Review of It Happened One Night (1958) by Joe C — 04 Jan 2015

Frank Capra, Clark Gable, and Claudette Colbert... what else do you need? Nothing, according to the Academy Awards in 1934. Proving that once in a blue moon they get it right, the Academy awarded this whip-smart screwball comedy all five of the year's major Oscars.

To modern viewers, the plot framework of It Happened One Night, which tosses together cynical reporter Clark Gable and snappy heiress Claudette Colbert on the run from her cosseted life, might seem like pretty boilerplate stuff, but you don't need a high concept when you're dealing with wit this sharp.

And if its ingredients look familiar now, it's because It Happened One Night has been imitated so often. So beguiling is the story and so charming are the performances, it has the power to make romantics of the most hardened of hearts.

Resistance is futile.