In 1936, Auer was cast as Alice Brady's protégé in the comedy "My Man Godfrey", for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Prior to that, he had been mostly playing villains. He stated, "That one role made a comic out of me." From then on, he was regularly cast in zany comedy roles. Auer played the ballet instructor Kolenkov in the Best Picture-winning "You Can't Take It with You" and the prince-turned-fashion designer in Walter Wanger's "Vogues of 1938". Auer can also be seen cavorting in such films as: "Arsène Lupin" (1932), "One Hundred Men and a Girl", "Hold That Ghost", "Destry Rides Again", "Spring Parade", "Hellzapoppin"', "Cracked Nuts", "Lady in the Dark", and "Up in Mabel's Room" (1944). He was also one of the large cast of "And Then There Were None", and appeared in a pair of vehicles for opera singer Lily Pons.