My Man Godfrey, Gabriel Over The White House And Meet John Doe

MDST –Comedy
Movie Report

For this assignment I choose to see the following three movies: My Man Godfrey, Gabriel over the White House and Meet John Doe. The three movies give different perspectives on how comedy is used and the role it plays in what the movie wants to convey.
My Man Godfrey (1936) directed by Gregory LaCava present the typical screwball comedy of the 1930’s. The film presents the life of a rich family where the two daughters; completely opposite go down to a poor colony during a scavenger hunt to find a “forgotten man”. At the time the forgotten man was a common term that referred to those forgotten by society. After they find him they take him home as their butler and he ends up teaching the two sisters some lessons about reality and family values and helping the family out of bankruptcy.
The movie follows the usual comic plotting. As far as the characters go the youngest of the two sisters, Irene and most naïve and melodramatic one falls in love with her butler, an obvious mismatch. The two are complete opposites in personality, class and points of view. On the other hand the oldest sister Cornelia, plays the role of the more astute and manipulative of the two. From the beginning the sisters
are rivals, and we can notice that rivalry and opposition by the way they dress one dark and the other one in silver, also one blonde and the other brunette.
On the other hand, there is an uneven distribution of power between the men and women of the house, that almost equal out by the end.
For instance since the beginning we can notice that the father is one of the only reasonable persons in the house, he tries to explain money situations and also comments on ridiculous circumstances such as the scavenger hunt party; which he finds absurd. Even though we identify him as the most reasonable, his opinion is often put aside. In addition, the wife is kind of out of her mind… again an obvious mismatch. In addition, we can notice that even though Irene is the most naïve and childish, she is used to being in control and getting what she wants in any way, she shows that women can be in control and make the
move.
As far as the portrayal of society at the time we can see that Godfrey represents the issues of morality and class. Just by the title of the movie we can notice that there is an issue as Godfrey is understood to belong to someone; in this case Irene who offers to sponsor him. It funny then to see Godfrey imitate a monkey and the father say “why don’t imitate a man?” Another thing that I found interesting was the fact that each time it was Godfrey as the butler who was correcting Irene and her mother; he was the one using sophisticated words and teaching the proper ways to behave. At the end when Godfrey goes back to “the Dump” Irene goes out looking for him and finds out that the dump is actually a really nice place. We can see throughout the movie a transformation of the characters as they learn the realities that Godfrey represents.
In the 1933 movie “Gabriel Over the White House” LaCava goes further into politics. In this movie, the just elected president in the midst of the Great Depression, “Judd Hammond” suffers a car accident and after a coma wakes up a different person. Hammond goes from being a corrupt and careless person before the accident to an engaged president working for his people. However in this case we can see how the government transforms into a dictatorship. In this movie it is all about the political context and government decisions. There are however some issues typical of comedy such as the uncomfortable feeling that we do not know at the beginning who Hammond is or what has gotten into him. I thought it had a very dramatic ending with the death of Hammond at the end.
Finally in the 1941 movie “Meet John Doe” directed by Frank Capra the story is setup a little differently. Although it is still a comedy it found it way more dramatic than the other two movies. This movie tells the story of an average man who later is asked by a female journalist to incarnate the character she invents for a column. John Doe becomes a huge famous character representing the everyday average man. This movie has a much greater social weight as it protests against the political and social system in the U.S during the 1930’s.
Similarly to “My Man Godfrey” there is the obvious mismatch between the two characters that fall in love as well as the mismatch between the man who becomes John Doe and his partner/friend. In my opinion the relationships first start as comedic but turn much more dramatic throughout the movie. For instance we have the Doe character who is an unemployed ex baseball player who was only interested in accepting to be John Doe to get his arm fixed but turns out at the end willing to commit suicide in order to make a political and social point. In addition to the speeches he gives which are written by the journalist Ann Mitchell, when Doe talks for himself he makes several political points such as the one about the handshake and the one in the mare’s office. I also found interesting that although it is a socially and politically conscious movie it is ironic that at some point of the movie when Doe’s popularity dramatically increases he refuses to meet with certain people with the excuse that he does not “do politics”.
Moreover, in reference to Ann, the female journalist I think we can think of her as a little of a femme fatale; in the sense that she compromises her partner to dangerous situations. During parts of the movie we can also see it by her clothes: black dress and heels. The character is also very emphasized by the character of John Doe which is seen as way more passive and simple minded.
Also the corruption and scrupulous politics that are shown and the outcome for all of the characters gives the context for the film noir to take place. All of the characters are caught up in the situation they created themselves. For instance, Ann is caught up in the story she created and put other people in. In the same way Doe is at the end caught up in the character he embodied and was willing to die for it. In a bigger and more general way we can take a look at the people and realize that they themselves get caught up in a situation; a situation however different because they people is presented as a volatile mass, their belief change constantly as the media also transforms.
At the end the movie portrays and shows the importance of the ordinary American and its moral and social values; and more specifically how money can ruin the soul and deprive us from many other things. As was explained at the end of the movie the end chosen boosts the American moral with a hysterical fairy tale end. Yet, it is important to mention that in the original version John Doe jumps off the building and for the present movie more than one end was filmed. All in all I could notice that indeed the three movies had elements typical of comedy; some more than others, but at the end they all accomplish the goal of transmitting a message from a more acceptable and easier to receive mean. As was mentioned by Maria DiBattista, “what is comedy for” all revolved around the issues of values and conditioned and insinuated the viewers. Moreover, the three movies had the two premises of depicting American democracy as noble and based on meritocracy; there is always an onward mobility and room for transformation and change. Finally they take into account and honor the distinctions in mind and spirits.