The Baroness and the Butler (1938)

Absolutely Fantastic

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

When I read the summary of this film, I immediately thought: This is almost like "My Man Godfrey", all over again. with William Powell again employed as an exemplary butler for part of the film(the first half of the present film, and the last half of the former film.) In both films, Powell has a social conscience, and it's clear he has the potential to rise above his present station, and make a young woman of the household fall in love with him, despite his starchy manner. Although "My Man Godfrey" is much better remembered, I find the two not so different. The main problem I see with this film is the thick French accent of the leading lady: Annabella, which is often virtually unintelligible, this being her first Hollywood film spoken in English. Also, her personality is rather different from that of Carol Lombard, in "My Man Godfrey". By the following year, in "Bridal Suite", her English had considerably improved.Walter Lang, the director, would go on to direct many of Fox's numerous musical romances over the next 2 decades. ...The indomitable Hellen Westley, as Annabella's society mother, often brings measure of humor to her exuberant personality. ...Henry Stephenson plays his usual role as a grandfatherly, tolerant, gentleman, in the part of Count Sandor, Annabella's father and presently prime minister of Hungary(Why Hungary was chosen as the location of this story escapes me).... Joseph Schildkraut played Annabella's Baron husband, until the ending, when Annabella dumps him for Powell..., Lynn Bari who made a career out of playing 'the other woman' or an evil woman, is a maid. She keeps hinting that she would like to have a relationship with Powell, but he only has eyes for Annabella. There's quite a bit of humor here, mostly situational. Powell has been doing some political thinking and organizing behind Stephenson's back, becoming leader of the opposition Social Progressive party. Strangely, Stephenson isn't alarmed about this unprecedented situation. In fact, he rationalizes it as possibly beneficial to his role as Prime Minister. Even when, in parliament, Powell chews up the record of the Conservative party and Stephenson's role in particular, Stephenson doesn't seem too upset. However, Powell claims he's going to maintain his position as the family's butler along with his political role. Soon, it becomes clear that this is an impossible combination to carry out(as any sensible person would immediately see). Hence, Stephenson gently fires him, ending a long tradition of service started by Powell's ancestors. This act induces Annabella to speed up her romantic dallying with Powell, inducing her husband to divorce her, as she wishes.See this charming and funny film at YouTube.

Another of Ladislaus Bus-Fekete's Hungarian drawing-room comedies, this one is expertly acted – especially by William Powell, who gives a superbly polished performance that is not outclassed by the super- beautiful and wonderfully vivacious Annabella. It's also very slickly directed by Walter Lang. True, the script – as might be expected from the Hollywood line-up of Sam Hellman, Lamar Trotti and Kathryn Scola – is a trifle too well-served and most definitely overweight, but this problem with the main dish is almost fully disguised by the supporting ensemble: Annabella, radiantly photographed by Arthur Miller (surely the king of Hollywood's cinematographers), with no less a gifted assistant than Joseph La Shelle on the camera itself, plus glistening costumes, radiant sets and a sparkling music score. In fact, The Baroness and the Butler is almost too much of a good thing.

The Baroness and the Butler" is a film set in Hungary. However, the accents by the various actors are confusing to say the least! None of the cast was Hungarian and most of the actors sounded like Americans--with the exception of Joseph Schildkraut (an Austrian) and Annabella (A Frenchwoman, though her accent is bizarre and difficult to understand). I really wish the film was close captioned...it needed it! I also wish the director had re-shot many of Annabella's scenes as she needed to be clearer and easier to understand. She might have been a lovely person in real life--but she was a terrible actress in English language films.The story is utterly ridiculous--so just be prepared to suspend disbelief and watch. The story is set in the home of the Baron (who is also the Prime Minister) and his privileged family. Their head butler is perfect and efficient (William Powell) and this sense of perfection is thrown for a loop when they learn that this butler was just elected to Parliament--as the opposition leader! How could the butler run for Parliament and NO ONE realize it until he's elected?! Again...you must turn off your brain and just accept this. What you also must not question is the notion that the butler will CONTINUE to be the butler AND lead the opposition at the same time!! It's all completely ludicrous and the only aspect of this silly plot I liked is how it showed just how completely clueless these nobles and their families were. After all, they act as if the butler and all their staff were 100% happy robots! What follows is a strange and even more unbelievable romance that blossoms from out of nowhere-- nowhere except the strange mind of the writer.So we have a ridiculous story and a leading lady who needs closed captioning. What did I like about the film? Well, as usual, William Powell is impressive even if the script isn't. As usual, he's polished, likable and makes his acting seem natural. He manages to make a crappy script work...kind of.So how could this have worked well? The butler could have instead come forward about running for office and then the fireworks could have exploded. Then, after winning, the film could have worked just fine. This would have at least taken care of that problem with the script. As for the romance....well, it was simply doomed and shouldn't have been in the film at all.

This 1938 film, set in an area soon to come under the sway of the Nazi blitzkrieg, perpetuates a dangerous myth which threatens the survival of humanity even today: that the working class can get along with (and even marry into!) the castle owning ilk. Maybe in some alternate universe Adolf Hitler could have settled down with a nice Jewish girl and raised 8 kids; maybe there Donald Trump would hire more people than he fired; maybe there Michigan would have double the number of auto builders today compared to 35 years ago (in reality, there are 90% fewer people on the line now); maybe there the wealthy officers would perform the trench warfare as peasants looked on from distant bunkers with binoculars; maybe there guys in neck ties would not be sitting at desks scheming so hard to "privatize" the streets we travel, the water we drink, and the air we breathe; maybe there the top 1% who owned one-third of everything would not be so envied by the next 9% who had to split another third of everything among themselves that these bitter greed-heads would not feel so compelled to take away more of the final third from the 90% of us who make up the working class, but WE have to live in the universe of here and now.Go ahead, watch THE BARONESS AND THE BUTLER as pure entertainment, rather than as the actual subversive opiate for the masses that Hollywood has churned out for more than a century. (If movies were "green lit" by real Americans from the working folk, flicks such as THE BARONESS AND THE BUTLER or PRETTY WOMAN would never be made!) Why won't Hollywood tell the truth about the likelihood of a working class lamb lying down peacefully with a top 1% lion? Well, to quote Jack Nicholson, it's because YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH.