It Happened One Night is a 1934 American pre-Coderomantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed and co-produced by Frank Capra, in collaboration with Harry Cohn, in which a pampered socialite (Claudette Colbert) tries to get out from under her father's thumb and falls in love with a roguish reporter (Clark Gable). The screenplay by Robert Riskin is based on the August 1933 short story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams, which provided the shooting title. Classified as a "pre-Code" production, the film is among the last romantic comedies created before the MPPDA began rigidly enforcing the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code in July 1934. It Happened One Night was released just four months prior to that enforcement.[4]
Spoiled heiress Ellen "Ellie" Andrews has eloped with pilot and fortune-hunter King Westley against the wishes of her extremely wealthy father, Alexander Andrews, who has sequestered his daughter and wants to have the marriage annulled because he knows that Westley is interested only in Ellie's money. Jumping ship in Florida, Ellie runs away and boards a Greyhound bus to New York City to reunite with her husband. She meets fellow passenger Peter Warne, a newspaper reporter who recently lost his job. Soon, Peter recognizes her and gives her a choice: if she gives him an exclusive on her story, he will help her reach Westley. If not, he will tell her father where she is. Ellie agrees.
Ellie loses her initial disdain for Peter and they begin to fall in love. When the bus breaks down, they try hitchhiking. They fail to secure a ride until Ellie displays a shapely leg to Danker, the next driver. When they stop en route, Danker tries to drive away with their luggage, but Peter chases him down and takes his Model T. Near the end of their journey, Ellie confesses her love to Peter. The owners of the motel in which they are staying notice that Peter's car is gone and expel Ellie. Believing Peter has deserted her, Ellie telephones her father, who agrees to let her marry Westley. Meanwhile, Peter has obtained money from his editor to marry Ellie but he misses her on the road. Although Ellie has no desire to be with Westley, she believes that Peter has betrayed her for the reward money and so agrees to have a second, formal wedding with Westley.
On the wedding day, she finally reveals the whole story to her father. When Peter comes to Ellie's home, Andrews offers him the reward money, but Peter insists on being paid only his expenses, a mere $39.60 for items that he had been forced to sell to buy gasoline. When Andrews presses Peter for an explanation of his odd behavior and demands to know if he loves her, Peter first tries to dodge the questions but then admits that he does and storms out. Westley arrives via an autogyro, but at the ceremony, Andrews reveals to his daughter Peter's refusal of the reward money and tells her that her car is waiting by the back gate in case she changes her mind. At the last minute, Ellie dumps Westley at the altar, bolts for her car, and drives away as the newsreel cameras crank.
A few days later, Andrews is working at his desk when Westley calls to tell him that he will take the financial settlement and not contest the annulment. His executive assistant brings him a telegram from Peter: "What's holding up the annulment, you slowpoke? The walls of Jericho are toppling!" That is a reference to a makeshift wall made of a blanket hung over a rope that was tied across the rooms separating the beds they had slept in, in order to give them each privacy while traveling together. With the annulment in hand, Andrews sends the reply, "Let 'em topple."
Peter's battered Model T is parked in a motor court in Glen Falls, Michigan. The mom-and-pop owners talk and wonder why, on such a warm night, the newlyweds (he had seen the marriage license) wanted a clothesline, an extra blanket, and a little tin trumpet. As they look at the cabin, the toy trumpet sounds a fanfare, the blanket falls to the floor, and the lights in the cabin go out.
