Gregory La Cava

My Man Godfrey

My Man Godfrey (1936), directed by Gregory La Cava, follows a homeless man hired as butler by a Manhattan socialite during the Great Depression. William Powell and Carole Lombard anchor a sharp, fast-paced romantic comedy that skewers wealth while relying on inherited status to resolve its tensions. Ted Tetzlaff’s cinematography and tight editing sustain its screwball energy, though the finale retreats from its earlier bite. Critically lauded then and now, it remains a masterclass in studio-era comic construction — elegant, economical, and knowingly incomplete.