My Man Godfrey – Wellington Film Society

Gregory La Cava, USA 1936, 94 minutes HD PG

Nominated for six Oscars - including director, screenplay, and all four acting categories - this delightful Depression-era screwball comedy is one of the chief works of 1930s comic master Gregory La Cava, and features Carol Lombard in one of her greatest roles. The satirical plot has Lombard as scatterbrained heiress Irene Bullock, who, with spoiled sister Cornelia Bullock (Gail Patrick), sets out on a scavenger hunt to find a “forgotten man.”

William Powell is Godfrey “Smith,” the down-and-out derelict discovered by the sisters in the city dump. The Bullocks take on Godfrey as butler to their eccentric, idle-rich family - and guess who ends up civilizing whom? Ted Tetzlaff’s gorgeous cinematography, noted Pauline Kael, “has a sleek and silvery Art Deco look” à la the Astaire-Rogers musicals.” - Pacific Cinematheque