My Man Godfrey
Mein Mann Godfrey
Source: Collection Austrian Film Museum, courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing, LLC
Gail Patrick, Robert Light, William Powell, Carole Lombard
My Man Godfrey | Mein Mann Godfrey by Gregory La Cava
USA 1936, Retrospective
Source: Collection Austrian Film Museum, courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing, LLC
Carole Lombard, William Powell
My Man Godfrey | Mein Mann Godfrey by Gregory La Cava
USA 1936, Retrospective
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing, LLC
Carole Lombard
My Man Godfrey | Mein Mann Godfrey by Gregory La Cava
USA 1936, Retrospective
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing, LLC
One item on the list for a scavenger hunt mounted by a ritzy New York hotel is a “forgotten man”. Uptown girl Irene Bullock wins when she finds Godfrey, a tramp living at the city dump. But the homeless man seems so cultivated that Irene hires him as the family butler. The other members of the household are Irene’s jealous sister, her addle-brained mother, the mother’s “protégé” Carlo, and a father under financial strain. Godfrey soon proves to have more class than all of them, and it turns out he comes from a distinguished blue-blooded family. To keep that secret, he allows the fiction to circulate that he is married with five children – greatly disappointing Irene, who has fallen in love with Godfrey ... This witty depression-era comedy about a “forgotten man” who is catapulted from the city dump to the upper reaches of high society provides laughs, and brought Carole Lombard her first and only Oscar nomination. Her naïve, childlike, flapper type is a far cry from the actress’s usual roles. The effectiveness of her performance is enhanced by the way she imbues her spoiled brat character, amid a frenetic plot that comes close to theatre of the absurd, with a trace of tragedy.
With
- William Powell
- Carole Lombard
- Alice Brady
- Gail Patrick
- Jean Dixon
- Eugene Pallette
- Alan Mowbray
- Mischa Auer
- Pat Flaherty
- Robert Light
Crew
| Director | Gregory La Cava |
| Screenplay | Morrie Ryskind, Eric Hatch based on the eponymous novel by Eric Hatch (1935) |
| Cinematography | Ted Tetzlaff |
| Visual Effects | John P. Fulton |
| Editing | Ted J. Kent, Russell Schoengarth, Maurice Pivar |
| Sound | Joe Lapis, Homer G. Tasker |
| Art Director | Charles D. Hall |
| Costumes | Travis Banton, Brymer |
| Make-Up | Hugh Roman |
| Producer | Gregory La Cava |
Produced by
Universal Productions, Inc. (A Gregory La Cava Production)
Additional information
DCP: Universal Pictures International Germany