It Happened One Night is the first film in movie history to win the Oscar "grand slam" (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay). The story is about a spoiled young woman from a rich family who runs away from her father to be with the man she had secretly married. It gets interesting when she meets a reporter who helps her to get to New York because he wants to write an article about it.
I don't like romantic comedies, especially when they get too melodramatic at the end. There were some brilliant scenes in this movie though. The first one I would like to mention is when the reporter (played by Clark Gable) is arguing with the bus driver over the newspapers. Another one is when the annoying bus passanger finds out about the reward the woman's father offers to anyone who can tell him where she is. I think it was amazing how the reporter fooled him when he started acting like a gangster.
So many times we hear stories about evil parents who don't let their children be happy by not letting them be with the ones they truly love. This type of scenario reminds me of cheap soap operas I got to see when I was little. I think it's great that this film shows us that most of the time the parents are right.
I won't lie, there are a lot of corny moments in this movie. Also I wonder why in old Hollywood movies almost all smartass lines are delivered by male characters, and female characters usually keep saying some mushy romantic stuff. But after all, I think that It Happened One Night is a reasonably good representative of the genre.
Favorite quote: "I never did like the idea of sitting on newspaper. I did it once, and all the headlines came off on my white pants. On the level! It actually happened. Nobody bought a paper that day. They just followed me around over town and read the news on the seat of my pants".
Interesting fact: I never did like the idea of sitting on newspaper. I did it once, and all the headlines came off on my white pants. On the level! It actually happened. Nobody bought a paper that day. They just followed me around over town and read the news on the seat of my pants.
I thought this movie was pretty funny. I think this is the movie that started the entire "romantic comedy" trend in movies.
ReplyDeleteI think the "The Thin Man" came out the same year. I thought it was a better movie, but it didn't win the Oscar
Haven't seen The Thin Man. I'm just really not romantic comedy type of person. They always try to make you cry at some point of the movie. When I watch comedies I expect to laugh LOL.
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