Rating: 
Summary: A Timeless Comedy
Review: More than any movie from the 1930s, this Frank Capra film has not dated at all. In spite of 60 plus years of "romantic comedies" which have followed "It Happened One Night," it remains fresh and laugh-out-loud funny. Clark Gable is at his most charming as the scheming newspaper reporter who hopes to get the inside scoop on the "brat," played beautifully by Claudette Colbert, who is on the run from her millionaire father. This Frank Capra films still makes us laugh because he so humorously shows us that while men and women are different, for some reason they can't live without one another even though they can, as here, drive each other crazy. The hitchhiking scene and the scene where Gable and Colbert pretend they are married are timeless classics. Columbia Classics has done a wonderful job of presenting the best print we can probably expect 60 years on. The disc also contains a commentary from Capra's son, Frank Capra, Jr. and a "remembrance" of the film. I cannot recommend this movie enough.
Rating:
Summary: CLARK + CLAUDETTE = FUN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Review: What a great film ! The chemistry and dialogue that exists between Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable is amazingly BRILLIANT and FUNNY! This is the type of black and white film that can be watched forever and ever and never seem "dated" and out of touch w/recent times: after all, its been almost 7O years since this movie was made and it still ranks up there w/ some of the best comedies of today! I wasn't even born when the movie was made but I enjoyed it so much, I wanted to watch it again and again! If that doesn't convince you, this video won 5 Oscars: Best Actor (GABLE), Best Actress (COLBERT), Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay!! Here's a little summary for those who don't know what its about. Claudette Colbert plays Ellie Andrews, a rich, spoiled heiress running away from her family. During the trip, on a bus, she meets street-smart reporter Peter Warne, played by the handsome Clark Gable. Ellie is definitely NOT street-smart, and she's having a few problems, so Peter agrees to help her out and travel w/ her in exchange for an exclusive story. They go through many adventures together, despising each other along the way, until they find that they are reluctantly falling in love and afraid to admit it to each other...besides its a little bit more complicated since she's a married woman. AN EXCELLENT FILM, WITH A PERFECT ENDING-ONE OF GABLE'S BEST!! I GIVE IT A PERFECT 5 STARS!! AAA+++++
Rating: 
Summary: A Classic Gem!
Review: I like the old classics and It Happened One Night is a very good movie with a wonderful cast! Claudette Colbert stars as an heiress who runs away from her father who is trying to prevent her from marrying a golddigging playboy. She trys to travel in disguise but is recognized by an out of work reporter played by Clark Gable who pretends he doesn't know who she is so he can get the big scoop about why she ran away and they wind up hitting the road together. This is a romantic comedy and what they called screwball comedy and has some funny lines and situations. I taped this movie when it was on TCM and I just might buy the DVD someday!
Rating:
Summary: Oh What A Night Indeed!
Review: When you hear the phrase uttered "they don't make'em like they used to," films like It Happened One Night come immediately to mind. This 1934 classic has it all: great writing, direction, stars, character actors, cinematography, you name it. If Clark Gable hadn't made Gone With The Wind five years later, this may have been the performance he'd be most remembered by. As down-on-his-luck newspaperman Peter Warren, Gable is at his best. As the spoiled, rich heiress Ellie Andrews, Claudette Colbert is his equal. Her character is tough, yet vulnerable, spoiled, but lovable, sexy and innocent, and incredibly appealing. Filled with classics scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny, this film is balanced by many poignant (Capraesque) scenes as well. The dialogue, direction, and pacing are first-rate (there's never a dull moment), and the chemistry between the two leads is wonderful. Both Gable and Colbert appear to be having the time of their lives. The most famous scene is probably where Colbert stops a car with her beautiful legs when Gable's thumb doesn't get the job done, but there are many more to savor. When Gable and Colbert pretend to be a feuding married couple, it's hard to keep a straight face and admire the ease at which they pull off this ruse. Other memorable scenes include Alan Hale singing "young people in love are very seldom hungry," Colbert's fiancee arriving at the wedding in the "Autogyro," and Gable pretending to be a gangster to scare away an amorous traveling salesman (trying to snag Colbert). And who can forget the Walls of Jericho? But my favorite has to be the bus ride sing-a-long where everyone joins in to sing "The Man on the Flying Trapeze"; it's an absolute gem. There isn't enough to say about this wonderful picture. After almost 70 years, It Happened One Night is as fresh as ever. Of all the screwball comedies to come out of Hollywood in the 1930s, this one is in a league of its own. And how many of today's movies have women's roles the equal of Colbert's? She is more than set decoration; she's an essential part of the film. Without her cool, sophisticated performance, Gable's everyman would seem less than it is. A film that truly deserved every Academy Award it received, It Happened One Night is a movie that will live on forever.
