It Happened One Night [DVD]

Enjoyed movie!

thankyou team

Frank Capra’s Academy Award for Best Picture-winning It Happened One Night is a romantic comedy that can also be (and has been) fairly accurately described as a screwball comedy. Many decades after it was made, it remains frequently very funny, but as one of the last pre-Code movies it is also worth watching for its risqué aspects, which the following year it might not have gotten away with.It happened One Night has a fairly predictable story that sees heiress Ellie Andrews running away from her father after he tries to have her marriage annulled and setting off on a cross country road trip for which she is spectacularly ill-equipped in order to reach her husband. She soon falls in with drunken newspaper reporter Peter Warne, and they take an instant dislike to one another: it doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to work out how their relationship will unfold. And indeed Capra doesn’t even bother trying to keep the audience guessing about where the film is heading, but provides a slightly mad-cap romp – written at the last minute on the insistence of his stars – in order to make the journey more interesting.What is striking about the film is that it thus revolves around a love affair between a single man and a married woman, something that the Code would almost certainly have not allowed. Or at least not in a screwball comedy in which Peter flippantly strips to his trousers in front of Ellie and later slaps her on the backside as he carries her across a river. By modern standards, the film is positively tame, but at the time it must have raised a few eyebrows. Especially as it concludes with Ellie abandoning her husband at the altar (their first wedding having been annulled) whilst her father looks on gleefully.Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean that It Happened One Night should be watched merely as a historical cinematic curiosity: it remains hugely entertaining. The on-screen chemistry between its two stars is palpable and Claudette Colbert is perfectly cast as the petulant Ellie, capable of being alternately irritating and endearing, whilst Clark Gable demonstrates great comic timing as Peter. The film is often very funny, from Claudette diving into the sea from her father’s boat, through such scenes as Peter and her posing as an arguing couple to hide her real identity from a pair of detectives, to Peter’s hilarious moment when Roscoe Karns’ Oscar Shapeley tries to blackmail him into turning Ellie in for the reward her father has posted and Peter terrifies him by pretending that he’s kidnapped her and wants his help in a possible shoot out with the cops.The film is full of amusing moments. There’s the hitch-hiking scene, the scene when Peter fails to thumb a lift after several attempts an Ellie succeeds by flashing her leg at a passing car, and Peter’s brilliantly grumpy conversation with Ellie’s father when he demands reimbursement for all of the belongings that he had to sacrifice whilst escorting her across country. In addition to the two stars, the story is filled with vaguely outlandish characters, resulting in great comedic performances from all concerned, including Karns but also Alan Hale as Danker, the singing car driver, Charles C. Wilson as Joe Gordon, Warne’s newspaper editor boss, and Walter Connolly as Alexander Andrews, Ellie’s possessive father (brilliantly, when he orders a telegram sent to the detectives he wants to track Ellie down, it begins with the line “daughter escaped again”).In amongst all of the jokes and comic set-pieces, the film is often quite touching too, such as when Ellie realises that she loves Peter and when – having returned home – her supposedly controlling father is sensitive enough to realise that she has found somebody other than her husband and promises to move heaven and earth to make her happy. It is often the little things that make the film great – the sing-along scene for example, which shows Ellie slowly shaking off her spoilt outlook on life. Much of this is down to Capra. A director who eschewed flashy techniques, he brings a perfect lightness of touch to the film and Joseph Walker’s cinematography suits his style, with shots that allow the cast room to move. Despite its age, the film still looks pretty good, although some of the exteriors are obviously filmed on studio sets rather than locations. That said, the sets are impressively detailed and convincing enough.The only way in which It Happened One Night hasn’t aged well is in Alexander slapping his daughter’s face and Peter suggesting that she needs a husband who will occasionally “sock” her to keep her in line: it’s an alarmingly casual attitude to violence towards women that isn’t comfortable. But when watching old films, it is inevitable that disturbing anachronisms will occasionally be found: they are the only sour note in a film that otherwise remains both funny and charming.

