It Happened One Night (1934)

“I never did like the idea of sitting on newspapers. I did it once, and all the headlines came off on my white pants. On the level! It actually happened. Nobody bought a paper that day. They just followed me around over town and read the news on the seat of my pants.” – Peter Warne

Number of Times Seen – 2  (8 May 2008 and 25 Feb 2014)

Brief Synopsis – A debutante trying to escape her father travels to New York to meet her new husband is helped along the way by a man who is really a reporter.

My Take on it – This movie is credited with being the first romantic comedy which paved the way for many others in the decades to follow.

The characters are somewhat memorable and the story has some great dialogue.  Both Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert have great chemistry together and it’s interesting that neither of them were the first choice for those roles and neither of them were so happy to have been in the movie at the time.

This was Frank Capra’s first BIG movie and he did it remarkably well which isn’t surprising for those familiar with his later work.

This movie won all 5 of it’s Oscar Nominations – Picture, Director (Capra), Actor (Gable), Actress (Colbert) and Adapted Screenplay.

It is one of only 3 Best Picture winners to win all 5 top categories.  The other two are One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Silence of the Lambs (1991).

This is also one of only 3 Best Picture Winners to win all of it’s nominations.  The other two are The Last Emperor (1987) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

The idea of the cartoon character Bugs Bunny came from watching this movie.  There is a scene where Gable eats a carrot leaning on a fence and that scene inspired the beloved rabbit’s creation.

The problem with this movie is that it’s doesn’t age so well and I think it was much more enjoyable to watch back in 1934 than it is today.

Bottom Line – Very good screwball rom-com, just doesn’t really age well.  Recommended!

Rating – Globe Worthy

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