It Happened One Night

Rating: 4.85/5

It Happened One Night-just as fantastic this time around as it was when I first saw it.

Through a series of unexpected events, socialite Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) and reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) are paired together as they travel across the country with the intention of getting Ellie back to her soon to be husband. The two couldn't be more opposite, Ellie is spoiled and Peter is used to "roughing it". Both have lots to learn from each other and find during their time together, the other may not be as insufferable as they once thought.

Let me just start off by saying I adore this movie. I had only seen it once before my most recent viewing and for some unfathomable reason, it took me almost ten years to get around to watching this classic gem for the second time. TEN years! What on Earth took me so long? I feel bad for myself that I deprived my eyes of getting to see this masterpiece for such a lengthy stretch of time.

What I really love about It Happened One Night is not only the sharp and witty writing, but also the performances, and primarily Claudette Colbert's. This movie is fairly fresh out of the silent movie era, and with that transition came some actors and actresses who didn't exactly adapt to the change. For example, see Greta Garbo in Grand Hotel. Like Garbo in the before-mentioned film, many performers didn't seem to realize that their expressions and mannerisms didn't need to be so exaggerated now that their voices were being heard, but that notion is incredibly far from what a viewer experiences with Claudette Colbert's lovable, memorable, and skilled performance in It Happened One Night. You fall in love with her character within minutes and you just wait with bated breath to see how long it takes for Clark Gable to follow suit.

When I first saw It Happened One Night, I was notably quite green when it came to my cinema knowledge. Not to say I was a complete novice, as I'd been fascinated and quite obsessed with film and filmmaking for as long as I could remember, and I had certainly seen more classic movies than the average person my age, but I had never really taken that next step of analyzing and studying film until I was fortunate enough to take a class in college on film study. It was in that class where I got to see this movie for this first time, and it really made a profound impact on me. I remember taking the new terms I learned in class and being able to see how those theories of what it means to be a great film be put to use in this very feature. Those years ago, I remember getting to see the scene in the motel room, watching Gable hang the sheet to divide the space, watching him and Colbert have their conversation in near darkness, and just being completely captivated by every moment.

As I've made my way through the Academy Award Best Picture winners, I have only found one so far that I would rank higher than this, and I'm quite behind on my reviews at this point, so I'm well beyond the 1930s as I write this. It Happened One Night is a classic for a reason and I definitely will not be waiting nearly as long as I did before to give this another viewing.

1935 Best Picture Winner-It Happened One Night

1935 Best Actor in a Leading Role Winner-Clark Gable

1935 Best Actress in a Leading Role Winner-Claudette Colbert

1935 Best Director Winner-Frank Capra

1935 Best Writing, Adaptation Winner-Robert Riskin