My Man Godfrey (1936)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

My Man Godfrey (1936) -- G. La Cava

More droll than riotous, methinks, but My Man Godfrey scores in its use of William Powell as the "forgotten man" turned butler who attempts to tell the idle rich how to live life with dignity.  Carole Lombard is adorably ditzy and Gail Patrick coolly bitchy while Eugene Pallette and Mischa Auer bring their usual eccentricities to bear as Gregory La Cava's film tears down these haves (for a likely audience of have nots) at the end of the Great Depression.  If this were remade today, would the gluttony and folly of the 1% be equally exposed? The "solution" to the problem offered by Powell is no solution at all -- is there any way to right the wrongs that have led to so much inequity in society? After all is said and done, My Man Godfrey is a comedy with a darker lining.