Review of It Happened One Night (1934) by Clayton W — 05 Apr 2010

Naturally, as the first romantic comedy, we viewed It Happened One Night in our romantic comedies class today. As one of three movies to ever sweep the big five Oscar categories, I had high expectations, all of which were completely met. Frank Capra crafted a perfect comic romance with honest, timely characters and many memorable lines and scenes. The quick set-up builds momentum and gets the audience to invest in the leads immediately; it's impossible not to love the hilarious pairing of Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.

It's also very interesting to see how the film handles its sexual tension and social expectations in light of the censorship codes in place at the time. The final image is especially effective and exciting, despite being something so simple. Utterly brilliant.