VHS : It Happened One Night [1934]

Rating: - A film which blows its own trumpet
"It Happened One Night" is one of the most enduring of romantic comedies. Released in 1934, its black and white images are iconic - Gable & Goddard hitching is a classic scene, but there are many others from the film which have an unforgettable cachet. Set against the realities of the Depression, Frank Capra delivers a distinct feel-good quality; this was a film which attracted a huge popular audience.

Claudette Colbert plays a beautiful heiress who has married a lounge-lizard society type against the wishes of her father. Father keeps daughter locked up on his yacht while he pursues nullification of the marriage, but Colbert escapes and sets off on a bus ride back to her husband in New York. She has never done anything so independent before, has never travelled on anything as cosmopolitan, never mind proletarian, as a bus. She simply hasn't a clue how to survive without servants.

On the bus she meets down-on-his-luck newspaperman, Clark Gable. The pair team up, eking out the few dollars they have between them, travelling by bus, hitching lifts, coyly sharing motel rooms, a blanket hung by rope to separate twin single beds - a system they famously describe as 'the walls of Jericho'.

"It Happened One Night" won five Oscars - Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adaptation (Robert Riskin's script). Made by Columbia, it was an unlikely hit - Capra struggled to cast it and it was certainly not as well promoted as many of its rivals that year. But the public loved it. The film gently disparages the rich, spoiled background of the heiress - the film starts with Colbert on hunger strike, but on the bus journey she will meet people who are actually starving because they have no money. Capra was always able to capture that love-hate relationship between the popular audience and images of the rich.

Capra seems to have been the only one who believed in the film - Colbert was not his first choice and she was very reluctant to take the role. Gable was loaned to him, and played against character throughout. Shot in four weeks and on a low budget, Capra and Gable wrung a reluctant performance from Colbert - despite her resistance to the part, she delivers an excellent performance. Capra handles the narrative with expertise, giving the audience time to understand the dynamic between the two characters. He blends drama with comedy with romance. Despite its age, the film continues to work as a delightful story, superbly performed and directed, with timeless humour and compassion.

The DVD offers a very acceptable black and white transfer with adequate sound quality, and some interesting extras - not least a radio broadcast of the play of the film, with Colbert and Gable revisiting their roles before a live audience. Highly entertaining and a film you can watch and watch.

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Rating: - "Excuse me lady, but that upon which you sit is mine."
Peter Warne: Why didn't you take off all your clothes? You could have stopped forty cars.
Ellie Andrews: Well, ooo, I'll remember that when we need forty cars.

On-screen chemistry has the ability to turn a good film into something special. Look no further than Frank Capra's "It Happened One Night" for proof of this. Whoever came up with the idea of pairing Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert together in this production certainly earned his or her paycheck.

Rich girl Ellie Andrews (Colbert) runs away from her father so that she can be with her one true love, King Westley (Jameson Thomas). Ellie has little knowledge of how the outside world works so she hooks up with reporter Peter Warne (Gable) who offers to help her reach New York in return for the exclusive rights to her story. The pair finds each other intolerable at the outset but as they spend more time together, their opinions of one another start to change. By the time they arrive in New York, Ellie and Peter must decide if they should act upon the newfound affection that has developed between them.

"It Happened One Night" is effectively funny and romantic at the same time. The out-of-the-way situations Ellie and Peter find themselves involved in is screwball comedy at its finest and the love that develops between them is Hollywood magic at its most charming. Colbert and Gable show why they were two of the biggest stars of their era and the chemistry they display on screen still is magnetic to this very day. "It Happened One Night" is also a fascinating cultural text due to its suggestive sexual overtones and its vivid depiction of a woman who is determined to take matters into her own hands when the situation calls for it. Both of these aspects are especially noteworthy when one considers the period in which the film was made. Yet, if "It Happened One Night" is to be remembered for anything, it should be remembered for the classic that it is. After all, when you speak of pure cinematic bliss, you speak of scenes like the one where Ellie flashes her thigh to stop an approaching car - truly one of the greatest moments ever caught on film.

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Rating: - They don't make 'em like this anymore...
This is a classic 30s screwball romantic comedy.

Gable and Colbert are on fine form as the brash reporter and the rich brat who are drawn together inspite of themselves. The story is fun, the script is witty, the leads have great chemistry and the whole thing feels quite fresh, despite the nearly 70 years that have passed.

Buy it and you'll never be at a loss for something fun and fluffy to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon...

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Rating: - Just excellent... A real treasure!
This is the story of a little rich girl (Claudette Colbert) opposing her father by running away. She 'accidently' hooks up with Peter (Clark Gable) a just-fired news reporter and so begins the tale. The film was one of the first to sweep the boards at the Oscars - and deservedly so in my opinion - both Colbert and Gable sparkle on screen - they were both quite young 'ish when this film was made and the innocence of the era shines through without being 'mawkish' or boring.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this again - the humour is still as fresh as when it was made and the transfer to DVD means the overall picture quality is bright and clear.

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Rating: - Not For Me, It Didn't
I had somehow never seen this film. What a let-down ! The stars are completely out of their depth, particularly the wooden Clark Gable. If you want to spoil it for yourself, try imagining Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn in the leads. I've never rated Capra very highly, feeling that he garnered the plaudits that should have gone to the screenwriter of his best films - Robert Riskin - but even he couldn't rescue this one.