Editing My Man Godfrey (section)

===Original===
It was the first film released under the aegis of Charles Rogers and was given a big premiere at [[Pantages Theatre (Hollywood)|The Pantages Theatre]] in [[Hollywood, California|Hollywood]], with comedian [[George Jessel (actor)|George Jessel]] as [[master of ceremonies]].<ref name="latimes_1936_09_01_newspapers_com" /> ''My Man Godfrey'' premiered on September 6, 1936, and was released in the United States on September 17.<ref name=":0" /> It was a runaway hit and earned huge profits for the studio.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="the_collection" />

The movie was one of the most acclaimed comedies of 1936.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Staff|title=Nation's Critics Pick 10 Best Films|date=January 7, 1937|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|page=17}}</ref><ref name="godfrey_1935_variety">[https://variety.com/1935/film/reviews/my-man-godfrey-1200411202/ "My Man Godfrey,"] December 31, 1935, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]],'' retrieved May 27, 2024</ref> ''Variety'' called it a "splendidly produced comedy," with Powell and Lombard "pleasantly teamed" as Lombard plays the most "screwy" of the various "screwball dames" she has ever played.<ref name="godfrey_1935_variety" />

Writing for ''The Spectator'' in 1936, [[Graham Greene]] gave the film a moderately positive review, characterizing it as "acutely funny [for three-quarters of its way]". Particularly praising the scene of the scavenging party, Greene finds it to be "perhaps the wittiest, as well as noisiest, sequence of the year". Considering the end of the film, however, he notes that "the social conscience is a little confused" and he wishes for a more "dignified exit".<ref>{{cite news|last= Greene|first= Graham|author-link= Graham Greene|date= October 2, 1936|title= Maria Bashkirtseff/My Man Godfrey|newspaper= [[The Spectator]]}} (reprinted in: {{cite book|editor-last= Taylor|editor-first= John Russell|editor-link= John Russell Taylor|date= 1980|title= The Pleasure Dome|url= https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/104|pages= [https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/104 104–106]|publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 0192812866}})</ref>