My Man Godfrey

The rich girl Irene with her protege...er, butler

My Man Godfrey is a classic 1936 screwball comedy starring William Powell and Carole Lombard. The time is The Great Depression, and a number of men down on their luck are living in the city dump. By chance, a party of rich people, including Irene Bullock, show up to claim one of the "forgotten men" to win a scavenger hunt. She chooses Godfrey and wins the hunt, and afterward offers him a job as the family butler. Hilarity Ensues as he is confronted with a mad household of spoiled brats and Cloud Cuckoolanders. While Irene falls madly in love with Godfrey, the feeling is not mutual (at first).

Tropes used in My Man Godfrey include:

• Awful Wedded Life: Alexander Bullock seems to treat his marriage this way through most of the film.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Irene and Mrs. Bullock.
• Credits Brand Products: The opening credits are on neon signs.
• Deadpan Snarker: Molly, the maid.
• Destination Defenestration: Carlo's fate, at Mr. Bullock's hands.
• Driven to Suicide: Godfrey's Backstory includes a low point in his life where he intended to drown himself, although he didn't go through with it.
• Emo: Irene's languid ennui after Godfrey's initial rejection is clearly proto-Emo behavior.
• Escape From the Crazy Place: Godfrey's initial reaction to his first day with the Bullocks.
• Fainting: Irene fakes a fainting spell when Godfrey seems about to leave with Cornelia.
• Hangover Sensitivity: Mrs. Bullock usually has one in the morning. She sees "pixies".
• Hidden Depths: Godfrey, who is more business savvy than he appears.
• Hideous Hangover Cure: "Pixie Remover," namely tomato juice and Worcestershire sauce.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: During a typical evening at home, Mr. Bullock takes a whole tray of martinis & asks Godfrey to repeat the order in 30 minutes.
• Insane Troll Logic: Irene seems to live inside this trope at times.
• Ivy League: Tommy Gray and Godfrey attended Harvard together.
• Looped Lyrics: Carlo singing "Ochi Tchorniye," but none of the other lyrics, so it's close to a Single-Stanza Song. Bonus points to Mrs. Bullock for not knowing the name of the song.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Irene is one of the first in film history.
• Motor Mouth: Both Mrs. Bullock and Irene at times.
• Only Sane Man: Mr. Bullock and Godfrey.
• Playing Drunk: Godfrey as the police search his room.
• Replacement Goldfish: Mrs. Bullock suggests Godfrey is this to Irene, who "hasn't cared for anything since her Pomeranian died last summer".
• Rich Bitch: Cornelia.
• Screwball Comedy
• Secretly Wealthy: Godfrey Smith (aka Godfrey Park).
• Servile Snarker: The maid Molly, especially to the cops.
• Spoiled Sweet: Irene. While ditzy, she still is kind to Godfrey, which is why he agrees to go with her for the scavenger hunt, as opposed to her older Rich Bitch sister.
• Time Skip: At least two, although they're subtle: first, the story jumps from Godfrey's first day as a butler to a point some weeks or months later; then there is a skip between the pearl necklace affair to what is probably the next spring, with a European trip for the Bullock girls in between.