Review of It Happened One Night (1958) by Jessie C — 07 Apr 2015

I enter every movie viewing with energy and delight, and this time was no different, but by the time that thing was over I was angry. I am shocked that this is a classic and won so many awards- shocked, to an extent. I'm aware that society was ~different~ back then but I can't just ignore the blatant sexism prevalent in films from this time. In the same way that a racist movie would infuriate me beyond my ability to ignore for entertainment's sake, the disgusting misogyny in this film made it nearly unbearable. People say, "it was a different time!" but I don't care. It's disgusting now, it was disgusting back then, and no art/entertainment gets a pardon just because it was a hit when it came out.

Despite this film having a female lead, she was nothing but a plot device. How the main character could make a total of ONE decision of her own within the span of an entire feature film is truly beyond me. Summaries of the film cushion the plot with things like, "she agrees to help him if he keeps her secret" but in actuality this was a woman on the run from a controlling father who was threatened with violence into giving that sleazy reporter a story or else he would give her up to that controlling father. Literally romanticized Stockholm's Syndrome. This is described as a romance movie but there was nothing romantic about it. This is a movie about men wanting a woman to do what they want instead of what she wants. The word "demented" popped into my mind multiple times while watching in reaction to things these men would do to her.

The characters were really annoying, all of them. The things that were supposed to be romantic were just gross. There must be a million ways to make a story about a runaway heiress, you know? It's an interesting premise but it was executed incredibly poorly, with totally unlikeable characters and multiple disturbing dynamics in play. Plot holes so enormous even the male lead's gigantic head would get lost in them. Professional appearance, decent sound, standard cinematography- not a particularly artistic film. Weak story, poorly told, no character development besides developing them from strangers to creepy, controlling jerks. I hope no bizarre situation occurs in which I am ever forced to watch this again.

4/10.

Bye love you.