"It Happened One Night" (1934)

Rank on the AFI List: #46

WHAT I ALREADY KNEW ABOUT THE MOVIE:
Only 2 things:
1) It starred Clark Gable
2) It was a romantic comedy

LET ME EXPLAIN...
This is a cute movie. When it started I was a little worried that I wasn't really going to enjoy it because the humor was a bit corny. But as the plot progressed, and the chemistry between Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert began to shine, this became a fun movie.

Without giving any spoilers, I will just say that there were 2 scenes in particular that my wife and I were cracking up out loud at. The first one was when the detectives show up at the motel and Gable and Colbert pretend to be an old married couple. The second - and my personal favorite - was the hitchhiking scene (which involves one of the most overly-used cliches in film and TV, but it must have been strikingly original in this movie). Clark Gable's part in this scene is what really cracked me up, though.

What makes this a "Top 100" Movie?
I can understand why this is considered one of the best movies ever made. From a romantic comedy perspective, I'm assuming this was the first film to use the plotline of "a seemingly incompatible bickering couple fight and argue as they have to stick together, only to fall in love at the end" (and I don't think that's a spoiler since it says they fall in love on the back of the DVD case). That plot idea has been used so many times since then that it stands to reason this movie was groundbreaking in how to create a successful romantic comedy scenario.

This was also the first movie to sweep all the major Academy Awards. It won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay in 1934. And I can see why. The lead actors were terrific (although Clark Gable's character seemed VERY similar to his character in Gone With the Wind. Was he type-casted or something?), and the story and dialogue was often quick and witty.

Complaints:
Some of the humor was a little too corny for me, and Claudette Colbert looked MUCH more like a silent film actress, which was a little weird. And one scene on the bus where people are singing (what sounds like an Irish drinking song) went on a little long. But these were all very minor things that didn't bother me too much.

LET ME SUM UP...
"It Happened One Night" is a cute movie with good chemistry between the two main characters. Two scenes in particular are laugh-out-loud funny, and aside from a little bit of corny humor, this was a fun film to watch.

MY RATING: 7/10

TOTAL # OF FILMED WATCHED: 53