Rating:
Summary: Simply The Best
Review: I don't claim be a movie expert, but this is the best film I have ever seen. I already owned a VHS copy, but on buying a DVD player I paid good money to have this disc shipped to me in England - and boy was it worth it! The picture quality is as good as you will find anywhere and the sound is superb too. The DVD is also jam-packed with extra features. The film's commentary is provided by Frank Capra Jr. He has a wonderfully relaxed style and doesn't just sound as if he's reading from a prepared script. Along with Ron Howard's commentary for Apollo 13, this is the best DVD commentary I have heard to date. A special feature unique amongst DVDs must be the radio version of 'It Happened One Night', first broadcast in 1939, again starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable. Whoever had the idea of including this on the DVD deserves a salary rise. The disc also includes trailers, cast lists, some beautifully illustrated posters and also a Frank Capra Jr introduction. This really is an extremely impressive package of Frank Capra's masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: It's a Wonderful DVD
Review: More than six decades after its original release, "It Happened One Night" still sparkles like a newly minted coin. It's romantic, witty, sophisticated ... and certain key scenes (especially Clark Gable's gangster impression and Claudette Colbert's hitch-hiking lesson) remain laugh-out-loud funny. A near perfect blend of script, direction, and performance, it deservedly swept the top five 1934 Academy Awards. One statue that it wasn't even nominated for, and should have won, was for Joseph Walker's Cinematography; his masterful camerawork makes this movie glisten and shine. The DVD transfer is amazingly beautiful. There are a few shots that appear to be slightly grainy and one or two jumps in the soundtrack, but those are minor quibbles. I've watched this film several times over the past twenty years -- in a revival theatre, on satellite, and on VHS -- and it's never looked as good as it does here. The DVD extras are icing on the cake: trailers for this film and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"; the teaser for "Lost Horizon"; a filmed commentary by Frank Capra, Jr.; and the 1939 Lux Theatre radio broadcast of the story. I especially enjoyed the advertising archive section, which included color reproductions of the original one-sheet posters and lobby cards. Overall, this disc is a great example of the DVD format at its finest, and a most worthy presentation of a genuine Hollywood classic.
Rating:
Summary: Best Picture Winner that Deserved it.
Review: This film is nothing but brilliant. There is not a second that goes by when you get bored of it. The film stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert and is directed by Frank Capra. Thats enough to make you want to see it already! The film was released in 1934 and won five academy awards, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The basic storyline goes:
Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) is this spoiled rich girl, who runs away from her father (Walter Connolly) who is a millionaire, so that she can marry her fiancee. On her way to New York, she gets on a bus on which she meets a newspaper reporter, Peter Warne (Clark Gable). They start off bad, but then there bus breaks down, which is the start to a very funny hitchhiking trip that will certainly change the both of them. The scene where Gable is pretending that he is a gangster is hilarious! Now for the DVD:
The picture quality looks very good. The sound is good. It has some nice extras, such as an Original Live Radio Broadcast that is very, very entertaining. A featurette, the usual trailer, along with a few other things aswell. No commentary though (refers to region 2 release). However, there is apparently one on the US disc of this film. If there is any such thing as a perfect movie, this is it! This film, and this DVD presentation, is most highly recommended! Its hard to describe how great this movie is. It really is that good! PLEASE NOTE: I own the Region 2 relase of this DVD. As mentioned above, this Region 1 release apparently includes all the same as the UK release, but this also includes a commentary.
