My Man Godfrey (1957 film)

Last updated

My Man Godfrey
My Man Godfrey (1957) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Henry Koster
Written byPeter Berneis
William Bowers
Everett Freeman
Based onMy Man Godfrey
1935 novel
by Eric Hatch
My Man Godfrey
1936 film
Produced by Ross Hunter
Starring June Allyson
David Niven
Cinematography William H. Daniels
Edited byMilton Carruth
Music by Frank Skinner
Color process Eastmancolor
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • October 11, 1957 (1957-10-11)(New York City)
  • October 18, 1957 (1957-10-18)(United States)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.2 million [1]

My Man Godfrey is a 1957 American CinemaScope comedy film starring June Allyson and David Niven. [2] [3] It was adapted by Peter Berneis, William Bowers and Everett Freeman, and directed by Henry Koster. The film is a color remake of Gregory La Cava's 1936 screwball comedy of the same name. Allyson played the role created by Carole Lombard in the original version, and Niven took on the role made famous by William Powell. Niven had played the role of Tommy Gray, Godfrey's former classmate, in a 1938 radio version. While the original film from 1936 did not have its copyright renewed and is in the public domain, this film's copyright was renewed. [lower-alpha 1] Both films are derivative works of the still copyrighted novel from 1935.

Contents

Plot

The plot begins as a zany heiress uses and then takes pity on a man whom she believes to be homeless. She insists the man come home with her and gives him a job as the eccentric family's butler—much to the chagrin of her father, especially when it becomes clear the girl is falling in love with the fellow. The family's new butler, however, harbors a secret: he is actually as wealthy as and, in fact, more well-born than they are.

Cast

Production

The film was meant to mark the Hollywood debut of O. W. Fischer, but he was fired two weeks into production and was sued by Universal. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carole Lombard</span> American actress (1908–1942)

Carole Lombard was an American actress. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard 23rd on its list of the greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Niven</span> British actor, memoirist and novelist (1910–1983)

James David Graham Niven was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. He received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

<i>My Man Godfrey</i> 1936 American comedy-drama film directed by Gregory La Cava

My Man Godfrey is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava and starring William Powell and Carole Lombard, who had been briefly married years before appearing together in the film. The screenplay for My Man Godfrey was written by Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by La Cava, based on 1101 Park Avenue, a short novel by Eric S. Hatch. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her family's butler, and then falls in love with him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Boyer</span> French-American actor (1899–1978)

Charles Boyer was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American films during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised, in romantic dramas such as The Garden of Allah (1936), Algiers (1938), and Love Affair (1939), as well as the mystery-thriller Gaslight (1944). He received four Oscar nominations for Best Actor. He also appeared as himself on the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Powell</span> American actor (1904–1963)

Richard Ewing Powell was an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man, starring in projects of a more dramatic nature. He was the first actor to portray private detective Philip Marlowe on screen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Koster</span> American film director (1905–1988)

Henry Koster was a German-born film director. He was the husband of actress Peggy Moran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O. W. Fischer</span> Austrian actor

Otto Wilhelm Fischer was an Austrian film and theatre actor, a leading man of West German cinema during the Wirtschaftswunder era of the 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Sheridan</span> American actress and singer (1915–1967)

Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films San Quentin (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, City for Conquest (1940) with Cagney and Elia Kazan, The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis, Kings Row (1942) with Ronald Reagan, Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Hyer</span> American actress (1924–2014)

Martha Hyer was an American actress who played Gwen French in Some Came Running (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her autobiography, Finding My Way: A Hollywood Memoir, was published in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Vidor</span> American film director

Charles Vidor was a Hungarian film director. Among his film successes are The Bridge (1929), The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942), The Desperadoes (1943), Cover Girl (1944), Together Again (1944), A Song to Remember (1945), Over 21 (1945), Gilda (1946), The Loves of Carmen (1948), Rhapsody (1954), Love Me or Leave Me (1955), The Swan (1956), The Joker Is Wild (1957), and A Farewell to Arms (1957).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat O'Brien (actor)</span> American actor (1899–1983)

William Joseph Patrick O'Brien was an American film actor with more than 100 screen credits. Of Irish descent, he often played Irish and Irish-American characters and was referred to as "Hollywood's Irishman in Residence" in the press. One of the best-known screen actors of the 1930s and 1940s, he played priests, cops, military figures, pilots, and reporters. He is especially well-remembered for his roles in Knute Rockne, All American (1940), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), and Some Like It Hot (1959). He was frequently paired onscreen with Hollywood star James Cagney. O'Brien also appeared on stage and television.

Edward Small was an American film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movies The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), The Corsican Brothers (1941), Brewster's Millions (1945), Raw Deal (1948), Black Magic (1949), Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Solomon and Sheba (1959).

<i>The Opposite Sex</i> 1956 film by David Miller

The Opposite Sex is a 1956 American musical romantic comedy film shot in Metrocolor and CinemaScope. The film was directed by David Miller and stars June Allyson, Joan Collins, Dolores Gray, Ann Sheridan, and Ann Miller, with Leslie Nielsen, Jeff Richards, Agnes Moorehead, Charlotte Greenwood, Joan Blondell, and Sam Levene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Hunter</span> American actor

Ross Hunter was an American film and television producer and actor. He is best known for producing light comedies such as Pillow Talk (1959), and the glamorous melodramas Magnificent Obsession (1954), Imitation of Life (1959), and Back Street (1961).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Robinson</span> American actor (1930–2013)

Jay Robinson was an American actor specializing in character roles. He achieved his greatest fame playing Emperor Caligula in the film The Robe (1953) and its sequel Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), and years later portraying the boss of the character played by Warren Beatty in Shampoo (1975).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Bevan</span> Australian actor (1887–1957)

Billy Bevan was an Australian-born vaudevillian, who became an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 American films from 1916 to 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald Shiner</span> British stand-up comedian and comedy actor (1903-1966)

Ronald Alfred Shiner was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Greig</span> Australian-American actor (1879–1958)

Robert Greig was an Australian-American actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1930 and 1949, usually as the dutiful butler. Born Arthur Alfred Bede Greig, he was the nephew of Australian politician and solicitor William Bede Dalley. He was commonly known as "Bob".

<i>The Lady Takes a Flyer</i> 1958 film by Jack Arnold

The Lady Takes a Flyer is a 1958 American CinemaScope Eastmancolor comedy-drama romance film released by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Jack Arnold and written by Danny Arnold based on a story by Edmund H. North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Atkinson (actor)</span> English actor (1893–1963)

Frank Atkinson was an English actor and writer.

References

  1. "Top Grossers of 1958". Variety. January 7, 1959. p. 48. Please note figures are for US and Canada only and are domestic rentals accruing to distributors as opposed to theatre gross
  2. "My Man Godfrey". filmaffinity.com. FilmAffinity . Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  3. "My Man Godfrey". afi.com. American Film Institute . Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  4. Pryor, Thomas M. (February 21, 1957). "UNIVERSAL SUES ACTOR IT OUSTED: Studio Charges O. W. Fischer With Contract Breach in Filming of 'Godfrey' Huxley to Work on Cartoon". The New York Times . p. 30. ProQuest   113933766 . Retrieved February 18, 2023.