Neither Gable nor Colbert was the first choice to play the lead roles. Miriam Hopkins rejected the part of Ellie. Robert Montgomery and Myrna Loy were then offered the roles, but both turned down the script. Loy later noted that the final story as filmed bore little resemblance to the script that she and Montgomery had been given.[10]Margaret Sullavan also rejected the part.[11]Constance Bennett was willing to accept the role if she could produce the film herself but Columbia Pictures would not agree to that condition. Bette Davis then wanted the role[12] but she was under contract with Warner Brothers and Jack L. Warner refused to lend her.[13]Carole Lombard was unable to accept because Columbia's proposed filming schedule would conflict with her work on Bolero at Paramount.[14]Loretta Young also turned it down.[15]
Harry Cohn suggested Colbert, who initially turned down the role.[16] Her first film, For the Love of Mike (1927), had been directed by Capra and was such a disaster that neither wanted to work with the other again.[17][18] Later, she agreed to the role only if her salary was doubled to $50,000 and if her scenes were completed in four weeks so that she could take a planned vacation.[19]
According to Hollywood legend, Gable was lent to Columbia Pictures, then considered a minor studio, as punishment for refusing a role at his own studio. That tale has been partially refuted by more recent biographies. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer did not have a project ready for Gable and the studio was paying him his contracted salary of $2,000 per week whether he worked or not. Louis B. Mayer lent him to Columbia for $2,500 per week, hence netting MGM $500 per week while he was gone.[20] Capra, however, insisted that Gable was a reluctant participant in the film.[21]
Filming
Filming began in a tense atmosphere as Gable and Colbert were dissatisfied with the quality of the script. Capra understood their dissatisfaction and let screenwriter Robert Riskin rewrite it.[20] Colbert continued to show her displeasure on the set. She also initially balked at pulling up her skirt to entice a passing driver to provide a ride, complaining that it was unladylike. Upon seeing the chorus girl who was brought in as her body double, an outraged Colbert told the director, "Get her out of here. I'll do it. That's not my leg!"[22] Capra claimed that Colbert "had many little tantrums, motivated by her antipathy toward me," however, "she was wonderful in the part."[22] Part of the film was made on Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks, California.[23]
After filming was done, Colbert complained to her friend, "I just finished the worst picture in the world."[22][24] Columbia appeared to have low expectations for the film and did not mount much of an advertising campaign for it.[25] Initial reviews were generally positive. Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times called it "a good piece of fiction, which, with all its feverish stunts, is blessed with bright dialogue and a good quota of relatively restrained scenes". Hall described Colbert's performance as "engaging and lively" and Gable as "excellent". The movie also premiered at the Radio City Music Hall.[26]Variety reported that it was "without a particularly strong plot" but "manages to come through in a big way, due to the acting, dialog, situations and directing".[27]Film Daily praised it as "a lively yarn, fast-moving, plenty humorous, racy enough to be tantalizing, and yet perfectly decorous".[28] The New York Herald Tribune called it "lively and amusing".[29]
John Mosher of The New Yorker panned it as "pretty much nonsense and quite dreary" which was probably the review Capra had in mind when he recalled in his autobiography that "sophisticated" critics had dismissed the film.[30][31] Despite the positive reviews, the film was only moderately successful in its initial run. After it was released to secondary movie houses, ticket sales became brisk, especially in smaller towns where the film's characters and simple romance struck a chord with moviegoers who were not surrounded by luxury.[29] It turned out to be a major box office smash, easily Columbia's biggest hit until the late 1980s.[32] During its initial release, the film earned $1 million in theater rentals from the United States and Canada.[33]
Rotten Tomatoes compiled 108 reviews of the film to form a 98% score and an average rating of 9.1/10. The consensus reads, "Capturing its stars and director at their finest, It Happened One Night remains unsurpassed by the countless romantic comedies it has inspired".[34] The film holds a score of 87 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 16 critics.[35]
Colbert was nominated for an Academy Award, but decided not to attend the ceremony since she felt she would not win and planned to take a cross-country railroad trip. After she was named the winner, studio chief Harry Cohn sent someone to "drag her off" the train, which had not yet departed, to bring her to the ceremony. Colbert arrived wearing a two-piece traveling suit which she had had the Paramount Pictures costume designer, Travis Banton, make for her trip.[36]
