Career
Eventually moving to Hollywood, he established a career as a film actor and director Godfrey began his career as a conjuror, clown, actor and director in repertory theatres around the United Kingdom. However, he became increasingly dissatisfied with the standard repertory plays, being himself attracted to the experimental works of American and Continental directors, and the avant-garde playwrights of the 1920s.
The Gate Theatre Studio opened on 30 October 1925, and after staging plays by Molière and Strindberg established its reputation with a production staged in 1926 of Georg Kaiser"s From Morn to Midnight, London"s first expressionistic production.
In 1927 the theatre club moved to Villiers Street, where it reached the peak of its success in the 1930-1931 season. Godfrey directed two British films in the early 1930s.
In 1936 he directed a production of C. L. R. James"s play Toussaint Louverture at the Westminster Theatre. Godfrey moved to New York in around 1937, where he continued to write and produce plays.
In 1939, now in Hollywood, he took up directing more permanently.
In 1942 he became a dialogue director for Radio-Keith-Orpheum and Columbia Pictures. By the late 1940s Godfrey was a prominent director, working on films such as the Errol Flynn vehicles Cry Wolf and Escape Maine Never. In the 1950s he switched to television and directed episodes for a variety of shows.