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It Happened One Night,
1934. Directed by Frank Capra. Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Ward
Bond
Delightful screwball comedy about a runaway heiress and
an itinerant newsman who tracks her down for the story. They bicker and
fight and then fall in love in the prototype for the classic "road"
style comedy. Is this the invention of the contemporary romantic comedy?
Twentieth Century precedes this film, so maybe not. Capra and company
may very well have perfected it here, though--a depressing thought if
one thinks that the form has remained frozen in time since 1934, but that's
not THIS film's fault.
The dialogue remains effervescent (particularly the "Walls
of Jericho" scene) and the stars sparkle. Gable gives his best performance
here (and nevermind that Rhett Butler nonsense) and Colbert set a standard
for spoiled heiresses that has rarely been equalled (Katherine Hepburn
in The Philadelphia Story or Bringing Up Baby is perhaps
the closest rival). The best part about Capra's participation in the movie
is that, unlike many of his other signature works, he doesn't have an
agenda here, nor does he lay on the sentiment. This movie wants only to
entertain--and entertain it does, in a big way.
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