Special Issues of the Dark Pages Newsletter, 1001 Movies I (Apparently) MUST See Before I Die, Femme Noir: Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: Actors of Film Noir. It really doesn’t have any real pre-Code touches that I can point to, except the blowing of the horn at the end, maybe. Muriel said this on May 6, 2019 at 9:17 pm | Reply. This works much better than so many other variations of the romantic comedy formula since neither acts out of a sense of selfishness, but rather a sense of panic that’s been forming about their encroaching arrival at the gates of something resembling maturity. After escaping from her father, Ellie embarks on a bus trip to New York, where she meets reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable), who has just been fired from his job. Another of my favorite scenes is the last between the newspaper publisher, Gordon, and Peter. Claudette Colbert reportedly objected to the scene where she had to pull up her skirt in an effort to stop a passing driver. There are three nights in the film in particular that I would say stand out: their first stay in the auto room together, the night where Peter and Ellie admit they love each other, or the very last night they spend together, dropping the walls of Jericho. It Happened One Night classically matches two opposing personalities in a rapid yet witty romantic comedy. There are plenty of disagreements about what the title refers to since the film takes place over the course of several days and nights. Even Claudette Colbert was skeptical that a whole busload of people would know “The Man on the Flying Trapeze”, but its a solidifying moment that fulfills Capra’s belief that all people, once they can get past money, age or class, were silly underneath. Do yourself a favor and check it out! It happened one night in 1934, and it happens every time we watch this utterly beguiling film. It Happened One Night is a pre-Code romantic comedy beloved for its charm, its picaresque style, and the glowing performances of its two stars, Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable. There are a couple of great moments I wanted to go over and touch on, since Capra imbues the movie with so many humanizing touches. The movie caught on, though, and it’s one of the most acclaimed films by the Academy Awards in its history. I beg to differ. ( Log Out /  This was the last film of Blanche Friderici, who died two months before it was released in 1934. It never fails to make me laugh. Movie Tags:newspaper marriage pre-code reporter. Clark James Gable, Grandson of Clark Gable and Host of 'Cheaters," Dead at 30. Het scenario van Robert Riskin is gebaseerd op het kortverhaal Night Bus (1933) van Samuel Hopkins Adams. Here are some extra screenshots I took. Rated the #3 best film of 1934, and #500 in the greatest all-time movies (according to RYM users). Buoyed up by dual performances from two of the era's greats, Capra's film maintains its status as a classic. However, the film is referred to as “pre-Code” which can be confusing, so allow me to explain. Initially one may dislike the other due to unprecedented circumstances. Clark Gable, who won the Best Actor Oscar, wound up giving his golden statuette to a child, telling him that what mattered was winning the award, not owning it. Again, this is resolved off screen with the simple blow of a trumpet. Change ). Like the way he had Cary Grant mug too much in Arsenic and Old Lace. Pegging the cheeky way the film ends, I’m going to guess the last. Like they say about kissing, it’s more interesting watch an hour of build-up than five minutes of the act; I think It Happened One Night knows exactly when to cut away. It’s a deeply patriotic film without a single instance of the stars and stripes coming out, which speaks a lot to Capra’s credit. Colbert dons a scarf, but every time the camera cuts to her, the scarf is in a different position. In finishing school? I’ll be nice and not link anyone, but there are some really damn weird (read: stupid) opinions about. Featured News. Listening to his performance alone made me appreciate him on a level I hadn’t previously. !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It highlights their differences perfectly, and points to why the chemistry is so powerful; even when the point is as meaningless as this, the two go at it with jokes and jabs without holding back. I love watching Ellie and Peter’s relationship develop as the film goes on. Shapeley later says he’s married, making his bragged conquests Pre-Code, but we could also assume that his admission of marriage is a way to escape being killed. Menu. (Duh.). Richard Maltby quotes Rene Jordan’s musings that Gable “had a power to give orgasms, even to a generation of women who weren’t too sure whether they were supposed to have them.”. That’s not to say it still isn’t romanticized in places, but, as Capra often did, he mixes in the bad side of the country with the good, giving the audience an undeniable feeling of the unvarnished reality. It Happened One Night . My favorite of these is, “It looks like you’ve got class, yessir, with a capital A!” which seems innocuous until you capitalize the ‘A’. I think this could be adapted, but considering how many movies ripped off the ‘he’s got a secret, she’s got a secret’ romantic plot development and the way the film would possibly lose its subtext about the wretchedness of the Great Depression, I don’t know if its necessary. It Happened One Night (1934) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. It’s the roadtrip romantic comedy to end all,  with two central performances that are iconic and a legacy that has reverberated though almost a century. (The other two films were One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest [1975] and The Silence of the Lambs [1991]). //