By Coral Gables Gazette staff
A Depression-era comedy that skewers wealth, class and social pretension while delivering some of the sharpest romantic banter in American cinema will headline the next installment of the Coral Gables Library’s Silver Screen Mornings series.
The Coral Gables Branch Library will present a screening of My Man Godfrey on Wednesday, March 11 at 10 a.m. at the library, 3443 Segovia St. The program is open to adults ages 18 and older.
A classic comedy with bite
Released in 1936 and now marking its 90th anniversary, My Man Godfrey remains one of the defining screwball comedies of Hollywood’s golden age. Directed by Gregory La Cava and starring William Powell and Carole Lombard, the film combines romantic farce with a sharp view of class, vanity and economic inequality during the Great Depression.
The story begins with an elaborate scavenger hunt staged by wealthy Manhattan socialites. Irene Bullock, a sheltered heiress, needs a “forgotten man” to complete her entry and finds one in Godfrey Park, a homeless man living in a Hooverville along the East River. What begins as a cruel society game turns into something far more complicated when Irene hires Godfrey as the butler for her riotous household.
A household in comic chaos
Once inside the Bullock mansion, Godfrey becomes the calm center of a family defined by disorder. Irene falls for him almost immediately. Her spoiled sister Cornelia tries to get him fired. Their distracted mother and financially strained father complete a household that feels both absurd and familiar.
That setup gives the film its comic engine, but it also gives it weight. Beneath the rapid dialogue and broad farce, the movie asks pointed questions about dignity, privilege and the blindness of the rich at a moment when much of the country was struggling simply to survive.
Why the film still matters
Part of the film’s enduring appeal lies in the chemistry between Powell and Lombard, who had once been married before appearing together in the movie. Powell plays Godfrey with cool intelligence and restraint, while Lombard gives Irene a high-strung, buoyant energy that keeps the film moving even at its most chaotic.
The result is not just a romantic comedy but a social satire that still feels alive. The movie’s critique of fashionable indifference lands with surprising force, and its emotional center remains intact. For all its elegance and silliness, My Man Godfrey never loses sight of the people left outside the gates of wealth.
A landmark in film history
The film was widely praised on release and went on to earn six Academy Award nominations, including acting nominations for Powell and Lombard, supporting nominations for Mischa Auer and Alice Brady, and nominations for La Cava’s direction and the screenplay.
Its stature has only grown with time. In 1999, the Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, recognizing it as culturally significant. That designation helped confirm what film lovers had long argued: that My Man Godfrey is not just entertaining but foundational.
Its visual style also remains part of its appeal. The black-and-white cinematography gives the movie a polished glow, and the costumes and interiors help define the world of 1930s American sophistication that the film both celebrates and mocks.
A fitting choice for silver screen mornings
That mix of glamour, wit and social commentary makes My Man Godfrey a strong fit for the Coral Gables Library’s Silver Screen Mornings series, which regularly offers audiences a chance to revisit major works from classic Hollywood.
For viewers who know the film, the screening offers a welcome return to one of the smartest comedies of the era. For those seeing it for the first time, it offers something rarer: a movie that moves quickly, lands its jokes and still has something to say.
The film runs 94 minutes.
For more information, call the Coral Gables Branch Library at 305-442-8706 or email capleybr@mdpls.org.
