Mark Winokur’s American Laughter is a detailed discussion about immigrants and ethnicity in film comedies of the 1930s. Chapter 4, entitled “Unlikely Ethnic Heroes” argues that in the classical Hollywood era, there were both conscious and unconscious desires ranging from immigrant studio heads to writers to expose the tension between “Americanization” and ethnicity and its later movement towards “Anglophilia”.

The chapter begins with an inventory of studio heads who made efforts to produce films in their own “image.” The films portray the abovementioned tension between ethic backgrounds and the movement towards “Americanization” by choosing leading actors who were previously cast as “villains, ethnics, or eccentric character actors.”

The chapter then moves towards framing this argument in the context of William Powell, the lead actor portraying Godfrey in My Man Godfrey. He is categorized as one actor who played largely character roles (an ethnic villain, in particular) and then made a transition towards becoming a lead actor. Winokur examines the character of Godfrey Smith (née Parkes) and his unrealistic origins and actions. However, his manner and speech convinces the audience that “he must be a gentleman in some way the film conceals from us.”

The chapter continues to describe the ethnicity of many involved in the creation of Godfrey, from La Cava (Italian) to Universal’s studio head Carl Laemmle (German). It is argued that Myron and David Selznick, Powell’s agent and producer, were responsible for Powell’s character transition. Winokur argues that it is this fantasy character that creates the sense that upward mobility can only be attained by denying origin or social/ethical structures.

Sound is also credited for character transition. Powell played many roles in silent films and when sound was introduced, it allowed Powell’s Mid-Atlantic accent to convince audience members of such metamorphosis. This was a successful transition for Powell despite that he didn’t “sound the way he looked.”