Movies Where a Butler is an Important or Memorable Character
by lora-31 | created - 02 Feb 2011 | updated - 29 Jul 2013 | PublicAs 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.)
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1. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir
A screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson
Votes: 236,220
“Oh, that butler,” Erich von Stroheim used to say when somebody brought up the unforgettable character he played in this film.
2. My Man Godfrey (1936)
Approved | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler - but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick
Votes: 26,430
3. Topper (1937)
Passed | 97 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
A fun-loving couple, finding that they died and are now ghosts, decide to shake up the stuffy lifestyle of a friend of theirs.
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke
Votes: 8,312
4. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A 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.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander
Votes: 23,200
5. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Passed | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Hollywood director John L. Sullivan sets out to experience life as a homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest
Votes: 28,491
6. Charlie Chan in London (1934)
Open | 79 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Charlie visits a wealthy country home in England. Suspects in the murder range from a housekeeper, to a stableman, to a lawyer.
Director: Eugene Forde | Stars: Warner Oland, Drue Leyton, Ray Milland, Mona Barrie
Votes: 2,165
7. Four's a Crowd (1938)
Approved | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
Robert 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.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles
Votes: 1,322
8. If You Could Only Cook (1935)
Passed | 72 min | Comedy, Romance
An executive lets an attractive cook talk him into taking a job as butler.
Director: William A. Seiter | Stars: Herbert Marshall, Jean Arthur, Leo Carrillo, Lionel Stander
Votes: 1,422
9. Irene (1940)
Approved | 101 min | Comedy, Musical, Mystery
Sent 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 ... See full summary »
Director: Herbert Wilcox | Stars: Anna Neagle, Ray Milland, Roland Young, Alan Marshal
Votes: 773
10. Private Number (1936)
Approved | 80 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A maid secretly marries the son of her wealthy boss.
Director: Roy Del Ruth | Stars: Robert Taylor, Loretta Young, Basil Rathbone, Patsy Kelly
Votes: 533
11. The Lady Eve (1941)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
A trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
Director: Preston Sturges | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 23,354
12. Easy Living (1937)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Romance
When 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.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, Ray Milland, Luis Alberni
Votes: 4,163
13. Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Passed | 118 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A formal tailcoat that gets passed from one owner to another affects each life in a significant way.
Director: Julien Duvivier | Stars: Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda
Votes: 2,506
14. Unfinished Business (1941)
Approved | 96 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
Small 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... See full summary »
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: Irene Dunne, Robert Montgomery, Preston Foster, Eugene Pallette
Votes: 320
15. The Rules of the Game (1939)
Not Rated | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.
Director: Jean Renoir | Stars: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély
Votes: 31,295
16. Too Many Husbands (1940)
Passed | 81 min | Comedy, Romance
Long-missing Bill Cardew returns to find his wife Vicky remarried...and in no hurry to settle for just one husband.
Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Jean Arthur, Fred MacMurray, Melvyn Douglas, Harry Davenport
Votes: 1,695
17. Rebecca (1940)
Approved | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A 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.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson
Votes: 146,608 | Gross: $4.36M
18. His Butler's Sister (1943)
Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Music
A young girl visits New York for two reasons: to see her half-brother, and to try to start a musical career.
Director: Frank Borzage | Stars: Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Pat O'Brien, Akim Tamiroff
Votes: 556
19. The Big Sleep (1946)
Passed | 114 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
Private 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.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers
Votes: 90,463 | Gross: $6.54M
20. The Paradine Case (1947)
Approved | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A happily married London barrister falls in love with the accused poisoner he is defending.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn
Votes: 12,372
21. Personal Property (1937)
Approved | 84 min | Comedy, Romance
Raymond 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.
Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: Jean Harlow, Robert Taylor, Reginald Owen, Una O'Connor
Votes: 1,101
22. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
Passed | 94 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Boxer Joe Pendleton dies 50 years too soon due to a heavenly mistake, and is given a new life as a millionaire playboy.
Director: Alexander Hall | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains, Evelyn Keyes, Rita Johnson
Votes: 7,362
23. The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Mystery
A wealthy mystery writer uses her doctor ex-husband's non-payment of alimony to coerce him into a reconciliation.
Director: Stephen Roberts | Stars: William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Gleason, Eric Blore
Votes: 2,184
24. The Farmer's Daughter (1947)
Unrated | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After leaving her family's farm to study nursing in the city, a young woman finds herself on an unexpected path towards politics.
Director: H.C. Potter | Stars: Loretta Young, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Charles Bickford
Votes: 2,879
25. Merrily We Live (1938)
Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Romance
Dizzy 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 ... See full summary »
Director: Norman Z. McLeod | Stars: Constance Bennett, Brian Aherne, Alan Mowbray, Billie Burke
Votes: 2,263
26. The Grass Is Greener (1960)
Approved | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Victor and Hilary have guided tours in their English mansion. A US oil tycoon "bumps" into Hilary during a tour and charms his way into her heart. Meanwhile, Hattie pursues Victor.
Director: Stanley Donen | Stars: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons
Votes: 5,837 | Gross: $6.00M
27. The Baroness and the Butler (1938)
Passed | 80 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A butler gets elected to the Hungarian parliament where he opposes his master's government.
Director: Walter Lang | Stars: William Powell, Annabella, Helen Westley, Henry Stephenson
Votes: 691
28. How to Murder Your Wife (1965)
Approved | 118 min | Comedy
A dedicated bachelor drunkenly marries a young woman and immediately lives to regret it.
Director: Richard Quine | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Virna Lisi, Terry-Thomas, Eddie Mayehoff
Votes: 6,942 | Gross: $12.47M
29. Paradise Lagoon (1957)
Approved | 94 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance
In 1905, Lord Henry Loam and his family and servants are shipwrecked on a deserted island where the survival of the fittest renders the rigid class system irrelevant.
Director: Lewis Gilbert | Stars: Kenneth More, Diane Cilento, Cecil Parker, Sally Ann Howes
Votes: 1,982
30. Her Man Gilbey (1944)
Approved | 77 min | Comedy, Romance, War
While bird-fancier Lady Christabel Beauclark (Dame Margaret Rutherford) scurries around demanding certain territorial rights for British birds from other countries, Her Ladyship's niece is ... See full summary »
Director: Harold French | Stars: Michael Wilding, Margaret Rutherford, Penelope Dudley-Ward, Lilli Palmer
Votes: 345
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