This is a romantic comedy that still can serve as a blueprint of one, dwarfing countless of the genre's younger movies by a big margin. One of the first movies to successfully tackle a cross-class romance (which was quite daring in the Big Crisis America), it featured one of the biggest celebrities of the decade, Clark Gable (who wore no undershirt in a crucial scene, after which their sales reportedly plummeted) and the French-born, big-eyed Claudette Colbert. As a common journalist and a rich heiress, under the sure hand of director Frank Capra, their chemistry is surprisingly palpable. Partly a road movie, it starts on a yacht, continues on a bus, in a car and climaxes in a beautiful New York garden, when a wedding (with not Gable as a groom) is to be held. One of the first large hits of Columbia studio, the movie is still inspiring after more than eight decades, yet it remains curiously innocent, as the complete fulfillment of the relationship indeed happened IN, not before marriage.

A wonderful Hollywood movie, with two of the greatest "A-listers" from the past at the height of their fame! It was good to see the versatility of Gable, particularly as he was noted for his more dramatic roles. I do believe that this was also the movie that decreased the sales of "men's vests" when he had to demonstrate how a man" gets undressed!"It was quite a treat to have the special features that were included with this DVD ,whereby the director, Frank Capra's son spoke of the origin of the script and made mention of Claudette Colbert's reaction to the making of the movie.More impressively, was the short period of time in which the movie was made and the audience's reaction to the film, which led to this film winning 5 Oscars from the Academy!Watching this movie still emotes a feel-good sensation and appeals to the "Romantic" within the viewer!A highly recommended feature and purchase!

For those who are likely to turn their nose up at old movies - try this one, I'm sure that you'll be glad you did. Although I tend to be hard to please as far as comedy films are concerned, rarely laughing out loud, and I am generally sceptical about purchasing films originally released before, say, 1940, I found this 78 year old gem to be thoroughly amusing and I realised afterwards that I had had a smile on my face all the way through it.The story has already been outlined in some detail but, suffice it to say that this really does give you the "feel good factor", and the players are perfectly cast. It's a long time since I have seen a film starring Claudette Colbert, but I shall be looking out for more.Rest assured, despite the age of the original film, the picture and sound quality are perfectly satisfactory. Thoroughly recommended!

Filmed in 4 weeks in 1934 and Claudette doubled her fee, incredible!!Cinema’s should find a slot to show some of the great black & white films, they would I think be onto a winner.

This film is so good, a comical romantic with 2 hollywood greats. for the price and quality its a bargin and so ettertaining

This movie is a gem. I cannot believe that no one in my family had ever watched it, as several of us love the older classics. I had at first checked out the dvd from the library, but, after watching it my hubby and I agreed we had to own it. We've been humming The Man On the Flying Trapeze for several weeks now!

If you've never seen this movie, watch it...its a classic comedy...great acting.

One of the best movies directed by Frank Capra and one of the most enjoyable. The picture, the print is of excellent quality and flawless. The blu Ray is from Criterion and that speaks of the quality.

