My Man Godfrey (1936)
My Man Godfrey is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava.
The screenplay was written by Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by La Cava, based on 1101 Park Avenue, a short novel by Eric Hatch. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her family's butler, only to fall in love with him. The film stars William Powell and Carole Lombard. Powell and Lombard had been briefly married years earlier.
The film was remade in 1957 with June Allyson and David Niven in the starring roles. In 1999, the original version of My Man Godfrey was deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
William Powell as Godfrey
Carole Lombard as Irene Bullock
Alice Brady as Angelica Bullock
Gail Patrick as Cornelia Bullock
Eugene Pallette as Alexander Bullock
Jean Dixon as Molly
Alan Mowbray as Tommy Gray
Mischa Auer as Carlo
Pat Flaherty as Mike Flaherty
Robert Light as Faithful George
Grady Sutton as Charlie Van Rumple (uncredited)
Franklin Pangborn as judge for the scavenger hunt (uncredited)
A young Jane Wyman appears, uncredited, as a party guest.
My Man Godfrey was in production from April 15 to May 27, 1936, and then had retakes in early June of the year. Its estimated budget was $656,000.
The studio's original choice to play Irene, the part eventually played by Carole Lombard, was Constance Bennett, and Miriam Hopkins was also considered, but the director, Gregory La Cava, would only agree to Bennett if Universal borrowed William Powell from MGM. Powell, for his part, would only take the role if Carole Lombard played Irene. Powell and Lombard had divorced three years earlier.
La Cava, a former animator and freelancer for most of his film career, held studio executives in contempt, and was known to be a bit eccentric. When he and Powell hit a snag over a disagreement about how Godfrey should be portrayed, they settled things over a bottle of Scotch. The next morning, La Cava showed up for shooting with a headache, but Powell didn't appear. Instead, the actor sent a telegram stating: "WE MAY HAVE FOUND GODFREY LAST NIGHT BUT WE LOST POWELL. SEE YOU TOMORROW."
Eric S. Hatch wrote the screenplay, assisted by Morrie Ryskind.
Due to insurance considerations a stand-in stuntman (Chick Collins) was used when Godfrey carried Irene over his shoulder up the stairs to her bedroom.
When tensions hit a high point on the set, Lombard had a habit of inserting four letter words into her dialogue, often to the great amusement of the cast. This made shooting somewhat difficult, but clips of her cursing in her dialogue and messing up her lines can still be seen in blooper reels.
https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=dpUD0Hr8dVk
https://www.invidio.us/channel/UCb2EYjrzI6WpNAmPZeihhag
