My Man Godfrey (1936)

A rare re-view review from me! I absolutely loved this when I saw it with my family, but after maybe 20 years, not much had stayed with me. Now I would see how funny I found it without company -- and mildly colorized. (I'm adding the black and white tag just in case you see the other version.)

Aristocrat Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard) goes to a New York City dump to find a "forgotten man" for a scavenger hunt. Godfrey (William Powell) accepts her invitation but doesn't enjoy the ritzy crowd. To make it up to him, Irene capriciously hires him as the family butler. He cleans up nicely and tries to do a good job, but it soon becomes clear why the Bullocks had an opening.

Life with Father (1947)

Nearly a year after my first Michael Curtiz comedy, I've tried a second. I'm afraid the restoration, at least on the DVD sent by Netflix, leaves something to be desired, less for the faded Technicolor than for the audio feedback that makes some dialog hard to understand. This probably has something to do with the movie passing into the public domain in 1975.

Based on a play based on a book based on the life of Clarence Day, Jr., this adaptation focuses more on his stockbroking father (William Powell) and his mother (Irene Dunne), somewhat peculiarly calling each other "Clare" and "Vinnie" respectively. The plot meanders, thanks partly to four sons having their own concerns, but an overarching theme is that Clare was never baptized and keeps rebuffing Vinnie's requests for him to rectify that. More broadly, he wants to run the household like he does the office, with little success. He's not the only stubborn family member.

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

The first decade of the Academy Awards (1928-1937) is notorious for having not-so-hot Best Picture winners and nominees on the whole. As a result, it has accounted for a large portion that I haven't seen yet. I just reduced that number in spite of mixed reviews from both contemporary and later critics.

Said to be mostly faithful to reality except for the ending, the film depicts stage producer Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. (William Powell) from his days as a struggling carnival barker in 1893 to his death in 1932. You might see him as cut from the same cloth as Donald Trump, what with his cycling between considerable wealth and brokeness, his dishonesty, his questionable business practices, and his womanizing. The last of these traits wins him two wives, Anna Held (Luise Rainer) and then Billie Burke (Myrna Loy, given second billing misleadingly but understandably in light of Powell). He also has a fair-weather-friendly rivalry with Jack Billings (Frank Morgan) through the years.

After the Thin Man (1936)

I remember very little from my viewing of The Thin Man (1934) years ago. I'm pretty sure it didn't do much for me. So why watch the immediate sequel? Partly as a refresher course for the iconic characters of Nick Charles (William Powell) and his wife Nora (Myrna Loy). Besides, perhaps they're an acquired taste like the alcohol Nick constantly consumes. Or for another drink analogy, perhaps my taste gets better with age.

From the looks of it, this story begins almost immediately after the events of the previous. The detective duo is receiving lots of positive attention from the media, tho Nick finds himself getting more from the riffraff types on the street. It serves to highlight the difference in background between him and aristocratic Nora. Nick would like never to take another case, but this time it's a family matter, and Nora's haughty aunt would rather call on a despised in-law than let the police handle it.