Powell is the ideal we mortal men aspire to be. (Cary Grant's great, too, but he's simply, well, too superhuman.)

"My Man Godfrey" was adapted from the Eric Hatch novel "1001 Fifth Avenue" (Hatch himself assisted with the adaptation).

Yes, and "Jewel Robbery" even has drug humor (for 1932!), as Powell disarms his foes by offering them cigarettes laced with wacky tobacky.

After she retired from acting, Gail Patrick became producer of the "Perry Mason" TV series, which pleased author Erle Stanley Gardner more than the '30s films starring Warren William and others as Mason.

Powell never gets enough credit for his skill at physical comedy. His elevator scene in "Love Crazy" and the brilliant fishing scene in "Libeled Lady" are simply delightful.

Pallette was a fine father in "Godfrey," but my favorite '30s paterfamilias was the wonderful Walter Connolly. "No More Orchids," "It Happened One Night," "Libeled Lady"…as well as other films where his character isn't a father figure, such as "Twentieth Century" and "Nothing Sacred."

Universal wanted Constance Bennett for the female lead, and while Connie certainly could have pulled it off, she tended to be a bit flighty and a piece of work on the set. Powell thus insisted on getting Lombard loaned out from her home studio at the time, Paramount.

For a MPDG like a Zooey Deschanel character, Carole Lombard is what she wants to be when she grows up…assuming she grows up. (And from accounts I've read, Zooey is a fan of Lombard and other '30s icons.)

"My Man Godfrey" was made during the spring and early summer of 1936 and released that September. Harlow didn't die until June 1937, while Powell was shooting "Double Wedding" with Myrna Loy. But you are right that Bill and Carole remained on good terms after their divorce in August 1933, and even socialized in public…