Screwball, sophistication meet in 'Godfrey'

Two styles of comedy prevailed in Hollywood during the 1930s: sophistication and screwball. The 1936 film "My Man Godfrey" blends both of these sub-genres together, making fun of the upper-crust socialites who abound in wealthy conservatism, and the pie-in-the-face schtick of acts like the Three Stooges or the Marx Brothers.\nBut with its wit and charm, the film embodies a more screwball quality, containing lots of sexual underpinnings that must have barely made it past the infamous censors of the day. \nThe 1936 screwball comedy "My Man Godfrey" stars Carole Lombard and William Powell and was written by Morrie Ryskind and Eric Hatch. Ryskind's involvement probably has something to do with it being so screwball, especially since he helped write the 1935 Marx Brothers' hit "A Night at the Opera."\n"My Man Godfrey" begins with shots of a New York City back drop and then zooms in on a bunch of "forgotten men" hunting around the city dump for second hand treasures. That's where we first meet Powell's character, Godfrey.\nThen a party game brings dizzy socialite Irene Bullock (Lombard) to the city dump where she meets Godfrey, one of New York's finest "forgotten men." Irene promptly hires him as the family butler. Godfrey soon finds the Bullocks to be the definitively idle rich and nutty as the proverbial fruitcake. The Bullock family reminds me a lot of the family seen in Frank Capra's "You Can't Take It With You," as far as whacky family members are concerned. \nSoon, the theatrical Irene is in love with her "protege," who feels strongly that a romance between servant and employer is out of place, regardless of Godfrey's mysterious past. But while living with the Bullocks, several things occur which indeed drive in the screwball style. \nFor instance, on the morning after the party, Irene apparently rode a horse home. In and of itself that isn't so abnormal. But it is abnormal because only Irene would ride the horse up the front steps and leave it overnight in the living room. \nThe next morning the monotone and perpetually bewildered father, played by character actor Eugene Pallette, discovers the horse. Some of the takes Pallette does with his frog-like voice are hilarious when he talks about his suffering because of marriage. \nBut because the film is a period piece, these were really the only two spots throughout the whole film that made me laugh out loud. There were plenty of moments where I smiled, but stopped short of laughing. I think my contemporaries would like the movie better if it were a fast-paced farce, instead of a slow-paced screwball bit. But overall, it was nice to see the tall and slender Powell star onscreen with Lombard. \nPowell breezes with ease in all his scenes. And Lombard also turns in one of her most clever performances at Irene. Unlike Irene's real life socialite contemporaries, she didn't care about money. She cared about being a human. The relationship the two begin follows an interesting path of humility and freedom. \nSomebody very wise once said, "All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people." I think the Bullocks prove that thought.\n"My Man Godfrey" is an excellent choice for a weekend of clean fun -- what else does one need but a great movie on a quiet evening?