It Happened One Night

Movie Review: It Happened One Night

Year of Release: 1934
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Frank Capra
Cast: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert

Plot outline: A newspaperman tracks a runaway heiress on a madcap cross-country tour (IMDb).

There are few serious moments in this movie, and if there is a welter of improbable incidents these hectic doings serve to generate plenty of laughter. The pseudo suspense is kept on the wing until a few seconds before the picture ends, but it is a foregone conclusion that the producers would never dare to have the characters acted by Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert separated when the curtain falls. 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. Although there are such flighty notions as that of having Ellie running away from a marriage ceremony when the guests - and particularly King Westley - had expected to hear her say "I will "; or those depicting Warne volleying vituperation over the telephone at his city editor; there are also more sober sequences wherein Warne and Ellie spread cheer to the audience, notwithstanding their sorry adventures with little or no money. Gable is excellent in his role. Colbert gives an engaging and lively performance. Walter Connolly is in his element as Ellie's father. Roscoe Karns affords no little fun by his flirtatious conduct on board a bus, and Alan Hale gives a robust portrayal of an artful owner of a flivver. (NYT)

My judgement: ***1/2 out of 4 stars