Movies Where a Butler is an Important or Memorable Character
As Marilyn Monroe says in "All About Eve" (1950), I can't call for the butler -- maybe someone's name is Butler. Yes, butler is a recurrent character in classic Hollywood movies, and very often quite a memorable character or even a significant one. Here is a lost of such films -- those that I watched and recalled.
It's a funny thing -- I watched an old movie the other day, a "whodunit," and there the butler was the killer -- for real! I used to think this is just a recurrent joke... (I won't name the movie, though.)
It's a funny thing -- I watched an old movie the other day, a "whodunit," and there the butler was the killer -- for real! I used to think this is just a recurrent joke... (I won't name the movie, though.)
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- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.“Oh, that butler,” Erich von Stroheim used to say when somebody brought up the unforgettable character he played in this film.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsWilliam PowellCarole LombardAlice BradyA scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler - but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsCary GrantConstance BennettRoland YoungA fun-loving couple, finding that they died and are now ghosts, decide to shake up the stuffy lifestyle of a friend of theirs.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperJean ArthurGeorge BancroftA unassuming greeting card poet from a small town in Vermont heads to New York City upon inheriting a massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who wish to take advantage of him.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsJoel McCreaVeronica LakeRobert WarwickHollywood director John L. Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.
- DirectorEugene FordeStarsWarner OlandDrue LeytonRay MillandCharlie visits a wealthy country home in England. Suspects in the murder range from a housekeeper, to a stableman, to a lawyer.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandRosalind RussellRobert will do anything to get the big account that has eluded him. His public relations business makes public angels of rich scoundrels. Jean needs someone to save the paper and she wants Robert.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsHerbert MarshallJean ArthurLeo CarrilloAn executive lets an attractive cook talk him into taking a job as butler.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleRay MillandRoland YoungSent by her employers on an errand to the home of the wealthy Mrs. Vincent, Irene O'Dare meets Don, a friend of Mrs. Vincent's son Bob. Attracted to Irene, Don decides to invest some money in Bob's latest venture, the "Madame Lucy" dress shop, in order to give Irene a job there as a model. She is very successful and Bob also becomes attracted to her. Smith, the manager, assigns Irene and other models to display gowns at Mrs. Vincent's charity ball, but Irene ruins the gown she was to wear, and appears instead in a quaint blue dress that had belonged to her mother--and it is a big hit. A guest, Princess Minetti, places her as the niece of Ireland's Lady O'Dare, and Irene does not deny the relationship. Smith decides to set her up in a Park Avenue suite as Lady O'Dare's niece so she can attend socially-important gatherings, wearing and displaying "Madame Lucy" gowns. A jealous model tells the truth to a newspaper columnist who writes an expose' that strains the relationship between Irene and Don, who had been away and was unaware of the scheme--and is the real owner behind the "Madame Lucy" front.
- DirectorRoy Del RuthStarsRobert TaylorLoretta YoungBasil RathboneA maid secretly marries the son of her wealthy boss.
- DirectorPreston SturgesStarsBarbara StanwyckHenry FondaCharles CoburnA trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsJean ArthurEdward ArnoldRay MillandWhen a wealthy banker throws his wife's expensive fur coat off a roof and it lands on the head of a stenographer, everyone assumes she is his mistress and has access to his millions.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsCharles BoyerRita HayworthGinger RogersA formal tailcoat that gets passed from one owner to another affects each life in a significant way.
- DirectorGregory La CavaStarsIrene DunneRobert MontgomeryPreston FosterSmall town girl meets and falls for a playboy type on a train to New York. For him, the fling is over when they arrive, but she continues to carry a torch. She meets and marries his brother, a mismatch which eventually grows into real love.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsMarcel DalioNora GregorPaulette DubostA bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
- DirectorWesley RugglesStarsJean ArthurFred MacMurrayMelvyn DouglasLong-missing Bill Cardew returns to find his wife Vicky remarried...and in no hurry to settle for just one husband.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLaurence OlivierJoan FontaineGeorge SandersA self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat's wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife's spectral presence.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsDeanna DurbinFranchot TonePat O'BrienA young girl visits New York for two reasons: to see her half-brother, and to try to start a musical career.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsHumphrey BogartLauren BacallJohn RidgelyPrivate detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsGregory PeckAnn ToddCharles LaughtonA happily married London barrister falls in love with the accused poisoner he is defending.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsJean HarlowRobert TaylorReginald OwenRaymond Dabney returns to his family after trouble with the law. He convinces the sheriff to give him a job watching the house and furniture of widow Crystal Wetherby without knowing she is engaged to his brother.
- DirectorAlexander HallStarsRobert MontgomeryClaude RainsEvelyn KeyesBoxer Joe Pendleton dies 50 years too soon due to a heavenly mistake, and is given a new life as a millionaire playboy.
- DirectorStephen RobertsStarsWilliam PowellJean ArthurJames GleasonA wealthy mystery writer uses her doctor ex-husband's non-payment of alimony to coerce him into a reconciliation.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsLoretta YoungJoseph CottenEthel BarrymoreAfter leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an unexpected path towards politics.
- DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsConstance BennettBrian AherneAlan MowbrayDizzy society matron Emily Kilbourne has a habit of hiring ex-cons and hobos as servants. Her latest find is a handsome "tramp" who shows up at her doorstep and soon ends up in a chauffeur's uniform. He also catches the eye of her pretty Geraldine.