On December 15, 1996, Gable's Oscar was auctioned off to Steven Spielberg for $607,500, who donated the statuette to the Motion Picture Academy.[38] In June of the following year, Colbert's Oscar was offered for auction by Christie's but attracted no bids.[39]
It Happened One Night made an immediate impact on the public. In one scene, Gable undresses for bed, taking off his shirt to reveal that he is bare-chested. An urban legend claims that, as a result, sales of men's undershirts declined noticeably.[45] The movie also prominently features a Greyhound bus in the story, spurring interest in bus travel nationwide.[46]
The unpublished memoirs of animator Friz Freleng mention that this was one of his favorite films. It Happened One Night has a few parallels with, and may have even inspired certain characteristics of, the cartoon character Bugs Bunny, who made his first appearance six years later, and who Freleng helped develop. In the film, a minor character, Oscar Shapely, continually calls the Gable character "Doc," an imaginary character named "Bugs Dooley" is mentioned once in order to frighten Shapely, and there is also a scene in which Gable eats carrots while talking quickly with his mouth full, as Bugs does.[47]
Restoration
In 2013 It Happened One Night was digitally restored. A new wet-gatemaster was produced by Sony Colorworks for scanning at 4K. The images were digitally treated at Prasad Corporation to remove dirt, tears, scratches, and other artifacts. Care was taken to preserve the original look of the film.[48]
It Happened One Night was adapted as a one-hour radio play on the March 20, 1939 broadcast of Lux Radio Theatre, with Colbert and Gable reprising their roles.[50] The screenplay was also adapted as a radio play for the January 28, 1940, broadcast of The Campbell Playhouse, starring Orson Welles (Mr. Andrews), William Powell (Peter Warne) and Miriam Hopkins (Ellie Andrews).[51][52]
The 1937 Laurel and Hardy comedy Way Out West parodied the famous hitchhiking scene with Stan Laurel managing to stop a stage coach using the same technique.[57]A Life Less Ordinary (1997) by Danny Boyle has a plot that shares similarities with It Happened One Night and clearly references the movie in its own hitchhiking scene.[58]
Mel Brooks's film Spaceballs (1987) parodies the wedding scene. As she walks down the aisle to wed Prince Valium, Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) is told by King Roland (Dick Van Patten) that Lone Starr (Bill Pullman) forsook the reward for the princess's return and only asked to be reimbursed for the cost of the trip.[59]
Other films have used familiar plot points from It Happened One Night. In Bandits (2001), Joe Blake (Bruce Willis) erects a blanket partition between motel room beds out of respect for Kate Wheeler's (Cate Blanchett's) privacy. He remarks that he saw people do the same thing in an old movie.[60] In Sex and the City 2, Carrie and Mr. Big watch the film (specifically the hitchhiking scene) in a hotel; later in the film Carrie uses the idea which she got from the film to get a taxi in the Middle East.
In "The Bogman of Letchmoor Heath", the second episode of the horror/comedy television series She-Wolf of London (1990–1991), lead characters Randi Wallace (Kate Hodge) and Ian Matheson (Neil Dickson) rent a motel room, and, uncomfortable with the lack of privacy afforded, Ian stretches a bed sheet like a curtain between the two beds. Ian makes reference to It Happened One Night but Randi is unfamiliar with the film, remarking that she would rather "read a book".
Beginning in January 2014, the comic 9 Chickweed Lane tied a story arc to It Happened One Night when one of the characters, Lt. William O'Malley, is injured during World War II and believes himself to be Peter Warne. As he sneaks through German-occupied France, several plot points run parallel to that of It Happened One Night and he believes his French contact to be Ellen Andrews.[61]
Frank Russell Capra was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind several major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles from the age of five, his rags-to-riches story has led film historians such as Ian Freer to consider him the "American Dream personified".
Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic screen presence and versatility. She was a favorite of directors, including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang, and Frank Capra, and made 85 films in 38 years before turning to television.
Émilie Chauchoin, professionally known as Claudette Colbert, was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures. Initially contracted to Paramount Pictures, Colbert became one of the few major actresses of the period who worked freelance; that is to say, independently of the studio system.
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is a 1936 American comedy-drama romance film directed by Frank Capra and starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur in her first featured role. Based on the 1935 short story "Opera Hat" by Clarence Budington Kelland, which appeared in serial form in The American Magazine, the screenplay was written by Robert Riskin in his fifth collaboration with Capra.
Lost Horizon is a 1937 American adventure drama fantasy film directed by Frank Capra. The screenplay by Robert Riskin is based on the 1933 novel of the same name by James Hilton.
