My Man Godfrey (Color/Black and White)
by Gregory La Cava
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alice Brady, Carole Lombard, Gail Patrick, Jean Dixon, William PowellDirector: Gregory La Cava
Brand: LEG
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-07-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: LF00404
Studio: Legend Films
Movie Reviews of My Man Godfrey (Color/Black and White)
Movie Review: The Good Life (For All) Is Paved By A Homeless Man With a Big Heart
Summary: 5 Stars
When a forgotten man assists a wealthy young woman, named Irene, in winning a scavenger hunt, he could not possibly know what nuisance he is about to force upon himself. The man, Godfrey, is as polite as they come, and his compassion can melt a jealous man's deceitful heart. As Irene claims, he may be "cute," but this aside, he is a saint in disguise who has been through enough troubles to find the good in people, because they remind him of his early years.
My Man Godfrey is the tale of multiple loves over one man for his honesty, cleverness, and beauty. Besides in Irene's occasion, it is love and respect that is gained through the continuous practice of care for the will, wants, and needs of others as immature and negligent as they may be. After Irene befriends Godfrey, she asks him to become their family's butler, an opportunity that he relishes. He is warned by Molly, played by Jean Dixon, that he will not last long as the Butler of this house as most cannot tolerate the truly off-beat nature of the family. From the wife of the house, Angelica, who sees pixies to the older daughter, Cornelia, who tries her best to end Godfrey's service for the family through her many plots. Godfrey asserts that his attempt is not to be a butler, but a good butler. In accordance with his nature, he continually expresses his gratitude to Miss Irene for her help in gaining the job.
The romantic backbone of the story is a major theme, but the film is wildly hilarious as few films seem to achieve nowadays. The film's comedy is as clever and point-on as any Marx Brother's work, with no flat or distasteful joke. The comedy of the film is excessive, but that is precisely why it works so brilliantly. Every character is excessively quirky or odd, and this form of comedy could only be performed properly, devoid of awkwardness, in such a condition; for this humor would seem misplaced in reserved or conventional family structures. Effort is continuously focused upon the family member's rich, spoiled nature that funds their materialistic lifestyle and dispassionate care for each other's deeply rooted emotions. For example, when Irene feels depressed over her love, she is sent to Europe rather than in a proper method solve her problem.
My Man Godfrey is a very moral picture that presents a case for living a righteous life, and not giving up hope in face of hardships, and aiding those in trouble and becoming acquainted with them to understand their simplicity and grateful nature. The film is not patronizing, nor does it attempt to display these forgotten man as needy men, but people who just fell out of luck-many of whom came from rich backgrounds. The morality may be a little to juvenile, but its innocently uplifting enough to be an acceptable element among all the riotous comedy of the family. When Godfrey meets Irene at the scavenger hunt, he does display his disgust at the ways men utilize their money; this is not a bitter but confused response of a man who cannot fathom how many people can be so unfortunate while a number of upper-class citizens can enjoy such unnecessary and indulgent practices. The final plan seems overtly extravagant, an unseemly effect of his employment.
In addition to the rushed ending that seems unlikely, after Godfrey's prior fortitude, and other mentioned implausibility's, the film still shines brightly among other treasures of the late thirties. As all romantic comedies, My Man Godfrey does pander to the audience, but takes us on an unforgettable comedic journey that makes its predictability and improbable nature seems to be the effect of its unchangeable conformity to its genre's expectations-and that is not a negative aspect of the film in any way. This film was the first to be nominated in all four acting categories at the Academy Awards, a feat that is deserving of all its notable characters and actors. Though Carole Lombard and William Powell shine through, the most affecting supporting role comes from Gail Patrick in the role of Cornelia. She carefully constructs Cornelia's deceptive, jealous nature while remaining quietly reserved. The character is much different than the other members of the family, as she is not as eccentric or emotional, and this in itself could be enough reason that Gail Patrick was not nominated for an Oscar. Another theory could be that due to the 1936 Oscars being the first introduction of the supporting categories, it may have been avoided to nominate two actors from the same film in the same category-as Alice Brady was also nominated for her portrayal of Angelica.
Summary of My Man Godfrey (Color/Black and White)
My Man Godfrey is one of the top Screwball Comedies of all time. The story of a wealthy New York family in the 1930's that brings in Godfrey, a destitute and Forgotten Man as their butler. William Powell plays the leading role brilliantly, and gives the family a madcap ride they will never forget. My Man Godfrey was the first film to receive Oscar® nominations in all four acting categories, including stunning performances by William Powell and Carole Lombard. Presented in color for the first time and beautifully restored, this is the definitive DVD edition of My Man Godfrey.Director Gregory La Cava deftly balances satire, romance, and social comment in this 1936 classic, which echoes Frank Capra in its Depression-era subtext. The Bullocks are a well-heeled, harebrained Manhattan family genetically engineered for screwball collisions: father Alexander (Eugene Pallette, of the foghorn voice and thick-knit eyebrows) is the breadwinner at wit's end, thanks to his spoiled daughters, the sultry Cornelia (Gail Patrick) and the sweet but scatterbrained Irene (a luminous Carole Lombard), his dizzy and doting wife, Angelica (Alice Brady), and her "protégé," Italian freeloader Carlo (Mischa Auer). When Irene wins a society scavenger hunt (and atypically trumps her scheming sister) by producing a "lost man," a seeming tramp named Godfrey (William Powell), all their lives are transformed. With the always suave, effortlessly funny Powell in the title role, this mystery man provides the film's conscience and its model of decency; the giddy, passionate Lombard holds out its model for triumphant love. In a movie riddled with memorable comic highlights, the real miracle is the unapologetic romanticism that prevails. --Sam Sutherland
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