STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

(1934)
With Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns, Alan Hale
Directed by Frank Capra
Black and White
Reviewed by JL

One of the prototypical screwball comedies, and one of the best-loved films of the genre, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT finds reporter Clark Gable slowly falling for runaway heiress Claudette Colbert during their unlikely cross-country journey. Gable was loaned to Columbia for this film as "punishment" for his recalcitrant behavior at his home studio, MGM. The punishment turned out to be the ultimate reward, as the picture was the first to sweep the Academy Awards in all five major categories (picture, actor, actress, director, screenplay), and was the film most instrumental in earning Gable the moniker of King of Hollywood. It was also the film that helped Columbia shake it's "poverty row" reputation once and for all, and further established Frank Capra as one of Hollywood's prestige directors. - JL