Ellen Miriam Hopkins was an American actress known for her versatility. She signed with Paramount Pictures in 1930.
Victor/Victoria is a 1982 musical comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, and John Rhys-Davies. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Tony Adams and scored by Henry Mancini, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. Victor/Victoria was adapted as a Broadway musical in 1995. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score. It is based on the 1933 German film Victor and Victoria.
In the Heat of the Night is a 1967 American mystery drama film directed by Norman Jewison, produced by Walter Mirisch, and starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. It tells the story of Virgil Tibbs (Poitier), a Black police detective from Philadelphia, who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation in a small town in Mississippi. The film was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from John Ball's 1965 novel of the same name.
Boom Town is a 1940 American Western film starring Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, and Hedy Lamarr, and directed by Jack Conway. The supporting cast features Frank Morgan, Lionel Atwill, and Chill Wills. A story written by James Edward Grant in Cosmopolitan magazine entitled "A Lady Comes to Burkburnett" provided the inspiration for the film. The film was produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Anne of Green Gables is a 1934 American comedy drama film directed by George Nicholls, Jr., based upon the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Dawn O'Day, who portrayed the title character in the film, changed her stage name to Anne Shirley, which she was billed as for this and all subsequent roles. The film was a surprise hit, becoming one of four top-grossing films RKO made that year as noted in The R.K.O. Story, published by Arlington House.
The 7th Academy Awards, honoring the best films for 1934, was held on February 27, 1935, at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Irvin S. Cobb. As of this ceremony, the Academy's award eligibility period coincided with the calendar year.
Broadway Bill is a 1934 American comedy-drama film directed by Frank Capra and starring Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy. Screenplay by Robert Riskin and based on the short story "Strictly Confidential" by Mark Hellinger, the film is about a man's love for his thoroughbred race horse and the woman who helps him achieve his dreams. Capra disliked the final product, and in an effort to make it more to his liking, he remade the film in 1950 as Riding High. In later years, the distributor of Riding High, Paramount Pictures, acquired the rights to Broadway Bill. The film was released in the United Kingdom as Strictly Confidential.
For the Love of Mike is a 1927 American silent romantic drama film. Directed by Frank Capra, it starred Claudette Colbert and Ben Lyon. It is now considered to be a lost film.
Claudette Colbert (1903–1996) was an American actress who won the Academy Award for Best Actress in It Happened One Night (1934). Born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin, she had early passions for a career in fashion design. Although she is more generally remembered for her film work, Colbert's show business career began on stage, and theatrical work remained part of her professional life for six decades. It was her friend, Anne Morrison, an aspiring playwright, who nudged her towards the acting profession. She chose the professional name of Claudette Colbert, using a family name three generations removed on her father's side.
You Can't Run Away from It is a 1956 American musical comedy film directed and produced by Dick Powell and starring June Allyson and Jack Lemmon. The film is a remake of the 1934 Academy Award-winning film It Happened One Night. The supporting cast features Charles Bickford, Jim Backus, Stubby Kaye, Jack Albertson and Howard McNear. It Happened One Night had also been remade as a musical comedy in 1945 as Eve Knew Her Apples.
Jameson Thomas was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1939.
You Can't Take It with You is a 1938 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Capra, and starring Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, and Edward Arnold. Adapted by Robert Riskin from the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1936 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the film is about a man from a family of rich snobs who becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family.
Cross-Country Romance is a 1940 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Woodruff and starring Gene Raymond and Wendy Barrie. With the huge success of It Happened One Night, the 1934 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Capra and starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable, every studio in Hollywood attempted to cash in with a similar storyline. In addition to this film, there was also Love on the Run (1936) from MGM, The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941) by Warner Bros.; even Columbia Pictures, which had made It Happened One Night, produced the musical remake Eve Knew Her Apples (1945).
Frank Capra was an Italian American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s. Capra directed a total of 36 feature-length films and 16 documentary films during his lifetime.
Fred Walton was an English stage actor who immigrated to the United States in the early part of the 20th century and became a character actor and director in American silent and early sound films.
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