I mentioned my admiration for LaCava's (or more appropriately, his production designer's Charles D. Hall and special effects person John P. Fulton) re-creation of an East River NYC dump. The opening shots look like plausible location shots, but the later shots from Godfrey's "office" show how they accomplished the feat.
What sold the opening shots for me, were those shadows from the bridge on the building below--and the natural light that creates the shadows--indicates that its outdoors. If one compares the shot above with the one below, the placement of the far building changes from fronting the bridge to standing behind it. With that in mind, it's easier to see the half-bridge structure they built to marry with the masked matte shot they would later process into the scene.
It's somewhat harder to see through the window, but clearly the building has changed locations in the office window view of the bridge. The tug's reappearance twice in the scene betrays the more obvious projection shot used here.
This film was really my favorite so far. The actions of the characters were so strange and unique. I loved Irene's character. The way she kept stepping down and wanting to complete the butler's tasks showed that she was certainly different then the snobish people around her. She was willing to do the dishes, sew buttons, and other things to be equal with the lower social class.
ReplyDeleteI found Director La Cava’s use of animation very creative and engaging, and telling of his background. This stratagem was very effective; I found that I was extraordinarily attentive as the actors names appeared and disappeared across the screen. I think I was more attentive than I normally am when traditional credits roll because of the constant barrage of images. I imagine this kind of opening credit treatment was unusual at the time. The animated opening of this film reminded me of 007 movies. The opening gambits of every 007 film, like that of My Man Godfrey, use props that are pertinent to the setting and plot of the film. In the My Man Godfrey opening, the buildings and neon signs of New York City were used as the foundational backdrop for the film credits.
ReplyDeleteInteresting observations, however, this is my least favorite movie. Although, there are many comedies I do enjoy, this one was just a little over the top. And I have always wondered about the mothers in these movies: both Godfrey and Philadelphia Story. Why are the mothers portrayed as nitwits? What attraction did these women have for their respective husbands? When the young women get married, do the become "nitwits"? While Irene was well on her way to being a nitwit, I don't think Cordelia would become one, but of course I don't think she would end up with a strong character like Godfrey as a husband. Cordelia was my favorite character in this movie.
ReplyDeleteDianne, I have wondered the same things! Why were the mothers portrayed as “nitwits” in films of this era? Maybe they really were “nitwits,’ or maybe for the film’s sake they were “nitwits” so that their roles were discounted as having little viability in the film’s plot, other than perhaps comic relief!?! If the mothers (in The Philadelphia Story and My Man Godfrey) are indeed “nitwits,” how did they land the “big fish” money-making men that provided them with such extravagant lifestyles? I think it was because both the future husbands and the future wives were “society” as youngsters and were expected to marry within their class. Perhaps at the time each male was ready to marry, the “nitwit” he selected was “the cream of the crop!”
DeleteThe thought that the new brides would become “nitwit” mothers crossed my mind too. I threw that ‘baby out with the bath water’ because, in my mind, Tracy Lord was too intelligent and strong willed to let herself engage in futile pursuits. Phyllis Dietrichson was a crazy, psycho b****; who even though she made herself into a housewife was not (and never would be) mother material. Irene Bullock demonstrated the most potential of becoming a “nitwit” mother; however, throughout the film we watched as she morphed from a woman-child into the clear-minded and focused heroine. Hopefully, Irene will keep her free-spirit and temper it with her new-found sense of self and not revert into the “nitwit” character she portrayed at the start of the film.
I think that Cornelia could be the next Tracy Lord. If there was a strong man, such as Godfrey or C.K. Dexter Haven, in her life, perhaps Cornelia could be broken of her goddess complex. Look at the effect Godfrey had on Cornelia when he was saving the Dillard family and returned Cordelia’s pearls. Godfrey accomplished something that perhaps no other man had; he broke Cornelia.
This was also a question I've had. It seems a bit strange to me! Maybe it's because my own mother is the farthest from "nitwit". It seems to be because these movies are set a long time ago, when many women didn't work because they didn't have to. I'm even assuming that maybe these mothers did not attend school and got married right away. Therefore, they may just be spoiled house-wives who turned into mothers.
DeleteHowever, that's just a thought! I do believe they are over dramatized because they are comedies.
DeletePeach - I too like the animation in the opening credits. They did a nice job of setting the tone of the comedy before the action ever starts. The music has a similar job. Rather than big orchestration like we saw in Jezebel, the ragtimey jazz tune helped to establish a fun, upbeat tone in conjunction with the animation.
ReplyDeleteDianne - I also noticed that Irene's mother was not exactly a strong matriarch. She was a nitwit, especially since she doesn't know what a nitwit is. The males of the film (besides Godfry, of course) were no more admirable, though. Carlo was a complete goof who only hung around to fill his stomach and to enjoy the life of luxury; Mr. Bullock could not keep his family grounded or limit them from excess as he tried so many times to do; and the men at the bank in the opening scene think more of their own entertainment than the human beings they objectify through the scavenger hunt. I don't think the mother's character was a sexist jab at the role of the wife as much as it was to emphasize Godfry's redeeming qualities by contrast.
I don't think you could call Tracy's mother a nitwit. She seemed one of the more sensible characters in the film, though she was perhaps a bit too sensible about her husband's self-serving theories. But that, of course, was part of the film's pattern for female behavior.
ReplyDeleteI think the mother just fit the bill of the upper class mother that didn't have enough to keep her busy so she found things such as knitting, entertaining friends, or training a man to be a ape to keep her interests. I do think she was redeemed at the end of the film by showing how much she cared for each of her daughters, no matter what trouble they found themselves in.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting! I would have never known. I think they did a good job in showing this scene in the beginning and at the end so that the audience would be unable to point that out (at least during the first time viewing the film! I thought this was a great film. Very funny, and a great story line. The actors played their parts well. I think the over dramatized Irene made the movie that much more a comedy!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the opening set. Did they go to the trouble to dump that much trash on the set or did they build a mound to set the trash on? It seems an odd question, but i was just wondering since they went to the trouble to build the scaffolding to match the bridge.
ReplyDeleteReviewing your observations regarding the bridge and the dump set was interesting. I would have thought that they shot the opening scene from one side of the river, while shooting the closing scene from the opposite side of the river; and adjusting the focus with the camera to blur the back ground, and sharpen the foreground. If you look at the first image, there is a building on the far side already constructed. Looking at the last scene, the far shore is not visible as we see the central building lined up with the arched support of the bridge. We are unable to see the shore where the dump would be other than a lower elevation. I did like this movie, even though a bit on the dimwitted side for me. It was so far-fetched from reality that it did make me laugh, as the time flew by rapidly. The characters were not well educated, but I believe the mother tried to keep her role as the “mother” watching over the children, even though she had her ill-faults, or as one mentioned, might have been bored with life as she expected an easy, carefree, lazy, selfish life as it were. The film makes the audience laugh, and forget the reality of the war time depression. People appreciate that life could be a “dump”, yet living in some sort of a home, with people to share your life, are all that a person needs to survive in a social circle no matter the level.
ReplyDeleteI wondered why there was so much attention on the dump when the main focus was the comedy that took place within the family. What significance did the dump play in the realm of the entire film?
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