It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I could see why this film is a comedy classic. William Powell played Godfrey, a Manhattan transient, who becomes a butler in an Upper East home. Carol Lombard is perfect in her role as one of the unmarried daughters. She and her sister have a scavenger hunt in New York City. Godfrey becomes more than just a butler but a member of the family. This ninety minutes film in black and white still holds up today for its sparkling dialogue and comedic humor of life in the upper classes during the Great Depression.

There are many figures from history whose lives I wished I could lead. Among them, Nat King Cole, Jackie Robinson, Booker T. Washington, Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela and others. There is Robinson Crusoe on the fictional side. The English short-story writer James Herriot with his ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL series, and for wit, humor and lightness of touch, I have always admired the goings-on of Godfrey Parke in MY MAN GODFREY.The idea that a man could start from nothing and end up not only lifting himself up, but everyone else with him has tremendous appeal to me. This must have been one of those ideal dreams of those undergoing and enduring the Great Depression. The gentle and tasteful way in which this is presented to the viewer, peppered with great lines of dialogue and packed with laughs owing to situations and characters both high and low is a delight.I saw this first on the Bill Kennedy Show as a kid and never forgot it. Pretty obvious from the outset that Godfrey was down in the City Dump nursing a broken heart over something in his past. You get an idea of what that might have been when the two sisters show up on a Scavenger Hunt for a Forgotten Man. This is all so subtle that you can paint your own picture with a rather broad brush. I always found it fascinating how a homeless man could present himself before high society with the dignity and decorum of a college professor and then depart to return to a better class of people.I picked up from the first time I saw it that Godfrey was in retreat at the City Dump and when we meet him he is coming to the end of some pretty heavy philosophic reflection. There is a line he delivers to one of his fellow hobo friends that suggests he has resolved something. However, and this is the beauty of this piece of Cinema, this is more shown in the character's behavior and interaction with people than reported to us in lines of dialogue. The exposition of this little comedy of manners is established in irony and whistles a snappy zany tune from there on out.I have read other reviewer's comments about this film and found them insightful. One reviewer commented about how the ending displayed a Godfrey who was very formal and who barely returned Irene's sentiments of love as anything more than a straight man. However, I understood this very well even as a kid. I could easily imagine that in a previous romantic affair it had been the exact opposite. Therefore, Godfrey while meditating with a broken heart resolved that he would discipline himself the next time to let the woman do all the legwork while he simply worked to regain his self respect and return afterwards to a prosperous standing.The successful, and this includes the idle rich among them, will exhort to you that Life is a Game. Those who have known plenty of heartache and trouble will insist that it is not and that the business of living is an issue to be taken seriously. There is obviously some truth in both assertions. The marvelous thing about this movie is that it doesn't necessarily take sides about this. More or less, it suggests in a lighthearted way that there can be a happy medium between inner and outer riches, and family matters can go on no matter how many screwballs Life throws your way.

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.

Within the first five minutes of watching this film, I knew that it would go down in history as one of my very favorite movies. The classification of "Screwball Comedy" accurately describes nearly every aspect of this film. The cast of characters in this film did an incredibly good job in the roles that they were cast. Although I did not always understand the references that they made, I would expect nothing less as I did not grow up in the time period of which the movie is set. I would imagine that the set and the props are very realistic for the time period although I did not live during that time and therefore wouldn't know for sure that the inside of a house looked like that in the 1930's. The characters also had a very good on air personality and developed very realistic relationships with their co-stars which only added to the hilariousness of the film and made for a very pleasant viewing experience.