Posted by Joan Rapp in Classics, General News | 3 comments
Try It Out Thursday: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
I would not be a movie geek if it weren’t for classic movies. My dad was a huge movie buff and would see something on the tv that the family had to sit down and watch. And that was my introduction to classic movies. I am going to pass along some titles that I think are must sees. If you have recommendations for me I would love to hear from you.
One of my favorite movie genres is the screwball comedy. Screwball comedies have a set of defining characteristics: rapid dialogue, nonsensical situations and some form of courtship that leads to marriage or remarriage. Many of these characteristics are evident in today’s Romantic Comedies. Its beginning is credited with the film IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT in 1934. The film starred Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. It was directed by Frank Capra. The story revolves around an heiress, Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) who defies her father, Alexander Andrews (Walter Connelly), by marrying a fortune hunter, King Westley (Jameson Thomas). The father wants to annul the marriage, so Ellie runs away, by bus, loses all her money and meets up with a journalist, Peter Warne (Clark Gable). The situations that arise along the journey from Florida to New York are hilarious. This movie is also credited with making undershirts unpopular. Watch the film to discover why. The film was a sleeper at the box office but word of mouth helped to make it the top box office success for Paramount. It went on to win 5 Academy Awards: Outstanding Production, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Writing Adaptation. If you haven’t seen the film, let me know how you like it. If you have seen it, watch it again and enjoy.
Great recommendation Joan. A real classic. Here’s a couple interesting stories on it. The film was produced by Columbia Studios, which wasn’t one of the prestige houses like Paramount and Gable’s usual home base, MGM. He was under contract to MGM, and the story was passed on though the years that Louis Mayer loaned him to Columbia as punishment for complaining over scripts. Some recent books have disputed this saying that it was just a matter of money.MGM could charge Columbia more for Gable than what they were paying him during that month or so.
Speaking of other studios, the artists at Leon Schlesinger’s Studio made a note of the way that Gable munched on a raw carrot and adapted it for their Looney Tunes superstar, Bugs Bunny.
Thanks, Jim. It is always interesting to learn new facts about the movies we love. I had heard the story about Gable. I also read that Claudette Colbert thought the movie was going to be overlooked at the academy awards ceremony and that she was on a train heading east when she won. The studio boss had her brought back to the ceremony to accept. She was dressed in a traveling suit.
Never heard that train story! How funny! I should’ve said Bugs was inspired by Gable’s carrot munching and Groucho’s cigar!