My Man Godfrey (1936) 93 min -- ONSITE at Mechanics' Institute | Mechanics' Institute

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My Man Godfrey (1936) 93 min -- ONSITE at Mechanics' Institute
September 2022 CinemaLit: – The 1930s Get Real

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September 16 - My Man Godfrey, 1936, 93 minutes, directed by Gregory La Cava, starring William Powell and Carole Lombard

Any short list of "Screwball Comedy" has to include My Man Godfrey. Carole Lombard plays a flighty society woman from a family so screwy, they "seem to have been dropped on their respective heads when young," noted Variety. William Powell is a down-and-outer plucked from an ash heap and hired as butler to Lombard's wacky tribe. In the rollicking good fun that ensues, plenty of comment is made about the gross inequities in American life, with the frivolous rich folks getting their comeuppance of sorts. And – of course - somewhere in all the high jinks Lombard and Powell find time to fall in love.

 

CinemaLit / September 2022 – The 1930s Get Real

 

What are your impressions of American films in the 1930s? Gossamer musicals and Marx Brothers' slapstick? Stodgy romances burdened with wooden acting? Nonsense escapism from the Great Depression? That's all to be found. But dig deeper for a wealth of films of exceptional depth and complexity. September at CinemaLit is devoted to four films from four genres that are terrific entertainments AND fascinating historical and sociological relics. We've got a musical (Gold Diggers of 1933), screwball comedy (My Man Godfrey), comedy-drama (Politics), and social drama (Imitation of Life). And even as you're laughing or toe tapping, we've also got homelessness, political corruption, racism, bread lines, war, murder, unemployment, sexism, and the generation gap. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. (Image used with permission of Warner Bros)

 

Matthew Kennedy, CinemaLit’s curator, has written biographies of Marie Dressler, Joan Blondell, and Edmund Goulding. His book Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, was the basis of a film series on Turner Classic Movies.

I don't have a favorite film,” Matthew says. "I find that my relationships to films, actors, genres, and directors change as I change over the years. Some don't hold up. Some look more profound, as though I've caught up with their artistry. I feel that way about Garbo, Cary Grant, director John Cassavetes, and others."

Classic films have historical context, something only time can provide,” Matt observes. “They become these great cultural artifacts, so revealing of tastes, attitudes, and assumptions.”

 

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