sol- Impressed by his quick wit, a ditzy socialite hires a vagrant as her family's new butler in this Depression Era comedy staring William Powell and Carole Lombard. The dialogue is frequently sharp and witty and Powell does well spouting memorable quips throughout, however, the film is most notable as a social study with all of Lombard's privileged family depicted as either obnoxious or completely off their rocker. Some of the most amusing moments come from Powell's baffled looks as the family matriarch's "protégé" climbs up walls and over furniture, pretending to be a gorilla, and there is a lot to like in the dynamic of a vagrant more civilised and refined than those living the good life at the height of the Depression. A twist regarding Powell unfortunately dampens this agenda though. The film is also pulled down by Lombard lusting after Powell (who looks old enough to be her father) for no real discernible reason with very few romantic sparks between them. When the film focuses on the rest of Lombard's wacky family though, it is fairly interesting stuff. The antagonism between Powell and Gail Patrick (Lombard's sister) leads to a hilarious scene in which she nearly incriminates herself and Alice Brady and Eugene Palette have their share of strong moments as the heads of the family, both of whom blame one another for their household being rather nutty.

arfdawg-1 The Plot.In the depths of the Depression, a party game brings dizzy socialite Irene Bullock to the city dump where she meets Godfrey, a derelict, and ends by hiring him as family butler. He finds the Bullocks to be the epitome of idle rich, and nutty as the proverbial fruitcake. I watched this as part of a 40s festival even tho it was made in the 30s. In a convoluted way the plot is oddly relevant today,, even though it's also highly unbelievable.Here we have homeless men with expensive had speaking perfect English and even knowing French!. But it's a screwball comedy, so concentrate on suspension of disbelief.It's very well written and directed with a face pace.

weezeralfalfa As the title suggests, this is a love story between a middle-aged aloof homeless man(Godfrey) living in a city dump and a carefree, impulsive, spoiled society girl(Irene Bullock): seemingly a most unlikely pairing, given their radically differing economic situations, ages, and personalities. But, it's also an examination of the relationship between the dispossessed unemployed and the wealthy, especially during a time of widespread unemployment. The Bullocks represent how the wealthy should not spend their time and money, while Godfrey, toward the end of the story, exemplifies. how this advantage might be usefully employed in helping the dispossessed get on their feet.It's clear that Irene was attracted to Godfrey from the time she met him in the dump during a scavenger hunt game. Although, on the surface, Godfrey maintained an aloof posture toward Irene's romantic overtures, Irene had the intuition that Godfrey had probably fallen into bad luck, and was not a hopeless derelict. Eventually , we discover why Godfrey landed in a dump and why he resisted Irene's throwing herself at him, indeed, the romantic overtures of any woman.It's of interest that Carol Lombard, who played Irene, and William Powell, who played Godfrey, had been married and divorced. Nonetheless, Powell insisted that Carol should play Irene.Cornilia: Irene's aloof sister, exhibits an antagonistic attitude toward Godfrey. It appears this is due to a combination of motivations:(1) assuming that homeless men must be hopeless derelicts, thieves, and possible murderers (2)a personal grudge against Godfrey for the way he treated her and spoke to her at the dump(3)jealousy that Irene had rescued a seemingly worthy man from a life of homelessness. In any case, her attitude soften toward the end, and she cried over his leaving the Bullock household. It's interesting that her aloof personality seemed much more suited to Godfrey's similar aloof personality than the impish, impulsive, Irene. But, sometimes opposites attract, in this case, each taking a big chance that the other would prove unsuitable as a mate in the long run.

Steven Torrey 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.