCava one of the classic screwball comedies of the Thirties.

In fact My Man Godfrey got a whole host of nominations, for LaCava for Best Director, for Carole Lombard, for Mischa Auer for Best Supporting Actor and Alice Brady for Best Supporting Actress. In the very first year of the Supporting categories, My Man Godfrey had nominees in all the acting categories, but failed to win any awards. Curiously enough, it wasn't nominated for Best Picture.

The Bulloch sisters Carole Lombard and Gail Patrick a pair of ditzy society girls are on a scavenger hunt which takes them to the city dump where they are to find a forgotten man. The expression is taken from Franklin D. Roosevelt who called those who were out of work and without hope forgotten men. The phrase had a lot of currency back in the day.

In fact My Man Godfrey's origins are rooted in the Depression Years. When Powell turns down Patrick's invitation to be her trophy in the scavenger hunt, he accepts Lombard's. It turns out he's no ordinary forgotten man, he is the heir to a large estate held by a prominent Boston WASP family. But that's a fact he conceals from the Bulloch sisters when he's hired as their butler.

His time with the Bulloch family is a learning experience indeed for both of them. The Depression hasn't hit these two girls, but it almost does save for Powell's financial acumen.

As I said the film is firmly ground in those years of the Depression and the New Deal. It's hard to fathom, but when FDR took office on March 4, 1933, twenty five percent of the workforce was unemployed. Today if the number reaches above five percent the doomsayers are calling it a depression. I remember an uncle of mine telling me that when he graduated high school in 1937 a year after My Man Godfrey he could not get work for over 2 years until America went on a war footing before Pearl Harbor. After that he got drafted and didn't have to worry about a job for a few years. He might have been living just like the men in the city dump, but for the fact my grandparents had jobs and kept a roof over everyone's head.

Mischa Auer plays Carlo, a kind of permanent houseguest of Alice Brady as Mrs. Bulloch. In today's world long after the Code has been repealed, Auer might well have been more explicitly gay.

Eugene Palette is Mr. Bulloch who freely admits he lives in a house of scatterbrains. Though he got no nominations his playing of the Bulloch patriarch set a standard for him in playing a host of put upon fathers.

In 1957 My Man Godfrey was remade with David Niven and June Allyson co-starring. Neither of the leads lacked for the charm needed to put over the story, but instead of The Great Depression, David Niven is an illegal alien looking to get a visa. You don't quite feel for him as you do for the jobless and hopeless William Powell.

If My Man Godfrey is ever remade in the modern era, let's hope they keep the economic underpinnings of this classic screwball comedy, even if they don't take it back to the Depression Years.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for My Man Godfrey (1936)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Does anyone else feel sorry for Godfrey ar the end? pandora8
Cornelia and Irene are teenagers!? karmala2
Poor Carlo! MissMcCrocodile
Did Cornelia also like Godfrey stealthblue2001
Quotes laurelrose-1
Excellent movie WHakan
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