My Man Godfrey

The original is brilliant. But the re-make is sad at best. No matter how much I may love David Niven, he's a poor substitute for Powell. Don't bother with this trash. Rent the Powell/Lombard film (1936). It's one of the funniest films you'll ever see, with hallmark performances by everyone in the cast.

This is the 50s remake of the 30s classic screwball comedy. This remake feels more like TV than the slick 30s comedy does. The slick is about the only part that is still in this 50s version, and the screwball. This is, more than anything, a silly flick.

A spoiled rich beautiful family falls hard for their new butler, Godfrey, played by David Niven. The younger daughter (June Allyson) brings him home after a scavenger hunt. He doesn't judge and helps wherever he can, best of all he isn't perfect. Even though this is such a silly flick, for some reason at the end I had a big smile. Silly is important.

The 1936 version was a masterpiece or close to it and this is a pale imitator. I like David Niven and June Allyson but they suck compared to William Powell and Carole Lombard. This one stars Niven as a man hiding out because he doesn't have a passport unlike the original when Powell was just homeless. Allyson is on a scavenger hunt and takes Niven along with her and then hires him as a butler. She's in love with Niven and it turns out he had a lot of money but lost it but i don't remember and it doesn't really matter. The original was much better and you should just watch that one instead and Powell and Lombard were much better. Why did they even bother to remake this.

I saw this film when I was a kid; it was great, I loved it, and I had no idea it was a remake. Later, thanks to Turner Classic Movies, I got to see the B&W original with William Powell and his former wife, Carole Lombard, which deserves its legend status, but I still say that the Niven/Allyson film is an inspired remake and loads of fun. I urge everyone to see BOTH films and and appreciate the work of four talented actors.

I've never understood the urge to remake *great* movies. They usually fail (e.g., We're No Angels) but very occasionally they succeed (e.g., His Girl Friday). This one is frothy enough to float away into forgotten-movie heaven.

The original with William Powell and Carole Lombard was on the dark side, to be sure, but this was necessary to the 'message' and the times. Nor was the message entirely political and social--at heart it is about a man who discovers that his world of privilege is empty without accepting his responsibility to others and to his community. A sharp contrast in tone, but ultimately a complement to this theme, is in Nobody's Fool. The Paul Newman character is not privileged, but his commitment to others is just as deep and at the heart of the movie.

The Niven/Allyson remake of My Man Godfrey is, in my opinion, inoffensive and fun, but also shallow and meaningless.