It Happened One Night (1934)
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It Happened One Night Movie Review
It Happened One Night is a 1934 romantic comedy directed by Frank Capra and starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. It’s one of the greatest films of all time.
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“I proved once and for all that
the limb is mightier than the thumb“
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It follows a rich girl who escapes her father and embarks on a road trip with a news reporter and the two eventually fall in love. Literally every romantic comedy convention is here – the man and the woman with a secret, the road trip, the falling in love under strange circumstances and the entire ending with the runaway bride and all.
But this movie started it all. Yes, it’s not really the very first romantic comedy, but it’s the first that really made the genre what it is and still did it best by a mile. Not one movie in the genre ever came close to this one as here we got a quintessential rom com with everything being flawlessly executed.
Let’s first talk about the characters. Claudette Colbert plays Ellie Andrews superbly. Ellie is such a well developed, intriguing character and a powerful woman by all means as the movie literally starts with her jumping off the ship and swimming to her freedom. She is fascinating throughout and I love her backstory and ladylike demeanor, but behind it all is a great adventurer and with that I really connected.
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Colbert truly had an amazing year in 1934 with this film, ‘Cleopatra’ and ‘Imitation of Life’ all being Best Picture nominees and she could have been nominated for either one of these roles as she’s great in all of them. But I am glad they chose this one as here she’s the most lively, the most realistic and the most subtle. Her performance is so modern and absolutely lovely throughout. Her Oscar win is one of the most deserved when it comes to this decade.
The same goes for Clark Gable who has never been more suave, more likable and downright fun in the role of Peter Warne. I liked the way he spoke here, the way he acted and his smart Alec behavior. Gable pulled this off both in terms of magnetism and in terms of genuinely grounded acting and thus we got two amazing, probably definitive performances for these two wonderful stars.
What makes this movie the undeniable masterpiece that it is has to be its romance as the relationship that develops between the two is simply inspired and absolutely beautiful to behold. I loved their bickering, their arguing, their laughing together, their adventures and they had so much fun in many scenes that the actors make you believe that they are together in real life. That’s how strong their chemistry truly is, and having in mind that they never kissed and yet made such a strong impression, well, that’s simply impressive on every level.
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Their relationship starts off strongly and ends subtly which I appreciated. The progression in their relationship felt genuine and realistic and I bought that they cared for each other in the end as the film takes us on this wonderful journey where we simply follow two people falling in love in these wonderfully fun and adventurous circumstances. It makes you wish that you had these moments of first romance yourself as it’s almost like a fairy tale how beautiful it all is.
It Happened One Night is famous for winning The Big Five Oscars and it deserved all of them. It truly is the Best Picture of the year and that win was beyond deserved and the same goes for the actors which I mentioned above, but the Adapted Screenplay win is also very much deserved as the film is simple, but never not sophisticated.
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I am of course talking about its Great Depression angle and some great touches when it comes to its time period which made this movie very timely and an absolute masterpiece for its era. Yes, it’s still a masterpiece by all means, but it was even more potent back in 1934 as finally audiences could see themselves on the screen as the two passed by so many regular, poor, financially struggling folk. But with these people we still see hope, charm and fun which made this movie a great testament for the director’s obviously great humanity.
And that brings me to the last of its five Oscars which is Best Director. Frank Capra was disappointed that he didn’t win his Oscar the year before for ‘Lady for a Day’, but I am glad that he didn’t as that movie is only solid and this one is an absolute treasure. The stars aligned so perfectly with all three of these stars and despite them all hating doing this picture, it caught them all at their peaks and that’s especially true for Capra as this was his first truly amazing movie.
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Yes, he would make more amazing movies afterwards, but this was the first flawless one where he showcased his sense of realism mixed with the fairy tale elements and that mix of his I always found perfect. His sense of humanity imbued this picture and especially an emphasis on the ordinary and the details which are meticulous, especially in the plethora of charming personalities the two meet along the way and in the small touches, mannerisms and facial expressions with the two stars.
It Happened One Night has so many instantly recognizable, iconic sequences that it’s difficult to pinpoint them all, but let’s say that the hitchhiking scene is the most iconic. But everything on the bus was also comedic gold and just their entire journey, and especially through the rural areas, was infectiously charming and fun.
The sound is perfect, the cinematography is absolutely stunning as the film both sounds and looks superb. The dialogue is top-notch, playful, brisk and it reminded of the screwball comedy genre. This film is a rom com, but it has those screwball elements which I adore. And the humor, oh how the humor is great here. The film made me laugh and smile throughout as it’s so funny in its beautifully utilized situations for laughs and a killer script and dialogue.
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With a killer script, brisk and playful dialogue, superb cinematography and two highly believable, hugely magnetic, absolutely perfect performances from Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, It Happened One Night also features a brilliant direction from Frank Capra who imbued this picture with a lot of his signature humanity and a great mix of realism and fairy tale elements. This was his first genuine masterpiece and thus the movie deserved all of its big five Oscars undoubtedly. It features one of the best, most beautiful romances in the history of cinema and following their journey was not only very funny, but also genuinely romantic and charming throughout while being filled with countless iconic moments. It remains the quintessential romantic comedy and one of the greatest, most purely entertaining films ever made.
