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In Reply to: Carole Lombard truly sparkles in My Man Godfrey posted by Victor Khomenko on November 11, 2005 at 07:24:03:
Victor,"My man Godfrey" is just an excellent movie on so many levels.
Of course, the humour is marvelous, but it has a more subtle, deeper side- the story of two kinds of Depression-era elite: the ones that are idle, superficial, and completely self-indulgent (the Bullocks), and the ones who take responsibility (Godfrey) and do everything they do with fairness, compassion, dignity, and for long-term and broader benefit.
The Bullocks shatter store windows, play humiliating games where a "forgotten man" has the same value to the game as a goat, and ride stolen horses into the library (to me, symbolic of shitting on culture). By contrast, the Godfreys, ruin themselves rather than robbing their stockholders and employees for another Packard, take a job as a servant to live at least on a basic level of dignity, and at the earliest opportunity take a trash pile and build a business on it.
It's fun, entertaining, side-splittingly funny- and tells a timely story about how to do rich in America. I'm not rich, but when I see "My Man Godfrey" I ask myself: am I a Bullock or a Godfrey?***
A great one !
Cheers,
Bambi B
***Of course, a little of both !
Follow Ups:
Hi Bam,Yes, one indeed can see plenty of wisdom and good observations in that film... and... just have tons of old-fashioned fun to boot!
BTW - while Carole of course dominates the screen, Gail Patrick is just drop-dead beautiful in her role of the "bad" sister - it looks like they simply don't make the babes like that anymore in California - too much work, with all that style, I suppose! Far easier to bang out the likes of Jennifer Aniston.
Check out "Love Crazy" if you haven't seen that one. It's not as good as "My Man Godfrey"(one of my favorite comedies--Lombard is wonderful in that), but it's worth seeing. Has William Powell and Myrna Loy in non-Thin Man roles and also has gorgeous Gail.
Thank you, I don't recall that one!
Victor,You're absolutely right to emphasize the fun, stylish side of "My Man Godfrey" as opposed to the "message" aspect- I just love the fact that it has both components in such quantity.
And I agree completely about Gail Patrick- the "bad sister"- that could have been treatd in a very two dimensional way, but Patrick has such style and that quiet, confident scheming intelligence she really makes the the contrast with Lombard's innocent basic good-heartedness all the better revealed. And drop dead beautiful as you say,..
Alice Brady (had to look it up) as the mother is excellent and I love the subtle way in which you can see how the Lombard character acquired the more vertigious aspects of her character- they are a believable mother and daughter set in this way.
Another character I like a lot in "MMG" is the father- Eugene Pallette- so familiar a charcter actor but I had to look it up. This is agian nearly a 30's "fat cat" stereotype, except he has that humourous take at his absurd family that turns his frustration with them into something positive.
Mischa Auer, as "Carlo" the parasitic "artist", is fun too and he puts it over the top only just enough. "Money, money, money. Everything is always money!"- and he's absolutely right- it is !
Yes, I hope I didn't put anyone off this amazing movie by my dull social analysis- you can watch this again and again and never need do anything about it but laugh !
William Powell, too is amazing and is of the pair of my "William" male paradigms- ideal chaps. If I had been born a man instead of Dutch, I should like to have been the genetically engineered offspring of William Powell and William Holden.
Thanks for bringing this one up- time to see it again.
Cheers,
Bam
The bad thing was Eugene pallette was a Nazi.
If I remember it rightly.
As for his screen presence I won´t argue.
Always makes sense to give credit where it is due. Ted Turner may be a moron, but his channel is great asset to all who love good old movies!It is one of the mandatory checks stop every night.
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