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My Man
Godfrey (1936)
In director Gregory La Cava's landmark sophisticated
screwball comedy, set during the Great Depression:
- the set-up to the film: blonde, spoiled, dingbat
socialite Irene Bullock's (Carole Lombard) discovery of a "forgotten
man": Godfrey
"Smith" Parke (William Powell), a hobo at the city dump
during a scavenger hunt, so that she could win a game and defeat
her domineering older sister - brunette Cornelia Bullock (Gail Patrick);
when he was presented in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria as her
'find' - Godfrey contemptuously addressed the snobbish crowd after
Irene had won the game: "My purpose in coming here tonight was
two-fold: firstly, I wanted to aid this young lady. Secondly, I was
curious to see how a bunch of empty-headed nitwits conducted themselves.
My curiosity is satisfied. I assure you it'll be a pleasure to go
back to a society of really important people"
- the scene of Irene's subsequent hiring of him to
be her family's butler (Irene to her mother Angelica: "He's
gonna work for us"); he would be working in the home of the
Bullocks, led by Alexander (Eugene Pallette) and his ditsy, scatter-brained
wife Angelica (Alice Brady)
Some Members of The Bullock Family
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Alexander and Angelica
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Irene
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Cornelia
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- the famous scene of Angelica's do-nothing and pretentious
protege Carlo (Mischa Auer) lamenting and moaning about financial
ruin: ("Oh, Money, money, money! The Frankenstein Monster
that destroys souls")
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Carlo: "Oh, Money, money, money!"
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Carlo's Gorilla Imitation
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- the scene of Carlo also performing a gorilla imitation
to cheer up Irene; he hunched over, ambling and loping around the
living room, and jumping up and over the furniture and onto the
window frame; Irene's phony fear reaction to his ape mimickry:
(""He frightens me"), while Alexander joked: ("Why
don't you stop imitating a gorilla and imitate a man?...Someday
I'm going gorilla-hunting and I won't miss")
- the sequence of Cornelia's attempts to frame Godfrey
for theft, by planting her expensive pearl necklace under his mattress;
when detectives arrived to search the bedroom, Cornelia suggested
the obvious place: "Look under the mattress!" but when
the pearls weren't found there, she exclaimed: "They must be
there!...why I-I read that that's where people put things when they
steal them" - she obviously incriminated and disgraced herself
- after a sojourn of the Bullock sisters in Europe,
Irene had become more hungry for affection from Godfrey; when he
mentioned that he was considering leaving his job, Irene faked swooning
to get his attention; Godfrey hauled the lovesick girl up on his
shoulder, bemoaning the insane, anarchic Bullocks: "Oh, this
is the craziest family"; he carried the limp rag-doll upstairs
into her bedroom, dumped her on a bed, and then realized that she
was faking (he saw her sit up in bed in a mirror's reflection); he
tossed Irene under the cold water of a shower fully clothed ("Let
that be a lesson to you"); she replied receptively: ("Oh,
Godfrey, now I know you love me"); when he rejected her statement:
("I do not love you and you're getting me all wet"); Irene
continued: ("You do or you wouldn't have lost your temper");
Irene was jubilant to her mother who appeared: ("Oh Mother!
Godfrey loves me! He put me in the shower"); as a result of
the embarrassing incident, Godfrey announced his resignation from
working for the wacky family
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After Fainting, Godfrey Carried Irene Upstairs
to Bedroom
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Realizing That Irene Was Faking
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Placing Her in Shower
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Irene Reacting to Cold Shower
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Irene: "Now I know you love me"
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Godfrey Announcing His Resignation to Angelica
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- as he was departing, Godfrey delivered surprise
news to the financially-destitute Bullock family that through financial
ventures of his own, he had saved them; he then described the lessons
he learned from the family: "I've been repaid in many ways.
I learned patience from Mr. Bullock. I found Mrs. Bullock at all
times, shall we say, amusing....(To Cornelia) You taught me the
fallacy of false pride. You taught me humility....Miss Cornelia,
there have been other spoiled children in the world. I happen to
be one of them myself. You're a high-spirited girl. I can only
hope that you use those high spirits in a more constructive way.
And so, good-day"
- the final sequence, when Godfrey was now running a
luxurious and fashionable nightclub, aptly named "The Dump";
Irene trailed after him, announced her intention to remain with him,
and vowed her love: ("You're my responsibility and someone has
to take care of you....You love me and you know it. You know, there's
no sense in struggling against a thing when it's got you. It's got
you and that's all there is to it. It's got you!"); she talked
him into instantly getting married in a civil ritual with a judge,
and tried to be reassuring: ("It may get me into a lot of trouble,
but, uh, I guess I've known your family long enough to take a chance")
- and then she spoke the final lines of the film before the ceremony:
("Stand still, Godfrey, it'll all be over in a minute")
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Hobo/"Forgotten Man" at City Dump With Irene
Bullock
Godfrey's Speech In Lobby of Waldorf-Astoria
Godfrey as the Bullock Family's New Butler, With the Maid
Molly (Jean Dixon)
Scheming Cornelia Suggesting that Detectives Look
Under Godfrey's Mattress For Her Stolen Pearl Necklace
Departing Godfrey Saving the Members of the Bullock
Family From Financial Ruin
Irene to Godfrey: "You love me and you know
it"
Concluding Marriage Ceremony to a Befuddled Godfrey
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