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My Man
Godfrey (1936)
In director Gregory La Cava's landmark sophisticated
screwball comedy, set during the Great Depression - a zany, humorous
classic and biting satire about the idle rich in an improbable plot
about a socialite's hiring of a hobo-bum to be the family's butler:
- the set-up to the film: blonde, spoiled, dingbat
socialite Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) discovered a "forgotten
man": Godfrey "Smith" Parke (William Powell), a
hobo at the East River city dump during a charity scavenger hunt,
so that she could win the competition and defeat her domineering
older sister - brunette Cornelia Bullock (Gail Patrick); when he
was presented in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria as her 'find'
- Godfrey contemptuously addressed the snobbish crowd after Irene
had won the game: "My
purpose in coming here tonight was two-fold: firstly, I wanted
to aid this young lady. Secondly, I was curious to see how a bunch
of empty-headed nitwits conducted themselves. My curiosity is satisfied.
I assure you it'll be a pleasure to go back to a society of really
important people"
- Irene subsequently hired him to
be her family's butler (Irene to her mother Angelica: "He's
gonna work for us"); he would be working in the home of the
Bullocks, led by nutty, financially-worried Alexander (Eugene Pallette)
and his ditzy, scatter-brained wife Angelica (Alice Brady)
Some Members of The Bullock Family
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Alexander and Angelica
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Irene
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Cornelia
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- the famous scene of Angelica's do-nothing and pretentious
protege Carlo (Mischa Auer) lamenting and moaning about financial
ruin: ("Oh, Money, money, money! The Frankenstein Monster
that destroys souls")
Carlo: "Oh, Money, money, money!"
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Carlo's Gorilla Imitation
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- Carlo performed a gorilla imitation
to cheer up Irene; he hunched over, ambling and loping around the
living room, and jumping up and over the furniture and onto the
window frame; Irene gave a phony fear reaction to his ape mimickry:
("He frightens me"), while Alexander joked: ("Why
don't you stop imitating a gorilla and imitate a man?...Someday
I'm going gorilla-hunting and I won't miss")
- Godfrey was ultimately revealed, in fact, to be
a blueblood (with a Harvard education) who had a run of romantic
bad luck and had considered suicide - he was clearly a product
of the Depression who had decided to join the down-and-outs at
the dump because they had optimistic, down-to-earth values more
clearly aligned with his than those of the upper-class
- Cornelia attempted to frame Godfrey
for theft, by planting her expensive pearl necklace under his mattress;
when detectives arrived to search the bedroom, Cornelia suggested
the obvious place: "Look under the mattress!" but when
the pearls weren't found there, she exclaimed: "They must be
there!...why I-I read that that's where people put things when they
steal them" - she obviously incriminated and disgraced herself
- after a sojourn of the Bullock sisters in Europe,
Irene had become more hungry for affection from Godfrey; when he
mentioned that he was considering leaving his job, Irene faked swooning
to get his attention; Godfrey hauled the lovesick girl up on his
shoulder, bemoaning the insane, anarchic Bullocks: "Oh, this
is the craziest family"; he carried the limp rag-doll upstairs
into her bedroom, dumped her on a bed, and then realized that she
was faking (he saw her sit up in bed in a mirror's reflection); he
tossed Irene under the cold water of a shower fully clothed ("Let
that be a lesson to you"); she replied receptively: ("Oh,
Godfrey, now I know you love me"); when he rejected her statement:
("I do not love you and you're getting me all wet"); Irene
continued: ("You do or you wouldn't have lost your temper");
Irene was jubilant to her mother who appeared: ("Oh Mother!
Godfrey loves me! He put me in the shower")
After Fainting, Godfrey Carried Irene Upstairs
to Bedroom
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Realizing That Irene Was Faking
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Placing Her in Shower
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Irene Reacting to Cold Shower
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Irene: "Now I know you love me"
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Godfrey Announcing His Resignation to Angelica
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- as a result of the embarrassing incident, Godfrey
announced his definite resignation and departure from working for the
wacky family, after he had attempted to set things straight
for the Bullocks and teach the family a few lessons
- before leaving,
Godfrey delivered surprise news to the financially-destitute Bullock
family that through financial ventures and investments of his own,
he had saved them from ruin [Cornelia's still missing necklace,
that she had unsuccessfully used to try and frame Godfrey as a thief,
had been pawned and used by Godfrey as collateral, before being returned
to her.]; he then described the lessons he had learned from the
family: "I've
been repaid in many ways. I learned patience from Mr. Bullock. I
found Mrs. Bullock at all times, shall we say, amusing....(To Cornelia)
You taught me the fallacy of false pride. You taught me humility....Miss
Cornelia, there have been other spoiled children in the world. I
happen to be one of them myself. You're a high-spirited girl. I can
only hope that you use those high spirits in a more constructive
way. And so, good-day"
- in the final sequence, Godfrey was now running
a luxurious and fashionable nightclub (employing homeless men),
aptly named "The
Dump"
(at the site of the old dump). The love-sick Irene trailed after
him, announced her intention to remain with him, and vowed her love:
("You're
my responsibility and someone has to take care of you....You love
me and you know it. You know, there's no sense in struggling against
a thing when it's got you. It's got you and that's all there is to
it. It's got you!");
she talked the befuddled Godfrey into instantly getting married in
a civil ritual with a judge, and tried to be reassuring: ("It
may get me into a lot of trouble, but, uh, I guess I've known your
family long enough to take a chance")
- and then she spoke the final lines of the film before the ceremony:
("Stand still, Godfrey, it'll all be over in a minute")
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Hobo/"Forgotten Man" at City Dump With Irene
Bullock
Godfrey's Speech In Lobby of Waldorf-Astoria
Godfrey as the Bullock Family's New Butler, With the Maid
Molly (Jean Dixon)
Scheming Cornelia Suggesting that Detectives Look
Under Godfrey's Mattress For Her Stolen Pearl Necklace
Departing Godfrey Saving the Members of the Bullock
Family From Financial Ruin
Irene to Godfrey: "You love me and you know
it"
Concluding Marriage Ceremony to a Befuddled Godfrey
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