← Back to Reviews
in
My Man Godfrey (1936) - Directed by Gregory La Cava
"What kind of family am I up against?"
I really need to get used to dated movies more. The thing is, I don't want to review just good movies, but bad ones. So reviewing lesser ranking movies from before the 60's is a bit hard because they end up feeling dated, something I'm trying to get a grip on. But I'm going to keep trying for the 1930's, so I decided to follow the footsteps of the people here and check out a recently talked about movie on my favorite film forum: My Man Godfrey, one of the earliest talking screwball comedies.
The riotous dramedy centers around a bum, or "forgotten man," who's hired by a compulsive rich girl after being put on display. The bum soon realizes the family he's working for is as dysfunctional as a poorly wired kitchen. But unlike all the other butlers who would let the craziness drive them mad as well, this new butler isn't scared one bit, not even at the many attempts at romantic tension by the very girl who hired him.
From the get-go, I was entertained. The opening credits sequence is a show full of bright lightbulbs spelling out the cast and crew, and shows a dazzle similar to the rich lifestyle the film portrays. And that's only the intro.
The real glory of the film comes from lead man William Powell and his perfectly-played role as Godfrey the forgotten man, who exchanges careful, witty dialogue as quickly as the Road Runner turns Wile E. Coyote's own attempts at harm upon himself. Godfrey makes a fine butler, not getting too deep into people's business and always finding the careful way around things.
And the family he works for is almost like something out of a cartoon! The mother is a ditz who's scene in bed when she's being fed her morning drink was so funny I nearly had to pause to get over it. It's easily my favorite part of the movie. And we have another butler who is, somehow, surprisingly good at immitating a gorilla. Wacko. I might as well have been watching The Flintstones.
But a problem I have with the movie is that it occasionally forgets being a comedy in place of a story, leading the two biggest features in this movie to often separate instead of combine as they should. And for a rom-com, it's not as rom as it should have been barely exploring the romance in the film as just another running gag. With that said, I love the last fifteen minutes of the film. It was a wonderful ending.
Basically, while I find My Man Godfrey a little overrated, it's still a fun movie which I'd be quick to watch again if other old movies weren't so high on my to-do list. It's a very good example of what screwball comedies should really be like: disturbingly real when you consider how wacky people can get instead of just being idiots like in the Dumb and Dumber sequels.
"What kind of family am I up against?"
I really need to get used to dated movies more. The thing is, I don't want to review just good movies, but bad ones. So reviewing lesser ranking movies from before the 60's is a bit hard because they end up feeling dated, something I'm trying to get a grip on. But I'm going to keep trying for the 1930's, so I decided to follow the footsteps of the people here and check out a recently talked about movie on my favorite film forum: My Man Godfrey, one of the earliest talking screwball comedies.
The riotous dramedy centers around a bum, or "forgotten man," who's hired by a compulsive rich girl after being put on display. The bum soon realizes the family he's working for is as dysfunctional as a poorly wired kitchen. But unlike all the other butlers who would let the craziness drive them mad as well, this new butler isn't scared one bit, not even at the many attempts at romantic tension by the very girl who hired him.
From the get-go, I was entertained. The opening credits sequence is a show full of bright lightbulbs spelling out the cast and crew, and shows a dazzle similar to the rich lifestyle the film portrays. And that's only the intro.
The real glory of the film comes from lead man William Powell and his perfectly-played role as Godfrey the forgotten man, who exchanges careful, witty dialogue as quickly as the Road Runner turns Wile E. Coyote's own attempts at harm upon himself. Godfrey makes a fine butler, not getting too deep into people's business and always finding the careful way around things.
And the family he works for is almost like something out of a cartoon! The mother is a ditz who's scene in bed when she's being fed her morning drink was so funny I nearly had to pause to get over it. It's easily my favorite part of the movie. And we have another butler who is, somehow, surprisingly good at immitating a gorilla. Wacko. I might as well have been watching The Flintstones.
But a problem I have with the movie is that it occasionally forgets being a comedy in place of a story, leading the two biggest features in this movie to often separate instead of combine as they should. And for a rom-com, it's not as rom as it should have been barely exploring the romance in the film as just another running gag. With that said, I love the last fifteen minutes of the film. It was a wonderful ending.
Basically, while I find My Man Godfrey a little overrated, it's still a fun movie which I'd be quick to watch again if other old movies weren't so high on my to-do list. It's a very good example of what screwball comedies should really be like: disturbingly real when you consider how wacky people can get instead of just being idiots like in the Dumb and Dumber sequels.