Well acted and directed movie

Stilbildend für das Screwball-Comedy Genre waren zwei erfolgreiche Kinofilme aus dem Jahr 1934. Zum einen Howard Hawks Verfilmung des Theaterstücks "Napoleon vom Broadway" und vor allem Frank Capras mit fünf Oscar-Auszeichnungen in den wichtigsten Kategorien: Bester Film Bester Hauptdarsteller Clark Gable, Beste Hauptdarstellerin Claudette Colbert, Beste Regie Frank Capra, Bestes Drehbuch Robert Raskin. Es gab zwar schon früher Filme über den Kampf der Geschlechter, aber erst diese beiden Kinohits sollten genau dieser Gattung Filmen "Geschlechterkampf eines ungleichen Paars mit HappyEnd" zu einem erfolgreichen Markenzeichen machen. Auch Clark Gable und Claudette Colbert stehen sich am Anfang der Handlung eher als Antagonisten gegenüber, die sich nicht besonders leiden können. Aber nach der Überwindung vieler Hindernisse enden auch sie als Paar.Darüberhinaus ist "Es geschah in einer Nacht" auch ein klassisches Road-Movie und thematisiert ganz nebenbei noch die damalige Weltwirtschaftskrise. Denn Clark Gable hat als Filmfigur Peter Warne seinen Job als Reporter verloren. Aufgrund einer Alkohol-Eskapade und hat nur noch ein paar wenige Dollar in der Tasche. Er fährt wie viele Tausend mittellose Amerikaner in dieser Zeit mit der Greyhound-Buslinie in eine andere Stadt, um dort vielleicht Arbeit zu finden. Das Land baut sich gerade wieder etwas auf, wie zahlreiche neue Fastfood-Restaurant oder moderne Imbissbuden zeigen.Vorab hat aber in der ersten Szene die verwöhnte und leicht exzentrische Millionärstocher Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) gegen den Willen ihres steinreichen Vaters (Walter Connolly) den versnobten Glücksritter King Westley (Jameson Thomas) geheiratet. Der Vater besteht aufs Annulieren, das schmeckt der verwöhnten Göre nicht. Sie springt von der Jacht des Vaters vor Floridas Küste ins Wasser. An Land beschließt sie mit dem Greyhound Bus nach New York zu Westley zu reisen. Auf ihren Fersen sind die vom Vater engagierten Privatdetektive, die Polizei und im Grunde das ganze Land, denn der reiche Papa hat eine Summe von 10.000 Dollar demjendigen zugesagt, der weiß wo das Töchterchen steckt. Im Nachtbus trifft sie den hartgesottenen Reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable), dem soeben von seinem Boss gekündigt wurde. Natürlich bekommt der abgebrühte Sensationsreporter schnell mit, dass es sich bei der Fremden, die neben ihm Platz genommen hat, um die verschwundene Ellie Andrews handelt, deren Ziel King Westley heißt. Die beiden ungleichen Reisepartner kommen daher überein, dass Peter Warne von Ellie die Exklusivstory ihrer Flucht bekommt, dafür verspricht Warne aber auch, dass er Ellie bei King abliefert. Ein guter Deal für beide. Und daraus entstehen für die beide einige haarsträubende Abenteuer. Dabei kommen sich die beiden näher - denn sie müssen öfters in einem Motelzimmer nächtigen. Getrennt nur von den "Mauern von Jericho" - eine durchs Zimmer gezogene mit Wäsche behangener Leine, die die beiden auch moralisch trennen soll. Dabei verlieben sie sich allmählich ineinander...Am Ende der federleichten Comedy steht natürlich das HappyEnd, aber erst müssen noch einige Mißverständnisse aus dem Weg geräumt werden und die unsägliche Ehe muss annuliert werden. Ausserdem zeigt Gable der stinkreichen Colbert wie man einen Donut richtig in den Kaffee tunkt. Sie aber hat den besseren Trick beim Trampen. Sein bestimmter männlicher Daumen in die Wunschrichtung unterliegt ihrem entblößten weiblichen Bein. Schön auch die Szene als Arm und Reich im Bus den Song "The Man on the flying Trapez" begeistert singen. Was sehr gut passt zu dem ungleichen Paar - sie reich, er mittellos - und Capra tendiert da ja zum Märchen und bringt die beiden auch zusammen. Der Erfolg kam überraschend. Die Columbia hielt wenig von dem Film und brachte ihn ohne große Werbung in die Kinos. Die Kritik war verhalten, aber alleine die Mundpropaganda ließ "Es geschah in einer Nacht" zum riesigen Sensationserfolg des Jahres werden. Die Pointen allesamt treffsicher, der Humor geistreich und ironisch bis liebenswert. Er funktioniert auch heute noch bestens und wirkt nicht veraltet. Es kann gut sein, dass Capra das Lebensgefühl der Amerikaner mit diesem lockeren Filmspass traf. Von Anfang bis Ende herrscht einfach eine ausgelassene Stimmung und ein bisschen Märchen im Liebesfilm schadet nie. In späteren Dekaden wurde dies ja auch eindrücklich durch Filme wie "Pretty Woman" bewiesen.