My Man Godfrey (1936 Colorized Screwball Comedy film)

My Man Godfrey is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring William Powell and Carole Lombard, who had been briefly married years before appearing together in the film.

The screenplay for My Man Godfrey was written by Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by La Cava, based on 1101 Park Avenue, a short novel by Eric S. Hatch. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her family's butler, and then falls in love with him.

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. The film was remade in 1957 with June Allyson and David Niven in the starring roles.

Plot
During the Great Depression, Godfrey "Smith" Parke is unemployed, living with other homeless men down on their luck at a New York City dump in a Hooverville on the East River near the 59th Street Bridge. One night, a spoiled socialite named Cornelia Bullock offers him $5 to be her "forgotten man" for a scavenger hunt.

The annoyed Godfrey refuses, causing Cornelia to retreat and fall on a pile of ashes, much to the glee of her younger sister and rival Irene. After talking with Irene, Godfrey finds her to be kind and offers to go with her to help her beat Cornelia, as well as satisfy his own curiosity regarding their scavenger hunt.

In the ballroom of the Waldorf-Ritz Hotel, Irene's businessman father Alexander Bullock waits resignedly as his wife Angelica and her mooching protégé Carlo play the game. Godfrey arrives and is authenticated as a "forgotten man", allowing Irene to win the game.

However, Godfrey takes the opportunity to address his contempt for the audience's antics before leaving in a huff. Realizing what she brought him into, an apologetic Irene offers Godfrey to be her protégé by hiring him as the new family butler, which he gratefully accepts.

Cast
William Powell as Godfrey
Carole Lombard as Irene Bullock
Alice Brady as Angelica Bullock
Gail Patrick as Cornelia Bullock
Jean Dixon as Molly
Eugene Pallette as Alexander Bullock
Alan Mowbray as Tommy Gray
Mischa Auer as Carlo
Pat Flaherty as Mike Flaherty
Robert Light as Faithful George
Fred Coby as Investigator
Grady Sutton as Charlie Van Rumple (uncredited)
Franklin Pangborn as Scavenger Hunt Judge (uncredited)
Bess Flowers as Mrs. Merriweather (uncredited)
Grace Field as a socialite (uncredited)
Jane Wyman as a socialite (uncredited)

Production
The film was based on a 1935 novel by Eric S. Hatch. Charles Rogers, head of Universal, called it "a sure-fire laugh-getting novel". That studio purchased the film rights and assigned Hatch to write the script with Morrie Ryskind, who received top billing for the screenplay. Rogers hired Gregory La Cava to direct, "the best comedy director in Hollywood."

Casting
It was the first major film from Universal after that studio had been taken over by new management, including head of production Charles Rogers.

The studio's original choice to play Irene, the part eventually played by Carole Lombard, was Constance Bennett, and Miriam Hopkins also was considered, but the director Gregory La Cava would only agree to Bennett if Universal borrowed William Powell from MGM. Powell, for his part, only would take the role if Carole Lombard played Irene.

Powell's casting was announced in January 1936. Universal borrowed Lombard from Paramount. As part of the deal, Universal loaned Paramount Margaret Sullavan for the film I Love a Soldier and Lombard's clothes designer, Travis Banton, accompanied her. Alice Brady joined the cast in March.

Shooting
My Man Godfrey was in production from April 15 to May 27, 1936, and then had retakes in early June of the year. Its budget was $575,375, and Powell was paid $87,500 and Lombard $45,645. The film was one of the first under the new regime of Charles Rogers at Universal, although it had been developed under his predecessor Carl Laemmle Jr.

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."

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.