My Man Godfrey (The Criterion Collection)
by Gregory La Cava
List Price:
Our Price: $24.47
You Save: $15.48 (39%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $13.70 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Alice Brady, Carole Lombard, Eugene Pallette, Gail Patrick, William PowellDirector: Gregory La Cava
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Ted Tetzlaff
Producer: Gregory La Cava
Writer: Gregory La Cava
Producer: Charles R. Rogers
Writer: Eric Hatch
Writer: Morrie Ryskind
Writer: Robert Presnell Sr.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 94 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-07-31
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
DVD Reviews of My Man Godfrey (The Criterion Collection)
DVD Review: Screwball comedy with a Depression era message
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie was Universal's first endeavor at the "screwball comedy" genre which up to that time included films such as "The Front Page" and "Dinner at Eight". The bread and butter of Universal in the 30's was classic horror, so this film does well not only as Universal's first film of this type in the talking era, it is just a great film, period. What makes it work so well is William Powell in the starring role. He was at the peak of his acting prowess in 1936, and a master at playing the wily sophisticate. Here he plays Godfrey Smith, a man living in the New York City dump when a couple of wealthy sisters approach him one night and offer him five dollars to accompany them to a scavenger hunt. He quickly rebuffs Cornelia Bullock when she treats him like a broken vase, and sends her packing. However, her sister Irene is genuinely interested in why Godfrey is living in the dump, as though this is a personal choice for the men living here in the depth of the Great Depression, and Godfrey becomes intrigued with her sincerity and the situation in general. Thus, he agrees to accompany Irene and enables her to win first prize and beat her sister. Out of gratitude and a budding romantic interest, Irene offers Godfrey the job of family butler - a job in which nobody seems to last very long, and when you meet the Bullocks at home you find out why. They are truly a self-involved and high maintenance bunch. The mother is a kind soul a bit taken to drink. Cornelia is ever bit the lizard on two legs that she seemed on her and Godfrey's first meeting, and Irene, like her mother, is a kind soul, but taken to episodes of the dramatic. Eugene Pallette, with his trademark frog voice, plays the long-suffering Mr. Bullock who spends most of his time paying for the damages caused by the exploits of his idle rich daughters and for the food bill of his wife's artistic protégé Carlo. Godfrey goes the distance as butler, though, navigating touchy situations with the skill of someone who seems to have an intimate knowledge of the world in which the Bullocks live. It soon becomes clear why Godfrey is so patient and wise with his charges, and his own story enables a happy ending for all concerned - for the Bullocks when Mr. Bullock plays the market and loses everything that belongs to him and some that doesn't thanks to a little hopeful embezzling on his part, and also for Godfrey's comrades at the dump when Godfrey is able to find employment for all of them and lift them out of poverty. Of course, the not too subtle yet not heavy-handed message of this Depression era film is that while the idle rich look for ways to occupy their time such as giftless protégés and pointless games, there are real problems that need solving with human lives in the balance.
Lombard is great as Irene. Rather than just play the part as a dizzy blonde, she gives the part wit, and strangely enough, manages to give depth to a rather shallow character. Without that wit and depth, Irene would have been just one more inmate in the Bullock asylum, and it would be a real stretch to believe Godfrey would find her interesting. The only thing that seemed a little forced and pat was the ending. Although I could easily believe that Irene was in love with Godfrey, Godfrey seems very formal with Irene and only lets down his facade when he is dealing with her as one deals with a spoiled child when she gets over-dramatic with him. I never felt he was returning her romantic sentiments at all. However, this is a minor criticism in a film with a terrific cast that is one of the great witty comedies of all time. The extras on the package include commentary by film historian Robert Gilpin who provides details on every aspect of the movie in an accessible easy-going style. There are also a short sequence of outtakes made during filming, the complete 1938 "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast of the script with Powell and Lombard reprising their parts, and an extensive set of production stills and the original theatrical trailer.
Description of My Man Godfrey (The Criterion Collection)
The definitive screwball comedy, My Man Godfrey follows the madcap antics of a wealthy and eccentric family when they hire a down-and-out "forgotten man" as their butler. My Man Godfrey features brilliant performances by Carole Lombard and William Powell, and was the first film to receive Academy Award® nominations in all four acting categories.Director Gregory La Cava deftly balances satire, romance, and social comment in this 1936 classic, which echoes Frank Capra in its Depression-era subtext. The Bullocks are a well-heeled, harebrained Manhattan family genetically engineered for screwball collisions: father Alexander (Eugene Pallette, of the foghorn voice and thick-knit eyebrows) is the breadwinner at wit's end, thanks to his spoiled daughters, the sultry Cornelia (Gail Patrick) and the sweet but scatterbrained Irene (a luminous Carole Lombard), his dizzy and doting wife, Angelica (Alice Brady), and her "protégé," Italian freeloader Carlo (Mischa Auer). When Irene wins a society scavenger hunt (and atypically trumps her scheming sister) by producing a "lost man," a seeming tramp named Godfrey (William Powell), all their lives are transformed. With the always suave, effortlessly funny Powell in the title role, this mystery man provides the film's conscience and its model of decency; the giddy, passionate Lombard holds out its model for triumphant love. In a movie riddled with memorable comic highlights, the real miracle is the unapologetic romanticism that prevails. --Sam Sutherland
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Powell & Lombard: Comedy CollectionRelease date: 2008-01-08; DVD
Best price: $3.31
Price in other shops:
The Great ZiegfeldWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $4.19
Price in other shops:
His Girl FridayGT; Release date: 2002-10-01; DVD
Best price: $1.89
Price in other shops:
Mystery ClassicsEcho; Release date: 2005-01-03; DVD
Best price: $2.94
Price in other shops:
Life With Father - 1947 Color (Digitally Remastered Version)Release date: 2009-10-21; DVD
Best price: $11.49
Price in other shops:
It Happened One NightSony; Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $6.21
Price in other shops:
The Thin Man (Keepcase)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-08-02; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Arsenic and Old LaceWHV; Release date: 2010-11-09; DVD
Best price: $6.30
Price in other shops:
Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection (Manhattan Melodrama / Evelyn Prentice / Double Wedding / I Love You Again / Love Crazy)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-08-07; DVD
Best price: $35.99
Price in other shops:
The Complete Thin Man Collection (The Thin Man / After the Thin Man / Another Thin Man / Shadow of the Thin Man / The Thin Man Goes Home / Song of the Thin Man / Alias Nick and Nora)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2005-08-02; DVD
Best price: $39.99
Price in other shops: