lolarites-68701
I absolutely love this screwball. I don't care if it's a Godfrey remake or not. It's full of heavy hitters from Patsy Kelly to Alan Mowbray (who was in Godfrey) to Constance Bennett and Billie Burke. It seems no screwball can be without Billie in it. However, to me, it's Clarence that makes it all worthwhile. He can't do anything without making me laugh. His attempts at trying to rein in his family alway make things worse. He does this spectacular pratfall in the kitchen that had me howling. He was obviously very athletic and coordinated to pull it off. I wonder how many takes it took. I loved him on Margie and every time he would bellow "Albright, you're fired!" I would laugh, but this is really his show. I wish we had wonderful character actors like him around now, but sadly they are all gone. I love the way the two great Danes played him too. He played the stooge to everyone. I suspect Preston Sturges had something to do with this, but there is no mention of him. It's so unfortunate how some gems like this one get buried and forgotten when they could be making so many people happy.
jacobs-greenwood
Produced by Hal Roach, directed by Norman Z. McLeod, and written by Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran, all of whom were responsible for Topper (1937) the year before, this essential screwball comedy also features Constance Bennett, Billie Burke, and Alan Mowbray. Even though its core story (and more) is similar to My Man Godfrey (1936), it delivers laughs by the bundle with its quirky characters and clever dialogue. Eric Hatch, who wrote "Godfrey", worked with McLeod, Jevne and Moran on "Topper".Brian Aherne plays a writer mistaken for a "forgotten man" (a tramp) and "hired" by a ditzy wealthy woman philanthropist (Burke) after her seventh "project" made off with the family silver. Her beautiful blonde daughter (Bennett), and practically every other female within range (like the family maid, played by Patsy Kelly), falls for the handsome stranger while the family butler (Mowbray) and her husband (Clarence Kolb) try to get rid of him. Bonita Granville plays Burke's youngest daughter, a prankster that delights in extorting money for her inside information while she corrals the family's many pets. Additionally, Tom Brown plays Burke's son and Marjorie Kane plays another live-in servant; neither is given very much to do. Sidney Bracey exhibits his characteristic (Buster) Keaton-like stone face, playing an additional butler hired for a party; Willie Best appears late in the film, playing the scared, mumbling character he always did, as does Pat Flaherty (uncredited as a police officer).Aherne, whose next (and serious) role in the biographical drama Juarez (1939) would earn him his only Academy Award nomination, does a terrific job with comedy. Though we don't learn that his character Wade Rawlins is a novelist until late in the story, it is entirely credible that a writer could quickly assess the situation and adopt the mistaken the identity of a bum in order to play along for the experience therein, especially after he'd seen Bennett! For herself, Bennett inhabits her character Jerry Kilbourne much better in this film than she did her role in Topper (1937), which came off as a poor (wo)man's version of Carole Lombard. Jerry's romantically pursued by Philip Reed's character while she's made jealous by Ann Dvorak's bold flirtations towards Rawlins. Mowbray is better in this film as well; then again, he's given more to do. He comically plays the Kilbourne family's longtime butler who's fed up with the constant flow of indigents that are instantly accepted into the home, such that he frequently contemplates quitting. Granville's character lights up every scene she is in as the teenager daughter who relishes (and indeed causes some of) the crazy goings on in the household. Kolb is funny as the cranky head of the household who's family only partially respects his authority; funnier still is his change of heart from the one who insists they get rid of Rawlins to the one who orders "Mowbray" to serve him breakfast in bed, once he realizes the value Rawlins is to his pending bond issue with Senator Harlan (Paul Everton, whose wife is played by Marjorie Rambeau).But the star of the film is far and away Burke, who earned her only Academy Award recognition when she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her hilarious character in this film, which also received Oscar nominations for Art Direction, Cinematography, Sound, and the title Song. Burke's character is blissfully unaware of the big picture, while at the same time suffering from a lack of short term memory. Other than that, she has a kind heart which leads her to take in tramps off the street to be their family's live-in chauffeur, despite the fact that these transients often don't work out well - the last one, before Rawlins, was a thief! Her lilting voice fits her perfectly (and better than it does Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939)) and, unlike her husband, she interprets her children's mocking (e.g. of her voice, the fact that she greets the family's pets each morning, etc.) as if they were "terms of endearment". Virtually all of the film's "laughing out loud" moments involve Burke's character, like the scene where she's "training" Rawlins how to serve, before her dinner party. During this subsequent dinner party, Aherne's character, thanks to the Senator Harlan's daughter's (Dvorak) interest in him, makes the transition from the Kilbourne's chauffeur to their guest.
nomoons11
I always like to see these films where the whole family is a tad...let's say different.A wealthy family of oddballs lives in a nice house and the wife, played by Billy Burke, has a habit of taking "forgotten men" into their home and trying to rehabilitate them. One leaves and decides to steal all the silverware in the house and she just about decided to never bring anther one in her house. Along comes a guy who's car happens to break down and then proceeds to roll backwards into a gorge. He goes to their house for the intended purpose of using their phone to call someone about the mishap with the car. Of course, he can't get a word in edge wise and she decides he's a "forgotten man" and promptly gives him a job as the chauffeur. The 2 daughters, Constance Bennett and Bonita Granville both have a crush on him. The oldest one grows to like him and he notices her not so subtle advances. Will they fall in love? Will they realize who he actually is?In between there's lots of fun and clever dialog. Big credits for the casting in this. Each character gets to shine and leaves a memorable footprint in your brain. This was Bonita Granville's high mark playing the spoiled brat role she did so well. Unfortunately this film gets paired off with "My Man Godfrey" but it's really not the same film. This one is total comedy and the story is a smidge different. Mentioning Godfrey, you should get an idea of what it's like but trust me, it stands on it's own. Are they just a nutty well-to-do family or are they just like your family? Be prepared to laugh and judge for yourself.
Neil Doyle
I can't believe all of these rave comments on what is essentially a screwball comedy that lacks the magic of other such items made during the '30s. This one is decidedly less successful than OUR MAN GODFREY or HARD TO GET (Dick Powell/Olivia de Havilland) or even FOUR'S A CROWD.Once again, it takes potshots at the rich--specifically BILLIE BURKE who is head of a loony household. She's a wealthy woman who hires hobos or ex-cons to run her estate, never listening long enough to anyone who might have described their situation--but then, there would be no story.Such is the case with BRIAN AHERNE who shows up at her doorstep to report a car accident but is soon swept into the household and hired as a chauffeur. CONSTANCE BENNETT is Burke's lovely daughter so we know where this plot device is going.BONITA GRANVILLE has another one of her bratty roles to play as she torments butler ALAN MOBRAY. She specialized in these roles but becomes irritating pretty fast.The silliness of the whole story goes into overdrive, milking every situation for whatever laughs can be derived from such exaggerated screwball material. By the time it's over, you're either having a ball at the expense of this loony family or judging the film to be excessively over baked nonsense that hardly stands up to close inspection.You know which side I'm on.Summing up: Predictable screwball mess, it wastes the talents of a fine cast.
