The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

With William Powell as Godfrey, how can one lose. This movie takes place during the depression, where men gather around a dump, trying to live as best they can. A spoiled brat rich girl on a scavenger hunt needs to find a lost soul to bring in. She chooses Powell, who rejects her, but he ends up at the party through a series of pratfalls. Soon he has made his way into the rich family's home as a servant. We know there is more to Godfrey than meets the eye because, instead of the coarse personality that was expected, he is refined and intelligent. This speaks to the narrow mindedness of the people who prospered while others had nothing. The young woman does what she can to hurt Godfrey, including planting what would be seen as stolen goods in his mattress. There are so many quirky characters and so much fun interaction, that this comes off incredibly well. One of the best screwball comedies of all time.

As a comedy from the era of the Great Depression, a bum found at the New York city dump, who had at one time been a man of means, becomes the butler of the filthy rich. The premise was made for comedy but William Powell (as Godfrey) and Carole Lombard (as Irene Bullock) gives the characters a human touch. When you look at Jimmy Steward in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", you never got past Steward as something like a cartoon character. With Powell, you see the human face of existence, the complexity of existence, at the whim of existence. Powell (as Godfrey) had been of means and gave up his fortune over the loss of a love, only to find himself by whimsical fate back in the lap of luxury all over again. And such is his disdain for this lap of luxury, he could end up in the dumps again.But there is more to the story than that. Each one of these actors knows by the standards of depression era society, they are the filthy rich, making phenomenal amounts of money they could never envision in their youth. Carole Lombard's salary was some $450,000 a year. That is filthy rich by any standard and certainly by the standard of the Great Depression. So these actors had a real sense of the whimsy of fate and how unequal and oftentimes unjust it can be.That Powell/Godfrey opens at the dump a fancy nightclub and names it "The Dump" suggests keen awareness of what this story is all about.Powell had the persona and acting skill to pull that sentience off on the screen as he recites lines written by Morrie Ryskind, lines based on a novel, "1101 Park Ave" by Eric Hatch. And these people/actors receive tons of money for essentially playing themselves. Such is fate.The film is great because of the ensemble cast, the talent of Powell and Lombard, and a topic about the whimsy of fate and how it can turn, and an expectation for a turn for the better by the end. While the ending may be hokum, it is delightful hokum. Powell gets the girl, and gets his wealth back.

My Man Godfrey was a great romantic screwball comedy from the 1930's. It had light humor but was still a very funny movie. And had a great storyline of a man who came from nothing, became a butler for a rich family and got himself all cleaned up and worked very hard for the family and saved up money for him to better himself and own a restaurant and even helps the family out of their debt, because they have helped him so much. Even though one of the ladies of the house kept trying to bring him down, after seeing what a good guy, Godfrey is, she feels bad for it and starts really like him just as much as everyone else. I thought it was really funny that in the end Godfrey ends up basically being forced to marry the woman who helped him become this great success, but who he could not really stand to be with.

"My man Godfrey"(1936) is directed by Gregory la cava. starring William Powell and Carole Lombard. "My man Godfrey" is hilarious this family of a far higher social and financial standing then that of Godfrey if also far more off their rocker then anyone Godfrey associates with at his previous home at the city dump the best scene that displays and explains this is honestly one of the best scenes where molly is talking to Godfrey about the many butlers the family has been through which "frankly" is quite strange because families of wealth usually have one butler who stays part of the family definitely. however it is not because the family continue to fire and rehire butlers but because the butlers run out due to the ridiculous behaviors of the clan.