Year: 1934
Rating: 
(out of )
Rating: 9.1 (out of 10)
Director: Frank Capra
Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Clobert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns, Jameson Thomas, Alan Hale, Arthur Hoyt, Blanche Friderici, Charles C. Wilson
Story by: Samuel Hopkins Adams
Screenplay by: Robert Riskin
Duration: 105 minutes
It Happened One Night was the film that won the great Capra's first of three directing Academy Awards, and was the first film to pick up the 'big five' Oscars. This feat was not repeated until more than forty years later with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Capra went on to make his renowned films It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, which surprisingly were not the other two Academy Awards that he won.
The story starts with Ellie running away from her rich banker father because he won't allow her to marry the man she loves. There are barely any implausible scenes apart from the initial escape. While she makes her escape, she is noticed by a journalist who senses a great story. He helps her to hide from the pursuers and requests for exclusive rights to her story. What happens to the two is obvious. Viewers should be careful when saying "That was predictable," about anything else, because there is a good chance that you are influenced by the many films that have copied from these classics.
It Happened One Night is one of the best examples of the screwball comedy genre.
Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are delightful in the two leading roles, and the supporting characters, for instance Mr. Shapeley, are a pleasure to watch.
The hilarious script was masterly constructed and executed equally deftly by Capra. There were so many light touches of brilliance that simply make the film an absolute pleasure.
Rough editing is expected from non-extravagant films before the 1950s, something also experienced in It's a Wonderful Life.
: Classic
: Highly recommended; Excellent
: Recommended
: Okay; Passable
: Time-Killer
: Ill-advised cure for boredom
: Keep an alarm clock beside you, also usually suitable to end a relationship
: Try to restrain yourself from inflicting pain to anything nearby, including yourself and the screen, on realisation of how much time and money you have wasted
Zero: This is a film?
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� 1999 Michael Chen