Instead of attempting a journalistic study of bus-travel, regularly punctuated by comic touches, Director Frank Capra and Robert Riskin who adapted Samuel Hopkins Adams' story, fused the two.
It Happened One Night (1934)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 32
Fresh: 31
Rotten:1
Average Rating: 8.8/10
Consensus: Capturing its stars and director at their finest, It Happened One Night remains unsurpassed by the countless romantic comedies it has inspired.
Runtime: 3 hrs 35 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Director Frank Capra and his two stars, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, stole hearts and a quintet of Oscars with this sparkling, legendary romantic comedy. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is based on the... Director Frank Capra and his two stars, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, stole hearts and a quintet of Oscars with this sparkling, legendary romantic comedy. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is based on the story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams, and it follows a news reporter and a runaway heiress who fall in love while traveling cross country on a bus. But as with any classic, the film is more than the sum of its parts, and special attention should be paid to the fizzy chemistry between the two leads and the witty script from Robert Riskin. This screwball comedy was the first to take home all five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor--Clark Gable, Best Actress--Claudette Colbert, and Best Adapted Screenplay. [More]
Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Alan Hale
Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly, Alan Hale, Roscoe Karns, Ward Bond, Henry Wadsworth, Claire McDowell
Director: Frank Capra
Director: Frank Capra
Screenwriter: Robert Riskin
Composer: Louis Silvers
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Release:
Dec 9, 2008
Reviews for It Happened One Night
With Gable and Colbert on top form this is a charming and memorable comedy.
One of those stories that without a particularly strong plot manages to come through in a big way, due to the acting, dialog, situations and direction.
The story of a runaway heiress falling in with a devilish, wise-cracking reporter on a cross-country roadtrip now seems like a cliché only because so many other films have copied its structure.
This charming romantic comedy, while grounded in the context of the Depression, offered light fare that's uncharacteristic of Capra. It might have been the first true sleeper since no one involved anticipated such critical and commercial success.
This is Capra at his best, very funny and very light, with a minimum of populist posturing.
Only minorly dated, this film would play well for modern audiences despite being more than 70 years old.
Capra's sense of humour is a little like that of Preston Sturges, though less caustic; and the film shows its stars at their best, Colbert as one of Hollywood's fresher comediennes, Gable as dumb-but-loveable hunk.
Who can resist a movie where the girl's father provides his daughter with a getaway car from her own wedding?
It Happened One Night is a true classic in every sense of the word, one that withstands the test of time and indeed defies it completely.
The romantic comedy that all others draw from, few imitate effectively, and none have been able to replicate.
Not only will the Walls of Jericho fall, but so will the walls of your heart.
One of the most enduring romantic comedies of Hollywood’s golden age The opposites-attract comedy still works, though Gable’s dismissive treatment of pampered Colbert, which played well with Depression-era audiences, seems dated today.
It Happened One Night is a good piece of fiction, which, with all its feverish stunts, is blessed with bright dialogue and a good quota of relatively restrained scenes.
Latest News for It Happened One Night
June 22, 2007:
AFI Announces Top 100 Movies of All Time ... Again
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15 other lists every few years. And then last night they... More...
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