Rating:
Summary: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT: Gets Better with Each Viewing
Review: When IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT was released in 1934, the movie was not a hit either with the fans or the critics. The producers were ready to relegate director Frank Capra's film to the dustbins of the filmshelf. But then a strange thing happened. Word of mouth spread the news that this was a film of import and fun. In just a few short months, the lines around the few theaters that were still showing it were long enough to convince the producers that they should redistribute it, and so they did. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT has been in more or less continuous showing since then. It garnered a slew of Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor for Clark Gable and Best Actress for Claudette Colbert. Critics of IHON justly call it a magnificent early example of a screwball comedy, and it is surely that, but repeated viewings imbue it with a series of social and economic subtexts that the contemporary audience could relate to. Clark Gable is Peter Warne, a huckstering newpaperman who has the great bad fortune to hook up with Ellen Andrews (Colbert), a spoiled socialite who is running away from her overbearing magnate father who wants to annul her marriage to a foppish goldhunter King Westlake. The majority of the film is an early version of a comedic but stark version of Kerouac's ON THE ROAD, with Gable and Colbert trying to travel from Florida to New York, all the while pursued by detectives hired by her father to catch them. When fans think of reasons why they love IHON, they usually point to the famous hitchhiking scene where Colbert's raised skirt gets a ride when Gable's thumb proves inadequate. Then, these fans mention the blanket between the lovers scene in which the symbolic Walls of Jericho slowly come tumbling down as each reaches out to the other to reveal their growing attraction. The chemistry between Gable and Colbert is so strong that one wonders why they never paired up again. Yet,IHON is more than a screwball comedy that permits the lovers to dash in and out of improbable situations. As they travel the dusty roads of backwoods America, a depression oriented America that was all too well versed in such meanderings could travel right along with them. The communal singing on the bus scene is not simply a musical interlude between scenes; it temporarily places Gable and Colbert into the background and propels the image of lonely travelers on the road reaching out to one another in a fashion that must have resonated with many viewers. From bus to hitchhiking to tramping dusty roads, Gable and Colbert proved yet again that the magic of chemistry when allied with the right social subtext could produce a film that even today can place the video audience right there in the same creaky car driven by that suitcase thief. If director Capra proves anything it is that true magic does not vary to fit changing economic or social climates. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT is truly one of the all time great moments in film history.
Rating:
Summary: *Epitome of Romantic Screwball Comedies*
Review: I first saw this movie when I was 15-years-old. Most people at this age usually have the misconception that black & white films are boring. I used to be in that same muddled pool, but this film would forever change my view of old classic movies. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, originally titled NIGHT BUS, was a low budget movie panned early on by film critics, but embraced by moviegoers all over America. The critics -- who had snubbed the film at first -- were undoubtedly curious about its fast-rising popularity. They reviewed it again, but under closer scrutiny. During the following year (in 1935), the film was nominated for five major Academy Awards: 1) Best Picture, 2) Best Director, 3) Best Writing Adaptation, 4) Best Actress, and 5) Best Actor. It was no wonder that the picture captured all five of the major categories. This film continues to enchant moviegoers, and it continues to influence much of what we see in today's romantic comedies. It's responsible for this basic formula: The common scenario being boy meets girl, boy and girl despise each other, boy and girl fall in love with each other, boy loses girl, boy eventually wins girl back. You've seen it. So many times in fact that the stories and characters generally seem jaded and contrived. Many of these films fail to duplicate the magic of this 1934 classic. The acting, too, usually isn't up to par with a Gable or Colbert -- both of whom deliver stellar performances in this film. Their great on-screen chemistry ignites the movie and energizes it to the end. You can expect plenty of action and excitement here, for it's all based on good humor and fun. Frank Capra's direction is superb, the cast is terrific, and the crisp, witty dialogue certainly makes this one of the best films ever. Watch it and enjoy! **Note: Gable and Colbert did work together again in a film called BOOM TOWN, which was released in 1940. The movie was a disappointment, however, because it lacked the same wonderful spark that was so evident in this picture.**
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious Love Story
Review: "It Happened One Night" is an excellent comedy released in 1934. It garnered five Oscars, including Best Picture. Its unique laughter attracting style remains entertaining, regardless how many viewings. Its love story theme remains funny and serious in the perfect scenes. Its many twists and turns keeps audiences interested in what will happen next, from Ellie's escape from her father and fiance to Ellie meeting Peter to the two slowly falling in love. There is no dull moment. Such writing quality is only one movie detail that makes it classic-worthy. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert earned an Oscar for their lead roles. Both brilliant actors offer their own comedy and serious theme, which adds more flavor. Regardless if they express greed, love, rejection, happiness, or anger, their every moment is flawless. "It Happened One Night" is a great classic film for those looking for unique humor. This will surely continue pleasing audiences for many more years.
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