The ultimate, the best, the classic, the romantic comedy. You know all of those movies with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant (and any number of their contemporaries)? Love them or hate them, "It Happened One Night" is the reason for their existence.
Made in 1934, Frank Capra directed Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in one of the best movies of the century. The story of a spoiled heiress who jumps ship (literally) and fleas to New York to start a life of her own and a newspaper reporter who finds himself sitting beside her on the bus from Miami to New York, this movie is one of the funniest and most romantic movies I've ever seen -- this, coming from a cold-hearted Grinch.
Other than the performances, what makes the movie soar is the screenplay. The writer, Robert Riskin, gave these characters soul and a sense of humor that is all their own. This was typical for the male characters before this movie -- all of them were different. But all of the female characters were kind of two-dimensional comedically. None of them gave as good as they got, really. Until Claudette's turn as Ellie Andrews. Even as a 79-year-old, I would still marry this woman.
The film was the first of three to win the "Big Five" Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay). This achievement would not be duplicated until 1975 with "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and then again in 1991 with "The Silence of the Lambs." For this movie to sweep the Oscars in this unprecedented way was both expected and deserved.
The brilliant simplicity of the story -- all of it can be told in the time of about sixty seconds -- and the endearing genre created by a single movie are the film's biggest contributions. While there have been many re-hashings of the story, many duplicates of the characters, and many attempts to recreate the humor and the spark between Gable and Colbert, no romantic comedy has ever come close to "It Happened One Night."
Seriously, just watch the movie. Netflix has it to watch instantly, every Blockbuster should have a copy, and Google Videos even has it in its entirety. Just watch it, and thank me later.
Colton,
ReplyDeleteI've been reading your blog & I'm thoroughly entertained! I've sometimes contemplated watching AFI's top 100 movies, but I don't have the will power to carry it out. There are a few that I obviously need to see, and am much more likely to view after reading your reviews.
I hope you're having a good summer! I miss you!
Also, lets be real: I hope you wouldn't marry a 79 year old woman, even one as elegant as Claudette. You really aren't entirely a cold-hearted grinch either.
I'm going to watch "It Happened One Night" on Google Videos, so you rave review better be legit.
Love,
Liz Jones