"My Man Godfrey" (1936)

The plot of My Man Godfrey is one of those narratives that if you blink twice it all falls apart. The film takes place in one of those heightened realities that's more live action cartoon than anything in real life. This is part of the film's charm. People talk fast and do silly things, and it all comes across with a loose, off-the-cuff style (much of the film was improvised). And in this way it's in that fine tradition of screwball comedies from the 1930's and 1940's. Godfrey (William Powell) is a homeless man living in the city dump until by a string of circumstances far too intricate and wacky to describe -- it's best to see it for all it's delightful absurdity and hilarity -- he becomes the butler for an aristocratic family the Bullocks (who have such a fitting name). The family proves to be, put politely, kooky; they have exceedingly ridiculous demands and whims. They're selfish and reckless, especially in their expenses and their lavish lifestyle. The eldest daughter (Gail Patrick) tries to get Godfrey fired over a petty slight. The youngest daughter (Carole Lombard) obsessively, stalkerishly pines for him. The matriarch (Alice Brady) seems to be constantly in a state of flight of fancy inebriation. The only level-headed one is the father (Eugene Pallette) who is henpecked and ignored to the point of uselessness. They bicker and talk over one another and Godfrey keeps a level head through all their increasingly absurd antics. In a bit of Great Depression era social commentary, Godfrey, who we learn once came from wealth and now understands the pettiness of the wealthy, is grateful for the opportunity given to him even as he's bemused and turned off by the Bullocks. Yes, it's implausible but sometimes implausibility doesn't really matter when it's this deliriously fun. 

Grade: A-