My Man Godfrey

• William Powell: Parke Godfrey
• Carole Lombard: Irene Bullock
• Eugene Pallette: Alexander Bullock
• Gail Patrick: Cornelia Bullock
• Alice Brady: Angelica Bullock
• Mischa Auer: Carlo
• Alan Mowbray: Tommy Gray
• Grady Sutton: Charlie Van Rumple

My husband Godfrey (OT: My Man Godfrey ) is an American screwball comedy starring William Powell and Carole Lombard directed by Gregory La Cava from the year 1936.

Action

The New York heiresses Cornelia and Irene Bullock attend a fancy party at the Waldorf Ritz Hotel. At this party is for charitable purposes, a " scavenger hunt " organized in which, among other things, for a " forgotten man " must be sought. The gambling in different teams sisters both try to use " you forgotten" to see one of the homeless people living there on a city dump, where Cornelia initially seems faster and therefore more successful. The two meet on Godfrey Parke. However, the surprisingly well-behaved Godfrey is appalled by Cornelia vulgar way to persuade him with a bill. In contrast, he finds her sister Irene sympathetic. The two agreed to come that Irene Godfrey can bring as their find. So Irene can win the " scavenger hunt ", but Godfrey is repelled by the meaningless of life of the rich. Just when Godfrey will return to the garbage dump, Irene offers him a job as a butler at the Bullock family.

As Godfrey finds out quickly that Bullocks are a dysfunctional family. Cornelia is incapable of loving anyone but himself. The matriarch Mrs. Bullock, Angelica for her friends, has a protégé named Carlo, who imitates a gorilla at every opportunity and really everything that seems edible destroyed. The family wasted their money with extravagance and nonsense faster than the head, Mr. Alexander Bullock, the only normal family member who can earn it. One day recognizes Tommy Gray, a guest while a society in Godfrey his old friend from college days. In order to avoid the exposure of Godfrey says Tommy, Godfrey was his former butler with five children. Irene is deeply disappointed and immediately declared her engagement to Charlie Van Rumple, a wealthy but boring heir to a large fortune. In the meantime, it turns out that Godfrey actually comes from a wealthy family from Boston and voluntarily lives at the dump because of a failed relationship. The Bullocks react in their own way to the alleged revelation of Tommy: Cornelia Godfrey tries to blackmail by claiming that he had stolen her pearls. Mother Angelica gets it with the nerves and Irene decides at the end, with Charly to solve their engagement again. At the end of the two sisters go on a longer trip to Europe. Upon her return Irene, however, is still in love with Godfrey.

Meanwhile, it has managed to find homeless people jobs and a future Godfrey. However, Alexander Bullock must confess to have lost the entire fortune. Just as the family begins to despair, says Godfrey that he has by skillful transactions prevent the bankruptcy of the Bullocks. He talks to each member of the family to the conscience and returns to his former garbage dump, which he has transformed into a thriving nightclub. Irene follows him and thanks to the support of Mr. Gray manage the two, but to marry at the end yet.

Background

My Man Godfrey is a typical example of the screwball comedies, which were very popular in the 1930s. Moreover, the film comments on the social conditions during the Depression, the worsening of the economic situation of many millions. Much like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town or love in no time, the film contrasts the unequal distribution of wealth in the country and partly obscene waste of funds by a few people. The film was directed by Gregory La Cava, who won the then-known author and Pulitzer Prize winner Morrie Ryskind for the work on the script. The two often improvised and wrote the dialogues for the performers sometimes in the night before the shoot. The actors were thus forced to react more or less spontaneously. La Cava had at the beginning of filming a clash with William Powell because of the interpretation of the character of Godfrey. The two men decided to resolve their differences over a bottle of bourbon. The next day Powell was missing and no one knew where he would be stuck. Then La Cava received a telegram:

For Powell was 1936 the best year of his career thanks to further success next to Jean Arthur in The Ex Mr. Bradford and with Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow in Funny sinners. My Man Godfrey, who came into the national rental in September 1936, became a great financial success for Universal Pictures, which had just slipped into bankruptcy before. Thanks to the help of other hits such as Show Boat, directed by James Whale and especially Three Smart Girls, who made the biggest star of the studio of Deanna Durbin, the company was saved before the sale. The role of Irene Bullock should first be taken over by Constance Bennett. It was William Powell, who thought of his ex-wife Carole Lombard.

1957 turned the studio a remake of My Man Godfrey with June Allyson and David Niven in the lead roles. In the German -speaking area of these strips came with the title My Man Godfrey in the cinemas.

Reviews

• In the New York Times could be read:

• The filmdienst described the film as a

Awards

• Inclusion in the list of "Ten Best Movies of 1936 " the New York Times.

My Man Godfrey was thus the first film, which received a nomination each in all four Schauspielerkategoriene.

In addition, My Man Godfrey is the only film in the history of the Oscars, although the nominations received in all major main categories, but no nomination for Best Film of the Year.