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My mother, who came of age in the 1920s and 30s, was not a fan of realistic movies. She liked the happy ending, a movie in which the damsel was swept off her feet by an unblemished hero. I had little respect for my mother's movie interest, because I was young and foolish. With time, I've come to understand how her viewing pleasure was influenced by the circumstances of her life.
Last week I watched My Man Godfrey. I thought of my mother, and I was chastened. A more enlightened view of my mother's world perspective helped me to understand her viewing preference and her generation's appetite for movies that were unrealistic and offered escape--at least for a few moments, on a Saturday afternoon.
Palace Theater, Canton Ohio, built in 1926. Public domain Wikimedia Commons
My Man Godfrey was made in 1936. At the time, the United States was clawing its way out of the Great Depression, as was most of the world. In Europe, economic and political instability had led to upheaval. The people of the United States saw the potential for that upheaval coming to our shores. Unemployment rates during the depression ranged from 25% nationally to 34% in one state, Michigan. The Dust Bowl in the Great Plains was turning farmers into vagrants.
It seemed to some that our economic and social fabric was unraveling. There was labor unrest. Racial unrest. Many people began to look for alternatives to the way we lived. Marxism was beginning to look attractive to a growing number of people. 1936, the year My Man Godfrey was made, was a pivotal year. It was an election year in the U.S., and around the world it seemed everything was changing.
The U. S. electorate was asked to choose that year between Franklin Roosevelt, who represented change, a new way forward, and Alf Landon, who represented traditional politics--or as we say these days, the establishment. The people chose Roosevelt in a landslide victory. That popular sentiment, which voted against the establishment and 'the powers that be', is reflected in this movie.
So what happens in My Man Godfrey?
The movie opens with the star, William Powell, who plays Godfrey, living as a tramp on a trash pile. All around him are homeless, jobless men. These economically broken men have settled into what used to be called Hoovervilles--sprawling encampments of the homeless.
A Hooverville in Portland, Oregon Public domain Wikimedia Commons
Powell's trash pile sits in the shadow of a high rise in which the wealthy reside. In the opening scene a wealthy woman, Cornelia, approaches Godfrey, and offers him $5 to go with her. She wants him to fill the role of the 'Forgotten Man' as she returns to a scavenger hunt party. The guests at the party are given items that must be found in order to win a prize. One of the items is a 'Forgotten Man'. The wealthy are amusing themselves by making trophy trinkets out of desperate human beings.
Godfrey (Powell) refuses the wealthy woman's request and as he does so, causes her to fall backwards on an ash pile. This conflict dynamic, between the morally bankrupt wealthy and the honorable poor, is the enduring theme of the movie.
Godfrey is eventually approached by Cornelia's sister, Irene. Irene is a stark contrast to her sister. She treats Powell with dignity and respect. He responds to her demeanor and offers to go to the party with her so she can best her spoiled sister. He will be her 'Forgotten Man'.
From this point the movie proceeds predictably...that is predictably for a 1936 Depression era movie. Irene takes Godfrey home and makes him a butler. She falls in love. There is tension. Of course, the movie requires even more fantasy than that. Godfrey it turns out is a wealthy man who has chosen to live on the trash heap.
In the end, Godfrey rescues Irene's family from financial ruin. He reluctantly admits that he loves Irene and the two marry.
This movie is ridiculous, or so it might seem to a contemporary audience. The character Irene, played by Carole Lombard, is an annoying, empty-headed chatterbox. No one but an idiot would love her. But she is a good person. Simple. Unaffected. And she needs to be rescued from the shadow of her wicked sister Cornelia.
The contrast between Irene and Cornelia is as stark as the contrast between the corrupt wealthy and the moral 'Forgotten' men who live on the trash heap. This is not a subtle film. Just in case some in the audience miss the glaring message about the corrupt wealthy and virtuous poor, Godfrey lays it out in a speech. He tells his friend, as they stand on the trash heap, "The only difference between a man and a derelict is a job".
Godfrey's speech is not sophisticated. To modern audiences the patent moralizing might seem sophomoric, if one were to compare it to Marlon Brando's monologue on horror in Apocalypse Now. But My Man Godfrey was made 43 years before, when talky movies were still in their infancy. Godfrey was talking to an audience that needed a balm, not an exegesis on the depths of human depravity.
Godfrey was preaching to the choir when he pontificated on the virtues of the poor. Tickets were cheap, maybe $.25 for an adult and as little as $.10 for a child at a Saturday matinee. With that ticket, moviegoers saw not only a main feature, but a second feature, newsreels, and cartoons.
For a few hours audiences were allowed to make fun of the rich and at the same time fantasize about being rich. Movie theaters were full. This was indeed the Golden Age of movies. I don't know if my mother was unemployed. She was a seamstress in the New York Garment District, which was the epicenter of clothing manufacturing for the world.. She never spoke about being jobless. But still, as was true for most of her contemporaries, she dreamed.
Would I recommend this movie to a contemporary viewer? Definitely, but please see it in an enlightened context. It truly is a window into a moment in history. The legacy of the Great Depression is with us even today.
Labor regulations date back to landmark legislation from that period. So much of the safety net we have come to expect now dates back to that period--most significantly, Social Security.
Watch this movie and have an understanding of the time in which it was made. It might have been produced long ago, but today we are heirs not only to the cinema of that time, but to the social issues that are so prominently on display in the film.
Some interesting trivia ***William Powell and Carole Lombard were married at one time, though they divorced years before the movie was made.
***My Man Godfrey was nominated for several Academy awards, although it did not win any.
***The movie was a critical and box office success
***When the movie was made WWII was only three years away, but the U.S audiences wanted to look inward, not out at the rest of the world.
***I watched the movie on Amazon Prime Video. However, I noticed it is available on YouTube, also.
***I amused myself by making a chart that showed some of the major international developments in 1936 (I misspelled 'Ethiopia' on the chart).
Thank you for reading my blog. Health and peace to all. Hive on!
Rating: 85/100
